Marine Patriot

Marine Patriot
Originally uploaded by simi valley sophist.

Memorial Day thought…

Dateline: Dulles International Airport 5/27/05

It’s about 7:15 AM and already there are large crowds of Memorial Day weekend air travelers lining up to check-in for flights to who knows where. Everyone is concerned about making it through the interminable wait to confirm tickets, check baggage and traverse security checks. A grey unmarked van glides to the curb in front of terminal 4 and disgorges five lean, young men in civilian clothes and sporting military haircuts. They each have something else in common; each is missing a leg. Two are in wheel chairs, two use crutches and one walks fairly well with a gleaming stainless steel prosthesis. Two are attended by young women, probably a wife or girlfriend, but the remaining three are alone. They disappear into the crowds apparently virtually unnoticed by the waiting travelers.

This is the Wash. DC area, not far from the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center, and I wonder if this is a common sight for my local fellow travelers. Are they not moved by the reminder of our military personnel’s tremendous sacrifices made on our behalf? Maybe we civilians just don’t know how to express it to these wounded warriors. But, maybe many, like me, had that lump in the throat and just a hint of watery eyes. I hope so.

The warrior, who strode purposefully with his steel leg, is tall. I would guess about 6’3” tall, and probably no older than 23 or 24 years of age. His possessions were strapped to his back in a large blue pack. His good leg bore multiple scars probably from shrapnel. I again saw him as I waited to pass through the security check. Airport personnel escorted our warrior through a side door short-cutting the long lines. Had that not been the case, he would have negotiated the obstacles well. Perhaps it was just a little sign of respect for a young man who paid an obvious price for the way-of-life that we enjoy in the U. S. A.

Our combat seasoned military make daily installment payments on the mortgage of freedom that we each enjoy. Some paid the ultimate price and left behind grieving friends and relatives. Others are making the payment each and every day for the remainder of their lives. Ladies and gentlemen, I submit that these are the Patriots of our time. On this Memorial Day, lets all remember the Price of Freedom. Go here for a U. S. memorial site.

Answer to Cancer…

The headline reads, “Cancer is Cut by an Aggressive Regimen.” The article is specifically about improving the outcome of breast cancer through the use of aggressive post-surgical regimens. The article states, “…a major international analysis that indicates the often-arduous regimes do cure many women.”

The Western medical establishment is very good at reactive medicine. By that, I mean that once there are physical manifestations of the disease, the establishment chops, burns and poisons the body in an attempt to rid it of any remaining cancerous cells. Unfortunately, many times cancerous cells have escaped from the primary malignancy site and hide out anywhere in the body.

Such is often the case in breast cancer and melanoma, the latter of which I developed back in 1988. I had the surgery, but in my particular form of melanoma, chemotherapy and radiation were judged to be non-effective. Thus, I am not able to relate to many cancer survivors who did suffer through the various assaults to the body post-surgery. I subsequently learned that the post-surgery survivability for my form of disease was 8% at five years. I was fortunate to be admitted to the melanoma vaccine program at the John Wayne Cancer Clinic, which at that time was located at U.C.L.A. And, 16 years later I am still here, though I get a mole patrol from my dermatologist every six months and visit my oncologist twice annually.

The pronouncement of cancer strikes fear to the heart and often invokes the language of war: battle; war against…; victim; and survivor. The truth of the matter is that cancer is self. So, when we adopt the war symbolism, we are literally declaring war on our own body. Many in the alternative medical movement consider the war imagery to be self-defeating. Whether it is or not is a matter of conjecture as anecdotal evidence exists on both sides of the aisle.

I am here today, I believe, chiefly as a result of excellent surgeons and the innovative intervention of Western medicine. However, I can not be entirely sure since I was a recipient of alternative intervention as well. Additionally, my nature is to move forward with solutions without suffering the emotional paralysis and depression that cancer invokes in many others. Depression suppresses the immune system, which is exactly the opposite of what you want.

What I now realize, years after the fact, is that Western medicine did not suggest that I should work on creating a whole healthy body. Maybe that’s because they did not expect me to last long. The truth of the matter is that our body is continuously creating cancer cells, which are subsequently destroyed by the immune system. We get “cancer” when the immune system is suppressed allowing the single mutated cell to multiply. Cancer kills by the invasion of and taking over of organs. Sometimes it is a slow process and sometimes it is an aggressive process.

I believe that if we are to really beat cancer, we must adopt techniques to keep our bodies functioning every day in an optimal manner. That means making many changes in the way we interact with our environment, which is toxic and getting more so.

Back to the assertion of the article quoted above that the aggressive regimes “cure cancer.” Do these regimes cure cancer? No, they seek to remove the current expression of the lethal threat. We must abandon the cure mentality and realize that our goal must be one of boosting the mechanisms of natural defense. It is sort of like fighting terrorism, we will never beat it, but we might suppress it sufficiently that it does not kill the body.

Friday the 13th….

It is Friday the 13th., and will it be a lucky or unlucky day for you? See why the day is considered unlucky here.

Sith Is Not For Kids...

Starwars creator George Lucas is reported to say that the latest offering in the Starwars series, "Revenge of the Sith" is not suitable for kids here. This is despite the fact that Starwars toys are heavily marketed to children. From the article:

“…Sith" is too grim and too intense for 5- and 6-year-olds, according to the
filmmaker himself.”

“George Lucas said he is already taking heat from parents who are bracing for trauma or tantrums — the former if they take their young children to "Sith," the latter if they don't.”

“The light-saber massacre occurs off-screen, but the framing scene and the glimpse of corpses afterward…”

“Far more explicit is pain that Skywalker suffers later in the film; after a climactic light-saber battle on a lava planet, the villain howls from the loss of limbs and the graphic charring of his flesh.”

“Worse than gore, Lucas said, may be watching a father turn evil and a family splinter in "Sith."”

Breast Cancer Walk & Team Simi

Women’s health issues are on the forefront of public awareness. Chief among those issues is breast cancer. Much of that awareness is as a result of the campaigns by Avon, Revlon and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Recently, national talk show host Laura Ingraham underwent breast cancer surgery and she is scheduled for six weeks of radiation. True to Laura’s disposition, she has freely disclosed on her radio show her lack of routine health screening, disease, surgery and forth coming treatment.

One of the pre-eminent Breast Cancer Walks is the 3Day Walk, formerly sponsored by Avon and now by the Susan G. Komen BC Foundation. Avon is currently sponsoring 2Day Walks. In each of these walks, the Walkers are required to raise significant amounts of cash in order to enter.

Team Simi is hosting a fundraiser for the 2005 Susan G. Komen 3Day Walk in October. Tickets may be obtained by calling: 805-526-8885 or 805-750-4441 or 805-526-8068.

TEAM SIMI 3Day BREAST CANCER WALK FUNDRAISER
SATURDAY, JUNE 4TH
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
SANTA SUSANA PARK
Katherine Street, Simi Valley (cross street Kuehner, past Hope Town)

The park is reserved exclusively for this event!

Cost: $10.00 ticket price (includes lunch)
Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

♥ Hamburgers ♥ Chips
♥ Hot Dogs ♥ Drinks
♥ Jolly Jump ♥ Playground
♥ Face Painting ♥ Snack Booths
♥ Boutique ♥ Horseshoe
Competition
♥ Pedicure/Manicure
♥ Gift Baskets
♥ Gym Membership
♥ Gift Cards

Raffle tickets $2.00 each (Need not be present to win!)

♥ Mary Kay Cosmetics
♥ Party Lite Candles
♥ Pampered Chef Cooking Products
♥ Cookie Lee Costume Jewelry
♥ Custom Jewelry
♥ Avon
♥ Weekenders
♥ And much more

A Beginning...

May 11, 2005-Exploring Blogging, the beginning of a new adventure. What topics will be skewered to the examination table, laid bare with scalpel, and left naked to the probing of the un-withering eye? No one knows, but all is fair.