Greek gods and ends

With so many Greek (and Greece) references bombarding the senses lately (the titanic "Alien" prequel epic Prometheus, for one; not to mention the focus of European economic ruin and gallant efforts, also) I thought I'd at least come on board with something on a subject near my heart and of some relevance to this blog's continuing theme of divine/human juxtapositions.

No matter what the ruling this week on the Great American Healthcare Boondoggle, the debate (and spin) will continue.

A  2006 article from Businessweek read over this morning got me considering some of the other sides of why this is so.

So much of medicine (politics, etc.), even today, remains guesswork.

That said, Dr. David Eddy (featured in aforementioned article) today continues to promote solutions through computer modeling as well as prudence and due diligence before any (particularly such high and mighty) policy recommendations.

Founded in 1992, his Archimedes, Inc. began as a consultancy for Kaiser Permanente.

A watershed for Archimedes came in 2007 when the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded it a $15.6M grant to make the power of the Archimedes Model "accessible to a wider range [of] health policy and healthcare decision makers, more rapidly and less expensively that had been possible in the past."

It would seem to behoove we the voting populace of citizens everywhere to realize that *many* politicians (aka titanic tricksters) have seen us, more or less, as their very own private guinea pigs.

Armed with such knowledge, does it not make some sense, therefore, that we might simply be stuck here (on terra firma with Gaia), forever, striving to embody the elusive, yet commonsensical Hippocratic mantra of "Physician (and patient) heal thyself"?

Prometheus bound: "May I at least have a nice Chianti to go with that?"

Our Indispensable Moon

Caught a documentary on The Science Channel early the other morning (first broadcast back in 2011 on BBC Two).

Space scientist and "lunar fanatic" Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock explores our intimate relationship with the Moon. Besides orchestrating the tides, the moon dictates the length of a day, the rhythm of the seasons and the very stability of our planet.

Yet the Moon is always on the move. In the past it was closer to Earth and in the future it'll be farther away. That it is now perfectly placed to sustain life is pure luck, a cosmic coincidence. Using computer graphics to summon up great tides and set the Earth spinning on its side, Maggie Aderin-Pocock implores us to look at the Moon afresh: to see it not as an inert rock, but as a key player in the story of our planet, past, present and future. Toward that end, the discovery of water on the moon is highlighted to powerful effect.

Another documentary (broadcast in 1999 on Discovery) entitled "If We Had No Moon,"
though obviously less up to date scientifically, delved deep into the "indispensable quality" theme.

An essay by Bernard Foing, Executive Director of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group, in Astrobiology Magazine online sums up the Moon's place (so far) within the human universe fairly succinctly:

"Finally, the Moon had a key role in the emergence of science, and in our understanding of our place in the universe. We saw the repetition of the phenomena of lunar phases, and we observed solar and lunar eclipses. These were big challenges to our understanding of nature, and a few astronomers were put to death because they weren’t able to predict the eclipses. This challenged us to develop accurate predictions for the motion of the sun and the motion of the Moon.

Studying the Moon helped us determine distances in the solar system and the size of celestial objects. By studying lunar phases, for example, people were able to determine how far the Moon is from the Earth, the size of the Earth, and our distance from the sun. More recently, the Moon was the terrain where the space race took place between two political systems, allowing for great technical and scientific achievements. The Moon has inspired humankind to learn how to travel to space, and to bring life beyond Earth’s cradle."

When they came for me

In Sudan, security forces have confiscated a third consecutive issue of the country's Communist Party newspaper, Al-Midan, reportedly for "ignoring a warning to avoid writing about the killing of a girl by police which sparked protests," according to the editor.

Though Sudan's constitution guarantees freedom of the press, such incidents have increased, coinciding with the secession of South Sudan in July 2011.

In total, three newspapers critical of the government since the start of the year have had publication suspended, although one has since resumed production.

Of note, also, Sudan has [somehow] avoided a popular uprising such as those seen in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere.

However, small protests in Khartoum and other cities over rising food prices and other issues have apparently been worrisome, particularly for international outlaw, Lieutenant General Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, President of Sudan.

Gulag Ethiopia

Well regarded and widely read, Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam, who teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino has been writing weekly on the plight of his countrymen and their particular regional issues for the last several years.

As he writes:

In August 2009, I spoke at a town hall meeting organized by “Gasha for Ethiopia”, a civic organization, on the importance of remembering Ethiopian political prisoners:

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” said Dr. Martin Luther King… Nothing is more important and uplifting to political prisoners than knowledge of the fact that they are not forgotten, abandoned and forsaken by the outside world. Remembrance gatherings at town hall meetings such as this one serve to remind all of us who live in freedom the divine blessings of liberty and the unimaginable suffering of those trapped in the darkness of dictatorship.

Andualem Aragie and countless political prisoners in Ethiopia reamin trapped in the darkness of dictatorship. They have been beaten down and brought to their knees. We cannot hear their whimpers of pain and desperation. Few, other than their tormentors, will be able to see their mangled bodies. Because they have no voice, we must be their voices and speak on their behalf. Because they are walled in behind filthy and subhuman prison institutions, we must unflaggingly remind the world of their suffering. We must all labor for the cause of Ethiopian political prisoners not because it is easy or fashionable, but because it is ethical, honorable, right and just. In the end, what will make the difference for the future of Ethiopia is not the brutality, barbarity, bestiality and inhumanity of its corrupt dictators, but the humanity, dignity, adaptability, audacity, empathy and compassion of decent Ethiopians for their wrongfully imprisoned compatriots. That is why we must join hands and work tirelessly to free all political prisoners held in Ethiopia’s public and secret gulags. “Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.”

Further and more recently:

The “Gulag” prison system in the old Soviet Union was infamous for warehousing and persecuting dissidents and opponetns. The gulags were used effectively to weed out and neutralize opposition to the Soviet state. They were the quintessential tools of Soviet state terrorism. Some called them “meat-grinders” because of the extremely harsh and inhumane conditions. Torture, physical abuse by prison guards, solitary confinement, inadequate food rations and officially instigated inmate-on-inmate violence were the hallmarks of the gulags.

Ethiopia’s prison system today are reminiscent of the Soviet gulags in their abuse and mistreatment of political and other prisoners. Let the facts speak for themselves -->>>

Meanwhile, the country as a whole finds itself (also) in the grips of yet more drought and consequent famine.

And, in any case, the forecasts of various forecasters, whether official, professional or anonymous remain, ultimately, bleak.

There is, however, ever, music . . .

Somewhere Syria

In Syria, as elsewhere, Arab Spring continues to bleed.

Will "Democracy" truly save the day?

A "Friends of Syria" parlay hopes so:

[U.S. Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton leaves London for a visit to Tunisia to participate in the meetings. The State Department said the meeting was "part of our ongoing efforts with our friends, allies, and the Syrian opposition to crystallize next steps to halt the slaughter of the Syrian people and pursue a transition to democracy in Syria."

A report from the independent international commission of inquiry on Syria found the government has "manifestly failed" to protect its own people.

"The present situation risks further radicalizing the population, deepening inter-communal tensions and eroding the fabric of society," the panel found.

The panel, in a 72-page report published Thursday (2/23), said there was a "reliable body of evidence" to suggest officials at the "highest level of government" were responsible for crimes against humanity in Syria.

More . . .

Fear and Loathing in North Korea

Or more to the point: Bow or Die!

A report by Donald Kirk of East-Asia-Intel.com seems to explain the current environment in the post Kim Jong-il, new Kim Jung-un North Korea fairly well.

The rise of the son as "supreme commander" of North Korea's armed forces gives
rise to nostalgia. Already the reign of the father is beginning to seem like the
good old days.

At least as long as Kim Jong-Il was around a certain sense of security
prevailed. South Koreans could be sure, despite "incidents", that North Korea
was not going to stage more than isolated attacks. And North Koreans could be
sure, as long as they suffered in silent acceptance of their fates, they would
not be consigned to the country's vast gulag system or some lesser form of
torture and imprisonment.

Now, as Kim Jong-Un begins to throw his considerable weight around, that sense
of security is gone. The rules are tightening. Families are subject to execution
unto the third generation if one of their members is caught sneaking across the
Yalu or Tumen River borders into China. Authorities are cracking down on private
markets, the lifelines for millions in the starving countryside.

More than anything else, the specter of purge hangs over the populace.

It's begun with confessions and punishment for those who did not mourn
convincingly over Kim Jong-Il's death; those who missed mass weeping and wailing
in cities and towns around the country or who did not seem sufficiently sincere . . .

>>Read more

2012: A Whale in Time

Dreams of new beginnings or great moments, particularly, on occasions of certain mathematical confluences have arisen throughout the few known centuries of man's brief existence.

Augustine's, City of God, Nostradamus' quatrains, the Mayan calendar, various so-called new religious and political movements as well as modern movie manufactured magic have all in some way left either temporary or indelible marks upon the human psyche that both motivate and mystify.

Sadly, on the human level, at least, it would appear that real insight into patterns, principles and guidelines for the purpose of possible better outcomes have remained elusive, despite various individual best efforts whether collectively co-opted or simply, cleverly marketed.

It is hard to be fully human while also being totally happy.
Perhaps it is impossible.

However, as even our animal cousins somehow know, instinctively, inherently, social interaction generates ever more interaction leading to creative adaptations that often astound as well as excite.

Some call such things "love" or even "God" while most organic organisms simply move along their excited way within the greater whole presently enveloping it.

Witness the history of our mammalian cousin, the large whales (cetaceans), as one example of intelligent design and/or creative adaptation gone both forward and backwards.

How to explain such apparently logical, yet epochal and monumental change, except that it happened?

Meanwhile, some say the challenges of adaptation (or "evolution") are so few these days that human beings have simply stopped "evolving" (or put another way: growing).

I hope and pray that such declarations are simply foolhardy hyperbole.

In any case, onward and forward.