What do Tom Cruise, Jay Leno, Whoopi Goldberg, Greg Louganis, Albert Einstein, Agatha Christie & Cher all have in common? They, and many other famous people who have made a great mark on all our lives all suffered from a relatively common condition known as dyslexia.

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is thought to be a genetic condition that causes a person to have difficulty with the alphabet, whether it’s writing or reading words. It is thought that dyslexia affects 10-20% of the worlds population the literate population and 80% of dyslexics have a learning disability due to its effects.

The Three Levels of Dyslexia

There are three forms of dyslexia, the “rarest” which affects 1% of the population is due to a brain injury, it’s referred to as Acquired Dyslexia – it’s usually the mildest form of the condition.

The Two Heads of Dyslexia

Dyslexia affects the brain in two distinct ways, visually and audibly. They are not mutually exclusive, meaning a dyslexic can have both or just one at various levels of severity.

What to do if you think you suffer from dyslexia?

Probably the best thing to do is contact an association and ask them to refer you to somebody who can get you tested out for confirmation. There are many resources at your disposal, I have included a link to books, associations and famous people who also suffer from dyslexia to help you on your journey of discovery.

The Bottom Line

If you have dyslexia, it doesn’t mean you are dumb – it simply means you have a life with a few more challenges.

I was watching a very interesting documentary about electric vehicles on the Discovery channel that really opened my eyes. It helped me understand a few of the fundamentals about why our “leaders” seem so out of touch with the people they are suppose to fight for.

Electric Vehicles Background

Electric vehicle (zero emissions) where actually around before the internal combustion engine, they where cheap to run, required little maintenance and best of all, produced no pollution (sound or exhaust). The reason why internal combustion won out back in the late 1800s is because people where trying to get rid of gas, it was a waste by-product that nobody knew what to do with and was essentially being burned and dumped all over the place. Henry Ford built all of his vehicles using internal combustion engines even though his wife had an electric vehicle because he saw more profits to come from the complexities involved with internal combustion engines.

Why everybody wants them…

As mentioned earlier, electric vehicles are incredibly cheap to run for various reasons. The main one is the engine only has one moving part, have a problem with the vehicle, you don’t need to be a mechanic to figure out where it is coming from They produce no exhaust, sure nuclear and coal plants produce waste but with alternative energy coming online, this will start to hopefully be replaced with cleaner energy. They also produce little sound, imagine being able to walk next to a busy road and actually be able to have an intelligent conversation with your friend without having to yell. Electric vehicles are also very cheap to produce and mileage is equivalent to that of internal combustion (up to 300 miles range per charge). Electricity is also cheaper then gas.

Why we can’t get them…

Simply put, money. You see, because an electric vehicle has only one moving part, a very large part of an automakers business (replacement parts) would quickly dry out. All the “regular maintenance” that is needed for an internal combustion engine wouldn’t be needed, you have no fluids to replenishment, no highly corrosive agents nor any “engineered obsolete parts” that need replacing. Service departments would become huge empty rooms. This is just the tip of the ice berg, imagine all those third party distributors, manufacturers and investors who would be shut down over night. Politics and money are huge influences on government policy… JOBS!

But we got “hybrids”?

We got hybrids don’t we? You bet we do, but what are they actually buying? Automakers are selling the problems (profits) that come from an internal combustion engine without giving consumers the true benefits of electric vehicles. It is a very reluctant, half-assed “give-in” to customer demand without going all the way. They do this to protect their profits and the “combustion engine” industry. Have you ever looked at how complex those hybrids are? They need full time computers figuring out what mixture of electric vs gas is needed, the engineering is incredibly complex and the number of highly specialized parts needed to keep it all together is mind blowing. They could get rid of all this with a simple electric only engine but of course, there is no money to be made in simplicity.

Electric cars are not as good as internal combustion engine… BS!

Hate to say this but this is completely untrue, you have been brainwashed! Take for instance the GM EV1 that was introduced in California, it did 0-60 mpg in about 9 seconds, had a range of about 300 miles and GM took it off the road as soon as laws where changed. There is “The Maya” by Electrovaya which is a SUV with a range of 230 miles (top regulated speed of 80 mph) and a host of other vehicles on the road RIGHT NOW but unavailable to consumers.

Why do I not have a choice?

The technology is there, the demand is over flowing and yet, governments are unable to see the writing on the wall, we do not need this Internal Combustion —> hybrid —> electric/hydrogen transition! We want full electrics NOW.

What does this have to do with HEALTH?

Everything and anything… we have an epidemic of cancer in our society which is mostly caused by environmental factors, an epidemic of asthmas in children due to breathing polluted air, an epidemic of diabetes caused by inactivity and unhealthy habits. Tobacco products are still being sold even though it is a known carcinogen, internal combustion vehicles are still being sold although their exhaust is also a known carcinogen and we keep being forced to waste so many resources within our garbage that we are always searching for new landfills.

The Bottom Line

We need to change our mentality from one fearing change to one that welcomes the challenges that come with demographic shifts. If I had only one wish, it would be to make the word “stability” the new four letter word of the 21st century.

May 29, 2006 Update
Finally somebody made a movie about the GM fiasco in California!
http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/

You may have heard this saying over and over throughout multiple mediums, in newspapers, quoted by health shows, health industry professionals, direct sales but have you ever wondered where this came from and why it may be true?

So an “apple a day keeps the doctor away” can be summarized in modern terms as “a diet high in fiber keeps disease at bay”.