Trump is just a horrible sympton/reaction to our real problem *quality

Sickle-Cell Anemia is similar with a slight twist. The disease is caused by a mutation of a gene for haemoglobin, which deforms and causes the red blood cells to take on a sickle shape. In the case of SCA the gene has more than one dominant allele, known as codominance (I think thats also why hair colours "mix", but dont quote me on that). As a result carriers of the disease have one copy of the mutated gene and one healthy copy. They produce healthy AND deformed sickle shaped red blood cells. Carriers with this heterozygous form are practically free from symptons of the full disease and while not immune to malaria they are more resistant. Strangely, and for reasons I dont fully understand, those with the full disease are still vulnerable to Malaria, or at least malaria makes the symptoms of SCA worse.

Unsurprisingly SCA is fairly common in parts of Africa where Malaria claims a lot of lives. It would be a pretty amazing adaption if it were not for the 25% chance that any child between two carriers suffered from the full disease.

Now for my somewhat related story:
I tried the "natural" Malaria remedy in Kenya. The Masai guide had this huge grin on his face when he offered it to me that in hindsight should have definitely tipped me off. I'm guessing it was quinene based because it was so bitter that I wretched it and a fair portion of my breakfast up and out on the spot. He made it up later when he found some wild honey (you know, as you do - Masai ftw) to take the taste away.

My thoughts:

I've struggled with depression for much of my life, I think I'll probably be struggling with it for most of the rest of it but a few things have made the struggle somewhat easier, mostly this notion of living in the now. Be aware of where your minds eye is wandering, attempt to always bring it back to your present moment. When you live in the past or future you're not really living at all, life just sort of blurs past in front of you as you contemplate your failings or worry about your future. Generally this idea of mindfulness, which has origins in Buddhism, helps me a lot.

Related to that is also learning to detach yourself from your emotions, simply identify them and just understand that they are transitory. I actually picked that up from the SciFi masterpiece, Dune. I read it at a very stressful point in my life and the litany against fear really stuck with me. I really believe fear, above any other emotion, is the most destructive to our ability to think critically and hence live a meaningful existence. Despite being from a fictional religion I think those words contain more truth, at least for me, than anything else I've ever stumbled upon. This idea was reinforced, strangely, by Day[9] of SC2 fame when he replied to a question about how he is so happy.

So our personal philosophies are patchworks of ideas cut from the strangest sources. I'm not a buddhist or a Bene Gesserit, but none the less there are grains of truth in each, as I believe there is some truth in what this video describes. So while I'm not dismissing mainstream medicine when it comes to treating mental illness, but I also think our conscious thoughts are as much a sympton as a cause. When I am in control of my thoughts and emotions I am a happier more productive person, and for that I have to thank not my Dr, but Frank Herbert, Buddhism and Sean Plott (among others).

Anyway, there is a small glimpse into my brain mr anonymous internet stranger.

change to win? How can you fix the symptons if you ignore the disease: Central planning and financial collusion.

>> ^shinyblurry:

I appreciate your concern. Let me assure you that I don't have a mental illness, I don't have any mania, I don't hear voices..I am very balanced, well grounded and internally consistant. I've actually been a counseler for people who have bi-polar, schitzophrenia and even multiple personality disorder. So I am familiar with all the signs and symptons, and I don't have any. If I did I would seek treatment.
>> ^kceaton1:
I'll tell you this one last time. My mania was ENCOURAGED by the religious. Although it was a a mental illness, but they had no knowledge of it... So if in the future you hit the ground running, with those that love you asking you, "Why?", with no understanding...
Think of me then. (And MANY others....)



I know the other conversations are going quick right now, so answer this last.

I'm sorry to say I don't believe you when you say you have experience. I won't specify why too much as it isn't truly needed. What I wish to know is why did I get this answer? To prove to me something? You could have done so with a sincere, "OK" or "I'll look at the classifications; or symptoms".

This response is very terse.

I appreciate your concern. Let me assure you that I don't have a mental illness, I don't have any mania, I don't hear voices..I am very balanced, well grounded and internally consistant. I've actually been a counseler for people who have bi-polar, schitzophrenia and even multiple personality disorder. So I am familiar with all the signs and symptons, and I don't have any. If I did I would seek treatment.

>> ^kceaton1:
I'll tell you this one last time. My mania was ENCOURAGED by the religious. Although it was a a mental illness, but they had no knowledge of it... So if in the future you hit the ground running, with those that love you asking you, "Why?", with no understanding...
Think of me then. (And MANY others....)

1,000,000μSv = 1000mSv = 1Sv

250mSV is about when you start to get symptons of radiation sickness. Its also the maximum allowed dose for workers at the Fukushima powerplant. To get that kind of dose from the radiation they were exposed to at the end of the clip they'd need to stand there for some 2500 hours.

So yeah, while its definitely not healthy to be there its not chernobyl either. I don't think it'll be 50 years before enough material has decayed to allow rehabitation either.

To be fair, these are criminals. Maybe too many get locked up for relatively minor offences, and the 3 strikes and out rule is pretty insane, but mostly they are in there because they broke the law. America has the crime rate to back up the number of people in jail, and thats a sympton of millions living in poverty. I think its appalling how many people are in jail over there, but I think the blame has to be with policies that made them so fucking poor.

On the slave labour thing...meh, I think they are paying their rent. The state is feeding them. Don't think anybody should be making a profit out of it but I think it makes sense for the prisoners to at least be a productive prisoner.

I remember a german film called "dreiundzwanzig" (23) which told the true story of Karl Koch, a german hacker in the late seventies who after reading Robert Anton Wilson books on the iluminati started seeing the number 23 everywhere. He hacked into the west's sensitive computer systems and sold data he stole from, among others, the Pentagon, to the KGB.
He died in 1989 in an apparent suicide which has been said to be a murder.

In fact, 23dians are people who witness the number 23 in significant places and circumstances. It's a common sympton of people suffering from apophenia (a psychiatric disorder in which patients see patterns everywhere, think john nash in a beautiful mind).

Farhad's comment is probably spot on, but still it's intriguing that such a number should get more cultural significance than, for example, 24 or 22.

Check out the wikipedia articles on 23 and Karl Koch or Hagbard Celine. Interesting reading.