Comments on The Whole F'n Blog: Ready for an over due blog? Here we go.

Hey Rob, best of wishes to Sonya and you. I've be...

2008-09-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hey Rob, best of wishes to Sonya and you. I've been around my fair share of chemo patients, and it's not fun when it goes wrong. It's awesome to hear that it's going so well, and I wish Sonya and you the best in the remainder of the treatments.

I totally agree with a lot of what you're saying. Like the other person said before, I can understand that businesses aren't going to let up on the issue because it threatens profits. The thing I don't understand is why people who don't benefit from criminalization at all get up in arms about it. I mentioned that I've known more than a few chemo patients, and most of them and their loved ones were adamantly against cannabis. I'm not sure if they were ever offered any type of cannabis as treatment, but I asked all of them about it and they all said that taking cannabis, in any form, was immoral. I've seen some of them go through normal side effects, which are still pretty painful, and extreme side effects, which are hard to even watch. I've seen somone go through adverse side effects from other pain treatments, yet everyone acts like that's just part of what has to happen. I just don't understand why people would refuse a treatment like cannabis because of the stigma surrounding it.

Then you get the people who wouldn't even be affected by de-criminalization that get up in arms about it. They don't bother to do any research, they just regurgitate the same tired lines. It causes cancer, it makes people crazy, it's a date rape drug, it will become an epidemic amongst our children. I've been getting into a lot of conversations lately with people who argue that last point. They think that as soon as it becomes legal children everywhere will be hooked by shady dealers. The real truth is that it would be the other way around. It's not like legalizing it would make it legal to be sold or smoked on the streets. I argue these people by saying that you can't sell alcohol on the streets, or to minors. Cannabis legalization would bring the same requirements. Now, instead of having to go to dealers, adults can go to smoke dens or to authorized sellers, driving the unauthorized dealers' business down.

Why is this such a big deal? Why do people care if their neighbors get stoned after they get home from work instead of getting drunk? I find it funny talking to these people sometimes, when they complain about the governement not respecting their second amendment rights, or the government spending too much money on what they view as pointless crap. So you think the government shouldn't interfere in the things you're passionate about, but you agree on them interfering in something that doesn't affect you? You get bent out of shape about spending every time you don't agree or don't understand what the spending is doing for the community, but you don't get bent out of shape about the money we spend policing and enforcing cannabis laws?

I see you mentioned the DEA, that's a whole industry in itself, funded by taxpayer money, that terrorizes California cannabis businesses because state laws apparantly are superceded by federal laws, despite what the Constitution says. You probably know this, but the criminalization effort was originally spearheaded by the head of the DEA, Henry Anslinger, during a time when the agency was bleeding money and his job was in jeopardy. This is the same man who was a big proponent of prohibition. He also coined the term "marijuana", which was intended to promote an association with hispanics, who were looked down on during that time. He tried to paint the hispanic population as degenerates who were taking jobs and bringing their dangerous drugs into the country with them.

On the topic of spirituality, I read an amazing qu...

2008-08-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

On the topic of spirituality, I read an amazing quote in Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles the other day: "Science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle." Isn't it amazing that you have the religious people fighting against the scientists and vice versa and it's a science fiction author is the one to get it right? For what it's worth I hope Sonya is getting better and when I pray for the only things I ever pray for (wisdom, health, and long life) I'll make sure that Sonya is included in the last two. Take care =)

Also, check out Mad Men. It's the best show that HBO didn't make.

Nihao RVD-san,Wow. An undercurrent of frustration ...

2008-08-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

Nihao RVD-san,

Wow. An undercurrent of frustration is not uncommon in your writings but this is the most anger that I've seen a blog of yours radiate. And understandably so, given the circumstances. Anger can be a catalyst for positive change... Still... Please be careful not to let the energy go too negative on you.

About the Digital Caboodle thing... You can associate with whatever the heck you want - the choice is yours - but if you're seriously taking a vote then please add this one to the "no" count. I took a look at their website and feel that there are a couple of areas where they really need to provide some extra clarity for the customers. Did you notice? Right near the top of their main page, they offer to add more than one machine to an account and then, slightly but significantly further down, they say that there is a maximum of two claims per year - without mentioning if that's per account or per machine. Just little stuff like that. They do at least provide ways to contact the company and they list a physical address in Battle Creek, MI. So... If you happen to know these people better than we do and if you're pretty dang sure that they REALLY know what they're doing... Tell them no thanks for now anyway and suggest that they add an outline of the company failsafe plan for their services to their website. (Especially for the Contact Smartguard service that's coming soon and that frankly sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.)

Hrm. So by the end of September, SVD-san will be half done with chemo. And she'll be totally done by the end of this year, if everything goes as originally scheduled. Awesomeness! Congrats, hugs and continuing health to my solar sister - may 2009 find her cancer free, forever. (She'll still have to get checked for relapse about every 6 months to a year for the rest of her life, prolly but getting through the chemo is monumental.) Maybe SVD-sans journey will serve as evidence and motivation enough for more people in the medical world to start changing the path of treatment for other cancer patients.

On more than one occasion I've mentioned that 'profit vs. health' seems to be a central theme of civilization and that the human history of the world is, unfortunately, full of instances where profit takes priority. Where being rich is equated with being right. And it's still happening. Corporations have exported and amplified the idea that money - the bottom line - is all that matters, it is the solution to their every problem and forgiveness for their every sin. So the Fed and Big Business and privately run prisons and all the other guilty parties - yes. They will keep lying to us, RVD-san because they know - and we know - that they can't afford the truth. They can't afford to decriminalize a plant that just about anyone could cultivate. They can't afford therapy for prisoners who only commit drug crimes. They can't even afford to publicize these peoples trials. (By contrast murder, abuse and domestic violence trials ALWAYS seem to get full news coverage.) We don't all believe their lies but we can't outspend them either, that's the problem. Money talks, apparently and it talks very loudly. We're not going to see much truth in our world until these kind of priorities get rearranged.

Would love to read more about the MPP but pretty much all the informative links that you so kindly provide are shut down by the filter on this public computer and since this is a small town there's no guarantee that getting my own PC (I'm saving for that) would improve matters. So my resources are limited. I've heard, though, that somewhere in this nation a gentlemen was trying to establish a THC Church, with the idea that he'd have a stronger case against the Feds when they came for him - since he'd be able to claim religious persecution. Don't know how true that story is or if it worked out for him.

Very glad to know that Mr. Butcher has gotten to bring his daughter home. Shudder to think that his situation could happen at all and it seriously ticks me off to consider that his family may not be the first or last of such cases... I'm glad they've spoken up. Sincerely hope that the lawyers from the ACLU will be able to help them further. Seems like the family ought to be entitled to some kind of settlement - and a public apology - since what the government did to them was basically kidnapping.

Of course, we're talking about the same government that only recently began to seriously consider offering a vague and likely hollow apology to what is left of the Native American peoples. Not exactly a good track record for admitting to mistakes.

Hope that it is all right if I take a quick moment to plug a couple of causes here. I'm just hoping the information will be of some use to people.

First is the VoteSmart Project @ www.votesmart.org Anyone registered to vote in America should take a look at this site. You don't have to agree with it but at least take a look at it. You enter your zip code and it gives you a list of every candidate that you personally can choose to vote for - all sides of the ballot, local to national scale. It's good for research. You can pull up each candidates political history, voting records, special interest group ratings and so forth. You can figure out how contact everyone on your local legislature. It's a nice idea - these people are being paid to represent the population of their regions, how can they do their jobs if the population is silent? Our candidates likely aren't going to live up to our expectations - or their campaign promises - if we don't even try to hold them to the task.

Second plug is for the Pickens Plan @ www.pickensplan.org Mr. Pickens is the retired CEO of Mesa, an independent oil company. He's a well-respected advocate of stockholder rights and a well-known enemy of entrenched corporate bureaucracy. He believes that America can - and should - get off oil and convert to domestic wind energy and natural gas in ten years or less. He has a plan but he’s open to feedback and suggestions from the world at large. It's just as well that his base of operations is mainly online because NBC recently refused to air one of his ads and other television networks may follow suit.

Unrelated as those things may seem... If the public can be educated and motivated to positive action on either of these issues... Then there is also more room to hope for a positive future of medical cannabis. I might be wrong but I think a certain amount of support could transfer. The growing number of people wanting to shut down corrupt oil companies might be able to recognize the ugly parallels that exist in the medical and pharmacy industries. The people sincerely craving political change and wanting to make educated decisions about who they vote for should likewise be open to the awareness that we need to demand more from our governments. Including the right to make educated choices about what kind of medicines the government allows us to have.

Dialing is equal to texting? The phone companies would love that, I'm sure. Another fee they could add to the bill.... Maybe don't give them that idea. At this rate, sounds like Cali will be outlawing everything that isn't Onstar. They don't want you to buy a new phone, RVD-san - the economy is so bad, they want you to buy a new car. ... That was intended as sarcasm but now that I think of it... Uhm. Ick. Maybe not so far from the truth.

Great to know that the NWE has thusfar been good to you but City of Angels to Spain must be one heck of a commute. (City of Angels to Tokyo is nothing to sneeze at either... Cripes, no wonder you don't update more often.) If NWE does eventually become a more regular thing then for your own sake, I hope you consider relocating. In the meantime welcome back, again.

At the risk of sounding like a cheap poet.... May I please know, are there any plans to release RVD TV to DVD? That would be a better fit for some of your fans with limited access to the web. Realize you must have no end of projects on your plate at this time though so maybe just sleep on this idea for a while.

Enough from me for now but I'd like to leave on a good note so I'll end with a thanks. Was watching the One of Kind DVD the other day, not for the first time. The first few times it was quite hard to take my eyes off the action in, around and near the ring - hardly surprising. About the sixth time through, I had my first SVD-sighting and the other day... I finally started to really notice the range of expression on the poor ECW referee. Which was a bit like watching the expressions of Larry in a Three Stooges episode. Highly recommended for anyone needs a laugh and also a fairly good argument that these people should be up for some kind of entertainment award.

Please keep taking care!

Courage and Peace!

~CalmMountain

First off, drop the iPhone and get a Blackberry. ...

2008-08-30T00:06:00.000-07:00

First off, drop the iPhone and get a Blackberry. Second, get the insurance for $5 from your cell phone provider.

Now, I am sorry to hear about Sonya's condition. This is the first I've heard and I am out of touch. Be strong. Not for you but for the both of you and she needs it.

BTW, WWE sucks anymore. Go to TNA if you're ever thinking of wrestling. If not, give me a deal on an older Batman comic or the issue where Black Bolt first appears. :)

Take care and remember,

A Good Harvest Comes From The Seeds You Have Planted

Jeff

Hi Rob,I'm glad you and Sonya are doing well.Reall...

2008-08-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hi Rob,

I'm glad you and Sonya are doing well.

Really, if you are looking into Ipod insurance I would only get it directly from Apple (Apple Care).

I have had my Ipod classic crash and I had to have my hard drive replaced. I use my Ipod everyday to exercise so to me it was worth the warranty for 3 years. To me, its how much you use your ipod and what kind you have. If you have the 80GB/160GB classic or Ipod touch then yes I would get the warranty.(not from that web site) You can go to either Apple.com or CDW.com

If you have an ipod nano or shuffle (NOT WORTH IT) You would spend more of what it is worth plus they don't have hard drives so the chances of it taking a dump would be low.

Hope this helps

Rob, you should read the "Ender's Game" series of ...

2008-08-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

Rob, you should read the "Ender's Game" series of books by Orson Scott Card. The later books in the series deal with these sort of meta-physical connections in a scientific fashion. It's especially interesting given what we've been uncovering in quantum physics in recent years.

Hi... Ive got some insight into the medical weed t...

2008-08-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hi... Ive got some insight into the medical weed thing. I was 31 when i was diagnosed with cancer. There is a medical benefit thats proven to work and they ignore its benefit.

I have taken marinol (sp?) and its like a watered down weed. Not the best for catching a buzz but thats not the real goal or shouldn't be. Any cancer patient knows 1 word that is gonna change their life if the word cancer didn't. Thats chemotherapy.
Heres where the medical benefit comes in. When your on chemo you loose your appetite. Nothing taste good and then their is the throwing up stuff. So your body doesn't get the nutrition it needs to build blood cells that the chemo is killing. merinol will give you the munchies just like any other form of weed will. Thus you will eat. For me i tore up watermellon and spagetti o`s and they never tasted better. I never hid the fact that i took marinol and often joked about it. But i do credit it for why i maintained a healthy weight during chemo. My wife would often bring me lunch while i was going through treatment and i would throw down on pizza, subs or what ever.

My treatment was like a job. mon-fri 7 hours a day of getting that stuff pumped into me. But i stayed with in a healthy weight the entire time thanks to the fact i had munchies.

anti nausea is also a benefit but i think apatite stimulant is the best benefit. I never had to get booster shots to force my blood count up and i never threw up one time.

My oncologist asked me for insight into it merinol and knew i would give truthful answers. The risk i think is the "bad trip" effect. So i suggested he ask the person ig they drink or have used strong pain medicine recently. A person who hasnt had a buzz in 30 years might freak out the first time they take it. But if the person drinks then its not likely to bother them. Younger patients are probably safer than a 80 year old as well.

But there is no doubt eating and chemo is way more unhealthy than taking marinol while on chemo. The goal is to stay healthy and not stop eating all together as that poses new health risks that will only complicate matters.

But i went through brain surgery, lung surgery and months of chemo and i recovered fast. I credit pain meds like perpacet for helping me deal with the pains and i credit merinol for helping me maintain weight. But there is no doubt that there is a medical benefit from it.

You can call any doc. and say ive lost 20 pounds this week and im not eating at all and i dont want to and ask if thats healthy. Now add the fact your taking poison to kill all your blood cells in hopes of killing the cancer cells and it should be clear that if a merinol can help this it should be offered. Yes there is risk of abuse but i doubt you will find people prefer merinol over smoking a joint. Meaning if you wanna get high the buying weed isnt hard to do or find. But if your in the position like so many people with cancer are, then docs should be considering this and its a shame they dont.

The new HBO series True Blood might be good as wel...

2008-08-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

The new HBO series True Blood might be good as well. Also if you didn't get a chance to see Generation Kill, check that out. I can't comment on Weeds because I don't have Showtime, but I've heard Kevin Nealon's character is hilarious!

Rob: Insurance for a cell phone or iPod is genera...

2008-08-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

Rob:
Insurance for a cell phone or iPod is generally a major ripoff. For an $400 iPod Touch 16 gb, you pay $8 a month for the insurance, nearly $100 a year. If you paid the same rate for your homeowners insurance, it would cost you $91,200 a year for a $400,000 home. Not a good deal at all.