August 27, 2007

No matter your views on Larry Flint, you got to give him credit for exposing the sexual deprivation that seems to take hold of most people in this world. We are sexual animals, from the moment we hit puberty, we have a deep desire to procreate, to deny this is to deny our heritage.

Larry Flint goes after the two faced

What I respect about Larry Flint is that during election time, he exposes via a million dollar “informer” bounty, how two faced some politicians really are. He is a self-described sexual animal and unlike most of us, very proud of the footprint he has had on American culture. Some professional politicians preach abstinence and religious doctrine while secretly having affairs with people who are sometimes of the same sex. What I find very interesting is that these two faced politicians, once discovered, admit to their sin and ask God for forgiveness (????). Yet, in all likely hood, would have kept doing what they where caught doing otherwise, a forced apology is the most insincere of all. This happens globally by the way, two faced politicians who pass laws condoning their own secretive acts isn’t anything new from China to Italy.

Sex is what we are

A sad reality is that we have all been brainwashed by religious doctrine of various degrees that to express our sexuality is evil, gay or straight, if you decide to enjoy the body had been produced by the love of your parents, your going straight to Hell. The Romans where extremely liberal with their sexuality, with bath houses and even a very open tolerance for diverse sexual behaviors yet our “modern society” is intent on depriving us of what we really are.

I understand fully the predominance of sexually transmitted diseases (including aids and herpes for which there is no cure) but a mix of extreme selectiveness and precautionary weapons can exponentially reduce the risks (though not 100%) of acquiring these true evils. There are HIV Disease test kits available on the market (http://blog.myfoodcount.com/the-60-second-hiv-disease-test/), blood tests and physical protection available just about anywhere. The last thing you want is to regret a few hours of fun for the rest of your life.

Sobering Stats

The one thing that keeps me in check is this fact, 1:250 which represents the ratio of HIV Disease infection and 1:4 which represents the ratio of Herpes infected individuals within the United States. Each country is in various states of denial about their own figures but assuming these ratios represent minimum exposure rates around the world is a very safe bet.

Weapon of Knowledge

What is the point of this article? Well, I want to expose the one weapon that politicians and the religious community are intent on keeping secret, that of knowledge. We need to educate our children, yes, children, from the moment they say their first words about sex. There is NOTHING evil, bad, disgusting or immoral about sex. Knowledge has been shown to give power to those who otherwise would have done regretful behaviors, yet, the powers that be are intent on keeping sexual taboos from being openly discussed. Hiding behind the Quran, Bible, cultural taboos or just plain ignorance is doing our species a great disservice in the long run.

Think of it this way, all the people who tell the great religious lessons of the past where the product of sex, even if you believe in Virgin Births, you cannot deny that the mother of Jesus was the product of sexual behavior. I bet you never thought of sex that way before huh?

The Bottom Line

The sexual behavior of our species needs to be moderated by knowledge, not ignorance in order to stand the test of time.

Buzzvia
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/10/vitter.madam/index.html

Canada, like many of the worlds countries, suffers from a substance abuse problem among a certain subset of its population. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry recently published a paper based off the research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

The Results

• About 11% of Canadians have a problem with drug and alcohol abuse, this represents over three million people is equivalent to the entire population of the GTA!
• Substance abuse is more prevalent in mid-sized cities then rural or larger cities
• substances included in this study are alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, crack, speed, ecstasy, hallucinogens, glue, gasoline or solvents, heroin and steroids.
• Study benefited from a 77% response rate for a total sampling size of just under 37 thousand households
• British Columbia, Alberta had a substance abuse rate of about 13%
• Saskatchewan had a substance abuse rate of just over 14%
• Manitoba had a substance abuse rate of 13.5%
• Ontario had a substance abuse rate of just over 10%
• Quebec had a substance abuse rate of just over 9%
• New Brunswick had a substance abuse rate of just over 12%
• Nova Scotia had a substance abuse rate of just under 14%
• PEI (Prince Edward Island) had a substance abuse rate just under 10%
• Newfoundland/Labrador had a substance abuse rate of just under 13%

What does this all mean?

Statistically, considering the sample size, I would say these results are within a +/- range of a few percentage points, which essentially nullifies province by province comparisons. Generally, 11% of us Crazy Canucks enjoy a range of substances from alcohol to heroin to get us through yet another mind numbing day. I have lost both of my sisters to substance abuse and from that experience, I can easily say that those who take drugs are in deep denial to say the least (this includes tobacco users). Put another way, I doubt the foundations of this study if they simply relied on honest answers. You cannot expect an honest answer from a crook relative to how many items they stole anymore then you can expect an honest answer from a drug abuser high on self-denial.

The Bottom Line

Don’t drink, don’t smoke and don’t inject substances not given to you by a medical professional, otherwise, you WILL get more then you bargained for.

Buzzvia
http://www.camh.net/News_events/News_releases_and_media_advisories_and_backgrounders/addiction_geographical_rates.html

Larval (Maggot) Wound Therapy, also known as Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT), involves using maggots to clean a wound. Maggots aren’t these evil little worms that eat people alive, they actually benefit the victim (and themselves) by feeding off dead flesh. Let me repeat, they only eat what is dead, they have no interest in live tissues… hence their incredible value at cleaning up infections.

History of Maggot Therapy

Maggot therapy isn’t anything new, flies have been directly applying this therapy on just about every living thing since the dawn of time, what is new, is we finally realized the benefits. Sometimes humans are slow to realize that what may seem nauseating to some, is actually mother natures way of helping us get over some battle damage. Using maggots as wound vacuum cleaners all started with anecdotal evidence by field surgeons during war that soldiers who had maggot infestations in their wounds seemed to recover quicker and better then those them. In fact, when antibacterial medicines and other modern techniques fail, maggot infections can help those who otherwise would have had to suffer extreme medical procedures to save their lives.

What are maggots?

Maggots are the larva stage of the regular house fly and is the second of four life cycle stages (after egg, before pupa). Once the fly deposits its eggs, the maggot emerges within a day and it eats until it’s ready to enter the third life cycle stage. After the maggot has eaten it’s fill, it then proceeds to a moist area away from the food source to enter the pupa state, which then leads to the emergence of the fly.

The bad maggots

Although maggots are only interested in dead flesh, they sometimes get under the skin of animals and even humans, changing from a beneficial insect to one that is parasitic. These type of infestations, known as myiasis, are usually caused by direct interactions with maggot infestations, such as putting your hand in rotting garbage. Flies don’t normally deposit eggs on living things unless they have an open sore or wound.

Summary

This is a rather graphic video, so I have posted it at the bottom of this summary:

• Medicinal maggots are our best friends, they are used for improvised debridement purposes in both field and clinical settings
• the periphery of a wound is covered with a tincture of benzoil to both clean up and make the application of a hydro colloid dressing easier
• sterile nylon chiffon mesh is then applied over the wound, trapping the medicinal maggots and the dressing they reside upon in place
• sterile medicinal maggots are removed from a sterile lab container using a tongue depressor and put in the middle of a dressing
• chiffon (with dressing) is then applied directly to the wound with the maggots place in them middle of the dressing
• maggots tend to work their way out from a wound rather quickly
• waterproof neoprene tape is then applied around the entire wound (except the center of the wound to allow aeration), holding the entire dressing assembly together

The Bottom Line

Maggots are our friends, we should be so lucky to get a wound infested with them, as it could save your life if you are far away from medical facilities.

Buzzvia
http://www.ucihs.uci.edu/com/pathology/sherman/home_pg.htm