Devil in the White City

This book was recommended to me by my brother & wife. I must admit that their description was not what compelled me to read the book. It sounds like it would be boring.

The book is about how the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago was built and run with a concurrent thread about a serial killer that lived nearby.

There were not a whole lot of grisley details about how Dr. H. H. Holmes lured and killed young women into his strange hotel. There were enough to make it pretty clear what happened, but no gratuituous violence. It was not clear to me why he was doing the killings, but that's something I could say for most serial killers or sadists. The author speculates that the doctor simply enjoyed wielding power over his victims.

The more compelling story was the World's Fair itself. The strange mix of geniuses and hard driven individuals that worked on the design and oversaw the building of the fair was a compelling picture. On one hand, they struggled against a desire by government and the public to have an amazing fair, rivaling the recent one in Paris where the Eiffel tower was built. On the other hand, they could not get approvals and decisions from most of the major players until it was almost too late. An ambitious scope of building, coupled with a shortened time scale to get it done meant the project was a pressure cooker of stress for those responsible to get it built.

My favorite part of the story was the construction of the first Ferris Wheel, which was a real monster. It was so tall, it must have been horrifying to ride. Instead of chairs, the passengers were in cars the size of railroad freight cars.

The thought I'm left with, when I finished the book is that the Fair was kind of sad. Many of the people involved were ruined by it, and the country slipped into a depression by the time it launched. The entire site was burned down shortly afterward, and even the Ferris Wheel was cut up for scrap after a few years.

Most people don't even remember much about the 1893 World's Fair, but the book is peppered with all kinds of little details about firsts that the Fair brought on. This is the place that AC power finally beat out DC power, directly shaping the world we live in today. Smaller details, like the introduction of Juicy Fruit, Cracker Jacks, Quaker Oats, Cream of Wheat, and the hamburger are sprinkled through the book.

Mostly, there is the ghostlike picture in your mind of an entire artificial city painted white, with the knowledge that it was not going to last very long that makes the fairgrounds seem like a dream.

Camouflage by Joe Haldeman

Joe Haldeman wrote one of my most favorite books, The Forever War. This was one of the books that I borrowed from my Dad's stack of paperbacks when I was in Junior High or High School. He was a big science fiction fan, subscribing to Analog magazine in addition to reading lots of paperbacks. The Forever War was one of those books that really sticks in your mind.

When I saw the book Camouflage in the library, I picked it up without considering anything beyond the author's name. I started to read it and kept thinking that it was familiar. After the second chapter, I knew I had read it before, but it was vaguely different. I stopped worrying about the deja vu feeling and just enjoyed the reading.

The book is about two aliens that have been on earth for thousands of years. They were both shapeshifters. They could change their shape and appearance. The main character was followed from his background. Haldeman painted an image of a portion of a small cluster galaxy where the stars were close and orbits of planets were continuously disrupted. His speculation was that anything that survived and evolved in this environment would have to be supremely adaptable. They would have to be almost impervious to damage, able to survive on almost any kind of food, able to regenerate their bodies, and as such, immortal. In addition to all that, they would have to be able to go dormant for long periods of time. The main character had travelled through space for millenia and crashed into the earth a couple of million years ago. His ship was embedded under a volcanic flow on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and he had assumed the shape of a Great White Shark for most of that time. He emerged onto land right before WWII and took the shape of a man that he killed on the beach. While learning to be human, he acted very un-human. Eventually, he learned how to mimic human behavior and had some adventures, including being beheaded on the Baatan Death March.

While all this is going on, there is another shapeshifter who has been playing at being human much longer. He perpetually picks a bloodthirsty and powerful character to become, like a death camp guard in WWII. He suspects that there must be another being like him somewhere and sets out to find him so he can kill the competition.

The story comes to a strange climax, and I won't spoil it more than I already have. I liked the whole concept of how to sneak through society with the increasing use of fingerprints and retinal scans. It was also interesting how the main character had to follow to a certain extent the principle of conservation of mass. To be something bigger than he was, he had to absorb mass. To be something smaller, he had to shed mass.

Where did his consciousness reside? How do you retain memories over such a long period of time? These were questions that were not answered by the novel, but the fact that I am questioning the novel as if it was an actual account tells you something about the completeness of the worlds Joe Haldeman creates.

Flu Conspiracy Theory

Anti-Government paranoia and conspiracy theories are very common right now.

I got an email from a business acquaintence as follows:

Subj: Fw: Swine Flu Vaccine

[added message]
I have no intention of taking this crap. I don't like the idea of the gov't using me as a guinea pig to test out a totally unproven and untested vaccine.

[added message]
Hello Everyone,

This came to me from a co-worker of mine ...

The note below is from a nurse friend of mine -

[added message]
Hi Everyone,
I also know Dr. Llorente, and I respect her opinion and research. If you have any doubts about whether to get a Swine Flu shot or not, please take this to your own doctor and ask them about it. Be sure to read the preventative measures that you can take on your own to prevent or protect yourself from getting the flu.

Dear Friends,

The World Health Administration is planning to administer a new swine flu vaccination on. The vaccine is to be given by a series of three injections. The first injection will be for the purpose of turning off the recipient’s immune system. The second injection will be for the purpose of loading the subject’s bodies up with the re-conditioned deadly virus organisms. And the third injection will be to turn the immune system back on for the purpose of creating a cytokine storm, which unfortunately could lead to a likely lethal blow to some of the person’s bodies.

In 1915 the pertussis vaccine became available and was widely distributed. This bacterial poison from whopping cough, called pertussis coxon, so depresses the immune system that it is used in laboratories today to turn off nutrafils and reduce white blood cell counts. Then, in 1918, US soldiers who had received the pertussis vaccine were deployed to Europe, where they were given another publically unknown vaccine. And were then exposed to a Lucite gas, which is an arsenic compound, and phosgenegas, a chlorine compound. As a result, their immune systems kicked in with an expected cytokine storm, which unexpectedly killed many of the otherwise healthy young men. This is the 1,2,3 punch that may likely come again with the “swine flu” vaccinations.

We have been conditioned on a global level to think, during a time of influenza, external microbes are our enemy. But on the overall, we are not informed that our own immune systems are potentially more lethal than the flu itself. When the body detects foreign microorganisms indicating the presence of an infection, it can respond by overprotecting the site of that infection. In its hurry to get antibodies to the infection site, the body may release and manufacture too many cytokines, creating a cytokine storm that can be fatal. For example: during a lung infection, a cytokine storm can potentially block airways and result in suffocation. This is what is often referred to as a complications in a flu. Unfortunately this is rarely made clear to the unsuspecting public. In other words, it is not the flu that may be the killer, but complications that come about through the activation of a healthy immune system.

Virus infections make antibody and antigen complexes that the body uses to protect itself. Unfortunately these complexes can clog blood vessels or overload tissue, turning the body’s immune system against itself. In the past, during a W.H.O. Study, animals with immune system’s that had been turned off were infected with lethal viruses until every single cell in their bodies were in pregnated with the virus. These animals functioned like there was nothing wrong with them because their immune system’s were so depressed that they made no effort to fight the disease. In other words, there was no immune response. The W.H.O experimenters then took their lab animals and stimulated a cell-mediated immune response, and the animals died immediately from their bodies attacking themselves in the kind of cytokine storm associated with the 1918 Spanish flu. It should be noted, that the last time the flu vaccine was distributed for the swine flu, more people died of the vaccine response that from the actual flu.

Even if this described scenario isn’t fully copied in the current “swine flu”, the new vaccine is nevertheless made with an adjuvant that may contain a material poison, salmonella, or typhoid fever toxin, along with squalene. Squalene produces auto-immunity and eventually death or severe illness in a large number of people who take 20 it.

Squalene contributed to the cascade reactions known as Gulf War Syndrome that left many soldiers with severe arthritis, fibromyalgia, lymphadenopathy, photosensitive rashes, chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, ulcers, dizziness, weakness, memory loss, seizures, severe mood changes, psychiatric problems, multiple sclerosis, and lupus.

One has to ask the obvious question: Why would our world health organization (W.H.O) be willing to risk these potential conditions on the peoples of this world? This August over 12,000 children and pregnant women will become the first to receive this untested vaccine. It should be noted, that this is not even a test for safety, but a test for dose sizes. Directly thereafter the rest of the world will receive their intended doses. Unfortunately starting with the health care givers and the most vulnerable in our societies: the children in school. Already in the US, the governments have gone so far as to mandate a fund that will allow each state to go from home to home to distribute the vaccine if needed. This depending upon the degree of the outbreak.

It is vital that you are made aware, that it has been well documented that it is often that the virus is relatively benign in our populations until the flu vaccines come out. There seems to be growing evidence that the vaccines somehow contribute to the onset of our world pandemics. Could this be because not all of the virus is quelled in the vaccines. And that once it takes up residence in some bodies, it is to some extent contagious to others. In other world, the vaccine may actually responsible for creating a widespread exposure that would other wise have been minimal. This certainly conjures up suspicions of integrity, perhaps even indicating a premeditation of intent to expose the public. Perhaps the real issue we are all facing is; will we continue to allow the big Pharma industries and the health profiteers to inspire these kinds of illnesses, for what is obviously one of the largest financial boons of any known industry in the world today.

Perhaps the best thing for all of us to do is to simply stay steady with taking Vitamin C; at least 1000 mgs with every meal. Make sure this is a buffered form of C so not to disturb the digestive system. More than than !000 mgs of the more common forms of Vitamin C could cause digestive upsets. In addition, you should consider taking at least 5000iu of Vitamin D3 every day; D3 may be your best overall defense against the flu season. If you catch the flu you can even I crease your D3 inta ke to 12,0000 ius. Also, be sure to increase your omega 3, (1200 twice a day), through a high quality fish oil or krill oil. It is possible to take a flax omega oil, but it will effect your hormones, whaihc may not be as desireable in the overall influence of your bodies health maintanence as the other forms of omega 3. Avoid all other forms of oil as much as possible. It’s not possible to illiminat all other oils, just be careful to reduce them as much as needed for your boy to stay in balance. Selenium is also very helpful in fighting back viruses, and is oftn a primary deficiency in most people’s diets. Avoid refined carbohydrates and sugar as much as possible. Trans - Resveratrol (2000 Mgs) makes it very nearly impossible for flu cells to divide and replicate themselves in your bodies, so find a good source, from outside of Germany ay be best for those of y ou in Europe: take it daily. Green tea extracts are very helpful.

Wash your hands before eating, avoid contact with sick people and wash your foods. Keep your children at home during a flu outbreak and get plenty of rest. Avoid crowds during a flu outbreak as well. And stay away from other people if you have the flu.

So.. Once again...The main reason people die from the swine flu is not from the flu itself. It is from a cytokine storm that the body creates in defense its against the flu. Cytokines inflammations, known as storms or rushes, kill by filling the lungs with excessive fluids. Cytokines are the inflammatory defense messengers that may overwhelm healthy lung tissue. If it weren’t for this immune system response to the wine flu, it would be no more dangerous than any other ordinary flu.

If you feel you a re already exposed to the flu, then you should take curcumin, (2000 mgs) right away to avoid the cytokine storm, along with Quercetin, Resveratrol and Cat’s Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) All of which are both helpful in combating the flu, and decreasing the production of the cytokine

Avoid!!! - Elederberry, Kimchi, Kambucha, and Echenacia. Sweet cold lozenges may actually contribute in worsening the flu, because of the sweets or other ingredients. These my be helpful for ordinary low level flu’s but not for the swine flu, because they increase the chance of a cytokine storm.

Please be aware an pass this information on to others,
Love and light Aaravindha

Some of this information above can be also be researched for yourself in the internet. The above information is a co mbination of research from other articles written by aware health officials, as well as some of my own insights confirmed by my Saumedika practices. I have omitted actual sources because I have edited much of the information.

Elisa Zielinski
Regional Human Resources Manager
West Coast and Pacific Northwest Region
Mohawk Industries

Notice how the entry gets really wacky at the end, with the herbal remedy rift and the "Love & Light" reference. Here's my reply:

Here are the facts on the Swine Flu

This whole email about the troop vaccine from 1918 is bogus. Over 15 million people worldwide died of the flu, and only a small percentage were troops. Troops helped spread it through their travel, as WWI was ending and everyone was being shipped home.

They are only going to have enough vaccine for about 12% of the population. It won't be a matter of being forced to take the shot, most people won't have access to it. It will go to school aged kids mostly.

This strain is one of the most easily transmissible influenza strains there are. It takes very little to get it, mostly from hand contact. Mostly school children are getting it.

It's pretty mild, only kills about 1 in 10,000 (compared to 1 in 100 of the 1918 flu). They say it should kill about as many people as the annual flu kills. It seems to be displacing the annual flu for some reason. That is, people are getting this flu rather than the seasonal flu.

It doesn't mutate much, so far. The problem is that it's a completely new strain, so people have no immunity to it. They say it should be around for the next 10 years, and the scientists speculate that it should start mutating in the 2nd or 3rd year. Hopefully, by then, if it is nasty, a significant portion of the population will be immune. If they have already had it, that should render them at least partially immune. Some will already be vaccinated. By then production of the vaccines should be such that anyone that wants a shot can get one. Non-school aged children will probably never be forced to get it, but I could see them making it mandatory for school children, like the other inoculations. They say that if only half the school children get inoculated it really makes the flu harder to spread.

There are 2 shots. A second booster shot after a couple of weeks to give full immunity. There are no extra shots to shut down the immune system.

I figure if people believe immunizations are some kind of government conspiracy, they just don't take the shots. I wouldn't be against schools requiring parents to immunize their children, as the failure to do so puts everyone else's children at risk. My advice to people that are against childhood vaccines is to home school their children in their bunker.

Gulf War Syndrome was thought to be exposure to some stored nerve agent that was blown up in bomber raids that the troops were downwind from.

I rattled all this off the top of my head simply from listening to recent Nature and Science podcasts on the Flu. It’s not hard to stay informed, but it’s also easy to listen to nonsense and not double-check the facts.

When you get down to the point where the person is telling you to take herbal supplements, that should be a big red flag about the veracity of the rest of the information. Just remember that we never did really land on the moon, the mob assassinated JFK, the holocaust never happened, global warming is a government hoax, and there are aliens in area 54. Then crawl back into your bunker or leave incoherent comments on blogs and news postings. You are a proud patriotic American!

Taliban Office

Here's my idea for a new movie or TV show.

What would it look like if the terrorists were plagued with as much incompetence as an American Corporation.

Every time they tried to set up a hit, they'd end up in the wrong place without any bombs or explosives. There would be a leader that everyone secretly despised and a boot-licking jackass that everyone could barely put up with.

When their plots failed, they would put graffiti on a wall or something minimally destructive and equally lame and call it a major victory.

Feel free to use the idea, I just want to see it in video.