tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post266183255365458902..comments2024-02-12T23:25:09.583-08:00Comments on Overweening Generalist: The Drug Report: June, 2012: The Trouble With Cholesterolmichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-87380521378814317302012-06-25T16:26:34.392-07:002012-06-25T16:26:34.392-07:00Yea I remember reading through your Bostrom post. ...Yea I remember reading through your Bostrom post. Apparently they founded the World Transhumanist Association and I believe they've published some papers together too. He's compiled and written a lot of stuff on that website.leoganghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16102849057369350528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-71488678229629947892012-06-24T23:03:33.041-07:002012-06-24T23:03:33.041-07:00@leogang: I'd run across David Pearce as a Tra...@leogang: I'd run across David Pearce as a Transhumanist, but hadn't read the piece you linked to; and I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it as I write this, but I find him fascinating.<br /><br />One of the hazards of being a "generalist" is your reading gets spread a bit thin at times. Maybe all the times?<br /><br />Thanks for turning me on to Pearce. I wrote about Bostrom a couple months ago or so...michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-76448683085319473902012-06-24T18:03:55.123-07:002012-06-24T18:03:55.123-07:00Mostly unrelated to this post, are you familiar wi...Mostly unrelated to this post, are you familiar with philosopher David Pearce and his web manifesto concerning the abolition of suffering (+ far more)? <br /><br />http://www.abolitionist.com/<br /><br />I didn't find his name in your blog so I thought I'd point him out to you in case he's slipped by. Much food for thought.leogangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-39857862178488883642012-06-22T10:25:46.419-07:002012-06-22T10:25:46.419-07:00A reader steeped in the work of H.P. Lovecraft cou...A reader steeped in the work of H.P. Lovecraft could not help observing that, to many educated people, there was something unmistakably loathsome about the Wake, a touch of Necronomicon, as though it had been bound in human hide. - Michael ChabonEric Wagnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04312033917401203598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-74908495130435586962012-06-20T17:11:27.283-07:002012-06-20T17:11:27.283-07:00I guess the Wilson/Shea and Leiber just hit me on ...I guess the Wilson/Shea and Leiber just hit me on a deeper level than Lovecraft. I haven't read much Lovecraft in the last few years. The Wilson/Shea of course has had more effect on me than anything else I've read (along with Wilson's other writings). When I first read Illuminatus! in 1982, Lovecraft had already played a role in my life for about seven years, so whereas much of Illuminatus! seemed very unfamiliar to me, the HPL stuff hit me where I lived.<br /><br />I met Leiber briefly in 1978, and I read his column "Moons, Stars and Stuff" for years in Locus. He would write about astronomical events for the month and the books he had recently read (or heard on tape as his eyesight failed). One might call Fritz an overweening generalist. My favorite Leiber besides Our Lady of Darkness (which I adore as a bibliophile and Californian): three short stories - "Midnight by the Morphy Watch," "Space-Time for Springers" and, hm, either "Four Ghosts in Hamlet" or "Ghost Light." (You can read all of those except "Space-Time for Springers" in _Ghost Light_. I consider "Space-Time for Springers one of my two favorite works on cats along with Heinlein's The Door Into Summer.) (You can find "Space-Time for Springers" as well as the great "The Man Who Never Grew Young" in The Best of Fritz Leiber.)<br /><br />I considered myself a cat person for 42 years until my wife got a shih tzu, who converted me.<br /><br />It does make me sad that Leiber misquoted Crowley in Our Lady. That book just works for me on so many levels.Eric Wagnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04312033917401203598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-51632123105071438282012-06-20T16:13:45.935-07:002012-06-20T16:13:45.935-07:00@Eric Wagner: What makes you prefer the non-Lovecr...@Eric Wagner: What makes you prefer the non-Lovecrafty stuff to the Man himself? I find at times I'm completely able to deal with HPL's highly stylized, florid, weird style; other times it seems too baroque for me.<br /><br />You've turned me onto Leiber and now I'm planning a deeper foray. I think the Best Of will be next, but I'm also interested in his biography. I found he was a cat lover (ailurophilic), like Pound and WSB. HPL wrote him a letter in 1936 that was very encouraging. HPL died in 1937, so we're glad HPL got around to that letter, no?<br /><br />I had no idea I was seeing Fritz Leiber whenever I watch a film noir I've always liked, The Web (1947).<br /><br />He seemed to have been the U. Of Chicago studying Theology at roughly the same time Hutchins and Adler were instituting the Great Books thing. I wonder if Leiber had any run-ins with Mortimer Adler? Clanging temperaments, those.<br /><br />I read Our Lady of Darkness before I knew anything about Leiber, but the main character's past alcoholism and deceased wife were two elements that screamed, "These must be parts of Leiber!," and I guessed right.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-44213566329698014122012-06-20T16:03:36.591-07:002012-06-20T16:03:36.591-07:00(continuing with my ramble to Sue Howard's com...(continuing with my ramble to Sue Howard's comment):<br /><br />Not long ago I read two studies that disagreed with the efficacy of 6-12 months of sustained meditation practice and lowering of high blood pressure. Some of it was encouraging. It's difficult to know WHO were in these studies, and it's also difficult to know how truly committed they were to the meditation. We all know it's VERY difficult to meditate at first...<br /><br />Also: for certain types of personalities, the White Coat Effect can raise BPs, giving a skewed sense. Not sure what your situation is. <br /><br />Your experience poking into a very complex system with warring "experts" is like mine: the more I read the more I know about how little I know, and I become less and less sure of that I thought I knew, but I find I gravitate towards something like "intuition" when reading about climate change and cholesterol medications.<br /><br />Brown's book is marvelous. He was a good friend of RAW's and he's so knowledgable about biology and medicine that his Qs are informed and sharp, and he knows how to ask follow-ups. The researchers are often impressed with how erudite he is. I think David Jay Brown is one of the best interviewers of interesting/heretical intellectuals in the world. And yea: Pearson and Shaw are still passionate about their stuff, and winning court battles with the FDA.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-85574135729744764512012-06-20T16:02:45.758-07:002012-06-20T16:02:45.758-07:00@sue Howard: your encouragement always means a lot...@sue Howard: your encouragement always means a lot to me, so thanks.<br /><br />I'm glad your folks take CoQ10. Studying this stuff has me trying to understand cell walls, cytoskeletons, mitochondrial actions, how swallowed compounds are absorbed. the blood-brain barrier, the "good" things cholesterol does for us, and the politics of biomedical studies, and lemme tell you: I feel in over my head, but I'm learning a LOT. <br /><br />I'm still not totally convinced CoQ10 supplementation mitigates the possible side-effects of adverse reactions to statins, but the risk seems minimal at best, and it's relatively cheap. I still think there's a chance it's the ONE THING that should be given along with statins. Aun aprendo: still learning...<br /><br />With health stuff, the "marginal" sources for information seem to relate to the hardcore conspiracy culture in the sense that: the only way this info can get out there is through alternative media, tabloids, tiny presses, "cranky" radio shows, dicey-looking websites...we must bring all our epistemological powers to bear on this stuff...'cuz I think a lot of it is bonkers, but maybe some of it is VITAL. 'Tis cosmically hilarious to me. <br /><br />Most people seem to be much different than you and I: "Me doctor said to take this, so I do..." and they don't investigate any further. Just knowing that even doctors themselves will admit that what they know about a drug they're prescribing is usually 1.) told to them by the pharmaceutical representative, and 2.) what they see on TV investigative reports (they don't have the time to read medical journals!) should give anyone pause.<br /><br />Re: steroids: I had a bad asthma attack in the mid-1990s and went to the ER. The doc there gave me oral prednisone for a 5-day period. I've never been so non-inflamed in my life! I've never felt like I could breathe so easily! This must be how non-asthamtics feel all the time! It was an unbelievably miraculous effect! Then I read up on the long-term side-effects of using prednisone, and it was sort of like a description of Frankenstein's monster. Yikes! <br /><br />Steroids are indeed a favored "default" drug, and one reason - as one doctor told me, flat-out - doctors have the rare chance to make a startling, almost immediate change in the (at least temporary) well-being of their patients. Oral steroids do dramatic things very quickly: decrease inflammation and constriction especially. Too bad the long-term effects suck so much...OTOH, inhaled corticosteroids - the primary line for keeping asthma in check (I have asthma) has been pretty damned impressive for me, I must say. I had never had my asthma in check until I started on those - which also need to be taken FOREVER - but I think it's been worth it. However, I can't stop until a significantly improved med has been developed. The side effects were touted as only mildly systemic (you're inhaling the stuff into your lungs, most of it stays there, but there's bound to be SOME systemic effects..which, I have found negligible. Perhaps I bruise more easily...but then it's my choice to engage in S&M, innit?).<br /><br />We make steroids from dietary constituents, just as we do cholesterol. But when the HPA axis (hypothamaus/pituitary/adrenal glands) gets unbalanced by a drug, we fall out of homeostasis and our body temporarily (still the time period can be critical) "forgets" how to do what it did automatically. <br /><br />You probably already know this stuff, but I find in general this is less well-known. The corporate media has no interest in educating the public in a significant way; we must learn almost all of this stuff for ourselves...michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-36791894957249935142012-06-20T15:03:39.079-07:002012-06-20T15:03:39.079-07:00@Tony Smyth: John Cage! Right. Another mycophile. ...@Tony Smyth: John Cage! Right. Another mycophile. I've just begun index cards for two semi-related things: Interesting People Who Were Mycophiles, and Writers/Artists Who Loved Cats.<br /><br />I have my reasons...<br /><br />Thanks for chiming in, Mr. Smyth.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-1408014703229029192012-06-20T14:28:09.748-07:002012-06-20T14:28:09.748-07:00Great job as usual. Glad you enjoyed Our Lady of ...Great job as usual. Glad you enjoyed Our Lady of Darkness. Leiber loved I, Claudius, and I love how he incorporated the Rhodes, Tiberius stuff into his novel. <br /><br />I prefer this Leiber novel to anything by Lovecraft, much as I love Lovecraft. I consider the Lovecraft material in Illuminatus! and Our Lady of Darkness as my favorite Lovecraftian material.Eric Wagnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04312033917401203598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-48847754903120633132012-06-20T11:11:44.871-07:002012-06-20T11:11:44.871-07:00A fascinating read. I just phoned elderly relative...A fascinating read. I just phoned elderly relatives who are on statins, and they already take CoQ10 supplement, but they seemed unsure of exactly why they'd been recommended it (by the doctor, I assume).<br /><br />I seem to recall the issue being raised on the front page of a UK tabloid newspaper, of all places (statins, that is, and the pros & cons - I don't think it mentioned CoQ10).<br /><br />I was once put on a high dose of steroids (for 18 months) - it raised my blood pressure, which was supposed to come down again after getting off the steroids. It didn't work out that way, so now I'm on hypertension medication, and I'm constantly alarmed by the amount of sodium/salt that food manufacturers put in just about everything. (Salt seems to be a contributing factor in hypertension, according to many). <br /><br />When I was first put on the steroids (which seems to be a 'default' measure for a whole range of medical problems - when the doctors can't figure out what else to do), I read through the long list of its possible side-effects (some very nasty and serious). I thought: how the shitting hell is this stuff legal?! (or words to that effect).<br /><br />And reading up on hypertension is, for me, like reading about climate change. I end up with the suspicion that the 'experts' are overstating their claims to know what's going on (and what to do about it).<br /><br />I wonder what the Big Pharma profits for steroids and hypertension medication look like? Not too shabby, I suspect.<br /><br />Nice to be reminded of Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, and that book by David Jay Brown sounds like a must-read to me. Thanks for the excellent stuff, Michael...Sue Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02042694919673009972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-66036400358928115462012-06-20T07:06:10.957-07:002012-06-20T07:06:10.957-07:00Good stuff. John Cage was another who was very kee...Good stuff. John Cage was another who was very keen on mushrooms ( of all sorts)tony smythnoreply@blogger.com