Friday, November 15, 2013

Behavioral Sink Behavior And Thermodynamics

You can't eliminate behavioral sink behavior unless you eliminate behavior sinks.

That means for one drug "addiction".

Addiction in a behavioral sink

The abortion/gestation question comes to mind.

Many [female rats] were unable to carry pregnancy to full term or to survive delivery of their litters if they did. An even greater number, after successfully giving birth, fell short in their maternal functions. Among the males the behavior disturbances ranged from sexual deviation to cannibalism and from frenetic overactivity to a pathological withdrawal from which individuals would emerge to eat, drink and move about only when other members of the community were asleep. The social organization of the animals showed equal disruption. [...]

Behavioral Sink
It is more than obvious that the two parties represent the two ends of the spectrum and you are not going to eliminate the behavioral sink party until you eliminate behavioral sinks. And efforts to change behavior by politics are for the most part useless. And I might add counterproductive.

The party that claims to be so in touch with natural law is for the most part ignorant of it.

Here is an article that discusses the issue from a thermodynamic viewpoint.

The Red And The Blue
What is my conclusion relative to politics? Both political parties are right about the proper way to live. In their ecological niches.

A look at the Weimar Republic:
What people leave out of the Weimar experience and IMO its foundation is the lack of men – killed in the war. We are doing something similar with our divorce laws. And our drug war on the Black Community.

And the 60s? Similar. Look up the M/F ratios.

When there are not enough men you get loose women. Culture dives when the M/F ratio is out of whack.

The Weimar Experience
If only the two parties had some understanding of each other politics might not be quite so rancorous.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Update: More discussion at Talk-Polywell

Friday, July 19, 2013

A Link Between Autism and Cannabinoids

I have a new post up at Rockford For Safe Access discussing the scientific and anecdotal evidence between autism and the body's endocannabinoid system. It includes a number of videos about treating autistic children with cannabis.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Some Thoughts On Female Hypergamy

Never settle for one. Two is the minimum. Competition improves the service.

===

Men:

Q: Does the bliss a man seeks with a woman exist?

A: Actually it does exist. But only if the woman is willing to bond with you. Odds run from zero to not for long. Mostly.

====

A woman says:

I’m glad I made the choice never to get into a relationship. You men think you’re gods.

I say:

But honey, we are gods.

You eatin’ regular? Got a warm hut and a screen to communicate? Men did that. With the help of a few women.


Inspired by the comments at Women In Love

Sunday, May 05, 2013

Marijuana Cured My Cancer


Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl: "I thanked God... ...medical marijuana has saved my life."

I don't understand why the endocannabinoid system isn't better appreciated.

NIH: Endocannabinoids in the immune system and cancer.
Modulation of the endocannabinoid system interferes with cancer cell proliferation either by inhibiting mitogenic autocrine/paracrine loops or by directly inducing apoptosis....
And that is only one cite among thousands.

Go to nih.gov and use their search function to search - endocannabinoid cancer - we know a lot. And we are learning more every day.

H/T The Weed Blog

Cross Posted at Rockford For Safe Access

Friday, April 26, 2013

They Took Her Kids

A lady with MS who was taking marijuana for her condition has had her kids taken away. She lives in Idaho and was part of an activist family. Idaho is not a medical marijuana state.

Here is more of the story.

While Lindsey and Sarah were vacationing, along with Lindsey’s husband Josh (the director of Idaho NORML), their four children were staying with a babysitter when police, acting on a tip from an elementary school friend of one of their boys, arrived with child protective services. The police, without a warrant, intimidated the babysitter into allowing them into the home, where they allegedly found Lindsey’s medical marijuana. Based on that imminent threat to the children, all four boys, ages 11, 10, 6, and 5, were placed into foster care.

You can donate to their legal fund.

There are more endocannabinoid receptors in the body than any other receptor type. The endocannabinoid system is a major regulator in the body implicated in almost all diseases including cancer.


 
 
 
 
 
Here is a telephone interview with two of the ladies involved. The audio is not very good.


Cross Posted at Classical Values

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Why Everybody Hates Republicans - Libertarian Edition

Classical Liberal links to a post of mine They Really Don't Like Libertarians and then goes off on a rant of his own. You really, really, should read the whole thing. Especially since he accurately pegs where I used to live politically. "a libertarian who's been a long-time conservative ally" - and "been" is the operative word. I am no longer except in matters of convenience. Just as I will ally with Democrats in matters of convenience. Like Medical Marijuana

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Endocannabinoids - A Video


About two minutes. If you want some text to go with it may I suggest: Endocannabinoids The Science. Heart surgeon Dr. David Allen considers cannabis an essential nutrient for heart health.

An interesting fact from the video: There are more cannabinoid receptors in the body than any other receptor type.

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Endocannabinoids - The Science

I did this piece for a major Right Wing site I have written for before. It was rejected for a number of reasons.

1. The punch line "Marijuana" wasn't mentioned until later in the piece.
2. It was too technical.
3. The evidence is probably accidental correlation.

And most important:

4. The audience would not be receptive generally.
5. The audience would not be receptive to being called Drug Nazis.

Which was in fact an admission that they are Drug Nazis. Because I never said it directly. What I said was my usual:

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept - heal the sick.

I guess I cut a little too close to the bone. Amputations can be crippling.

=================

Endocannabinoids - The Science

Today I'd like to do something Republicans do when confronted with a question. Look at the science. The science I'd like to look at is the science of endocannabinoids. Let's start with a definition. An endocannabinoid is a marijuana-like substance produced by the body that acts on specific receptors in the body. There are two known cannabinoid receptor systems in the body. They are the CB1 system and the CB2 system.

Since this is for a non-biochemistry trained audience (I'm an electrical engineer by trade) I'm going to make some simplifications. Those of you who are better trained please excuse my lapses unless they are egregious.

The CB1 system is mostly distributed in nerve tissue of the brain and the spine. The CB2 system is found in the immune system, the peripheral nervous system, the brain, and the digestive system. Various endocannabinoids in the body can either activate or inhibit the operation of the various systems by binding to the receptors in the system. Regulation is achieved by a balance of the chemicals involved. The systems can also evolve by increasing or decreasing the number of receptor sites in response to stimulation (bonding) or a lack of stimulation to those sites.

One of the neurotransmitters in the body that affects these systems is called anandamide which comes from a Sanskrit word which means bliss. The CB1 and CB2 receptors in the body were discovered by tracking where delta9-THC (one of the active ingredients in marijuana) traveled in the body and which receptors it was bound to. From the facts developed by that kind of study a team led by Dr. Raphael Mechoulam at the Hebrew University in Israel discovered the anandamide molecule. As discoverers they got to name it. Dr. Mechoulam is one of the pioneers in the field of cannabinoid science. Why he hasn't won a Nobel for his work is beyond me, unless it has something to do with the prejudices against cannabis. Let me quote (slightly edited for ease of text rendering) from his wiki:

Raphael Mechoulam (born 1930) is an Israeli professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. Mechoulam is best known for his work (together with Y. Gaoni) in the isolation, structure elucidation and total synthesis of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active principle of cannabis and for the isolation and the identification of the endogenous cannabinoids anandamide from the brain and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) from peripheral organs together with his students, postdocs and collaborators.
All the above is probably enough general information to get you started if you want to delve deeper into the subject matter. Now I want to look at a more controversial aspect of all this. Marijuana. And specifically medical marijuana. As you can see from the above information, cannabinoids in the body affect a large number of systems in the body. I particularly like this quote from the CB2 wiki on the subject.
Changes in endocannabinoid levels and/or CB2 receptor expressions have been reported in almost all diseases affecting humans,[34] ranging from cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, liver, kidney, neurodegenerative, psychiatric, bone, skin, autoimmune, lung disorders to pain and cancer. The prevalence of this trend suggests that modulating CB2 receptor activity by either selective CB2 receptor agonists or inverse agonists/antagonists depending on the disease and its progression holds unique therapeutic potential for these pathologies [34]
That explains why some people claim wonder drug status for marijuana. Except things are not quite as simple as that. Marijuana is not marijuana. What do I mean by that? The anandamide analogs in cannabis are called generically CBDs. They include such chemicals as Cannabigerols (CBG), Cannabidiols (CBD), Tetrahydrocannabinols (THC), Cannabinol (CBN), and a number of other compounds. Their expression in a given cannabis plant varies. Some of the cannabinoids bind to various CB system receptors and some of them prevent binding to a receptor, mimicking the function of the various endocannabinoids in the body. So marijuana is not marijuana. Since there is no regulation in the marijuana industry due to its illegality at the Federal level this has led to various novel names for the different cannabis strains. Names such as "Northern Lights" and "Charlotte's Web". "Charlotte's Web" was named for a child with severe pediatric epilepsy. The strain called "Charlotte's Web" was developed especially to treat her condition. Thus the name. You can check out this eleven minute video introduced by a doctor and her mother to learn more about how this strain was developed and used.

Well obviously we need regulation of medical marijuana. Don't we? My answer is yes. Absolutely. But surprisingly what we are getting is self regulation. And it seems to be working fairly well. Various companies are springing up to fill the analysis void. They do High Pressure Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectroscopy on submitted marijuana samples to determine the quantities of the various CBDs in the samples. One such company is SC Laboratories in California, but there are a number of others around the country in medical marijuana states.

Obviously the subject is involved and I could go on at much greater length. But I'm not going to do that. Instead I'll leave you with what I think are a few more helpful links.

FDA To Study Cannabis For PTSD - includes a video.
What If Cannabis Cured Cancer - with an appearance by Raphael Mechoulam in the video.
CB(2) cannabinoid receptor activation is cardioprotective in a mouse model of ischemia/reperfusion. Translation: if you are predisposed to heart disease regular cannabis use may improve your odds of living.
Marijuana Stops Lung Cancer
DEA Judge Rules On Medical Marijuana. The Judge says, "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."
Conditions treatable by cannabis with links to the medical literature.

And finally to wind this all up what is my political stance on the matter?

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept - heal the sick.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Sunday, March 03, 2013

Grillo The National Socialist Fascist

My friend Diogenes alerted me to an American Thinker article on Beppe Grillo.

Europe's political class is shocked and panicked. They are pretending Grillo is just a "populist" and a "reformer" -- but he also wants to "process" all the Jews in the world, who are responsible for all the evil. Grillo wants to nationalize the banks and abolish interest rates, "just like the Islamic Development Bank."
Well as you know banks can't survive without interest. So Grillo wants to destroy the banking system. But as I recount here the banking system can't survive without the black market. Particularly the black market in drugs. which brings us back to the original link.
Government at all levels is corrupt. It's the only way people can survive. Everybody is playing double games. People are doing two jobs and running their own businesses out of government offices. Everybody cheats on taxes. The mafia controls half the country. Survival depends on the black market, the black economy. The currency is kept artificially high, so exports crash.

It's happened to Italy under the European Union. Don't think it can't happen here. Obama is a Euro socialist, representing faculty lounge socialism in America, so completely arrogant and cocksure that Paul Krugman just knows how to run the trillion-dollar US economy. Nobody else can figure it out, but Krugman knows that he knows. Our new rulers are control freaks, just as free market economists have said since Adam Smith. They are six year olds steering the family car and thinking they are in control until...

... until it all blows up.

This week Europe blew up. The media haven't caught up yet, because they are what they are. But the markets are catching up fast.

This is a huge event for the United States, because our political elite is bound and determined to turn us into Europe. Hasn't the EU found the answer to war and peace and prosperity forever?
There is way more at that link (you should check out the comments too to get a taste) but what is Movimento 5 Stelle's (Movement 5 Star - M5S) program? American Thinker has a list.
1. High-flying jets spray mind-altering chemicals over Rome to drive Italians crazy. Those are the jet "chemtrails" you can see overhead.

2. A good bloodletting will purify your body and cure any disease. This is the word of God. But flu vaccines are dangerous.

3. The Islamic Development Bank gives away free money to deserving borrowers.

4. The Jews are a small, wandering minority of Arabs who stole the Holy Land from the others 2,500 years ago.

5. They now run the world through the Illuminati, the Masonic Lodges, the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds.

6. The Jews are responsible for Italy's mess, because they own the banks that charge usurious interest rates.

7. The woman-hating mullahs in Iran represent ancient Persian civilization, the most advanced culture in the world.

8. Cancer chemotherapy is a Big Pharma conspiracy to kill patients.

9. GMO food will kill you, along with nanoparticles.

10. The Jews who run the world need to be "processed" en masse. Grillo supporters will not define "processed," but they love the idea. Whatever it means.

11. Beppe Grillo can save Italy by nationalizing the banks and cutting off trade to Europe. The fact that Italy is physically part of Europe is no impediment.
Gee. That has certain correspondences with the National Socialist movement that once ravaged Europe. Well it is some 70+ years on and it looks like they intend to ravage it again with their former allies the Islamic Fascists. Except this time it is not the Muslim Brotherhood. It is the Persian Fascists. Grillo's father-in-law is on the commercial side of those fascists. This article goes into that.
...Beppe Grillo is married to a lady born in Iran, where children soak up Death to Israel! Death to America! slogans ... every single day of the week. So do all the soldiers, bureaucrats, Revolutionary Guards, and the Basiji -- the regimes imported thugs from the countryside.

Beppe tells the world that "Everything I know about the Middle East I learned from my father-in-law!"

After marrying his Iranian wife, by some miracle, Beppe suddenly got a lot richer. His public career took off, and from being a comedian he became a politician. Or maybe just an idealistic truth-teller to a corrupt Italian state.

Beppe bought his motor yacht and his Ferrari, then purchased three separate villas.

Dad-in-law runs a giant construction business in Iran, where he has to lie in bed with the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guards every day of his life.

So Beppe learns everything about the Middle East from his dad-in-law, who maybe gets it straight from the Ayatollah himself. (Who heard it directly from Allah.)
The Italians have learned nothing from their history. Perhaps we can learn something from their history and current events before it is too late.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Laws Prohibiting The Use Of The Endocannabinoid System

I was tracking my usual haunts and came across a petition headlined The Federal Government: Eliminate laws prohibiting the use of the endocannabinoid system.

Because every human being born has an endocannabinoid system, a network of receptors exclusively designed to capture cannabinoids and process them. Prohibiting the only source of cannabinoids, Cannabis, aka marijuana et al, prevents this receptor network from functioning. Everyone has this receptor network and everyone should be allowed to supply it.
That wording is a little clunky. I would have written that cannabis can aid the functions of the endocannabinoid network when necessary. But it fits in with something I have been saying:

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept - heal the sick.

So click the link above and sign the petition if you are a mind to.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Videos Like This Will Destroy The Republican Party


The video is from Montana PBS KUFM

Lots of good search terms in the video:

"Dr William C Woodward"
"DEA Judge Francis Young"
"chronic wasting cannabis"
"cannabis epilepsy"

CBD Science - HPLC Analysis

CB2

Changes in endocannabinoid levels and/or CB2 receptor expressions have been reported in almost all diseases affecting humans,[34] ranging from cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, liver, kidney, neurodegenerative, psychiatric, bone, skin, autoimmune, lung disorders to pain and cancer. The prevalence of this trend suggests that modulating CB2 receptor activity by either selective CB2 receptor agonists or inverse agonists/antagonists depending on the disease and its progression holds unique therapeutic potential for these pathologies [34]

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept - heal the sick.

Pass it on.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Thursday, February 07, 2013

How I Intend To Destroy The Prohibition Party

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept – heal the sick.

Pass it on.

Monday, February 04, 2013

Grandma Should Smoke Pot


The Silver Tour

Patients Out Of Time - The History Of Medical Cannabis

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Citizens Opposing Prohibition

Dr. Raphael Mechoulam - video

Dr. Andrew Weil - video

Marijuana and Traffic Accidents

Omega-3 oils & marijuana may stave off Alzheimer’s

Lester Grinspoon, M.D. - Marijuana The Forbidden Medicine

Index Of Medical Conditions

Judge Gustin L. Reichbach - A Judge’s Plea for Pot - This is not a law-and-order issue; it is a medical and a human rights issue.

Yeah - the "Grandma" video is kinda long at about 30 minutes. It is worth every minute of your time. Oh. Yeah. Pass it on.

H/T The Weed Blog

Cross Posted at Classical Values