Tuesday, December 13, 2011

elderfrost

elderfrost or elderfirst
you give m toss em n then to gem
elderfrost or elderfirst
mixed in tossed out writ-ten

Friday, November 25, 2011

unspeakable

there were horrible places in the earth ive seen
where rivers of blood ran green
where floods dismayed reason as though
to speak a name were treason o!

yet here on this pasture fair
now gathered lord with you ere
what seemed powerful pales in truth
nothing then but the bitterest root

nothing then could call that ill
nay not till caverns scorned are filled
with promise of deliverance
light a torch for littluns

those spayed by torture limb from limb
crimeless, cryless victim?
a soul formed in its mother's womb
now made to screamless tomb

i will not said i
not stand by
while unspeakable horrors claim my kin
even this the littlest un/

Saturday, November 5, 2011

paradoxical primitive shiver

have you ever seen someone who was burning up with fever say they were freezing?  dig a little and see, this is a primitive reflex acting at the most central level of the nervous system, it cannot be simply paradoxical, it has the value of causing the infected host to find a warmer environment to cook the bugs just a bit more, outside their preferred range ...  throw a blanket on and turn up the heat! dont give anti-inflammatories unless you have a specific pathogen with a specific antibiotic - the body and the mind are coordinating seamlessly in your patient in an adaptive fashion to save the host from worse harm in a cold place!

Monday, October 31, 2011

spinning top

so if the universe is spinning, as is suggested by the symmetry of galaxy rotations, new studies show, one might ask, what is making the universe spin?

Now we have found antimatter exists in the heavens, we could speculate the collision of these fellows with their matter counterparts creates massive waves (is this having to do with the magnetosphere, the rolling earth in its orbit, any ideas?) which push in all directions.

Observe, if there were in some parts of the universe, say the centre of the spinning top, at the eye of the storm, a huge leftover pool of antimatter from the creation event... this may be what is forcing expansion, if not spin... this may also help in understanding mass deficit equations, perhaps, if not reorganize our view more radically even than that theorem's view.

when antimatter in this giant pool meets at its outer edges with matter, it explodes, forcing the matter out from behind, like billiard balls.  That there is spin, however, remains something of a divine mystery for now...


Sunday, October 30, 2011

character

when a discussion about the thieves on the cross arises, one is tempted to pause and wonder, was it the proclamation of faith which separated the two, or was character preformed in the confession of the good thief which, upon meeting the writer of the tune it considered good conscience, sung in unison, sync.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

the exigencies of diversity

the exigencies of diversity - on the one hand the dominance of religion in institutional imperatives has been a hedge in the fight 'gainst good neighbour.  on the other, an imperative antithesis strangely wedded to this produces middlin' synthesis... dialectic ever dial

Friday, October 28, 2011

Born in the Womb

 in my mother's womb was I Born
Nine months before
the doctor caught me at the door
harvest dress't nonetheless't
foreign copper now adorn it

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Universe spinning






http://www.world-science.net/othernews/110711_spin

Apparently the universe is spinning, this perhaps explains why galaxies spin, as well as electrons. 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Chiastic Mass

When the disciples passed out bread to the thousands they sowed... cast your bread upon the waters.  Later, they received it multiplied everfold into life itself at the last supper, when Jesus made it His differentiation pont, to bring revelation as the time of quickening approached.  Judas off, each tossing about for wits in the face of primal fears, men with spears and stones to take away the boss.  Then our gang, His body, was forced out in the first wave of seeding the story of Love.

This thesis - antithetical dialogue presses out in waves from the epicentre of Love, the cross into all history spanning e en the orbits of the heavenlies themselves.  On morning sun...

Sunday, October 23, 2011

the rational function

the rational function is the summation of all endeavors, which may be classified as Aristotelian, meaning confined to the present set of local 'universals' upon which are predicated base functions describing approximately the said local universe.  But now there is after compressing all such endeavors of course an antithetical function, the irrational function, which describes the set of phenomena where local space time flux permits suspension of said local laws or application of scalar or gaussian spread around a new mean horizon, where man walks on water, where previously only point detail was discernible.  That is to say, we lay hold of the creative fire in the land between wave and particle where neutrinos rip past at infinite speeds and thus hypermassive in relation to our needs... a fishbowl a fishbowl my kingdom for a deuterium fishbowl!

∞->1

Thursday, October 20, 2011

pi

A pi-based system of numbers need not refer back to base ten.
Its use is not so linear.  By definition, it is most useful, as with the clock, for sectoring.
In the space age, when there are 8 sectors of space to be explored, the sphere contained in said space will be referred to as pi/8.  It will serve in coordinate systems also.
Since there is a way to use pi in calculations of both circle area and sphere volume, one might suppose this transcendental number is a bridge to the fourth dimension, right?
So the volume in a four-dimension pi-extended supersphere would be like 9.pi^3, and the spacetime contained something like V.t=9/4.pi^4.

time travel

T=d.sqrt(m/h.f) (from Einstein's mc2)
so theoretically it is possible to loosen c and find a determinant for displacement in time (bidirectionally)
For, if d is negative then t is negative, this is merely a descriptor at first glance but in delineating the other variables' relations we progress in our quest to unravel time travel.

One can easily understand from this equation that  when mass increases greatly, such as the gas giants, time must also increase but in a power relationship, it being more costly in mass but still buys more time.  If the vector follows through with design, large life forms must needs live longer too.

Also, with mass, small objects, ie if there were worlds within an atom true, have relatively shorter lifespans, but remember the power relationship holds again.  To find the vector that spans from our knowledge in an einstein-newtonian universe to a polyverse experiments are in order... any useful extrapolations suggested in neutrino math?

Perhaps you could begin by collapsing our maths down a bit, and lock into a common interdimensional relationship, pi.  As the point to the sphere, expanding ever 'ere, pi-based maths it is then.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Doctors Without Profits

Like DWB DWP is non-pharmaceutically-driven.  Only more so, or less so I ought to say.

The aim is to give without expecting anything in return.

Not even the cuban physician's 30 USD per month.

One

My soul met thine upon the road,
All frost-bitten and covered in gold.
And where two souls became as one,
The light a thousand times more brightly shone

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Mining

If iron settled at the formation of rocky worlds locally, it may be that lighter metals are farther away, maybe the asteroid belt has aluminum, silver, gold even...?  we need to start designing the mission.

We are on the edge of a new age of exploration, like when England took her fleets to all continents for trade.

Archaen soup?

Where would one look for extremophiles?  In our search to find evidence of adaptability thus suggesting universality or at least the triumph of our common goal, to colonize space, we look at: caves, ocean bottoms, frozen arctic cores, etc.  Why not the heart of a volcano in Africa, or the Dead Sea?

Yes the Dead Sea no one has done this yet, thoroughly have they?  If one finds even in this high salt environment microbes living and reproducing adapted to halogen systems or evidencing early divergence with genetic repositories for future endeavours ie clouds of Venus, seeding.

Wunderbar, das is gud!

We arrived via moon we will leave via moon

We came to this planet via a (the?) moon, most likely, if it were a project of an organized sort, space farmers from the heavens above, with power over space and time, gods in the sky.

We will, says Revelations, leave via a moon of sorts, the measurement of the new Jerusalem given in stadia of man, ultimately calculations showing a mass near that of the moon of earth.

Maybe this would be a suitable cloak, like Arthur Clarke suggested in elegance in his novels.

And then what, fly around forever?  No it is the Ark, too.

We will go the a new heaven and a new earth, the morning star.  How to colonize Venus?  Archaens can fix the carbon and fattening skies drop forming matted oceanic substrate, the problem of one face always presenting sunward solved by introduction of said moon?  Perhaps...

Who knows but the dreamer dreams after the Dreams of the Dreamer

Intelligent Design is True because nobody has even tried to understand or disprove it

the main reason intelligent design is true is that not one person i know has bothered to learn about it, characteristic of things true and sublime. they sustain us, and so to approach them would be to cower before the temple of the most high, a frightening prospect for the blunted conscience living in a marble palace whilst all about silent cries escape from the vents below - that is the underground, the sewage where all our filth drops and is only remembered by stench.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

paid in full

Some count that as illogic
Which takes a trip upon the quick
Tho atomes swirl, electrons dance
I can't dismiss His bless'd romance

Whence calleth He or call him it
This shoe that too all seem to fit.
Then didn't Jesu pay for it?

A formula to be suppose
which comes today tomorrow goes
forgive forgiven and found, repose

With tears we look forward to return to our home, each day salted with its own cares.  A design is spied then and again but the rubric runs it through and so gets thin our dance with the grinning clown.

Immunological defenses of the suckling infant - milk

When an infant suckles at the breast, milk may very well trickle into the trachea and coat the lining with a layer of powerful antibacterial medicines : antibodies.  When we think it is quite fascinating how design of the epiglottis permits simultaneous opening of adjacent passageways which are one-or-the-other in the adult human, it seems patently wonderful to think of this added benefit!

Especially more helpful given the immunological naivete of the infant's native defenses.  Marvelously made!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Dry Bones Sing!

Establishment of Passage
The biblical passage that will be treated here is Ezek. 37:1-14. This passage
concerns the prophet's vision of the valley of the dry bones (vv. 1-10) and its subsequent
interpretation (vv. 11-14). The integrity of the passage as a unit in the context of the book
of Ezekiel may be established as follows. The opening phrase in v. 1a, “The hand of the
Lord came upon me”1 signals the beginning of a new event, which concerns one of four
ecstatic visions found in this book.2 Blenkinsopp suggests that the first (3:22-27) and the
third (37:1-14) vision narratives in Ezekiel take place in the same valley, near the exilic
settlements. The second vision (chs. 8-11) concerns the destruction of the temple while
the fourth (chs. 40-48) envisages a new temple.3
The passage under consideration (Ezek. 37:1-14) ends with “...then you shall
know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act, says the LORD.” The promise to fulfill
the vision is sealed by the use of the Tetragrammaton, which carries a note of finality and
authority. The verse following (v. 15) denotes the start of a different section, and is
prefaced with, “The word of the LORD came to me”. The separation in chronology of the
two sections is implicit in the use of this particular phrase, which introduces a new theme.
Ezek. 37:1-14 may be considered to be a unified passage by the specificity of its
content; it is a vivid description of the re-membering and reanimation of dry bones in a
valley, followed by an interpretation of the vision. One word, rūah, is repeated
throughout the passage, lending it unity. It is variously translated as “breath”, “spirit” and
“wind”.4 The integrity of the passage as a unit seems to be the majority opinion.
1 All scripture quotations in this paper are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
2 Joseph Blenkinsopp, Ezekiel, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, vol. 21.
(Louisville: Knox Press, 1990), 170.
3 Ibid.
4 Katheryn Darr, “Ezekiel,” in The New Interpreter's Bible, vol. VI, edited by David L. Peterson
(Nashville: Abingdon, 2001), 1500.
1
Subdivisions in the Passage
Traditionally, Ezek. 37:1-14 has been separated into two parts, namely vv. 1-10
and vv. 11-14.5 The first part is the vision itself, while the second part is the
interpretation. Blenkinsopp calls this structure “(typical) for Ezekiel”.6 A more extended
approach suggests further subdivisions:7 vv. 1-3 contain the introduction and setting; vv.
4-8 contain the command to prophesy to the bones and the fulfillment of the command;
vv. 9-10 contain a second command to prophesy in order to put breath into the corpses; v.
11a provides the interpretation of the vision; vv. 11b-14 form a disputation oracle in
which a proverb of the people is followed by an oracle similar to the vision, where the
dead come to life from their graves.
A more nuanced treatment of the form and structure of this passage is given by
Allen.8 The vision (vv. 1-10) and its interpretation (vv. 11-14) consist of a series of
dialectical phrases that move from a negative statement or situation to a positive response
or resolution. For example vv. 1b-2 describes the bones strewn across the valley, which
is responded to in vv. 7b-8a, the bones coming together and being covered with sinews
and flesh. Then again, v. 8b describes the need for the breath of life in the newly-rejoined
bodies, which v. 10b resolves through the breath entering and animating the corpses into
an army. In the interpretive section (vv. 11-14), v. 11b is a disputational lament on the
part of Israel characterized as a “thesis of despair”, which is followed in vv. 12-14 by “a
counterthesis of hope”.9 Overall, the passage moves from death to life, which is symbolic
for the regathering of the Jewish people to the land.
5 W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2: A Commentary on the Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 25-48, trans. J.D. Martin,
Hermeneia (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983), 257.
6 Blenkinsopp, Ezekiel, 170.
7 Jesus A. Ruiz, “Ezekiel,” in The New International Bible Commentary: A Catholic Commentary for
the Twenty-First Century, editor William Farmer (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998), 1077.
8 Leslie C. Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 29 (Dallas: Word, 1990), 183.
9 Ibid.
2
Context of the Passage
Allen says: “There can be little doubt that this unit reflects a situation not long
after 587 B.C., when sentiments of death-like hopelessness occasioned by the shock of
Jerusalem's fall, the dissolution of Judah and the Babylonian exile must have been rife.”10
Boadt comments that Ezekiel was the first prophet to have to find a reference point of
hope in Yahweh outside of either the temple or the land, namely that of an interior
religion,11 though in this passage the reflections of an older desire for solace in a
homeland are very strong. Perhaps the land is better appreciated after the change of heart.
The feeling of despair among the exiles is best described in their own lament,
presented in v. 11b, in which they complain: “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is
lost; we are cut off completely.” Scattered, massacred and reduced in numbers, the Jews
thought themselves beyond relief. In this light the passage may be seen as Yahweh's
promise to restore the people. The dead bones represent the exiles, the dryness their lack
of vitality. The joining of bone to bone would thus symbolize a regathering, the clothing
with flesh a restoration of their power as a people functioning together.
As the passage in question is the narrative of a prophetic vision, the role of the
prophet as an “agent of renewal”12 ought to be considered. Ezekiel himself appears
integral to the process of reanimating Israel in that it is his prophesying that mediates the
miraculous change. Though he has pointed out the sins which caused their predicament,
such as idolatry, injustice and corruption,13 the prophet also serves to remind the people of
Yahweh's faithfulness. After a period of humiliation comes restoration, after
chastisement, peace.
10 Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, 184.
11 L. Boadt, Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction (New York: Paulist Press, 1984), 387 & 396.
12 Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, 188.
13 Boadt, Reading the Old Testament, 393.
3
Ezekiel's priestly background may be of some importance in understanding the
mechanics of the vision. Anatomical knowledge of sinews, flesh and skin forming in that
order upon the bones may have been expected of those in charge of ritual sacrifice.14
Boadt suggests that Ezekiel's priestly concerns are further reflected in his desire to show
the holiness of Yahweh. For example, the phrase “so that you (or they) will know that I
the Lord am God”15 occurs at the end of several of Ezekiel's oracles to show that once the
events take place, the people will recognize it as Yahweh's doing. Thus the passage under
examination contains a proof saying, as it ends with “...then you shall know that I, the
LORD, have spoken and will act, says the LORD.”
Consideration of purity is mentioned by Darr,16 who points out that as a priest,
Ezekiel would have known not to touch a dead body (Num. 19:16; cf. Ezek. 4:14). Since
the experience does not take place under normal circumstances, but rather in the form of
an ecstatic vision, the laws regarding dead bodies are set aside so the prophet may
understand the message which he has been called to preach.
Other ancient Near Eastern texts with similar imagery exist, which Greenberg
suggests may have informed Ezekiel's vision.17 An ancient Mesopotamian battle account
from Sennacherib (704 – 681 BCE) boasts: “With the bodies of (the enemy's) warriors, I
filled the plain, like grass.”18 Darr reports of a treaty curse from Esarhaddon, king of
Assyria (680 – 669 BCE):19 “May Ninurta, leader of the gods, fell you with his fierce
arrow, and fill the plain with your corpses...”20
14 Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 260.
15 Boadt, Reading the Old Testament, 393.
16 Darr, The New Interpreter's Bible, 1499.
17 Moshe Greenberg, Ezekiel 21-37, The Anchor Bible, vol. 22A (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1997),
748.
18 D. Luckenbill, The Annals of Sennacherib (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1924), 46.
19 Darr, The New Interpreter's Bible, 1499.
20 Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, ed. J. Pritchard (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1954), 538b.
4
Explanation of Terms
Blenkinsopp counts ten occurences of the word rūah in this passage.21 Depending
on the context, it is translated as “spirit”, “breath” or “wind”. First, the spirit carries
Ezekiel to the valley full of bones (v.1). He is then told to prophesy to the dead bones
that Yahweh will give them the breath they need in order to live again (vv.5-6). In vv. 9-
10, the prophet calls for the wind to give life to the corpses newly formed.22 Allen relates
the action of breathing life into a body to Gen. 2:7, “when Yahweh 'breathed' into the
human being the breath of life.”23 Allen goes on to suggest that the priestly account of
creation further informs the passage from Ezekiel, where, in Gen. 1:2 the rÅ«ah “hovered
over the raw elements of the world, waiting to transform them into a living cosmos.”24
Ezek. 37:11-14 contain a disputation oracle.25 This is a common formula in the
Book of Ezekiel, and it follows a simple pattern. First, a popular saying or proverb is
placed in the mouth of the people, as a means of issuing a complaint. For example, in
Ezek. 12:22, we read: “The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing.” The
proverb is then followed by a refutation, as in Ezek. 12:23-25, in which Yahweh promises
to fulfill every vision which Yahweh speaks and to do away with false visions. Again, in
Ezek. 18:2 we hear the lament: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's
teeth are set on edge.” To this Yahweh basically replies that the soul who sins will die for
its own fault and not for that of another. Yahweh's response to the proverb of Ezek. 18:2
also contains ample reference to the righteous demands of the law, in keeping with
Ezekiel's priestly concerns for holiness
21 Blenkinsopp, Ezekiel, 173.
22 Ibid.
23 Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, 185.
24 Ibid.
25 John Wevers, Ezekiel, The New Century Bible (New Jersey: Nelson, 1969), 18.
5
Summary of Message
37:1 The first part of the verse signals that a vision was taking place: “The hand
of the LORD came upon me and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD”. The
setting for the vision is thought to be the same as that given in Ezek. 3:22-23, a plain or a
valley near Ezekiel's exilic home in Tel-Abib.26 Zimmerli suggests that parallel
construction to Ezek. 1:1 and 8:1 indicates the passage may have contained a date at one
time.27 The “dry bones” in v.1b speak of the remains of a battle.
37:2 Ezekiel is led around the scene and notes that there are many bones and that
they are “very dry”. This speaks of despair; Darr notes that such an image is seen in
various other passages, such as Prov. 17:22:28 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a
downcast spirit dries the bones.”
37:3 Yahweh invites Ezekiel's verbal participation by asking him whether the
bones can live again, to which the prophet humbly replies, “O LORD GOD, you know.”
Belief in a general resurrection of the dead was largely unknown at the time of the vision,
as Ezekiel's restrained response demonstrates,29 but this does not mar his faith. His
deference indicates that Ezekiel believes Yahweh can do whatever Yahweh wants.
37:4-5 Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy to the bones in a fashion characterized
by Zimmerli as “the messenger formula”.30 The prophet receives an authoritative
commission from Yahweh to preach to a particular audience in Yahweh's name. The
power of Yahweh over death is mediated by the rÅ«ah: “I will cause breath to enter you,
and you shall live.”
26 Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, 184.
27 Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 259.
28 Darr, The New Interpreter's Bible, 1501.
29 Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 260.
30 Ibid.
6
37:6 Details of the reanimation are given, building on Ezekiel's priestly
knowledge of anatomy. Sinews are to be laid upon the bones, then flesh is to be added,
then skin, and finally breath. The verse concludes with “and you shall know that I am the
LORD,” making vv. 4-6 into a proof-saying.31
37:7-8a As Ezekiel follows the command to prophesy to the bones, exactly what
Yahweh said would happen, happens. Both sight and sound32 testify to the miracle as the
bones rattle upon coming together, then are clothed with sinews, flesh and skin.
37:8b The only missing element is the breath. Zimmerli notes that this reflects a
“dichotomistic” perspective on the creation of humans.33 Similar to the account of
creation which sees first the shape of the body, then the animation by a breath, this twostage
process makes room to display the unique power of Yahweh. It is one thing to
shape matter- even idolators make images of humans and beasts . But the life-giving
rūah is within the specific domain of the Creator. Thus a tension arises in anticipation of
the greater deed which is to follow.
37:9 Ezekiel is told to prophesy to the rūah to come from the four winds, to bid it
to enter the slain that they might live. RÅ«ah occurs several times in this verse, and is
given to mean “breath” and also “wind” or “spirit”.34 Of interest is the notion of the four
winds, which speaks of four directions, perhaps meaning everywhere. This could speak
of a general ingathering of the Israelites from the various places they had been scattered.
That this ingathering might extend beyond the Jews exiled from Judah is evidenced by
the passage following, Ezek. 37:15-28, which tells of the rejoining of all the tribes.35
31 Ibid, 261.
32 Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, 185.
33 Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 261.
34 Darr, The New Interpreter's Bible, 1498.
35 Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 273. This is not the traditional view, which deals only with the Babylonian exiles.
7
37:10 The rūah goes into the bodies at the prophet's word and the dead are made
to live again, forming “a vast multitude.” Zimmerli notes that the phrase “stood on their
feet” here means “the regaining of wakeful vitality”, as in Ezek. 2:1f and Ezek. 3:24.36
37:11 A new section is prefaced by the address, “Mortal”, in which the
interpretation of the preceding vision is given. The disputation formula is initiated as
Yahweh quotes a proverb of the people: “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost;
we are cut off completely.” The bones in the vision of vv.1-10 are now given to be
explicitly symbolic for the people.37 Scattered and exiled, they were despairing not only
of nationhood but also of individual existence. Restoration would be a miracle.
37:12 The previous image is interpreted by a second one, in which the dead are
brought out of graves, perhaps symbolic for the foreign lands they are living in. Instead
of death in the graves of Babylon, Assyria and Egypt, the people are given the promise
that they will be restored to the land in terms similar to the Exodus.38
37:13 Yahweh responds to the proverb from v. 11 with an oracle of salvation.39
A proof saying follows the formula of action and recognition, though the order is reversed
here: “you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves”. This seems to be a
deliberate echo of vv. 4-6, and it helps to resolve the disputation.
37:14 This verse is held by some to be a redaction founded on the reiteration of
rūah.40 Here it is specifically given as Yahweh's spirit, in contrast to the ambiguity of its
usage in the preceding verses. Zimmerli suggests that this denotes a promise of deepened
fellowship related to the inner transformation mentioned in Ezek. 36:26.41
36 Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 262.
37 Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, 186.
38 Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 263. Again, this is not the traditional view of Ezek. 37:1-14. See 35.
39 Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, 186.
40 Ibid, 187.
41 Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 263.
8
Ezek. 37:1-14 in Relation to the Larger Work
The vision of the valley of the dry bones builds upon the desperate situation of
events preceding the vision itself. On the one hand, Ezekiel had been deported to
Babylon from Judah with King Jehoiachin around 598 BCE.42 On the other hand,
Jerusalem was seiged and its temple destroyed aound 586 BCE.43 The vision therefore
adequately describes the state of affairs for the Jews as being one seemingly without
hope. They were scattered about as the bones, their vitality drained.
The vision also relates to events to follow, which are described in other Old
Testament books, such as Ezra, and Second Isaiah. In the vision, Yahweh promises to
gather the scattered Jews and to restore them to their homeland. Jeremiah had already
prophesied that the exile would last but a few generations (Jer. 29). We begin to see the
fulfillment of the prophecies of restoration during the time of Ezra, around 538 BCE,
with Cyrus' decree (Ezra 1:4). Henry likens the return of the exiles to the Exodus: “...the
captives got their effects about them, and the men of their place helped them with silver,
and gold, and whatever they needed for their remove.”44 Just as the Egyptians gave riches
to the fleeing Israelites, Cyrus gave what was necessary to rebuild the temple, putting
flesh and skin on the bones, as it were. A consideration of the language used in
describing the putting on of flesh on the bones brings the same reflections: “The Hebrew
verb ('lh) is one of those that the biblical tradition uses to speak of the 'coming out of
Egypt' and is used here intentionally... it is not surprising that Ezekiel sees the plight of
his people in the light of the first exodus.”45
42 W. Eichrodt, Ezekiel, Old Testament Library, translated by C. Quin (London: SCM, 1970), 52.
43 Boadt, Reading the Old Testament, 390.
44 Matthew Henry, “Ezekiel 37,” in Commentary on the Whole Bible. Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
Available online at: http://www.ccel.org/h/henry/mhc2/ MHC26037.HTM. Accessed March 11, 2005.
45 Jesus A. Ruiz, “Ezekiel,” in The New International Bible Commentary: A Catholic Commentary for the
Twenty-First Century, edited by William Farmer (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998), 1078.
9
Within the Book of Ezekiel, in the material immediately surrounding the vision,
the theme of restoration is repeated. For example, in Ezek. 36:16-38, Yahweh explains
that the tribulation the people are experiencing is the result of their own sins. However,
for the sake of Yahweh's name, Yahweh promises to give them new hearts freely and to
bring them back to the land. This same attitude of gift is evidenced in the vision of Ezek.
37:1-14, as no conditions are placed on the revivification of the bones. It is an act of
divine mercy.46 In the material following the vision, Yahweh foretells of the regathering
of Israel to Judah as Ezekiel is made to join two sticks together in a symbolic act (Ezek.
37:15-28). The regathering of the people therefore seems to affect more than the
deportees from Judah alone. It concerns “the whole house of Israel” (Ezek. 37:11).
Additional Issues
Block asks the question, “What influence did Ezekiel 37 have on the growth of the
belief in a general eschatological resurrection for all humankind?”47 He points out that
such a belief occurs in the Old Testament only in Dan. 12:2, but that the early church
fathers employed the vision of the valley of the dry bones frequently in their writings on
the general resurrection.48 Whether such an appropriation of the text is warranted in light
of historical criticism is a difficult question; many scholars might not allow for it. What
is sure is that the vision of the valley of the dry bones was originally meant to provide a
vivid metaphor for the regathering of the Jews to their land. It must have seemed an
incredible thing to the audience of Ezekiel's time, as they were in deep despair. It
certainly provides a powerful image for modern hopes of rising from the dead as well.
46 Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 266.
47 Daniel Block, The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 25-48, The New International Commentary on the Old
Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 388.
48 Ibid, 390.
10
Bibliography
Allen, Leslie C., Ezekiel 20-48. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 29. Dallas: Word,
1990.
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, edited by. J. Pritchard, 538b.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954.
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. Ezekiel. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and
Preaching, vol. 21. Louisville: Knox Press, 1990.
Block, Daniel. The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 25-48. The New International
Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
Boadt, Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction. New York: Paulist
Press, 1984.
Darr, Katheryn. “Ezekiel.” In The New Interpreter's Bible, vol. VI., edited by David L.
Peterson, 1075-1607. Nashville: Abingdon, 2001.
Eichrodt, W. Ezekiel. Old Testament Library. Translated by C. Quin. London: SCM,
1970.
Greenberg, Moshe. Ezekiel 21-37. The Anchor Bible, vol. 22A. Garden City, N.Y.:
Doubleday, 1997.
Henry, Matthew. “Ezekiel 37.” In Commentary on the Whole Bible. Christian Classics
Ethereal Library. Available online at: http://www.ccel.org/h/henry/mhc2/
MHC26037.HTM. Accessed March 11, 2005.
Luckenbill, D. The Annals of Sennacherib. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1924.
New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Nashville: Catholic Bible Press, 1990.
Ruiz, Jesus A. “Ezekiel.” In The International Bible Commentary: A Catholic
Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, edited by William Farmer, 1050-1084..
Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998.
Wevers, John. Ezekiel. The Century Bible. London: Nelson, 1969.
Zimmerli, Walther. Ezekiel 2: A Commentary on the Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 25-48.
Translated by J.D. Martin, Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Africa




G                 C   
Africa don’t shed no tears
G                        D
Wonderin at the comforts here
G               C
Am I really better off
D                G
Or should I envy you?


India I pray for you
Thinkin it’s we’re the blessed few
But the light that’s in your eyes
Does all my blessedness despise


China you turn my head (take my breath)
Coz you heal the sick and raise the dead
I’m not too happy with the power of my faith
Could I have a little bit of yours instead?



Chorus:           C                             G             D
I suppose that we’re all the same x 2
                        No my colour brings me no shame
                        I suppose that we’re all the same


Canada well you shelter me
Clothe you feed and all for free
One of these days I’d like to hear you say
Not ours but God’s be the glory


Israel well you was the first
To receive God’s blessing and not the curse
Open your eyes and receive the feast
Of our Lord Yahshua’s mercy

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Venus accelerator

It is 2023, the probe from Venus has returned, bearing cryogenically stored samples of the atmosphere of our sister planet.  Euroteam has won the prize and ships it off to be examined under greatest precaution.  These may be visitors from another biosphere who are capable of anything, mutating our planet's biosphere to suit themselvcs... if there is a universal raw tooth and bloody claw, it may be in the vial marked Venus Probe Atmospheric Sample Delta-11...

But the fun in us speculates superhuman powers, vigor, and mastery over time and thus over all space at once.  When song and singer alike burst forth from union in the gift of Life.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Dit-il Diderot?

Quand dit-il. Diderot,
Tant que je sais,
Tant que j'ose
Me revere me reverant
Desespere quand ou qui o comment

Commande, moi ce torrent?
Ce ne'espere-pas que sera que seront
Moi je ne m'on fous paix ne mon fou post

Friday, September 30, 2011

Not what is happening with us, as the debate between Luther and Catholic scholars goes, not to look merely at the man and see if the coating of grace effaces the sloppy soul underneath - gold-covered turds some said once.

No, the question itself must go further, one cannot answer whether the soul itself is changed and changing through ongoing conversion and grace intermixed with primitive learning energies called will and mind and freedom until one sees what exactly happened at the cross.

Did Jesus merely put on the guise of taking our sin, or did he actually -ghastly thought- become a sinner?

It may seem like semantics, no, to say such words without context.  parse with me briefly.  Look here, there is a stain on your soul, you unregenerate, living in the filth of your ancestry.                          

But what, flesh is made by spirit spoken into existence at the dawn...

If Jesus did not become a sinner (or sin itself), then we are merely turds disguised in manipulations of biblical text spawned for a moment, capable of such atrocity because we have failed to live the command - LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR!

But if he did, truly became sin itself, the holy father truly had to look away and then the son fell to hell itself, but there seeing in himself and in those gathered there in masses stricken, the light shone on and on and on...

"Come with me!" he broke in, let us go and see the world outside these caves!  You are living shadows, the reality of your self is in the light, full-grown and capable like the day you were made in the plan above and beyond, for all time and all times.

Have a crumb.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Kekule, eureka

In mapping the brain, scientists suggested that topographically, body parts can be related most intimately.

One might ask along a sort of Eastern trajectory of thought, whether it may be worth mapping out similar relations to other paired structures in the body?

For example, the lungs.  Shrink them a bit, compact into cranium and you have a brain, no less,. with various regions, folds and lobelets.

How would one tag a molecule, insert it into a lobe and then use imaging to see where it ends up, lobelet by lobelet, may there be a pattern, none, is it worth finding out, to sharpen our focus in targeted therapeutics?

So too with kidneys, ovaries, testicles, all paired structures.  One might look for specific vessels going to and fro between specimens, has one begun charting this network of nervelets, venules and arterioles?

What experiment could help delineate this, one would start with the friendly dog I imagine...

Medicine for thought...

Friday, September 9, 2011

No SOund?

Those who will not listen
claim there is

                                                                  no sound

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Graph This!

One wonders if the collapsing economy may be in part due to the shift from commercial-heavy traditional cable television-based entertainment patterns to internet-based ones, where streamlining extra content is an art, if not a survival token.

Thus, if Fred Banes is not watching "Crumbs" or whatever his favorite show is this month on Fox via Cogeco, he is more than likely watching the last three episodes on the internet, without ads (he larges the video box).

So the less ads Fred sees, the less he buys, the less the economy churns on...





Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Holy Conscience

If God be resident within the breast of believers then all is forgiven, only for the sake of conscience I will not grieve... is this a parrying-point, a rallying-cry exclusive to the lonely sinner?

Look on, then, and see what God has done in me and think that being thus renewed by new covenant not based on works of man but on love divine, offered free, what remains is but a nature given to gathering.

Sensitivity will not tread upon another's dread, and yet woven into this creed is a sort of guarantee that makes it thus kosher (to me), and this baing said I am free.

Apostolic see has decreed inviolable that which seems appliable to my circumstance as surely there is a fit to this set of nuances which formed my being and my reaction is thus geared in golden reason true for me (not too you?)...

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Saturday, August 6, 2011

New Reflex: Test This!

I was massaging my head gently with my android radio tuned into BBC while strains of Prokofiev quieted my wisdom.  I noticed that at the top of my head (bottom of the egg) rotation of the android to the left or the right provided a good estimation of lateralization.  My right it seems is less sensitive than my left.

I assumed this might be a good way to detect class, if not type of hearing loss (mild, moderate, marked).

Then, moving down to my forehead, I did the same maneuver: turned to the right then the left, positioning the p[hone's speaker closer to the right or the left.  I noticed that on my left, which is more sensitive, the amplification of sound was accompanied by a facial tug, in me a raising of the eyebrows, which was larger on the left than a similar reflex on the right.  Video capture might be a good way to quantify this effect.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Lemony

I dunno about apple stuff, I mean come on, retinal scan... wasn't it pingerprint scanning that led to the demise of ibm?

watch out, this little bumblebee wont fly past mr job's masonic floats.  puff...

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Little things


I have been thinking about the little things in life a bit more lately. It suits me to be at home and to work at my own pace, with wonder peering up at the world, often a step ahead of my awarenesses. Two kids in tow – a good start to any day, lots to catch up on each day.
I am working on my tech savvy, wondering if the iphone 4 with video conferencing makes data king, after all. And thinking that, what the hey, throw in an ipad (or ifad if you please) I lull about the latest fount of wisdom concocted by man in his quest to be distracted from inner savagery.

Today, in the garden, I was captivated by a strange colony of what appeared to be caterpillars in a cocoon, spanning the edges of my wife's prized weeping mulberry. Observation, the key passed on to us as foundational to hypothesis and conjecture, Aristotle would have it. And what a myriad of mannerisms and types were there, ready to be indexed, analyzed, sorted and spindled out for others to share on cell cam.

Treasures in heaven.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Watching, Watched


Independent learning – not as bad as it seemed when I was younger and more necessary of late. Sifting through various streams of data, layers of common science fleeting and touchstone-like in quality – I hang there between the paragraphs. Halfway through Cecil's it seems a hard thing to press on, some subspecialties not quite ringing a familiar clinical bell. Articles gleaned while pacing the hall on off hours seem the proper program for a man wearing multiple hats.
I have been trying to get a subscription to Up-to-Date. Queen's residents are given a school license (!). After mucking about in other online sources like eMedicine, to which my former Family Medicine preceptor referred in defiance of the Wikipedia trend of neophytes like me, I have been gleaning through various information providers like Skyscape, who charge a per-text usage fee. But when it came down to reading a meaningful piece on PFO, which my son has been charged with, I found the depth of Up-to-Date reassuring.
Now to fine-tune my outward signs of not texting during rounds etc. Do I log into Up-to-Date at a convenient terminal for others to look in over my shoulder? What if I have a patient in my peripheral monitoring and I am pacing the hall for some air momentarily? Might I not apply my finger to my touchscreen and flip through the latest evidence-based guidelines? Perhaps this is foreign to some but with IBM's medbot on the horizon, I am steered back to grow more in the gestalt through gathering of thread.

Monday, July 11, 2011

What's the Crime in Love?

Love from across the table or in the room seems so commonplace that we secure ourselves to its steely grin and grip the rails and we descend to the underbelly of reason.  But fragrant there, what whiff of air, of peace and non-betrayal?  Not here your drops of teary gift not now your ensconc'ed writ - not that unsacred lit.

If God be perventure there then season't with elonic ale and graft it on to your display that grace is grace yet greas'd i may unfit for seasoning and share a fit of grace often hardened it.

What princes seal their fate anon and kindling deeper deeper don their frailties in an hour and fright destroyed defend the light

Friday, June 17, 2011

Client-Centred Therapy


Q: What would be helpful in Client-Centred Therapy for a directee?
A: Client-centred therapy aims to avoid placing the therapist in an authoritative stance, hoping instead to achieve actualization within the client by nurturing what is “real” in his or her feeling-life. Theoretically, then, the organismic self is one's authentic self, operating at both the universal and individualistic level. Every person's viewpoint is valid as being the product of his or her experiences and internal structure.
Spiritual direction might gain from this approach in several ways. There is a strong intersection at the conceptual level between the Rogerian affirmation of the inner self and the biblical doctrine of the Christ within. By helping the client or the directee to get in touch with this “inner voice”, the therapist or the director enables the other to access personal resources as a means to wholeness, thus bypassing the introduction of any value-system which might be imposed from without.
The search for authenticity coincides with the doctrine of “one body, many parts”; all are individuals, all are unique, all are validated. The need to homogenize all neurotic experience as, for example, sexual frustration, is bypassed, as is the necessity of nurturing the shadow-self.
The therapist is encouraged to express genuine feelings, too, as an example to the client. In direction, this might be translated into the director's simultaneously pursuing his or her own relationship with the inner Christ in addition to nurturing the same in the directee. By keeping a prayerful attitude the director will become sensitive to key elements in the directee's own repertoire of spiritual experiences. The moments of most profound joy and ecstasy are grounded in communication with the divine, thus classifying them as genuine Rogerian feelings.
The overlap with Christian ideals is evident in the following directive for the client-centred therapist: “The valuing process is understood to move toward goodwill, positive regard, understanding, love and fellow-feeling...” (Barton, 182). This approach bypasses any judgmental attitude or authoritarian structure, bringing the therapist to the level of a servant. This sits well with the approach given in spiritual direction, as the director serves to foster a dialogue between the directee and the Lord, not between his or her own beliefs and the directee's unformed or neurotic self.
The valuation of feelings is further enhanced through mirroring. Empathy with the directee will encourage him or her to explore their deeper feelings in greater depth- “laugh with those who laugh, cry with those who cry” (Rom. 12:15).

Thursday, June 16, 2011

NDEs

Near-death-experiences, or NDEs are interesting in that people often see and hear the same type of thing.  Most report some kind of tunnel with a bright light at the end, and although skeptics claim this is physiological only, owing to an optic nerve effect, what follows is not so easily reduced to small-box paradigm.

NDEers commonly report a life review, as well as having expansive knowledge of everything they ever wanted to know.  Wonderfully, these visions usually involve meeting Jesus, whom they describe as a being of light, a person of infinite love and wisdom.  Some will also have an experience of loved ones who have gone on before.

Some conservatives who take only those spiritual experiences given in the Bible as genuine and dismiss all others as demonic neglect to understand that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  If He spoke to people in the past to inspire and comfort, He does so as often as is prescribed to current sufferers.  We are not unwise to test the fruits, however.

Yet when these people return and are filled with zeal for souls and a desire to make amends in their own accounts, one cannot dampen the fire.  What may prove most convincing to the Sadducaic lot (who deny angels or the resurrection, etc.) may be vivid descriptions of the subject while out-of-the body.  People are often able to recount the surgeon's attire and actions minutely, although they had been put under prior to such activity.  In one case, a woman was clinically brain dead for an hour but later astounded the medical staff by providing a graphic description of the entire brain surgery she underwent.

To those who love and fear God such tales serve to mark the path to higher reality.  They remind us that our lives in the present will be revealed in glory and help to live to that end.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Antichrist in Hollywood: 4400

After watching 3 seasons of "The 4400" I was distressed to see yet another antichrist in Hollywood drama.
Obviously a take on the 144000 of Revelation the show spins up an array of supernatural people set to rule the world by force.  Their leader is Jordan Collier (note 'JC'), who, as predicted in the Bible, gets killed and comes back to life.  His new image is exactly the type of fraud people will fall for, beard and long hair.  The only problem is, Mr. Collier is a lawless man.  He is a fornicator, as established in the first season.  He lies.  He is a murderer.  He is a thief.  He also charges money for one of his proteges to heal the sick.  He also lives an opulent lifestyle and has political ambitions.  The show is clearly trying to prepare those who are unfamiliar with Scripture for such an antichrist...

Sadly people will fall for this type of superficial presentation.  There is a former traffic policeman from Russia who has tens of thousands of followers in Siberia, his main claim to fame, apparently just the 'look' - beard, long hair and a robe.  Scripture warns many false prophets will come in the end, even claiming to be Messiah.  But He will come as lightning in the sky, and we are not to seek him in secret rooms, or in the desert.  The dead will rise when Jesus returns.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Don't swallow

As a parent I recently read that toothpaste is dangerous, and this concerned me.  Really dangerous.  A 3-year-old reportedly swallowed a pea-sized dollop of paste and later died in the ER.  The acidity of fluoride is too powerful, yet the makers know kids will use it more often if the flavour is like bubble gum.

It got me thinking then, if ulcers are so common, could it be due to the minute amounts of ingested toothpaste which slowly act on the mucosal lining of the stomach over years?  Not long ago a doctor astonished medical science by proving many stomach problems are due to a simple bacterium, H. Pylori.  The makers of proton-pump inhibitors keep much of the medical community in the dark still but I can happily report that after telling my physician straight up, give me the antibiotics, my heartburn is gone for good.

But if the picture is complicated by fluoride in toothpaste, beware... don't swallow even the littlest bit after brushing.  Rinse well! 

Friday, May 6, 2011

Threads of Reality

What is reality?  If you follow the Bible it seems there is more going on around us than meets the eye... angels surrounded Elisha and his servant but they were only made visible after prayer for revelation.  Quantum physics postulates a universe of infinite possibilities, where an electron has a chance to be at the far reaches of the galaxy.

What is free will, what is determinism?  Are these only compatible in a multiverse, with the soul surfing along one of an infinity of equally-'real' paths?  And what does it matter which way we go?

We read in Scripture that what we do will be made plain in the light of day, that day that is Jesus Christ revealed.  Some will have wood, hay or stubble burned away to reveal gold, silver and precious gems, works of love done in faith.  Others may not enter into the realm of eternity at all, having preferred to live in darkness whilst the light of life was held out day by day, moment by moment.

Often one feels as if one is being nudged along, guided to a righteous path, both in the action of the rational mind, or the conscience, as well as in circumstance which seems beyond the ordinary.  Deja vu, divine appointments, miracles take place every day, if we would take the cues offered to us.

Amidst the chaos there is a still, silent voice, prompting us 'this is the way, go in it'.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Mark of the Beast, RFIDs, New World Order

Why hasn't Hollywood put out a movie based on the warning in Revelation, that anyone who takes the mark of the beast, 666, for buying and selling, in their right hand or their forehead, will suffer torment and hell?
Instead, we see more and more steady desensitization to these very technologies on television and in movies: spy heroes getting their hands scanned, and retinal scans... and consequently airports have sneaked it into real life, under the rhetoric of security.

Our own Canadian twenty, for those who live under the illusion that we are somehow free from the taint of One World Order and the coming reign of antichrist, reveals our treasury's complicity with this pernicious but inevitable evil.  Look at the top right hand of any twenty in Canada and see three sets of raised bumps, like die faces, three sets of six dots: 6-6-6.  Sure, they tell us it's for blind people who can't read braille.. like the average canadian is a complete fool.

If anyone cares and has the resources, make a big screen film about the mark of the beast, microchip implants, etc.  The people need a warning, the signs are getting more frequent: wars, rumours of wars, earthquakes... now we need famines and diseases... they are not too far off, it is a play being played out scene by scene.

Resist the mark and you will be labeled a terrorist, an enemy of the state.  But take the mark and sores will break out on your body and the curse of God will damn you to hell for eternity.  It's better to get beheaded than to suffer God's wrath.  Or maybe Christians who are found worthy will escape the great tribulation.  Pray and watch, the time drawing near.

If there is indeed a pole reversal coming next year with the galactic planar transit, the skies could very well melt with a fervent heat, our magnetic shields no longer protecting us from the solar winds.  Don't scoff at the scriptures or prophecy, only a fool would take the broad path.  Be different and live!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Expanding Earth

Tectonic theory cannot explain perfectly why all the continents fit together not just into a Pangaea-like island, but into a smaller sphere, with all edges meeting.

The logical answer is in an expanding earth theory - work backwards and you will have a much smaller planet, with all sides of all continents fitting together.

But, the skeptic answers, what causes the earth to expand?  The straw man is there has to be more mass falling on the earth from the sky, but there does not seem to be enough by current measurements.

But if the earth's core is hot and this causes the expansion and cooling, it would not only cause separation of plates but it would do so in a manner which just as easily explains their movements.

The challenge of course is to measure the growth - can anyone spare a few satellites?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

New Farmville Challenge

If social engineering is accomplished these days by the television we feed our kids, the future will be full of autoregulating independent thinker bots, and just like the slave-races of old and those enslaved by the present, they may take offense at our calling them thus, good programming mimicking insensery at its best...

Our children they will be the ones to harvest skins of distant ethers... guiding flying piloting remotely arms to scathers, suns filled with golden dew, liquid helium to fuel the shoe.

Apprastic approstick a prostitue maketh that identified maketh me too?

Wake Up

Hello, it's raining... maccabeean plots shifting gods animals afar rendering darker darker dark.
Time to get up eat your cheerios and fight the good war - lost sight of a star though ours is near.
Make it grape juice please I'm starving are you lost indeed... in theme.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Islam is Bankrupt

If Islam were a bank it would be bankrupt, a scandal no worse than the housing shortfalls...
What hope is there when moderates remain indifferent to fountains of life within the walls?
I shed my hearts for heart of fire, lift the rod alighted ire, cooked no bathed in bloods to be;
Could it have been meant for me?

Fashions

After the apes took to covering themselves fashion dictated for ages, what entwines the mind is where temperatures in one zone called for loose garments, and another winterized the weather to keep from violent acts yet blood raged hard against the rails of reason, called it youth we did.

Shahbaz Bhatti A Martyr and a Crown

He spread the word, among the mighty about the plight of the poorest of the poor, a persecuted religious minority living in a nation adrift on a sea of worry.

His sacrifice was known to him in advance, perhaps to him it was a great orchestration unfolding as his own foretold.  His was a voice that reached Capital Hill, Parliament Hill and after death the very hills themselves.

He took on the meek as a burden for share, for shame the name notwithstanding he came he cared.

Where are you my heart o where?

At Moses' feet we gather your tears.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Ice Skating for the Middle East

Why don't we look for more civilized ways to dialogue across cultures, like encouraging people to go beyond soccer, arguably the most popular because it's cheap, just grab your sneakers, hey go barefeet if you don't have enough for food, but why not set up funding for these poor kids who are obviously talented if not by virtue of skill at least so by heart. Drive could kick another notch into Gretzkying, who'll fence in an acre of land in Lahore and teach those kids to skate?

I'd love to have an All-Asian League someday, and we could sure use some Russian coaches.  Any out-of-work former Olympic athletes need a vacation in the subcontinent?

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Splenectomy related to increase in thrombotic events

In studies of veterans who underwent splenectomies, it is of note that thrombotic events increased with statistical significance.  Some think this is related to the sequestering function of the spleen, but is it not likely that nature in her providence may have an actual function for this organ?

The best guess given the above would be that spleens are essential to removing senescent blood cells from circulation... less jagged edges sticking out to draw a platelet response, less thrombotic events.  Simple.

Can anyone think of an experimental design to test this hypothesis?

In the meantime, stop taking out spleens unnecessarily!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Wormholes, Black Holes, Phasing

If one were to develop a theorem of black holes, and if one assumed that singularities permit crossing of the time barrier, then a mathematics describing the difference between what is on this side of the wormhole versus the other side might involve using phases.

One might imagine whatever is on this side of the wormhole is blue.  On the other side is red.  Does time flow backwards in red-space, is the gravitational constant different?  Imagining things as being in different phases makes approaching the problem conceptually easier.  Otherwise one might fall into the error of trying to fit that side of the black hole into this phase's physics, likely not permitted by nature.