Tuesday, September 21
My Stress Test Today
One by one, we were taken in to have the radioactive isotope pushed into our IV and after wating 30 minutes, we had a 15 minute CT scan of our heart and its blood flow at rest.
Shortly after that we were taken in one by one to the treadmill area heart monitor connections were attached to our upper body, a blood pressure cuff was attacked to our left arm and we got onto a treadmill and began walking flat for a minute or so.
My nurse told me that my target heart rate was 125 becasuse of my age.
A minute or so later the treadmill's speed and incline were increased and I began to breath more deeply and my knees began to ache.
A minute or so later the treadmill's speed and incline were increased and the incline had to be 30 degrees or better, and another technician entered the room to administer another nuclear dosage once I reached my target heartrate.
By now I was really get hard to breathe and my chest hurt a little and I felt faint but no dizziness or room spinning. As I leaned on the bars because of feeling faint, I reach my target level, the dye was pushed into my IV.
The speed of the treadmill was lowered a bit but not the incline and I needed to walk another 90 seconds. I managed to find the energy to do that and when the treadmill was stopped, a chair was placed behind me and I sat down... with a plop!
It took about 2 minutes for me to begin breathing normal again but the nurse wanted me to sit for a full 5 minutes because I had felt faint.
I was taken back to the waiting area and told to eat non-healthy cheese and crackers which would assist in making the second scan turn out better.
Ten minutes later, I was in the CT scan machine and 15 minutes after that, I was walking out the door, and heading downstairs to my car. I pulled out of my parking slot at 10:00 am.
I am assuming that someone from my Cardiologist's office will call me with the results in the next few days.
We Didn't Start The Fire
Listening to the lyrics of this song brings back memories of the 60's... 70's... 80's... etc. Lyrics to songs about our past cause me to reflect upon the fact that very little has actually changed in the United States and throughout the world, except for maybe the INTERNET and TERRORISM... Millionaires and Billionaires and immigration... wages have not really increased proportionately to those of management...
- Governments start fires
- Wealthy people start fires
- Rebels start fires
- Politicians start fires
- Hatred starts fires
- Progress starts fires
- Technology starts fires
- Education starts fires
- Incompetence starts fires
- Religions start fires
- Ignorance starts fires
WHAT FIRES HAVE YOU STARTED???
The Limits of Simplicity
A bit gnomic, you might think. A bit hard to see at first how it earned its status as one of the most prized intellectual tools in scientific endeavour. But in his new book Life is Simple, Johnjoe McFadden proclaims it world-changing, “cutting through the thickets of medieval metaphysics to clear a path for modern science.” In short, this is a book of hero-worship, and just possibly McFadden has a point.
For most of us, Occam’s razor is like a country we can’t quite place on the map; we know it’s something to do with simplicity, but we’re not sure exactly what. Cited widely in science, but often misunderstood, for some it’s invaluable, hinting at profound truths about the nature of knowledge. For others it’s worse than useless. The old line attributed to HL Mencken has it that for every complicated question there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.
At its heart is the idea that simplicity can in some way help us decide between competing theories, all else being equal. “It is futile to do with more what can be done with fewer,” as William put it elsewhere. Perhaps the most persistent of the confusions is that this means simpler wins every time, against any alternative.
A more accurate paraphrasing might be “don’t add complications if you don’t have to.” That still leaves plenty of room for interpretation, not least about whether all else is ever really equal between two competing theories, giving us one of the most debated—and for my money intriguing—heuristics around. Mental shortcut or philosophical thicket? Questions about the razor’s true use and meaning abound. READ MORE
Science Behind Religion
EVEN THOUGH I was raised Catholic, for most of my adult life, I didn’t pay religion much heed. Like many scientists, I assumed it was built on opinion, conjecture, or even hope, and therefore irrelevant to my work. That work is running a psychology lab focused on finding ways to improve the human condition, using the tools of science to develop techniques that can help people meet the challenges life throws at them.
But in the 20 years since I began this work, I’ve realized that much of what psychologists and neuroscientists are finding about how to change people’s beliefs, feelings, and behaviors—how to support them when they grieve, how to help them be more ethical, how to let them find connection and happiness—echoes ideas and techniques that religions have been using for thousands of years.
David DeSteno is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and author of How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion.
Science and religion have often been at odds. But if we remove the theology—views about the nature of God, the creation of the universe, and the like—from the day-to-day practice of religious faith, the animosity in the debate evaporates. What we’re left with is a series of rituals, customs, and sentiments that are themselves the results of experiments of sorts.
David DeSteno is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and author of How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion.
Science and religion have often been at odds. But if we remove the theology—views about the nature of God, the creation of the universe, and the like—from the day-to-day practice of religious faith, the animosity in the debate evaporates. What we’re left with is a series of rituals, customs, and sentiments that are themselves the results of experiments of sorts.
Over thousands of years, these experiments, carried out in the messy thick of life as opposed to sterile labs, have led to the design of what we might call spiritual technologies—tools and processes meant to sooth, move, convince, or otherwise tweak the mind. And studying these technologies has revealed that certain parts of religious practices, even when removed from a spiritual context, are able to influence people’s minds in the measurable ways psychologists often seek.
My lab has found, for example, that having people practice Buddhist meditation for a short time makes them kinder. After only eight weeks of study with a Buddhist lama, 50 percent of those who we randomly assigned to meditate daily spontaneously helped a stranger in pain. Only 16 percent of those who didn’t meditate did the same. (In reality, the stranger was an actor we hired to use crutches and wear a removable foot cast while trying to find a seat in a crowded room.)
My lab has found, for example, that having people practice Buddhist meditation for a short time makes them kinder. After only eight weeks of study with a Buddhist lama, 50 percent of those who we randomly assigned to meditate daily spontaneously helped a stranger in pain. Only 16 percent of those who didn’t meditate did the same. (In reality, the stranger was an actor we hired to use crutches and wear a removable foot cast while trying to find a seat in a crowded room.)
Compassion wasn’t limited to strangers, though; it also applied to enemies. Another study showed that after three weeks of meditation, most people refrained from seeking revenge on someone who insulted them, unlike most of those who did not meditate. Once my team observed these profound impacts, we began looking for other linkages between our previous research and existing religious rituals.
Gratitude, for instance, is something we had studied closely, and a key element of many religious practices. Christians often say grace before a meal; Jews give thanks to God with the Modeh Ani prayer every day upon awakening. When we studied the act of giving thanks, even in a secular context, we found it made people more virtuous.
Gratitude, for instance, is something we had studied closely, and a key element of many religious practices. Christians often say grace before a meal; Jews give thanks to God with the Modeh Ani prayer every day upon awakening. When we studied the act of giving thanks, even in a secular context, we found it made people more virtuous.
In a study where people could get more money by lying about the results of a coin flip, the majority (53 percent) cheated. But that figure dropped dramatically for people who we first asked to count their blessings. Of these, only 27 percent chose to lie. We’ve also found that when feeling gratitude to a person, to fate, or to God, people become more helpful, more generous, and even more patient. READ MORE
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Placebos
The ability of the mind to generate the symptoms of illness is known as the “nocebo” effect. The nocebo effect is the unpopular twin brother of the placebo effect. Whereas the placebo effect alleviates pain and the symptoms of illness, the nocebo effect does the opposite: it generates pain and symptoms.
A 2018 study found that almost half of participants in placebo trials experience side-effects, even though they are taking inert substances.
There was a similar finding in the first major trial of the Pfizer COVID vaccine in 2020. In the placebo group – who were not given the vaccine – between a quarter and a third of people reported fatigue, a similar number reported headaches, and around 10% reported muscle pain.
Indeed, Martin Michaelis and Mark Wass, bioscientists at the University of Kent, recently suggested that “for some vaccinated people the knowledge that they have been vaccinated may be sufficient to drive side-effects”. READ MORE
Indeed, Martin Michaelis and Mark Wass, bioscientists at the University of Kent, recently suggested that “for some vaccinated people the knowledge that they have been vaccinated may be sufficient to drive side-effects”. READ MORE
Monday, September 20
Watching and Waiting
This morning I am watching a chubby female sit on the top of the metal bar that is holding the feeder fighting off other females from feeding at her feeder... which is rather amazing because we have 3 feeders out back and one on our porch in the front of the house... so there is plenty to go around. But, she appears determined.
For breakfast, I fried an egg, toasted an English Muffin, cooked a vege sausage, and used one slice of Mozzarrella cheese to make my sandwich that I ate outside on the deck as I continued to watch the hummingbirds. Breakfast for the last several days had been 1/2 of an omelette and I just did not want to go to all that trouble.
For lunch, I will probably cook a couple of turkey dogs for a minute in the microwave, put some Dijon mustard on a Pita along with some coldslaw and eat it overtop of a towel because it is gonna be messy... at least it was the two other times I made this sandwich.
For dinner, I will have my last bowl of white beans, broccoli, and rice that will also be heated up in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. When I make a dish, I usually make enough to last for 2-3 days but no more than 4 days as I get tired of having the same meal four days in a row which includes Salmon one of my favorites, especially air fried.
After my stress test tomorrow, I will have to cook something for the next few days and right now, I am not sure what that will be... but no doubt it will involve rice...
Sometimes, it might be nice not having to cook something as all one would have to do is hunt for a meal... and that would take place only when hungry... not at precise times that we humans like to eat...
Nuclear Stress Test
ACCORDING TO THE MAYO CLINIC...
A nuclear stress test uses a small amount of radioactive material (tracer) and an imaging machine to create pictures showing the blood flow to your heart. The test measures blood flow while you are at rest and during activity, showing areas with poor blood flow or damage in your heart.
A nuclear stress test is one of several types of stress tests. The radiotracer used during a nuclear stress test helps your doctor determine your risk of a heart attack or other cardiac event if you have coronary artery disease. A nuclear stress test may be done after a regular exercise stress test to get more information about your heart, or it may be the first stress test used.The test is done using a positron emission technology (PET) scanner or single photo emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanner. A nuclear stress test may also be called a myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) study, cardiac PET study or cardiac SPECT study.
Tomorrow I will be arriving at UT Medical Center, Heart and Lung Building for a nuclear stress test at 6:45 am and the test will last approximately 3 hours. Today, I cannot have any caffeine and nothing to eat 4 hours before...
A New Novel
Operation Morning Expresso
Copyright
Alex Hutchins
All
rights reserved
Da Zavola coffee house was one of the few places in Paris that specialized in Expresso Coffee, that was also open at 6:00 am, and that provided free newspapers with a purchase of 5 Euros as long as it was La Monde or Le Figaro or Liberation. Interestingly, one could purchase an Expresso coffee and 2 croissants for precisely 5 Euros every day of the week, except Sunday when Da Zavola’s was only open for lunch and dinner. Simon Alexander stopped by Da Zavola’s every day for his expresso coffee, two croissants, and a newspaper on his way to work except for Sundays.
As long as it was not raining, he would drink his expresso, eat his croissants, and read his newspaper at one of the many tiny tables on the sidewalk, always leaving his newspaper on the table for someone else to read if they were so inclined. For the last 18 months, Simon Alexander has manifested the same behavior if anyone had been paying attention to his habits.
At the conclusion of his morning breakfast ritual, Simon would get up from his table and walk down the Rue de Bernardin towards the Seine River and after a couple hundred meters, would exist the sidewalk and down a couple of steps where he would disappear into the Residence de Bernardin never to be seen again until the next morning when he would appear at the Da Zavola precisely at 6:00 am and repeat his routine.
Simon Alexander, the person, did not exist until he
was accepted into law school at Yale University in New Haven,
Connecticutt. Among to the documents, he
submitted for his acceptance were his transcripts, indicating he had graduated
with honors from the University of Zurich with a degree in Economics. In addition to his academic prowess, Simon
could speak English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Mandarin
fluently. He held a Swiss passport that
had his age at 30 and after graduation from Yale three years later, Simon was
recruited by the CIA as an asset not an employee because of his nationality and
posted to the Paris field office after 24 months of accelerated combat, survival,
firearms, and explosive training in which he excelled in all as compared to his
group of 150 younger recruits.
Actually, Simon Alexander was not his real name, but the name given to him by the KGB after graduating from high school; his foster parents knew him as Holden Riverside. No mention of his birth parents was ever mentioned other than they were Ukrainian, but the circulating rumor was that he was taken away from them shortly after his birth. His foster parents, who were Russian KGB agents living in the United States in deep cover were posing as American teachers; his foster father taught Political Science at Harvard while his foster mother taught Journalism at North Shore Community College.
Simon attended the local public
school in Boston until the 7th grade when he was shipped off to Fork
Union Military Academy in Virginia.
Holden took as many classes as he could each year as well as during the
summer and was able to have enough credits to graduate after completing the
summer session of his junior year.
However, Holden Riverside never graduated as the police reports indicate
that he died in a boating accident on Lake Anna, about an hour’s drive
northeast of the school. While his body
was never recovered, he was officially pronounced dead.
For the next 12 years, Simon Alexander studied at the
Russian Academy of Foreign Intelligence in Moscow, also known as the Red Banner
Institute, where he again excelled in cryptography, telecommunications,
computer science, and counter-intelligence activities. It was from this Institute that he applied to
Yale Law School and was accepted.
Simon Alexander celebrated his 35th birthday by treating himself to a first-class flight from New York City out of John F. Kennedy International Airport on Air France to Paris that was scheduled to arrive at 6:00 am and he could still make it to his first day of work by 9:00 am at the Hotel Miramion on Rue des Bernardins which coincidentally, or perhaps not so, was where the CIA had told him he would be staying until he could find more suitable accommodations.
By
8:00 am and as planned, he was through customs and was heading out to find the
taxi stand, when he saw a man in his sixties with thinning grey hair, dressed
like a chauffeur holding a sign that at his name printed on it so he stopped
and inquired.
“I’m Simon Alexander.”
“Nice to meet you Simon,” the man said, “I’m Case
Officer Nathan Laslow and I’ve been assigned to your case… how was your flight?”
“You mean, I’m your asset,” he questioned?
“At least for a while,” he offered curiously then
added after a brief moment of awkward silence, “my rotation is almost over, and
I’ll probably finish my career at Langley.”
“It was fine,” Simon said with a smile.
“Fine?”
“You asked about my flight,” explained Simon “and it
was…”
“Gotcha,” he interrupted.
“I slept most of the time,” Simon added.
“You’re lucky,” Special Agent Laslow replied, “I’ve
never been able on those night flight.”
The drive to the Hotel Miramion took about 40 minutes and after parking on the street, and after being told to leave his luggage in the car that he would arrange to have it taken to his room, the two men entered the main lobby of the hotel and headed for the elevator, taking it down one floor. At the basement, Case Officer Nathan Laslow led Simon down a small dark corridor that ended at a wall. Nathan rotated his right arm in a counterclockwise motion over the surface of the wall and as if by magic the wall slide to the right, leaving an opening into which they entered.
Once inside, the wall closed and Nathan lead
Simon down a flight of stairs that again ended at a blank wall. This time there was a palm reader attached to
the wall along with a retinal scan device into which Nathan put his right hand
and placed his right eye respectively.
Immediately, that wall slide opened and both men stepped inside.
After adjusting his eyes to the light, Simon scanned the room from left to right and his first impression was that he was inside what he might imagine to be NASA ground control. There will literally dozens of computer monitors sitting on table with people looking at those monitors. Still in awe, Simon barely heard Nathan explaining to him that this was the CIA’s Global Command Center that monitored activities in Europe, Russia, China and Asia, and the Middle East.
Nathan explained to him that there were two
other access points for this center other than inside the Hotel. The first was an Antique Shop about a half
block away with a similar setup as the one inside the Hotel. The second was a rather large tunnel that
opened up on the sidewalk directly beside the Seine. There were self-operating trams inside the
tunnel that would bring people to and from the Command Center.
“How big is this damn Command Center,” asked Simon
with spectacular curiosity?
“A little over 1 acre of land or approximately,
100,000 square feet.”
“Impressive,” replied Simon, still looking around in
awe.
“This command center is operational 24/7 and we have 4
shifts of 25 people which includes a swing shift. If necessary,” Nathan went on to say, “we can
house, and feed all 100 people for 6-8 weeks.”
“Bathroom and showers,” Simon asked?
“We have both for male and female.”
“Rooms,” asked Simon?
“Male and female dorms.”
“Eating area,” Simon inquired?
“We have a cafeteria with a fully equipped kitchen
along with a first aid station and other stuff which we will get to later… but first, let me show you around.”
“Before we do that Nathan,” interjected Simon, “I saw
you wave your hand a couple of times and…”
“A door opened,” interrupted Nathan, “I wondered when
you were going to ask about that. I have
an implant in my right forearm. And,
before you leave today, you’ll be getting one as well.”
At the end of the tour, Simon was told that he would actually spend very little time inside the Command Center, that the only time he would be brought into the Command Center would be for briefing before an assignment or debriefings after an assignment if applicable. Simon was informed that information would be passed to him at an expresso coffee shop each morning.
He was to go there as soon as it opened,
order an expresso and something to eat and receive a free newspaper. Inside that newspaper would be his
instruction. This is also how he would
be receiving document from his contacts that he would be passing along to the
CIA. Whatever he wanted the CIA to see,
he would leave inside that newspaper and just leave it on the table and walk
away.
Simon Alexander had a promising career with the CIA
until an untimely car accident left him paralyzed and in a coma a decade
later. Miraculously, he awakes from his
coma, 10 years later at the age of 57 and cannot remember who he is but he is
no longer paralyzed. After 12 month of
excruciating physical therapy, Simon is discharged Bethesda Naval Hospital with
a new suit, shirt, tie, under garments, and shoes and given a plane ticket to
Paris, France and a letter confirming an appointment with his former employers
in 72 hours along with a confirmation number for a corner suite at the Hotel
Miramion…
China VERSUS United States of America
Today, the US-China trade relationship actually supports roughly 2.6 million jobs in the United States across a range of industries, including jobs that Chinese companies have created in America. And as the Chinese middle class continues its rapid expansion over the next decade (the number of Chinese middle-class consumers will exceed the entire population of the United States by 2026), US companies face significant opportunities to tap into a new and lucrative customer base that can further boost employment and economic growth. Economic data show that nations trading closely with China outperform nations with less integrated trade ties, and we expect this trend to continue.
Examples of the benefits to the US economy from trade with China include:
- China purchased $165 billion in goods and services from the United States in 2015, representing 7.3 percent of all US exports and about 1 percent of total US economic output.
- Although some US manufacturing jobs have been lost because of the trade deficit, US firms sell high-value products to China, including cars and trucks, construction equipment, and semiconductors, which support jobs. US firms also export business and financial services, totaling $6.7 billion in 2014 and $7.1 billion in 2015. By 2030, we expect US exports to China to rise to more than $520 billion.
- As China has become an integral part of the global manufacturing supply chain, much of its exports are comprised of foreign-produced components delivered for final assembly in China. If the value of these imported components is subtracted from China’s exports, the US trade deficit with China is reduced by half, to about 1 percent of GDP—about the same as the US trade deficit with the European Union.
- America’s 11th-largest export market in 2000, China has grown to become the third-largest destination for American goods and services. US exports to China directly and indirectly supported 1.8 million new jobs and $165 billion in GDP in 2015. When the economic benefits generated from US investment in China and Chinese investment in the US are combined, the total amounts to 2.6 million US jobs and about $216 billion of GDP.
- China is expected to continue to be one of the fastest growing major economies, creating growth opportunities for American companies— provided China proceeds with economic reforms that will remove lingering market access barriers in many sectors.
- Chinese manufacturing also lowered prices in the United States for consumer goods, dampening inflation and putting more money in American wallets. At an aggregate level, US consumer prices are 1 percent - 1.5 percent lower because of cheaper Chinese imports. The typical US household earned about $56,500 in 2015; trade with China therefore saved these families up to $850 that year.
- Since 2003, productivity growth in US manufacturing outpaced most advanced economies. Oxford Economics calculates that US manufacturing productivity increased by 40 percent from 2003 to 2016, or 2.5 percent annually, compared with 23 percent in Germany. Meanwhile, rapidly rising factory wages and a rising currency make Chinese workers relatively less cost-competitive than their American counterparts. US factories are still 90 percent more productive than Chinese manufacturers. These trends may lead to some “reshoring” or retention of manufacturing jobs in the United States.
Sugar Detective
No matter how well you eat, I can almost guarantee that sneaky sugar is making its way into your diet. But don't worry! Even the most health-conscious among us struggle to know everywhere sugar is hiding and how to be aware of it.
It also doesn't help that food manufacturers continue to spend major dollars convincing us that certain less nutritious foods are somehow good for us, slapping shiny health halos on their packaging to throw us off the trail. But you've got this—just keep this info in your back pocket the next time you head to the grocery store.
Learn to be a sugar detective
Knowing what to look for—on food labels, in the coffee shop line, and on the menu at your favorite local bistro—will go a long way toward helping you ditch sneaky sugars from your diet.
Of course, it's not always so simple. Many "healthy" yogurts you'll find at the store are loaded with about 15 grams or more of sugar—that's the same as swallowing 3 or 4 teaspoons of the sweet stuff. Likewise, countless "protein bars" are just glorified candy bars with some extra nutrients thrown in, plus a few other insidious ingredients that can mess with your gut.
The most important thing to remember as you try to decrease your sugar intake is that you're not powerless against its forces. When you lower your sensitivity to sugar, you can support metabolic balance and flexibility. READ MORE
It also doesn't help that food manufacturers continue to spend major dollars convincing us that certain less nutritious foods are somehow good for us, slapping shiny health halos on their packaging to throw us off the trail. But you've got this—just keep this info in your back pocket the next time you head to the grocery store.
Learn to be a sugar detective
Knowing what to look for—on food labels, in the coffee shop line, and on the menu at your favorite local bistro—will go a long way toward helping you ditch sneaky sugars from your diet.
Of course, it's not always so simple. Many "healthy" yogurts you'll find at the store are loaded with about 15 grams or more of sugar—that's the same as swallowing 3 or 4 teaspoons of the sweet stuff. Likewise, countless "protein bars" are just glorified candy bars with some extra nutrients thrown in, plus a few other insidious ingredients that can mess with your gut.
The most important thing to remember as you try to decrease your sugar intake is that you're not powerless against its forces. When you lower your sensitivity to sugar, you can support metabolic balance and flexibility. READ MORE
Leaving NASA
Traveling at faster than the speed of light has been the subject of countless works of science fiction. Most notably, the “warp drive” in “Star Trek” allowed cosmic travelers to break the lightspeed barrier to traverse vast galactic distances.
In the real world, research into potential warp drive technologies has been slow, but significant enough to attract the interest of NASA and even a handful of independent ventures.
Take Harold “Sonny” White, a big name in warp drive research who left NASA in 2019 to work at a Houston-based nonprofit called the Limitless Space Institute — where, he says, he was allowed by NASA to continue his work and even take his lab equipment with him.
“Yeah, I have a lab here full of all my goodies from NASA,” White told The Debrief in a fascinating new interview. But the engineer didn’t burn any bridges in the process, adding that “we have a Space Act agreement with the agency.”
Leaving NASA
It sounds like NASA is pretty chill with White continuing his work elsewhere.
Sonny said that “when I was working in NASA, we really didn’t try to go through and patent anything.”
“Probably a little too early to try and really work towards patenting anything,” he told The Debrief. “I mean, there may be a time it’s right to do that, but there wasn’t at NASA.”
Where the transition leaves White’s progress on realizing a new form of propulsion that could allow humans to travel past the speed of light remains somewhat murky (although The Debrief says it’s going to publish two more installments of its interview with White, so stay tuned.) READ MORE
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