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Wednesday 31 October 2012

New York Times A Zombie Is a Slave Forever

A Zombie Is a Slave Forever http://nyti.ms/TSV2yx

October 30, 2012

A Zombie Is a Slave Forever

Los Angeles
ZOMBIES will come to my door on Wednesday night — in rags, eye-sockets blackened, pumping devices that make fake blood run down their faces — asking for candies. There seem to be more and more zombies every Halloween, more zombies than princesses, fairies, ninjas or knights. In all probability, none of them knows what a zombie really is.
Most people think of them as the walking dead, a being without a soul or someone with no free will. This is true. But the zombie is not an alien enemy who’s been CGI-ed by Hollywood. He is a New World phenomenon that arose from the mixture of old African religious beliefs and the pain of slavery, especially the notoriously merciless and coldblooded slavery of French-run, pre-independence Haiti. In Africa, a dying person’s soul might be stolen and stoppered up in a ritual bottle for later use. But the full-blown zombie was a very logical offspring of New World slavery.

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Northern Gateway - from Progressive Economics blog

http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2012/10/25/exchange-rates-the-price-of-oil-and-the-enbridge-northern-gateway-project-joint-review-panel/
Exchange Rates, the Price of Oil and the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project Joint Review Panel
Paul Tulloch
There is a large red hot poker of economic irony, stabbing away at the final remaining arguments the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project Joint Review Panel provide in support of the project. What’s ironic is just as this pipeline would take Canada further down the tunnel of resource dependency, the review panel’s analysis of the net benefits of this project are based on a calculation of exchange rate that completely ignores our increasingly turbocharged petro-currency.

Monday 29 October 2012

wicca - wisewoman



The Old English word Wicca, meaning 'wisewoman' is a positive term for maiden, mother and crone. Wicca creates rituals and ceremonies using the symbolism of womanhood. Matilda Gage (Gage, Woman, Church and State 1873 quoted in Spender 198 ) is credited as the first to describe witches as bearers of an alternative feminine tradition which gave them powers feared by the churches. Originally a midwife was a wise woman or ancient priestess, but historical and material conditions have devalued their role, (Humm ,1990: 236). For example from the tenth century onwards the association between herbs, flowers and the victory of Mary over death was celebrated in the ritual of the Lammas, one of the four great feasts of the Old Religion of the witches.  This ritual was discouraged and the date was used for another church ceremony (Daly,1984:129). 


Daly, M. (1984) Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy, Beacon Press: Boston, Mass.

Matilda Gage (1873)  Woman, Church and State.  

Humm, M.(1990) The Dictionary of Feminist Theory. Ohio State University
 

 


Friday 26 October 2012

animals in the dusk

This week I was standing in the lane just outside the gate while el gato ate some grass. I don't know why he likes the car polluted grass for his barfs. I saw a bushy tailed animal heading up the lighted side street to the main road. It hesitated briefly as it must have seen us then it kept going. El gato kept on eating his barf grass.

Thursday 25 October 2012

Allium sativum used against poultry respiratory disease



1.  Plants used to treat unspecified poultry respiratory diseases that have activity against influenza virus.

Allium sativum, Andrographis paniculata and Nicotiana glauca exhibit activity against influenza virus either clinically or in vitro.

Allium sativum
Clinically garlic protects mice from influenza and its constituents are antiviral to influenza. Fresh garlic is virucidal against herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, human rhinovirus type 2, parainfluenza-3, vaccinia virus and vesicular stomatitis virus.  Garlic is immune-modulating and may combat influenza when given prior to infection.

Structure of Andrographolide and the semi synthetic analog of andrographolide, DRF3188
Satyanarayana et al. BMC Cancer 2004 4:26   doi:10.1186/1471-2407-4-26

                                               
Andrographis paniculata
Andrographis paniculata is used to prevent the spread of  respiratory disease in family poultry in India.  Clinical studies on Andrographis paniculata, either alone or in combination with Eleutherococcus senticosis indicate that is effective in reducing the severity of clinical signs associated with respiratory infections including colds, sinusitis and influenza in humans. Andrographis paniculata, or its constituents possess activity against hepatitis B, HIV and respiratory syncytial virus. Andrographis paniculata possesses potent immune-modulating and anti-inflammatory properties, which may account for the amelioration of clinical signs of respiratory disease observed in chickens.