Menowercogitatus; Thinking Thursdays

As mentioned last week, I have been following my curiosity all over the intermutts and finding some wee gems of reading, listening and viewing. Let me link some here and invite you to share the exploration.

I have discreetly, to those I felt could hear without them taking a threatening stance against my argument, shared the view that the biggest issue with our growing climate concerns is not simply the CO2 outputs but the population that drives the emissions. Our biggest enemy is our own imbalance of numbers. It was with some degree of relief (and perhaps a little vindication) that I read the following on Tuesday morning.

As a global society, we are 'ostriches' - hiding our heads about this one bold fact. I recall so very clearly, at the age of ten, declaring to my mother that I never wished to have children. She smiled and said I'd likely have a change of heart once I 'met the right fellow' - but I never did have the reproductive urge, and I discovered that most men do. Indeed, all the men I ever met. They all wanted to spread their seed. And that is another aspect of the discussion in that article which is perhaps only lightly touched upon - the male of the species detests the idea of the women having control over whether they add to the weight of numbers. Anyway, I leave you with that one to mull over.

What else caught my attention? With Remembrance Day having all its usual poignancy, there has been the added dimension of active conflicts remaining all over the place. Of course, everybody is acutely aware of that in Ukraine. One of the factors that arise in occasional reports is that of war crimes. I have often been struck by the fact that we almost always perceive such actions as being perpetrated by 'the other side.' regardless from which side we are looking. We have all heard and read of veterans who cannot share their experiences. We have to allow for that being not only that they witnessed horrors, but just possibly may have contributed to them. That is the nature of war. Within that arena, too, are to be found those who actually appear to relish or embellish their experience. A tribunal in Australia has been causing much thinking around such matters. 

The Guardian has no paywall, so you can freely listen - and it is compelling as we discover that the difference between a war hero and a war villain is a thin veil of uniform. We cannot help but think that for all the upgrading of codes of conduct and international regulation, the military ranks can be open hiding places for the bullies and braggarts of the world.

Okay, that's the reading and listening offers - how about viewing? You might be forgiven for thinking, 'wait, this is all from the newspaper of YAM's choice and what had this to do with intermutts surfing?' Fair question - it is just that threads develop, don't they when one goes ether diving. There was lots of other stuff, but these three are nicely grouped. For viewing, then, once again from the Guardian, but much lighter in topic, is a reporter's search for an alternative to NHS medicine to relieve his Multiple Sclerosis. It is a series of 15-minute videos and is ongoing. At the publication of this post, there are three episodes available.

Long-term readers and those who have paid attention know that I was fifteen years in practice as a Homoeopathic Physician, with Counselling, Nutrition and Remedial Therapies thrown in. The latter covers a range of modalities from massage, Radiance Therapy, aromatherapy, reflexology and such. What took me to that career was my need for alternatives, having found that the orthodox medicines tended to overload and even aggravate my condition (Rheumatoid Arthritis) and have significant side and secondary effects. Homoeopathy got me walking again after a stint in a wheelchair and on crutches. Neither were the healing effects slow - once correctly diagnosed and prescribed, the change occurred within a fortnight. However, the individualised nature of natural remedies is also their downfall; orthodoxy demands one size fits all medicine and substances that can be controlled en masse. Individualising is messy - and requires of practitioners who might prescribe it a significant ability in assessment and analysis.

It is also important to remember that most doctors in the UK's NHS are under enormous time pressure, so they could not possibly take the time required with patients to make the individualised assessments for specific remedies. Worth noting, too, that recently, there was a move to Social Prescribing - what befuddled me is that in today's society, we need the doctor's permission/prescription to do what comes naturally!!!

Anyway... lots of food for thought there to keep you out of mischief today! Or you may simply prefer to have a cuppa and gander at the latest fashion news...