You said: "even though i am a skeptic about chanting, gris gris and
juju cures, i never negate the power of suggestion."
Those aren't supposed to work on the body, or at least not directly.
They are supposed to work on the mind, emotions, cultural background
etc, which will then help the body do its job, or at least not fight
it. It's analogous to explaining the treatment in the language (to
quote the old Episcopalian prayer book) "Understanded of the people."
Because to many traditional people, the ways of our health care system
are not only alien, but in some
cases, repugnant. Heavens - even to me, reared in the system, they are
often repugnant.
i understand that, pat. i had a brother-in-law who was raised on a
reservation in saskatchewan, and was a medicine man. he tried his
remedies on me, but i lacked faith. i have friends who rely on
positive imaging which is the same thing. i think one of the reasons i
have such excellent health is i have always felt indestructible, which
has allowed me to take the kind of risks which probably resulted in my
back problems. i think stress is also a factor because i don't shrink
from conflict in my life.
"Why do we behave the way we behave? What has become of us? Where is
our soul?"
DUMPED ON SKID ROW - Hospitals drop homeless patients on the city's
Skid Row.
-- jlm
--The first thing that comes to mind is that this is an expect-able,
albeit immoral, response to the mess that hospitals find themselves in
with regard to treatment of the indigent.
... what is needed is a system in which everyone can get a Chevy, but
you have to pay your own money if you want a BMW. The system we have
now is that... (sic) once a patient is in, they must be afforded the
best care available... This is an overwhelming cost to the hospitals.
(sic)
i just had routine microsurgery for my lower lumbar region and the bill
was well over $20,000. my in network portion is over $10,000. they
kicked me out after one day with very little followup. i would have
been better off spending the money on prevention and seeking
alternative medicine.
i suppose hospitals have to compensate for losses when they provide
services for indigent patients like my alcoholic and homeless brother.
the hospital wanted me to sign a release to take him off life support,
but i couldn't do it. miraculously his liver recovered, probably due
to the expensive intensive care he received. the last time he tried to
go into rehab he was refused, so he robbed a bank for $100 and went to
the police station to turn himself in. he spent thirty months in a
federal detention center, which is the longest he has been sober in
forty years... the insurance and pharmaceutical companies seem to be
doing quite well, which is part of the reason my brother became
addicted to prescription medicine when he worked for a think tank and
had great coverage.
--This problem is a good one for discussion here. However, it will not
be solved by polemics that provide simple stories with heroes and
villains like that provided by Moore. There is a hard way out for
this, just no easy way out.
Dan M.
i think michael moore has done a real service with his controversial
documentaries. he doesn't pretend to not have an agenda with
louis armstrong singing "it's a beautiful world" and a collage of all
the world's inhumanities as background, or bush sitting dazed, like a
deer in the headlights, for seven minutes while america is under
attack.
his message is much more powerful than rants by dennis miller, or bill
o'reilly, who also have an agenda.
i very like the idea of a string health clinics staffed by medics
med techs, nurse-practitioners, and physician assistants - with
doctors on call, so they can be free for important emergencies. i
do believe there are good alternative medicine resources, and some
out right snake oil scams. there are plenty of quacks in the
medical profession, as well, and doctors who are in the profession
for money, think they are god, . even though i am a skeptic about
chanting, gris gris and juju cures, i never negate the power of
suggestion.
--jlm
Knowledge is Power
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