Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Neutralization and

the Healing Power of the Heart

If our relationships are to heal and evolve, we must change our relationship with ourselves.

Healthy relationship is when we are able to discuss how we feel and not simply reacting.

When the emotions of a DNA pattern are triggered, we react to the memory of the feelings and emotions of that pattern. Once the feelings are neutralized, we and those involved in the situation can move on rather than being stuck in an endless cycle of resistance.

We tend to resist because it creates traction and we mistakenly confuse traction with power. We think that by holding on or by resisting, we can exert influence.

You can understand how this might work in the context of a committee meeting where the committee leader is presenting ideas everyone likes and is getting all the attention. If someone wants to be noticed or to stop the flow of the meeting, he(or she) starts resisting and soon everyone is paying attention to him (or her). While he (or she) has certainly created traction by resistance, he has not created true power. True power only empowered everyone involved. Traction only sap the energy of the group.

Traction and resistance create fear, worry, procrastination, judgment, and denial. If we want to move forward productively to the next level, we must neutralize our resistance. Forgive and forbearance is remedy in this situation.


Sunday, December 28, 2008

LEARN:

Yes LEARN:

Scrutinise the notion of "learn" beyond the norm of textbooks and classrooms. Whilst stressing discipline and focus.

Be more interested in that elusive quality that keeps people or learners continually purposeful and curious.

It is this irrepressible desire to acquire knowledge and experience first-hand and develop self-direction which learner sees as the fuel that fires the impulse to learn.

Learn the deeper insight of the spirit of learning is more beneficial to one's soul than learning much shallow generalities.

Having been mentored by other learners over the years, a learner has evolved an intuition for learning any discipline.

Dancers and their limbs movements manifest the fluidity, elegance and power of their craft. Their hands and arms seamless entwined to en wrapped - as visual metaphors to expand the idea of mentor ship in learning.

Learner's relationship carries protective overtones but their deep interlocking also suggests support and empowerment.

Learner learns from humbled learners too the lessons of humility which without none can be leaning on honest leadership in scholarship.

LOVE:

LOVE is the most profound and trans formative of life's experiences.

Going beyond the obvious manifestations of romantic and passionate love, analyse and build on the mood and atmosphere instead.

Love is saturated colours that are characterised by nostalgia and visual lyricism.

Lover imbues many images with a dreamy delicacy or fragility - the quality that mark an image with a sense of loss or arching often associated with the mood of love.

Only spirit can love uttermost, others follow.


WORK:

Work?
Yes, WORK:

The labour we take on or decline, the work we enjoy or endure reveal so much about ourselves, spirit.

Strategic probing the work culture of any community has always been synonymous with economic success.

Work convey the ceaseless and intense striving for higher quality (it it exist) that marks one's work life.

Work to live creates momentum through a cumulative sequence of activities - the scores of aces in front of computer screens, the presence of express couriers, the lighted cabs on drizzly days, commuters dashing aimless, it seems, the ubiquitous cell phones and more credit cards, credit cards installment purchases, credit crunches.

One's personality and sensitivity to the little ironies emerging from the iconography of the city, and wild jungles too is evident.

The concrete jungle workers are just a type of the organism in the natural rain forest.

The square motif of computer/laptop screens echoes the spaces of office cubicles and the geometry of city architecture. Cash changes hands side-by-side with credit card transactions; different courier services network the island - bent on locking up that precious niche they call their own.

All of which points to the enormity and multi-layered texture of a country's urban and rural life, where a mind-boggling spectrum of work takes place, and the boundaries between white and blue collar workers become increasingly meaningless.

Nevertheless work with love is the meaning of living. And healthy living too. Poised somewhere in the scope of that larger unfolding plot.

All work, when we honestly admit, only point to the archingly resonant cycle of forming relationships and families. Only human can work, others follow.

ENRICH:

ENRICH:

To “enrich” our imagination, our perspectives and ultimately, our live is probably one of the least quantifiable of exercises.

Still, a deluge of “enrichment” programs have descended upon this island over the last two decades, twenty years period, spanning the fields of sports, religion, art, technology and the sciences, from courtship, child-birth, family nurturing, to hospices services. In brief, from cradle to grave “enrichment” modules are available everywhere now.

Enrichment in this sense assumes a heightening of experience which results in the shift of perceptions and a new understanding.

Anyone may employ simple emblematic imagery, like water, to expound what it means to enrich ourselves and our lives.

Avoid documenting a literal instance of the programs and curricula or any explicit narrative that showcases “enrichment”.

Water, one word is a strong visual motif and metaphor to suggest the passage of enrichment.

The mesmerizing image of the “cycle of water” suggests an internal elucidation or illumination.

RELAX:

RELAX:

The term “relax” is seldom used in relation to cities like Republic Of Singapore.

Top-of-the-mind associations usually come in adjectives like “frenzied”, “frantic” or “frenetic”.

Over the last ten years (I am so relax now, so I avoid using the term “decade”) however, attempts have been made to represent urban-city-state locations as places of leisure, fun and even serenity. Water is relaxing. Try visit the Singapore Marina Barrage. (Click Here to view)

Relax brings the characteristics of visual clarity, economy of lines and colour.

Relax include ideas of ‘down-time’ and chilling out, turn off the electrical switches, slowing down the tempo by infusing one’s images in the mind with a redolent air and fresh water.

“Relax” images convey a mellow, idyllic feel. Crisp white sheets, white walls, disappear from the camera view-finder, private spaces, unwind and laze around, bare, minimal aesthetics, water.

SAVOUR:

“SAVOUR”

Focus your keenness on a domain where every place is the unrivalled king – food!

Focus your spotlight on the un-self-conscious manner in which people worldwide behave when they engage in the national pastime,savour the tinge of relish food! deserves.

Avoid picturesque, sentimental or lyrical aesthetics, preferring a direct, honest, down-to-earth approach in food-taking.

There is a capricious, un-premeditated and unstructured humane feel to one’s food – faces and limbs are cut off by cropped edges or blocked by objects, and subjects and situations are selected randomly, or so it seems.

We, eaters are not particular about the etiquette of dining. Forget the fork, carving knife and spoon, or the pair of chopsticks. Some of us eat inelegantly and absorbedly with our washed bare fingers and palms ; others drool at the prospect of the coming dish during a typical Chinese ten-course meal ; all are totally at ease when it comes to good food.

Hawkers centres, canteens, kopitiams (Singapore local slang for local coffee shops with ‘bio-diversity’ of cooked food stalls), whatever environments, air-conditioned or not, setting may take, look at the unrivalled king again – food!

Consider again the food court, coffee shop, restaurant, neighbourhood cafĂ©, a cocktail function at an exhibition venue, or just one’s own home dining table, as communal spaces with a commonality of purpose – to savour good food – and an opportunity to survey not just what we consume but how we consume.

Water is the main ingredient
, by the way to the highest level of SAVOUR. Chew/Fletcher your food 42 times (“Fletcher” named after Dr Fletcher who discovered that many digestive problems can be solved if patients chew the food more times prior swallowing it ) before sending the food on its journey down to the next digestion station – stomach. The second phase of digestion only begins after food leaves the stomach and enters the small intestines...bon appetite
 

A child asked,”Mom, why must we chew the food so many times?”
Mom replied,” Because your stomach has no teeth.”

SAVOUR
food. And smile while chewing, masticating and manipulating the food while it is in your mouth.

Photography is to put the head, the eyes, and the heart in one single line.
Photography is a way of life. So smile and savour the food.
Selfie and Foodfie..
nice ....Hmmmmm....s a v our

INDULGE

INDULGE.

In a city-state with a growing presence of boutique cafes, wine clubs and ‘elite goods’ stores, fashion and glamour promoters, a traveler sees “indulge” as the casting away of inhibitions that is marked by a heady, euphoric quality.

Urban-city culture is marked by impulses towards self-gratification and the fulfillment of desires without restraint. Ultimate indulgence by pairing sensuality with jewellery – the objects of enthrallment ,also objects of entrapment for many women. A bait often used by cunning ‘wolves’ womanizers.

Playful and tongue-in-cheek set of images captures ‘rare’ footage of media darlings and celebrities, actresses, actors, models all have often been presented and projected as elegant, immaculately turned out and self-possessed in media shots. Ideal glamour icons, styles in uninhibited mood, shots with crazed air, ravished by desire and reveling in pieces of jewellery, wines, substances and sex tones. Commercial projects indulge as creative edge of fashion and art of civilization.

"We Believe"

We believe in the toils of our forefathers,
Who came here with nothing, yet are leaving us with so much.
Our forefathers who left their motherland behind,
Sailing into the unknown with hopes of a better future.

And though we've come to regard this island as our own,
A land to grow our roots,
A place to raise our sons,
We believe the hopes of our continuous growth now lie beyond our shores.
Perhaps back on the very motherland that our forefathers sailed from.

We believe Life begets lives and lives getting back to Life.

We believe in the future for our children;
That their lives will be and must be better than ours.
We believe in providing them with the best start in life,
With the best aids currency can buy.

Still deep down inside,
We will always believe we had it better than them
when we we were kids.
Never mind the Internet, X-box or Cartoon Network TV programmes.

We believe Life begets lives and lives getting back to Life.

We believe in the family values we were brought up with,
The very values passed down from all corners of Asia on which the basis of our society was formed and continue to grow.
And though we've come to embrace, imitate the culture of the West,
Welcoming MTV, McDonald's and Desperate Housewives sit-coms into our lives -
sometimes even forgetting who we really are and where our real roots lie.

Or even as we've come to realise now that our parents, our teachers and our leaders may not always be right -
We still believe in esteem for our elders,
Respect for our leaders,
Loyalty to our nation and honesty to our fellow people.

We believe Life begets lives and lives getting back to Life.

And most importantly, we believe in safety,
Salvation.
No matter what we choose to believe or disbelieve,
No matter how much we've learned about science,
Or the rewards of hard work or good, sound financial planning,
It is still safer to get the help of someone bigger than us,
Even if you're not too sure if the 'someone/somebody' is really there,
really ready to listen.
It is just more assuring, in case we need that greater or little bit of extra help.
For who else can deliver that special 4 to 10 probabilities combination.
To change our lives forever?

We believe we need to change to survive ,
We believe Life begets lives and lives getting back to Life.

EXPLORE:

This life is a journey of dimensional explorations. Sets of images perceived triggers a sense of wonder and awe with the enormity of scope and the vividness of detail in one's waking hours.

Responding to the instinct of "explore" with its suggestions of danger and curiosity, one ventures into altered spaces, including some little visited by the common public.

Explorer is constantly seeking new ways to understand the landscape of ever changing scenarios, including observing scenes of life at night.

Explorer moves from time to space, seeking new turf and terrain in the reality, capturing images in all their breathtakingly graphic detail. Though some images are impossible to be downloaded with present technology. Perhaps another time.

The impulse to 'visually explore' these less traveled spaces, is fuelled by one's images which not only convey a sense of colossal space but also registers a spectrum of stunningly minute details. from Universe, to solar, to earth, to systems, to one's self, to organ, to tissue, to cell, to molecule, to atom, to quark, to vibration, to spirit, to ...(?), giving lie to the perception of the homogeneous space landscaping reality.

There is a whole world out there to be explore. And there is a 'nano-world' within ourselves waiting to be explored too.

Bon voyage to all diligent explorers.

BELIEVE:

To "believe" is to look beyond personal ethical, religious and moral values towards a larger social and community framework.

To believe is to explore the matrix of beliefs and convictions that dominates our imaginations and our thoughts.

Believing is going beyond the deeper insight of your thought. "I think..." is not the same as "I believe ..." The former is the perception within the five senses realm, while the latter is the experience within the spirit of the higher realm.

Beliefs are as a potent mix of pragmatism, capitalism, humanism, delusions and superstitions (until proven otherwise) that shape the way we think and interpret the real world, mould desires, guide actions and fortify the will in our being.

To believe is to render in our being signature sepia hues, alludes to the tenacity of people's beliefs in the face of change, and the contradictions that arise when other people chose to live out their beliefs.

To believe is to each with one's own unique aesthetic talents, perspectives and eye for detail. Beliefs give their personalised interpretations of various themes, each embodying its own spirit, attitude and sensibility.

Through the eloquence of one's images of beliefs and conceptual themes are meant to be evocative and expressive - "Explore", "Enrich", "Indulge", "Savour", etc, as 'trigger-words', they are intended to set off a chain of one's associations and references that would inspire the believers to think and believe about certain facets of reality and visually interpret our being through these beliefs or concepts.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Our Diet Decides ....

...our health and wealth destiny is a simple yet profound saying, since the early human civilisation. Health is wealth, as the old adage goes. And the way to amass such wealth is to eat wisely, choosing the nourishing foods that nature offers so abundantly.

I suppose many readers are annoyed by taking medicines when you get ill. Some such medicines are very peculiar, particularly those decoctions made from herbal compounds which are both bitter, hot, sour and puckery, and some of the tastes are so strange that one cannot tell what they are! Latest modern drugs ,for instance, in chemo treatment, are in fact poison inherently. However, for the sake of treatment, what else can one do but pinch his nose and swallow it down. If only more doctors worldwide learn about the DNA of healing.

Things might be even worse when your sick child is not obedient during the health crisis. He (or she) might run off as soon as he sees the medicine. That's natural self defence instinct response from the body. What then can you do? You have to seize him (or her), constrain him to open his mouth, and pour the medicine down his throat by pinching nostrils. Unfortunately, if the process is not properly handled, liquid may escape down the trachea causing even more complications. And all members who involved in this episode of health crisis will always remember that it was never a humane way to live with.

How nice it would be if the decoction to be taken could be made of foodstuff or taste like food! In fact, there is a simple instruction to follow this wisdom for the rest of your life :"Every herb bearing seed, and every fruit of a tree bearing seed; to you it shall be for sustenance. " For all the nutrients that is needed for the body's longevity and integrity are all well balanced and compacted in them, in every aspect of the energy, water and waste management in the most efficient manner.

In natural bio-chemistry world, no cooking is involved, for nature uses the chemistry "curing" method to mature the foodstuff and metabolism for the nutrients digestion, assimilation and excretion in the human body. The various types of energies in natural food are passed to the body upon consumption, the natural distilled water in the fresh raw food is sufficient in quantity and quality to achieve the complete cycle of digestion, assimilation and excretion without depleting the human body's inherent energy reservoir. Now, the science of raw food confirmed the actuality behind the curing of cancer patients after their diet were changed from "cooked version" to natural raw version. In fact, every cooked meal triggered the body's immunity system due to the subtle altered state of the natural nutrients, which can be tested by measuring and analysing the increased amount of white blood cells produced after each cooked-meal.
NOTE: White blood cells (WBCs), also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All white blood cells are produced and derived from multipotent cells in the bone marrow known as hematopoietic stem cells. Leukocytes are found throughout the body, including the blood and lymphatic system.

Dietary lifestyle or daily normal natural eating is really the eating aspect in preventive health measures, which also embrace adequate rest, recreation and healthy lifestyle.

In the wake of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), the basics of health maintenance is again emphasised - eating well and wisely to build a strong immunity against illnesses and diseases.

There are many world cultures, the Chinese is one of them, with their long tradition of herbs and tonics, have handed down everyday knowledge of food therapy to promote natural health and wise longevity in an inexpensive way. Bama Yao Autonomous County is a county in Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Hechi City. The residents of Bama County have a reputation for longevity, and Bama has been the focus of studies from geriatricians nationwide.

Food contains the various nutrients which provide the energy supply for the body's growth and activities. The old saying that "Food is the Number One need for the people" reflects the utmost importance of food in daily life.

Natural nutrients are essential for people during illness to overcome pathogenic factors and repair tissue damage, and to resist and prevent diseases while in good health.

The science and art of dietary or eating roughly includes the following :
1.Firstly, investigating the nature of food for preventing and treating diseases. In this sense, food itself is a remedy. For instance, in scurvy, a disease due to vitamin C deficiency, the eating of fresh oranges, tangerines, guava, apples, or other fruits which are richer in vitamin C is helpful. Bearing in mind that vitamin C alone will no work, but with all other traces of biodiversity of nano-nutrients which comes natural, all of them work synergistically for the balanced-wellness of the body, mind and spirit. The present popular "single vitamin C supplement" will not work in actuality. The same goes for those processed "vitamins enriched fruit drinks or juices so-called" found on supermarkets shelves. Why shortchanged your body ?
Again, garlic behaves both as a food and as a remedy for bacillary dysentery. It is because of the habit f not including this humble garlic nutrients in one's diet, many cases of stomach disease had increased among the urban folks, young and old. The odour of garlic also play a vital part to the body's nerves and immunity systems.

2.Secondly, investigating curative effects achieved by carefully selecting certain kinds of drug and adding them to food to complement each other.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

HyperEmesis Gaverdarum (HEG)

Here is another medical term used in mainstream medical community. Whether to sound professional or whatever reason they might have , the real underlying cause is overtime chronic dehydration and the logical and effective method to reverse it is consistent re hydration of the body. Follow the water-cure protocol formula found in this blog.

Hyper emesis Gaverdarum(HG) Background

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is extremely common. Studies estimate that nausea and vomiting occurs in 50-90% of pregnancies. The nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy usually begins by 9-10 weeks of gestation, peaks at 11-13 weeks, and resolves in most cases by 12-14 weeks. In 1-10% of pregnancies, symptoms may continue beyond 20-22 weeks.

Normal nausea and vomiting may be an evolutionary protective mechanism—it may protect the pregnant woman and her embryo from harmful substances in food, such as pathogenic microorganisms in meat products and toxins in plants, with the effect being maximal during embryogenesis (the most vulnerable period of pregnancy). This is supported by studies showing that women who had nausea and vomiting were less likely to have miscarriages and stillbirth.

The most severe form of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is called hyperemesis gravidarum (HEG). A continuous spectrum of the severity of nausea and vomiting ranges from the nausea and vomiting that occurs in most pregnancies to the severe disorder of HEG. HEG is characterized by persistent nausea and vomiting associated with ketosis and weight loss (>5% of prepregnancy weight). HEG may cause volume depletion, electrolytes and acid-base imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and even death. Severe hyperemesis requiring hospital admission occurs in 0.3-2% of pregnancies.
Pathophysiology

The physiologic basis of HEG is controversial. HEG appears to occur as a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. The following theories have been proposed:

Psychological abnormalities

Some cases of HEG may represent psychiatric illnesses, including Munchausen syndrome, conversion or somatization disorder, or major depression. They may occur under situations of stress or ambivalence surrounding the pregnancy. It appears that psychologic responses can interact and exacerbate the physiology of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Most likely, physiological changes associated with pregnancy interact with each woman's psychologic state and cultural values. However, HEG may occur in the absence of psychologic illness or stress.

Hormonal changes

Women with hyperemesis gravidarum often have high hCG levels that cause transient hyperthyroidism. hCG can physiologically stimulate the thyroid gland thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor. hCG levels peak in the first trimester. Some women with HEG appear to have clinical hyperthyroidism. However, in a larger portion (50-70%), TSH is transiently suppressed and the free thyroxine (T4) index is elevated (40-73%) with no clinical signs of hyperthyroidism, circulating thyroid antibodies, or enlargement of the thyroid. In transient hyperthyroidism of HEG, thyroid function normalizes by the middle of the second trimester without antithyroid treatment. Clinically overt hyperthyroidism and thyroid antibodies are usually absent.

A report on a unique family with recurrent gestational hyperthyroidism associated with hyperemesis gravidarum showed a mutation in the extracellular domain of the TSH receptor that made it responsive to normal levels of hCG. Thus, cases of HEG with a normal hCG may be due to varying hCG isotypes.

A positive correlation between the serum hCG elevation level and free T4 levels has been found, and the severity of nausea appears to be related to the degree of thyroid stimulation. hCG may not be independently involved in the etiology of HEG but may be indirectly involved by its ability to stimulate the thyroid. For these patients, hCG levels were linked to increased levels of immunoglobulin M, complement, and lymphocytes. Thus, an immune process may be responsible for increased circulating hCG or isoforms of hCG with a higher activity for the thyroid. Critics of this theory note that (1) nausea and vomiting are not usual symptoms of hyperthyroidism, (2) signs of biochemical hyperthyroidism are not universal in cases of HEG, and (3) some studies have failed to correlate the severity of symptoms with biochemical abnormalities.

Some studies link high estradiol levels to the severity of nausea and vomiting in patients who are pregnant, while others find no correlation between estrogen levels and the severity of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women. Previous intolerance to oral contraceptives is associated with nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Progesterone also peaks in the first trimester and decreases smooth muscle activity; however, studies have failed to show any connection between progesterone levels and symptoms of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women. Lagiou et al studied prospectively 209 women with nausea and vomiting who showed that estradiol levels were positively correlated while prolactin levels were inversely associated with nausea and vomiting in pregnancy and no correlation existed with estriol, progesterone, or sex-hormone binding globulin.

Gastrointestinal dysfunction

The stomach pacemaker causes rhythmic peristaltic contractions of the stomach. Abnormal myoelectric activity may cause a variety of gastric dysrhythmias, including tachygastrias and bradycardias. Gastric dysrhythmias have been associated with morning sickness. The presence of dysrhythmias was associated with nausea while normal myoelectrical activity was present in the absence of nausea. Mechanisms that cause gastric dysrhythmias include elevated estrogen or progesterone levels, thyroid disorders, abnormalities in vagal and sympathetic tone, and vasopressin secretion in response to intravascular volume perturbation. Many of these factors are present in early pregnancy. These pathophysiologic factors are hypothesized to be more severe or the gastrointestinal tract more sensitive to the neural/humoral changes in those who develop HEG.

Hepatic dysfunction

Liver disease, usually consisting of mild serum transaminase elevation, occurs in almost 50% of patients with HEG. Impairment of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) has been hypothesized to play a role in the pathogenesis of maternal liver disease associated with HEG. It has been suggested that women heterozygous for FAO defects develop HEG associated with liver disease while carrying fetuses with FAO defects due to accumulation of fatty acids in the placenta and subsequent generation of reactive oxygen species. Alternatively, it is possible that starvation leading to peripheral lipolysis and increased load of fatty acids in maternal-fetal circulation, combined with reduced capacity of the mitochondria to oxidize fatty acids in mothers heterozygous for FAO defects, can also cause HEG and liver injury while carrying nonaffected fetuses.

Lipid alterations

Jarnfelt-Samsioe et al found higher levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and phospholipids in women with HEG compared with matched, nonvomiting, pregnant and nonpregnant controls. This may be related to the abnormalities in hepatic function in pregnant women. However, Ustun et al found decreased levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, apoA and apoB in women with HEG compared with controls.

Infection

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium found in the stomach that may aggravate nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Studies have found conflicting evidence of the role of H pylori in HEG. Recent studies in the United States have not shown association with HEG. However, persistent nausea and vomiting beyond the second trimester may be due to an active peptic ulcer caused by H pylori infection.

Vestibular and olfaction

Hyperacuity of the olfactory system may be a contributing factor to nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Many pregnant women report the smell of cooking food, particularly meats, as triggers to nausea. Striking similarities between HEG and motion sickness suggest that unmasking of subclinical vestibular disorders may account for some cases of HEG.

Biochemical research

HEG is associated with overactivation of sympathetic nerves and enhanced production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. Increased adenosine levels have also been noted; since adenosine is an established suppressor of excessive sympathetic nerves activation and cytokine production, the increase in plasma adenosine in HEG may be modulatory. Trophoblast-derived cytokines have been reported to induce secretion of hCG. Immunoglobulins C3 and C4 and lymphocyte counts are significantly higher in HEG. T-helper 1/T-helper 2 balance is decreased in women with HEG, which results in increased humoral immunity. Increased fetal DNA has been found in the maternal plasma of women with HEG, and the increased DNA is speculated to be derived from trophoblasts that have been destroyed by the hyperactive maternal immune system. Thus, HEG may be mediated by immunologic aberrations in pregnancy.
Frequency
United States

Of all pregnancies, 0.3-2% are affected with HEG (approximately 5 per 1000 pregnancies).
International

HEG appears to be more common in westernized industrialized societies and urban areas than rural areas.
Mortality/Morbidity

HEG was a significant cause of maternal death before 1940. Mortality from HEG in Great Britain decreased from 159 deaths per million births from 1931-1940 to 3 deaths per million births from 1951-1960. Charlotte Brontë is thought to have died of HEG in 1855. In the United States, 7 deaths from HEG were reported in the 1930s, but today, although HEG is still associated with significant morbidity, it is a rare cause of maternal mortality.

* Many hours of productive work are lost because of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Nearly 50% of employed women believe that their work is affected, and up to 25% require time off from work.
* HEG is a debilitating illness that can cause severe suffering, which profoundly affects both patients and their families. In about half of the women there is an adverse effect on spousal relationships, and 55% have feelings of depression. In one study of 140 women with HEG, 27% required multiple hospitalizations. The financial burden of HEG on the American health system has been estimated as approximately $130 million dollars per year, excluding physician fees.
* Women with HEG who have a low pregnancy weight gain (<15.4 lb or 7 kg) have increased risk for delivering neonates of low birth weight, delivering neonates who are small for gestational age, preterm delivery, and a 5-minute Apgar score of less than 7.

Race

No clear racial predominance is noted for HEG.

* HEG is less common in American Indian and Eskimo populations.
*
* HEG is less common in African and some Asian populations (but not industrialized Japan).

Sex

HEG affects females.
Age

The risk of HEG appears to decrease with advanced maternal age.
Clinical
History

* The defining symptoms of HEG are gastrointestinal in nature and include nausea and vomiting.
*
* Other common symptoms include ptyalism (excessive salivation), fatigue, weakness, and dizziness.
*
* Patients may experience the following:
*
o Sleep disturbance
o
o Hyperolfaction
o
o Dysgeusia
o
o Decreased gustatory discernment
o
o Depression
o
o Anxiety
o
o Irritability
o
o Mood changes
o
o Decreased concentration
o
* When obtaining history from the patient, discuss present symptoms. Obtain information pertaining to the timing, onset, severity, pattern, and alleviating and exacerbating factors (eg, relationship to meals, medications, prenatal vitamins, stress, other triggers).
*
* A thorough review of systems for any symptoms that might suggest other gastrointestinal, renal, endocrine, and central nervous system disorders is vital.
*
* Review past medical history, placing emphasis on past medical conditions, surgeries, medications, allergies, adverse drug reactions, family history, social history (including support system), employment, habits, and diet.
*
* Obtaining a thorough gynecologic history of symptoms, such as vaginal bleeding or spotting, past pregnancies, past use of oral contraceptives, and response to oral contraceptives used, is important.
*

Physical

* The physical examination is usually unremarkable in patients with HEG.
*
* The physical examination findings may be more helpful if the patient has unusual complaints suggestive of other disorders (eg, bleeding, abdominal pain).
*
* Pay attention to the vital signs, including standing and lying blood pressure and pulse, volume status (eg, mucous membrane condition, skin turgor, neck veins, mental status), general appearance (eg, nutrition, weight), thyroid examination findings, abdominal examination findings, cardiac examination findings, and neurologic examination findings.
*

Causes

In a review of 1,301 cases of HEG from Canada, Fell et al showed that medical complications of hyperthyroid disorders, psychiatric illness, previous molar disease, gastrointestinal disorders, pregestational diabetes, and asthma were significantly independent risk factors for HEG, whereas maternal smoking and maternal age older than 30 years decreased the risk. Pregnancies with female fetuses and multiple fetuses were also at increased risk.

In some studies, women from low to middle socioeconomic class, women with lower levels of education, women with previous pregnancies with nausea and vomiting, women in their first pregnancy, and women with previous intolerance to oral contraceptives more commonly experience nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy is also more common with multiple-gestation pregnancies.

Other factors that have been proposed include ethnicity, occupational status, fetal anomalies, increased body weight, nausea and vomiting in a prior pregnancy, history of infertility, interpregnancy interval, corpus luteum in right ovary, and prior intolerance to oral contraceptives.

* Risk factors for HEG may include the following:
*
o Previous pregnancies with HEG
o
o Greater body weight
o
o Multiple gestations
o
o Trophoblastic disease
o
o Nulliparity
o
* Cigarette smoking is associated with a decreased risk for HEG.

WATER EFFICIENT HOME

Our Ref :WSN 92802/--/-

Date:25 NOV 08
E-mail:idaly_mamat@pub.gov.sg


THE RESIDENT
123 WOODSLAND GARDEN
#45-67
SINGAPORE 890123

Dear Sir/Madam,

WATER EFFICIENT HOME
YOUR AVERAGE MONTHLY WATER CONSUMPTION IS 9.0 M cubit.

We are glad that your average monthly water consumption is below the national average water consumption for your house type.

2. We thank you for your efforts in having a "Water Efficient Home". We would like to encourage you to continue with your good water saving habits to help the nation conserve on its precious water resource.

3. More tips on water saving are available at www.sec.org.sg/10litrechallenge.

Yours faithfully

MOHAMMAD IDALY BIN MAMAT
ENGINEER (WATER DEMAND MGT)
for DIRECTOR
WATER SUPPLY (NETWORK) DEPARTMENT
Tel:63809874/5 Fax:67313023

This is a computer generated letter and no signature is required.

PUB
Water for All: Conserve, Value, Enjoy
Website: www.pub.gov.sg

"Grow more trees and

use more wood" is the only wise choice to solve our building a sustainable community worldwide.

Using Less Wood Is Anti-Environmental.
25 percent of the wood used in the world is for building things such as houses and furniture. Every available substitute is non-renewable and requires a great deal more energy consumption to produce.

That is because wood is produced in a factory called the forest by renewable solar energy. Wood is essentially the material embodiment of solar energy.

Non-renewable building materials such as steel, cement, and plastic must be produced in real factories such as steel mills, cement works, and oil refineries. This usually requires large inputs of fossil fuels inevitably resulting in high carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions. So, for 70 percent of wood used each year for energy and building, switching to substitutes nearly always results in increased carbon dioxide emissions contrary to climate change policy.

Give me an acre of land anywhere on Earth, tell me to grow something there with which I can make paper, that would also be best for bio diversity, and I will plant trees every single time, without exception.

It is simply a fact that even the simplest monoculture pine plantation is better for wildlife, birds, and insects than many annual farm crop. It is ridiculous for environmental groups who say their main concern is biodiversity conservation to be advocating the establishment of massive mono-cultures of annual exotic farm crops where we could be growing trees.

It is therefore clear to me and I hope to you, dear reader too, that the policy of "use less wood is anti-environmental because it would result in increased carbon dioxide emissions and reduction in forested land. The wise choice to sustain ourselves in future is to grow more trees, and use more wood.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Clearingcutting Trees Is

Not Deforestation

My grandfather, Albert Moore, clearcut large areas of coastal rainforest on northern Vancouver Island in the 1930's and 1940's. He didn't know the word ecology, and the word biodiversity would not be invented for another 50 years. And you can be sure they weren't talking about the environment at the breakfast table on a dark, cold winter morning before they went out and worked hard six or seven days a week, to get the big timber down to the sea, sometimes taking half the soil with it due to the primitive logging methods of the day.

Today these areas are covered in hush new forest in which bears, wolves, cougars, deers, owls, eagles, ravens, and hawks have found a home again. These species have dispersed back to the site as the environment became suitable for them again.

We have all been taught since we were children that you should not judge a book or present cyberspace term "blog", by its cover, in other words that beauty is only skin deep. yet we are still easily tricked into thinking that if we like what we see with our eyes, it must be good, and if we don't like what we see with our eyes, it must be bad. We tend to link our visual impression of what is beautiful and what is ugly with our moral judgment of what is right and wrong.

The Sierra Club says, " You don't need a professional forester to tell if a forest is mismanaged -- if a forest appears to be mismanaged, it is mismanaged." They want you to believe that the ugly appearance of a recently harvested forest is synonymous with permanent destruction of the environment. And yet, the unsightly sea of stumps is not nuclear waste or a toxic discharge, it is 100 percent organic, and will soon grow back to a beautiful new forest again. All the same, the fact that recently harvested areas of forest appear ugly to our eyes makes for very effective images in the hands of anti forestry activists.

A rural scene of farmlands and pasture looks pleasant to the eye and is neat and tidy compared to the jumble of woody debris in a clearcut. Yet it is the farm and pasture land that truly represents deforestation. It has been cleared of forest long ago and the forest has been permanently replaced by food crops and fodder. Mere important, if we stopped plowing the farmland for just 5 years in a row, seeds from the surrounding trees would blow in and the whole area would be blanketed in new tree seedlings. Within 80 years you would never know there had been a farm there. The entire area would be reforested again, just as leaving it alone. That's because
deforestation is not an event, that just happens and then is over forever.

Deforestation is actually an ongoing process of continuous human interference, preventing the forest from growing back, which it would if it was simply left alone. The most common form of interference with forest renewal is what we call agriculture. That's why deforestation is seldom caused by forestry, the whole intention of which is to cause re forestation.

Deforestation is nearly always caused by friendly farmers growing our food, and by nice carpenters building our houses, towns, and cities.
Deforestation is not an evil plot, it is something we do on purpose in order to feed and house the 6 billion plus and growing human population.

The scene of cattle grazing in a lush green pasture is pleasant to the eye. Yet it wasn't that many years ago when fast food chain McDonald's restaurants, bowing to heavy public pressure due to concern about deforestation in Central and South America to grow cows for hamburger, promised they would never buy another tropical cow. It was apparently fine, however, to continue buying cows grown in North America. Is this because we , Americans have a higher standard for deforestation in North America than they do in Latin America? No, it is a complete double standard.

Deforestation is deforestation regardless of where it is practised. The forest is completely removed and replaced with a monoculture pasture on which exotic animals that were not present in the original forest graze.

If you go to Australia, you'll find that most people think the worst deforestation is occurring in Malaysia and Indonesia, when in fact about 40 percent of Australia's native forest has been destroyed for agriculture. The same is true in the Unites States; about 40 percent of the original forests have been converted to farming. And the western animal-factory farming industry players are using political means and avian bird flu scam, so called, to wipe out other natural free roaming animal farming, 'forcing' others to buy and adopt only their unnatural modern-animal farming. We always like to think that the bad people are long way away and speak another language. We often fail to realize that we are doing exactly the same things we accuse them of doing. A kettle telling the pot is black?

And if you don't eat meat, you must eat vegetables in which case you will cause the creation of monoculture cabbage plantations and other such food crops where there once were forests. Now it's true cabbages are prettier than stumps, unfortunately true for the public's understanding of deforestation. Birds and insects are not welcome in areas of monoculture crops. If they wish to avoid being shot or poisoned, these animals had best retreat into a forest nearby where they are more likely to be left alone.

Solutions For Deforestation.
Don't get me wrong. Make no mistake please. I am not against farming. We all have to eat. But it is interesting to note that the three(3) things we can do to prevent further loss of the world's forest have nothing to do with forest.

These three things are:
1.Population management. The more people there are in this world the more mouths there are to feed and the more forest we must clear to feed them. This is a simple fact of arithmetic.

2.Intensive agriculture production. Over the last 50 years, that is since 1950, in North America we have learned to grow five(5) times as much food on the same area of land, due to advances in genetics, technology, and pest control. If we had not made these advances we would either have to clear away five times as much forest, which is not available anyway, or more likely we simply could not grow as much food. Again, it is a matter of arithmetic. The more food we can grow on a given piece of land, the less forest will be lost to grow it.

3.Urban densification.
There is actually only one significant cause of continuing forest loss in the United States; 200 cities sprawling out over the landscape and permanently converting forest and farm to pavement. If we would design our cities for a higher density, more livable environment, we would not only save forests, we would also use less energy and materials.

In short, forestry is good for the environment.

Heart Attack

What causes a heart attack?
A heart attack occurs when the heart cannot pump enough blood through the body. The most common kind of heart attack is called myocardial infarction – an area of dead tissue in the heart muscle -- which happens when a condition called coronary artery thrombosis blocks the flow of oxygen-bearing blood to heart muscle cells and they die.

This usually happens in two stages.
First, in a process that can take years, vessels carrying blood to the heart muscle tissue become clogged with plaque, which contains cholesterol – a fatty substance found in food and also produced in the liver. This hardening of the arteries is known as atherosclerosis. Never use anti-cholesterol drugs to lower the cholesterol level, for this method counter the body natural cholesterol production due to chronic dehydration over time. Correct re hydration daily is the remedy.

Lesions eventually form in the lining of the damaged arteries.
If a blood clot (thrombus) forms at the lesion, the second stage of a heart attack may happen suddenly as the clot blocks the narrowed blood vessel.
Myocardial infarctions are often fatal since a damaged heart may not be able to pump blood. However, if the affected area of the heart is not too large, the patient usually recovers, although with a weaker heart.

Coronary artery thrombosis
When a clot clogs an artery already choked with fatty deposits, blood is prevented from reaching part of the heart. Without oxygen, the tissue begins to die. In turn lead to damaged heart muscle.

Atherosclerosis

The wall of an artery consists of three layers. The innermost layer, the tunica intima (also called tunica interna), is simple squamous epithelium surrounded by a connective tissue basement membrane with elastic fibers. The middle layer, the tunica media, is primarily smooth muscle and is usually the thickest layer.

Arteries have an outer membrane, a middle layer of muscle, and an inner membrane. In atherosclerosis, cholesterol builds up [this phenomenal is due to over time cellular dehydration, the logical remedy is to rehydrate your body with regular plain water intake: every 90 minute, drink 10 % of your own daily water quota. Daily water quota is calculated by multiplying 32.53 milliliter with your present body weight numbers (in kilogram)] between the inner membrane and the muscle layer, where it hardens and thickens the artery’s wall. A blood clot may form at the site or it may be trapped there as it travels through the bloodstream.

Blood-vessel cross sections

Arteries (blood vessels going away from the heart) and veins (blood vessels returning towards the heart) have three layers, but because artery must contain the pressure of blood pumped from the heart, its walls are thicker and more elastic. The inner layer is fed by the blood within the vessel ; outer layers are served by built-in small blood vessels.

Veins have valves which structurally designed that keeps blood from flowing back to the capillaries.

Three kinds of Capillaries
Capillaries, are the tiniest blood vessels, have walls only one cell thick, made of a tissue called endothelium. Many capillaries are so narrow that blood cells must travel through them in single file.

1.Continuous capillaries, found in muscle tissue, let fluids in and out at the joints between cells in their walls. Found in hands, finger tips.

2.Fenestrated (“windowed”) capillaries are more porous ; found in the kidneys, endocrine glands, and intestines, they permit more fluids to enter and leave the bloodstream.

3.Sinusoids are enlarged capillaries in the bone marrow, spleen, and liver, where their cell-size openings allow blood cells to enter and leave the bloodstream.

How veins keep blood moving
Because the heart’s action is so far away, veins need help in moving blood back toward the heart. Curiously enough, many veins get that help from neighbouring arteries which travels parallel. With each heartbeat, the artery swells, squeezing the parallel veins ; inside the veins, one-way valves open and close to keep blood moving . Hence the direction of the blood flow in arteries is opposite that in the veins.

How do veins and arteries differ?

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Bloggers as Trees?

A blog or blogger is like a single tree in a forest in that it exists in conjunction with and because of a great many others around it. All trees attest to the wonder of natural evolution, the ability of life to adapt to unexpected challenges and to perpetuate itself over vast period of time.

Rooted securely in the earth, trees reach toward the heavens. All across the planet Earth, trees -- in a wonderful profusion of form and function -- literally hold the world together. Their leaves receive the Sun's energy for the benefit of all terrestial creatures and transpire torrents of water vapor into the atmosphere. Their branches and trunks provide shelter, food, and habitat for mammals, birds, amphibians, insects, and other plants. And their roots anchor the mysterious underworld of rock and soil.

Trees are remarkable beings. Yet, they stand like extras in life's drama, always there as backdrops to the ever-changing action around them so familiar and omnipresent that we barely take notice of them --- bloggers are trees.

I humbly encourage you, dear reader, to peel back the layers of the onion of world problems in search of solutions that offer hope for the future.

We can be a fine listener, keen reader, compiler and commentator, with a sure sense of balance, taste and judgment.

Joy of working, marvel at your care, commitment and incredible energy, you have been a steadfast and creative help at every stage of this Healthy Wealth's baby steps long life learning journey, as you continue to be an inspiration, with humour, generosity, skill and intelligence, keeping life naturally moving steadily forward its goal, overcoming more than a few challenges with helpful suggestions along the way, coupled with patience and creating the perfect nature design to match my words and your spirit.

These generous public feedbacks and public forums, with their attentive audiences and searching great questions, leading to breakthroughs, have been the incubators where I have been allowed to test, review and refine my thinking. Sincerely I thank you, healthy visitor, one and all, wishing all of you, the best of ideas and inspirations in the days to come and enjoy healthy wealth too.

Regards,
Its Me (smile)

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, whose leaf does not wither : and everything he does shall prosper." Psalm 1:3

MY TESTIMONY
Bro. S. C. SOONG
5 May 2002




Psalm 40:5: "Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."

Dear reader, with due respect and the love of God in my heart, I shall remind myself always that any testimony shared here is useless, unless the Word of God backs it up.

My life as a Christian for the past 14 years (1988 - 2002) were filled with joys, sadness, fear, doubts, happiness, sorrows, victories, frustrations, encouragement, discouragement, pleasant surprises, delights, misunderstandings and most significant for me is the purpose of living.

Before conversion

I was brought up in a typical Chinese family, in a small town, Seremban in Peninsular Malaysia. My father drove a school bus for a living, while my mother was a housewife who faithfully cared for her family. My siblings of four brothers and a younger sister were nurtured and taught the traditional ways of ancestral worship with a mixture of Taoism. Respect for elders and filial piety towards one's living parents were expected. Greeting our parents before we left home; after we returned from schools and outings; and even before we began eating our meals were common practices.

During my primary schooldays, a Christian classmate invited me to her church service. I did not have any deep impression of what was going on then. That was the only one time visit to any Christian service I had.

My parents did not hold a tight rein on the children’s social life. They trusted their children to exercise wisdom, such as in the type of company we kept. I was an easy-going jovial guy, proud to always claim "I am a free-thinker", not really knowing what it meant, anyway.

Just following the trend

In 1982, at the age 19, I was offered an apprenticeship scheme in aircraft maintenance in Singapore. During my first year, my eldest paternal uncle accommodated me in his family's 3-rooms apartment flat. He worked as a taxi driver. Life styles and social interactions here (in Singapore) were entirely different from my hometown. Every one seemed very busy with personal careers and lives. For family members to have dinner together was a rare thing except during the Chinese Lunar New Year. During such festivities all my cousins, nephews and nieces will meet for re-union meals to catch-up and to update each other on our "well-being", progress or achievements in life, etc.

Living in the atmosphere of an affluent and prospering society, I was caught up with many ideas and aspirations to get rich quick (monetary wise). The salary as an aircraft maintenance technician did not look attractive to me any more. Through a colleague, I joined a social "jog-cum-drinking" club (called Seletar Hash House Harriers). Here, I befriended a wide spectrum of people. There were those with professional status: doctors, bankers, musicians, engineers, lawyers, teachers besides soldiers, salesmen, drunkards and the unemployed. Such club is found all around the world. Once a week, the members would rendezvous at a place to play games and have some fun. Almost always there was a van around with a free flow of beer and other drinks. Fun was always song-singing mixed with vulgarity and drunken shouting. Such a stupored state would continue till the wee hours of the morning. Here, I experienced the "Lifestyle of the (frustrated) Rich and Not-So-Famous" people.

A year after I moved to share a one-room apartment flat with two colleagues. I was free from cares to enjoy the "bachelors' club" independent lifestyle, or so I thought. I never give much thought to wisdom, virtues or the things of God. I just follow the trends. I took up body building, aspired to be the Asian "Mr. World" some day. I even trained to be Mr. Ironman (Triathlon) of Singapore. Triathlon is a sports competition in which competitors swim 2.5km, cycle 10km, and run 5km. I joined the Youth Adventurer group and canoed around Singapore Island. Scaling the highest peak in West Malaysia, "Gunung Tahan" (Mountain Tahan), I was stung by hornets and nearly died there.

But life went on just the same. On every Chinese festive day, I would help my second uncle, a Taoist priest, at a temple. Devotees would offer chickens, goats or pigs as their worship sacrifices of thanksgivings. The blood of the slaughtered animals was offered on the altar, while their carcasses were cooked and served to worshippers. My parents, aunts and uncles considered me to be a faithful and filial son.

Conversion

In March, 1988 during a party in a Christian colleague's home, I spotted a "Good News" Bible in his book shelves. (This friend never witnessed to me about Christ.) With his permission I borrowed the Bible and began spending a lot of time on it. I even tried to draw out the family tree of mankind based on the book of Genesis but I was stumbled by the many similar names. Anyone trying to self-educate himself on "what the Bible is all about" will find that it is not an easy task. I started to ask some questions about Christianity among my Catholic colleagues, but the answers given did not satisfy my soul. I would write down any question I had as I read along. I did not go to any church meetings.

One morning, I saw an advertisement in the local newspaper about a Christian Gospel meeting. At the meeting I witnessed a film show "The Deep Calleth to The Deep", heard the preaching of the Word, sung some Gospel songs, and returned home with some free booklets and tracts. Somehow after reading the tracts, 'The Ecumenical Movements' and 'Water-baptism in Jesus Name', the thirst to inquire for answers grew. I called up the preacher and had a discussion with him.

The following month, April 1988, I attended one of the home fellowship with an Indian colleague of mine. There, I was converted to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, but my colleague was skeptical. After my second church service I was water baptised by the pastor. Since then, I have experienced joy and inner peace, even though I went through a lot of trials and testing for this new found faith in Christ.

Initially, my parents and siblings did not welcome my conversion. Through the years the Lord has blessed me, and by and by, they reluctantly began to 'accept' "a Christian" among the family.

I thank God for the small local fellowship of faithful believers here, from whom I have learned and grown in the grace and knowledge of God.

In 1992, January 31, I married a believing sister, Chai Yen Hoong. Her background was quite similar to mine. During our courtship, we spent a lot of time in Bible studies and prayers. Through God's grace and mercies, I won her to the Lord Jesus Christ (and to myself, too.J) Praise God! Our honeymoon tour to Penang and Langkawi islands was a sweet memory to us because we had brothers and sisters-in-Christ accompany us. I was 29, while she was 28, then. We experienced many trials and other 'young couples' crisis. Through them all, God kept us. God's Name be praised for His wisdom and guidance. We are now living in a three-room apartment.

In 1993, October 8th, God blessed our marriage with a son. I am grateful for the assistance provided by Bro. Patrick Tay and my cousin-sister, Chee See Yin, during the birth of my son. My wife and I named our son, Abraham Soong Jia En. We learned to trust God in all things as we shared our lives together. There were many occasions God healed and delivered our young child from sickness as we laid hands on him and prayed. God is good; our small family is much blessed through the help, encouragement and constant prayers from the local fellowship. God is real.

Trip to New Delhi, India

From 9 - 16 Oct.1996, God granted us the opportunity to travel with our pastor, Richard Gan, to New Delhi, India. Believers from different parts of India attended the convention. During one of the preaching sessions, a commotion started at the back of the meeting hall. Several brothers were engaged in a spiritual warfare with the devil who, through a man, was trying to disrupt Bro. Gan’s preaching. They were holding the man, and rebuking the evil influences and praying to God for deliverance. God's power triumphed and the preaching of the Word of God resumed. The saints' faces were radiant with joy in sharing life testimonies, songs of praises and learning the truth.

Trip to Manila and Calbayog, Phillipines

Between 7-21 April, 1998, God granted another opportunity for us, to attend Christian conventions in the Philippines with our pastor and his daughter, sister Zoe Gan. The fervency and zeal to serve the Lord faithfully among the saints there inspired me to desire a closer walk with the Lord. Material poverty and hardship could not prevent many of the believers, from the different parts of the Philippine Islands, to travel miles just to hear and learn the truth of God's Word and fellowships. Just a few days in Manila, Sis. Zoe became very sick, which forced Bro. Gan to think about continuing the trip to Calbayog City after the convention in Manila or to send her daughter home. But faith triumphed in Christ’s Word. Zoe was healed. There was a couple who desired to have a child after several years of marriage. They requested Bro. Gan to pray for them. Again God proved His faithfulness. In 1999 we rejoiced with them for the birth of their first son! Praise God! The youth and 'young-adults' believers just love to sing songs of praises to the Lord. "The joy of the Lord is our strength' is real for them.

"Praise from the Heart"

Singing has been around for thousands of years. Birds sing. Recording artists/"rock stars" sing. Even soap bubbles and fruits (cartoon animations) sing on TV Commercials. But there is a big difference between singing and praising. Singing is just from our mouth. Praising is from your heart. We can even sing Christian songs until we're blue in the face, but if it's not from our heart, it's not praise. For singing to become praise, we have to have the right attitude. We have to think happy thoughts about Jesus' love, and we have to be thankful to God. Then our songs won't come just from our lips, they'll come from our heart. And every song we sing will be a praise song! Saints of God are not public performer-entertainers but true-worshippers of the One True God. Singing with our mouth is not praise. Praise is singing with love.

"Music"

Music does not belong to the Devil, but to Christ. Satan has indeed stolen the hearts of musicians and their gift of music to use for his evil purpose. Music was given to worship the LORD GOD, but Satan has turned it for self-worship, which is the reason people tend to worship musicians. But true worship and true music belong to Jesus Christ. They are given to His Church to serve Him with. The anointed musicians of the Lord will draw attention to Christ alone and give Him all the glory. I believe in the role of intercessory prayer to help the Church get past the barricades of legalism, and open the gifts of God for reaching the lost with the message of Christ.

Now, allow me to extend to you a prayer that God will capture your heart and bring you into full devotion to Christ Jesus. That your passion for music will be equaled by your love for the lost souls. I pray that you will receive an anointing from God to minister with artistic creativity that is so compelling in its quality and in its message -- that more unbelievers who are lost in darkness will see the light and turn to Jesus to be cleansed and born again.

[Christ's Bride was preparing as she began to sing
Praise and hallelujahs to Jesus Christ her King
Praise and adoration rose up to God on high
Changed to be like Jesus, she met Him in the sky.]


"Who author the fear of God in your heart?"

Isaiah 29:13: "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:"

Where do you place your heart? And to whom does your heart surrender to? Who authors "the fear toward the Lord" in your heart? Men or the Spirit of the Lord? Through God's grace, I have attended some fellowships among people who claimed to follow the Message preached by Bro. Branham. But their confessions are opposed to his cry of "Back to God's house! Back to God's Word! Back to God's work! Back to God's grace!" Amid all the hypocrisy of the day there are those in the grace of God (a chosen Bride) who fear God and are faithful. The fear of God in their hearts is authored by the Lord Himself, not "fear toward God that is taught by the precept of men".

In Closing

I am not using my life experiences to understand the Bible, but my common Bible wisdom to understand my life. I like to conclude simply that life's journey takes strength. I thank God for His promise to grant the strength in His Son, Christ Jesus, my Saviour, my Lord and Master.

Jesus told his disciples, "Leave your old ways and follow me." I thank God daily for the local fellowship of believers, and the opportunity to meet other pilgrims who have given me the leisure to reflect on this life journey, slowly and with humour, sharing testimonies and learning from one another. In the course of our "faith journey", we make observations and discoveries. And we carry our hope. Journeys all require hope because anger and bitterness won't get us very far. Hope is the essence of the Christian life because the Christian life is essentially prospective, forward looking, a venturing into the "home beyond". Hope, like faith and love is dynamic, a quality of living that ceaselessly moves in the patterns of our lives. Hope in the future, as written in the Word of God, is one of the many things we share.

Humbly I shall end my testimony with this thought for you, my dear reader: "God gives us life to magnify Christ. One thing for sure; when we are not magnifying Christ, we are magnifying our own life, and all in life are vanities, without Christ." Let's worship God, study the 'fineprints of the blueprint of God' (the Bible) and celebrate together, dear brothers and sisters.

With love and light,
Bro. Soong S. C.

ENVIRONMENTALIST PROPAGANDA

This gives rise to the obvious concern that if the trees are cut down the habitats or homes will be lost and the species that lives in them will die. indeed, in 1996 the World Wildlife Fund, at a media conference in Geneva, announced that 50,000 species are going extinct each year due to human activity. And the main cause of these 50,000 extinctions, they said, is commercial logging. The story was carried around the world by Associated Press and other media (Singapore's The Straits Times was one of them)and hundreds of millions of people came to believe that forestry is the main cause of species extinction.

During the past three(3) years I have asked the World Wildlife Fund on many occasions to please provide me with a list of some of the species that have supposedly became extinct due to logging. They have not offered up a single example as evidence.

It is possible that politicians hiding behind the front of World Wildlife Fund for filthy lucre agendas. I had stop donating to this Fund.

In fact, to the best of our scientific knowledge, no species has become extinct i North America due to forestry.

Where are these 50,000 species that are said to be going extinct each year? They are in a computer model in [professor and biologist] Edward O. Wilson's laboratory at Harvard University. They are just mere electrons on a hard drive, they have no Latin names, and they are in no way related to any direct field observations in any forest.

The spotted owl is one of the may species that was never threatened with extinction due to forestry, and yet in the early 1990's , 30,000 loggers were thrown out of work in the US Pacific Northwest due to concern that logging in the National Forests would cause the owl's extinction. Since that time, in just a few short years, it has been shown by actual field observations that there are more than twice as many spotted owls in the public forests Washington state than were thought to be theoretically possible when those loggers lost their jobs. More importantly, it is now evident that spotted owls are capable of living and breeding in landscapes that are dominated by second growth forests. Over 1 000 spotted owls have been documented on Simpson Timber's half million acre second growth redwood forests in northern California. And yet, in reporting on the settlement of the Headwaters redwoods forests nearby, the New York Times described the spotted owls as a "nearly extinct species" despite the fact that there are tens of thousands of them thriving in the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

There is a reason why forestry seldom, if ever, causes species to become extinct. We tend to think that forests need our help to recover after destruction, whether by fire or logging. Of course this is not the case. Forests have been recovering by themselves, without any assistance from fires, volcanoes, landslides, floods and ice ages, ever since forests began over 350 million years ago.

Clear cutting Is Not Deforestation

Changing from Confrontation to

Consensus Building

By the mid-1980's Greenpeace had grown from that church basement to an organization with an income of over US$100 million per year, offices in 21 countries and over 100 campaigns around the world, now tackling toxic waste, acid rain, uranium mining and driftnet fishing as well as the original issues (forestry and ecosystem). We had won over a majority of the public in the industrialized democracies. Presidents and prime ministers were talking about environment on a daily basis.

For me it was a time to make a change. I had been against at least three or four things everyday of my life for 15 years; I decided I'd like to be in favor of something for a change. I made the transition from the politics of confrontation to the politics of building consensus. After all, when a majority of people decide they agree with you it is probably time to stop hitting them over the head with a stick and sit down and talk to them about finding solutions to our environment problems.

Coming from British Columbia, born into a third generation forest industry family, and educated in forestry and ecology, it made sense that I would focus on the challenge of defining sustainable forestry. After all, forests are by far the most important environment in British Columbia and they are also by far the most important basis of economic wealth for families and communities.

Forests are home to the majority of living species; not the oceans, nor the grass lands, nor the alpine areas, but ecosystems that are dominated by trees.

Environmentalist Propaganda.

Three I are ....

Iran, Indonesia, and Israel.

TIES WITH ISRAEL WHEN THERE ARE NO TIES

When citizens of Iran, the country most hostile towards Israel, seek its help, it's worth noticing. When Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world (235 million), which likewise does not recognize Israel, seeks relations with Israel through other channels, it's also news.

IRANIAN BOY RECEIVES CANCER TREATMENT IN ISRAEL


A 13-year-old cancer victim from Iran came to Israel for treatment on Friday (October 10, 2008), the hospital which received him said, attracting media interest in a country used to decades of hostility from Tehran. The boy, who had an advanced brain tumor, had traveled from Turkey with his parents after undergoing surgery as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy in Iran that failed to cure him, Chaim Sheba Medical Center director Zeev Rotstein said.

Turkish doctors who examined the boy advised his family to seek help at Sheba, which has an international reputation and experience in treating patients from countries that have no diplomatic ties with Israel, Rotstein told Reuters, "He has been suffering from the tumor for more than a year," Rotstein said. " We are doing our best, in the knowledge that his chances are not very good."
Sheba declined to give the boy's name, citing concern that his family could face legal problems when they return to Iran. (Jordan Times, October 12, 2008)

This website can help cancer patients too, www.cacare.com


MAGEN DAVID ADOM CONNECTION WITH INDONESIA


Dr. Sudibyo Markus, the head of Indonesia's Muhammadiyah organization, arrived in Israel on an official visit in order to establish cooperation between his organization and Magen David Adom (MDA)[the Israel equivalent of the Red Cross]. Dr Markus is the highest Indonesia official to visit Israel. Muhammadiyah operates dozens of clinics, hospitals, orphanages schools and universities in Indonesia and has been recognized by the Indonesian government and by international organizations.

The main points of the agreement concern sharing knowledge in emergency medical services and planning work protocols for the Indonesian health system, which will be implemented by Indonesian medical teams. The practical and management knowledge will be implemented by international-recognized MDA specialists.

Cooperation between MDA and the Indonesian rescue and emergency organization began approximately one year ago, with the arrival of a delegation of Indonesian health and community organization officials for an MDA course in Israel.
-Magen David Adom press release, October 30, 2008.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Patrick Moore believes .....

that trees are the answer to a lot of questions about our future.

" I, Patrick Moore, believe that trees are the answer to a lot of questions about our future. These include:-
1.How can we advance to a more sustainable economy based on renewable fuels and material?

2.How can we improve literacy and sanitation in developing countries while reversing deforestation and protecting wildlife at the same time?

3.How can we pull carbon out of the atmosphere and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emissions, carbon dioxide in particular?

4.How can we increase the amount of land that will support a greater diversity of species?

5.How can we help prevent soil erosion and provide clean air and water?

6.How can we make this world more beautiful and green?

The answer is, by growing more tress and then using more wood, both as a substitute for non-renewable fossil fuels and material such as steel, concrete and plastic, glass, and as paper products for printing, packaging and sanitation.

The forest industry stands accused of some very serious crimes against the environment. It is charged with the extinction of tens of thousands of species, the deforestation of vast areas of the Earth, and the total and irreversible destruction of the ecosystem. If I were one of the urban majority, and I thought the forest industry was causing the irreversible destruction of the environment I wouldn't care how many jobs it created or how many communities depended on it, I would be against it."


My Environmentalism Background
I have spent the last 15 years trying to understand the relationship between forestry and the environment, to separate fact from friction, myth from reality. Since 1991 I have chaired the Sustainable Forestry Committee of the Forest Alliance of British Columbia. This has provided ideal opportunity to explore all aspects of the subject.

This presentation is the synthesis of what I have learned. But first, let me give you a little background.

I, Patrick Moore, was born and raised in the tiny fishing and logging village of Winter Harbour on the northwest tip of Vancouver Island, in the rain-forest by the Pacific. I didn't realize what a blessed childhood I'd had, playing on the tidal flats by the salmon spawning streams in the rainforest, until I was shipped away to boarding school in Vancouver at age fourteen(14), I eventually attended the University of BC (British Columbia) studying the life sciences: biology, forestry, genetics; but it was when I discovered ecology that I realized that through science I could gain an insight into the mystery of the rainforest I had known as a child. I became a born-again ecologist, and in the late 1960's, was soon transformed into a radical environmental activist. i found myself in a church basement in Vancouver with a like-minded group of people, planning a protest campaign against United States of America hydrogen bomb testing in Alaska. We proved that a somewhat rag-tag looking group of activists could sail a leaky old halibut boat across the north Pacific ocean and change the course of history. By creating a focal point for opposition to the tests we got on national TV news in Canada and the US, building a ground swell of opposition to nuclear testing in both countries. When that bomb went off in November 1971 it was the last hydrogen bomb ever detonated on planet Earth. Even though there were four more tests planned in the series, President Richard Nixon canceled them due to the public opposition. This was the birth of Greenpeace.

Flushed with victory and knowing we could bring about change by getting up and doing something, we were welcomed into the longhouse of the Kwakiutl Nation at Alert Bay near the north end of Vancouver Island where we were doing. This began the tradition of the Warriors of the Rainbow, after a Cree legend that said that one day when the skies are black and the birds fall dead on the ground and the rivers are poisoned, people of all races, colors and creeds will join together to form the Warriors of the Rainbow to save the Earth from environmental destruction. We named our ship the Rainbow Warrior and I spent fifteen(15) years on the front lines of the eco-movement as we evolved and grew from that church basement into the world's largest environmental activist organization, Greenpeace.

Changing from Confrontation to Consesus Building