G20: Black Bloc

G20: Black Blog. My post is actually in the comment section. The Blogger system would not allow me to copy and paste it into my blog. My post is actual an abstract from something I wrote. The orginal was too long to post in the comments section. G20: Black Bloc.

Utube as a marketing means: all4one

Utube as a marketing means. No surprise here, but thought this was interesting. I heard "I Swear" by all4one on the local radio station the other day (I swear these plugs aren't intentional, just the really bad puns lol)...so I looked them up on utube there was songs of theirs some that I begun to expect to be there to advertise the band (to their original and new audiences) because there was a bunch more that the sound tracks were removed by utube because of 'copyright' issues (translation, someone wasn't getting paid) and because for a band that was as big as they were the counters were just a few hundred...anyways looked up the band's official website and sure enough a new CD in Wal-mart stories (maybe Wal-mart will give me a royalty? lol). http://www.all-4-one.com/video.html

Even by pointing this out I fall into the trap of helping utube and their clients sneakily advertise...

H1N1 Stats

Canadian H1N1 Deaths Stats:
Updated Fridays (Canadian Government): http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alert-alerte/h1n1/surveillance-eng.php

USA H1N1 Deaths Stats (graph C):
Oct. 27, 2009 (CDC, USA Government): http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/surveillanceqa.htm

Most Commom Advice:

• Wash/sanitize hands.
• Cover month with sleeve when sneezing and/or coughing.
• If you are in a high risk group (medical conditions, young, old, etc.) get the vaccine.

My Advice:

• The above (especially the first two).
• And watch the news less often as they have all become fear mongers! This especially goes for CBC which because of repeating the same information over and over again making things sound much, much worser than they are...

Other Articles:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic

Ecstasy or MDMA

abstracts source:
http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/atod/od_ecstasy.htm

"Are there short-term dangers of taking Ecstasy?Pills sold as Ecstasy may not be Ecstasy at all. MDMA purchased on the street is frequently laced with other drugs like cocaine, heroine, PCP, or toxic chemicals like PMA and DXM, atropine, and rat poison. In a 1996 study of Ecstasy content, 19 out of 33 pills (58%) were found to contain less than 25% MDMA. Only 5 pills (15%) were more than 75% MDMA.
Second, users report a number of side effects, including:
Heatstroke (also known as hyperthermia)
Nausea
Muscle tension
Blurred vision
Faintness
Chills
Sweating
Teeth clenching
Day-after depression
Ecstasy raises your body temperature and heart rate. Combine this with hot conditions, the physical activity of dancing in a party or club, and not drinking water, and the greatest immediate danger of MDMA is heatstroke. Heatstroke (or hyperthermia) is the primary cause of death from Ecstasy. Someone taking Ecstasy should make sure to drink about a pint of water every hour while on Ecstasy, sipping, rather than drinking it all at once. Also, taking breaks from dancing on a hot dance floor to cool off is an important way to reduce the risk of heatstroke. Ecstasy-related deaths are relatively rare (there were 27 nationwide from 1994 to 1999). However, emergency room hospital visits are on the rise.Ecstasy causes the release of norepinephrine, which increases your heart rate dramatically and can be dangerous for people with cardiovascular disease or weakness. Dehydration can also lead to liver or kidney failure. Some people report bad emotional reactions to Ecstasy including confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety, and paranoia, sometimes lasting long after taking the drug. Using Ecstasy with alcohol and/or other drugs can increase the risk of adverse effects. Alcohol is dehydrating, too, and its depressant effects can mask the stimulant properties of Ecstasy misleading the user about how intoxicated they really are.
Finally, some studies have shown that people who use Ecstasy are more likely to engage in other risky behaviors such as binge drinking, cigarette smoking, and having multiple sexual partners. The use of Ecstasy and other club drugs can also lead to unsafe sex, the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and unwanted pregnancy.back to top"

"Are there long-term consequences to taking Ecstasy?Although further studies are needed, more and more research suggests that Ecstasy causes serotonin levels to drop below normal, which impairs the brain's ability to learn, retain information and regulate mood. It appears that Ecstasy causes serotonin receptors, which allow the serotonin to fire in the brain, to shrink from overuse. Some evidence shows that restoration of serotonin receptors is possible with continued abstinence from the drug, but that people who have never taken Ecstasy have more functioning serotonin receptors than those who have.
Other studies suggest that regular or heavy Ecstasy use has long-term negative effects on memory and brain function which go well beyond the last pill taken (and seem to continue to increase in spite of long-term abstinence from the drug). One study found that women are particularly vulnerable to damage to the serotonin system by MDMA. back to top
How do I recognize a problem with Ecstasy?Some danger signs are:
More frequent use
Needing more and more to get the same effect
Spending time thinking about using the drug
Spending more money than you have on it
Missing class or failing to finish assignments because of Ecstasy.
Making new friends who do it and neglecting old friends who don't
Finding it's hard to be happy without it.
If you find that you can't stop using Ecstasy, then remember, there's help available. back to top"

"Is Ecstasy addictive?Heavy users whose serotonin system is regularly depleted by the drug rely on greater quantities of the drug to produce smaller and smaller effects. Because your serotonin supply is finite, repeated dosing cannot provide a stronger or lengthened high after all your serotonin has been released. A study of young adult and adolescent ecstasy users found that 43% were dependent, and 34% met the criteria for drug abuse. Almost 60% of users reported both physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms. Frequently, though, Ecstasy users also use other drugs and alcohol and may be addicted to more than one drug simultaneously."

Socio-psychosis

My posting today is about what I refer to as socio-psychosis. I am sure everyone has seen it. It is the desire to belong to a group so badly that those that catch it lose all sense of reason. They send themselves over to the group to the extent that they start losing themselves. However, the psychosis arises when there is a conflict between what the individual wants and what the group wants. I am not speaking here of just simply the working of a group of friends rather that of a group that tries to develop it own culture or mindset. In short, it is the conflict between individual identity and group identity.

Many individuals want to identify themselves by a belonging to a group, but they do not want to give up there individualism. Moreover, these people that come together to form a collective group want to identify themselves as belonging to a collective [startrek pun not intended], but they are unwilling or unable to spend the time and energy needed to develop the social bonds to create an adhesive group.

I have witness many groups that I have internal struggles instead of working together to mediate a solution to these problems based on the group principles (in affect either finding a solution, to the conflict between the members, to the collectives satisfaction or enforcing through punishment the principles of the group) they choose to pay no attention to the problem (often asking the victim to pretend to not have been victimized) and thereby alienating a member thereby eroding the group's collective conscious/cohesiveness. My point is this, before joining a group that wants an identity ask yourselves these following questions: does this group want me to give-up my own individual identity to the extent that the group can be considered a cult, am I and the group willing to put in the time and effort needed to create and maintain a group identity, is this group going to respect me as a member and as a human being, etc.?