Recently I decluttered my bloglist. Unfortunately, I am feeling like its the Tibetan Book of the Dead, where you have that little visualization where you remove your job, your stuff, your relationships, and what is left after all the noise and light and the dancing and everything goes away?
I am sure it is not factor X. Gosh, where would I be if I wasn't surfing, linking or blogging? If things keep up, I might have to find out.
It was another interesting week in the paleodome, with more Kruse-bashing, back-stabbing, double-crossing and mob behavior.
Yes, Robb, you have been piling on Kruse Sai Baba, since it looks like now the craziness will be cutting into your moneymaking opportunities? I don't know. Paleo elitists and the commoners were free to trash anyone and anything they saw fit for a long long long time now. They voted early and often, and well before Jack Kruised in and became the keynote speaker for just about everything, and now you want to pin the paleo-train-wreck all on him? If you are going to pull that money stunt, Robb, I might have to break up with you.
And I say, Paleo's, look within for your own rot before looking for a scapegoat. What's up with bashing everyone who enjoys the Kruse Kruise? I can see people's fascination with going after the luminaries, but is it really necessary to tar and feather every fan, to insult them repeatedly, invoke the C word, to follow them around on the internet and then make fun of them on Paleohacks and on @SKS? Yes, luminaries, that's very illuminating when I see you do that. (And if you are a luminary who used to be on my blog list, there is a very high probability that you are no longer on my bloglist because I saw your posts with @SKS before it was removed by the authorities. Yes, all good fun, right, everybody knew that didn't they?)
On The Other Hand. Jack, Jack, Jack......Don't you know that Revelation without Inclusion leads to Deletion? For those careful readers of my blog who haven't delved into the Kruse's esoteric writings or have already been kicked off his website, the bigger problem started when Jack went to a paid-webinar system to reveal his revelations. All good fun for a time, until some of the "webinarians" entertained the idea of separate meet-ups for the enlightened ones who had purchased the "factor X" webinar and the cold, dark, miserable worms who had not.
And, being the cold, dark, miserable worm that I am, I don't like the way people are telling me that if I attend a meet-up, well, they just might be able to talk about Factor X with me if they get permission from the Good Doctor, otherwise we might just have to schedule a second meet-up just for the worms. Wow!, I am thinking this isn't a really good way to encourage meeting-up, and I am thinking, this is "How to Create a Cult -101" and not liking being a part of it.
Jack chimed in somewhere else, noting that going to a play costs 100 dollars. Dang, there goes my monthly food bill again. I guess if I wanted to be truly enlightened, I could be a webinarian and eliminate my need for real food altogether.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
An Uneasy Emulsion - Mixing Food and Science
Once again, Jack Kruse and his detractors are at center stage this week. Food fight anyone?
Here's an interesting blog post about Jack and others before him who did "stupid" medical experiments on their own. It's worth a read, and worth the time to translate. (I know, your languages are probably rusty, so use Google translator or something....)
And now I'll leave you with another wonderful personal story, an account of my first introduction to adult-level unbridled nutritional idiocy and stupid group-think games.
When I was winding up undergrad studies, I took some time to visit the library to browse through some magazines. In one magazine, I think Discovery or Omni, I found a small article about a theory of the cause of stomach ulcers, that they were caused by bacteria.
Now, this was of interest to me, since I grew up with people who suffered with ulcers, despite doing everything the doctors said. And, one of my dorm mates suffered terribly from ulcers. We shared many dinners together at the downstairs cafeteria, so I got to hear plenty about her continuing misery. She always included two glasses of milk with her meal, and it didn't seem to help. Well, I didn't have an ulcer, but I knew how drinking just a bit of milk made me feel, and that it conventional wisdom never worked for my family members either. I suggested that she try something else to ease her pain, maybe drinking less milk, or eating or eliminating other foods.
After I read the ulcer article, the subject came up at the dinner table. I suggested that the ulcer wasn't due to stress or some sort of milk deficiency. My friend was upset about the discussion, and as she downed another whole glass of milk, she blamed me for all her pain. We dropped the subject.
A few weeks later, I was called into the RA's room. Since the RA was also a good friend of mine, I didn't think much of it until I entered the room and there were all my dinner mates, sitting there with straight faces.
The RA tentatively started because nobody else would. Wow! This was an intervention! I had seen them on TV. One by one, these 5 women recounted examples of my harmful and inappropriate behavior. The RA told me that some of my "friends" were so upset by my behavior that they went to their priest about it. And, with oh!-such-a-heavy-heart, they discussed together, at multiple meetings, and fretted about what to do about me. And, oh!, they didn't really want to do this, but it was necessary for my redemption or something like that, cause you know, they valued my friendship.
This priest, (who probably had like a year of psychology), suggested the intervention, and even told them how to do it. After that nice warm intro by the RA, Ulcer Lady started in. She said that she spoke to her doctor about me and that he said I caused her ulcer. She was supposed to have a calm and relaxing dinner, so I wasn't allowed to talk about nutrition or science at dinner.
They tried to go around in a circle, each person in thelynch mob group explaining another thing I did that they didn't like that I must stop immediately. One woman refused to say anything, and the RA timidly reiterated her concern that my roommate brought up.
OK, here's my roommate's beef. I had this boyfriend. (OK, they had boyfriends too, sometimes for a couple of weeks at a time, but my boyfriend and I were a long-term relationship.) Actually, he was my fiance. He lived across the country and though I seldom saw him, we were on the phone frequently. The problem for my friends is that I talked about him. They insisted that since they hadn't met him, he wasn't real, that I was just lying and made him up. Yep. After a year of talking to this guy on the phone, flying across the country to see him and lining up job interviews, "you can't talk about him because he isn't real because we don't know him."
By now, you are probably figuring out what happened. I had had enough, and calmly walked out, never to have another real conversation with them again. The woman who refused to speak told me they had coerced her to attend, but she did not think I did anything wrong. She disagreed with all of this. The RA mentioned that she was extremely uncomfortable as well, and that she was unprepared and disappointed in the disaster that followed. Yet, they all got together in a group and did it anyway.
And you probably already know by now that the Nobel prize-winning Dr. Barry Marshall is credited with the discovery of the bacteria that causes most stomach ulcers, and that he actually ingested some of the bacteria himself to prove his wild theory.
And unlike Ulcer Lady's doctor, threatened by an early-adopter for everything and assisted in voting her off the island, my doctor tested me for H. pylori when I came to him for stomach issues. My, how times change, and also when it comes to schoolyard games, some things never change.
So here I am, sitting in a cold tub, taking turns using up all the cold water with my very real former boyfriend who also enjoys the very real benefits from the leptin reset and CT. I have jettisoned most of my old paleo haunts, yet I am sure that while I am away from Paleohacks, the minions are still doing all their downvoting in their pack when Ulcer Lady yells "fire".
Here's an interesting blog post about Jack and others before him who did "stupid" medical experiments on their own. It's worth a read, and worth the time to translate. (I know, your languages are probably rusty, so use Google translator or something....)
And now I'll leave you with another wonderful personal story, an account of my first introduction to adult-level unbridled nutritional idiocy and stupid group-think games.
When I was winding up undergrad studies, I took some time to visit the library to browse through some magazines. In one magazine, I think Discovery or Omni, I found a small article about a theory of the cause of stomach ulcers, that they were caused by bacteria.
Now, this was of interest to me, since I grew up with people who suffered with ulcers, despite doing everything the doctors said. And, one of my dorm mates suffered terribly from ulcers. We shared many dinners together at the downstairs cafeteria, so I got to hear plenty about her continuing misery. She always included two glasses of milk with her meal, and it didn't seem to help. Well, I didn't have an ulcer, but I knew how drinking just a bit of milk made me feel, and that it conventional wisdom never worked for my family members either. I suggested that she try something else to ease her pain, maybe drinking less milk, or eating or eliminating other foods.
After I read the ulcer article, the subject came up at the dinner table. I suggested that the ulcer wasn't due to stress or some sort of milk deficiency. My friend was upset about the discussion, and as she downed another whole glass of milk, she blamed me for all her pain. We dropped the subject.
A few weeks later, I was called into the RA's room. Since the RA was also a good friend of mine, I didn't think much of it until I entered the room and there were all my dinner mates, sitting there with straight faces.
The RA tentatively started because nobody else would. Wow! This was an intervention! I had seen them on TV. One by one, these 5 women recounted examples of my harmful and inappropriate behavior. The RA told me that some of my "friends" were so upset by my behavior that they went to their priest about it. And, with oh!-such-a-heavy-heart, they discussed together, at multiple meetings, and fretted about what to do about me. And, oh!, they didn't really want to do this, but it was necessary for my redemption or something like that, cause you know, they valued my friendship.
This priest, (who probably had like a year of psychology), suggested the intervention, and even told them how to do it. After that nice warm intro by the RA, Ulcer Lady started in. She said that she spoke to her doctor about me and that he said I caused her ulcer. She was supposed to have a calm and relaxing dinner, so I wasn't allowed to talk about nutrition or science at dinner.
They tried to go around in a circle, each person in the
OK, here's my roommate's beef. I had this boyfriend. (OK, they had boyfriends too, sometimes for a couple of weeks at a time, but my boyfriend and I were a long-term relationship.) Actually, he was my fiance. He lived across the country and though I seldom saw him, we were on the phone frequently. The problem for my friends is that I talked about him. They insisted that since they hadn't met him, he wasn't real, that I was just lying and made him up. Yep. After a year of talking to this guy on the phone, flying across the country to see him and lining up job interviews, "you can't talk about him because he isn't real because we don't know him."
By now, you are probably figuring out what happened. I had had enough, and calmly walked out, never to have another real conversation with them again. The woman who refused to speak told me they had coerced her to attend, but she did not think I did anything wrong. She disagreed with all of this. The RA mentioned that she was extremely uncomfortable as well, and that she was unprepared and disappointed in the disaster that followed. Yet, they all got together in a group and did it anyway.
And you probably already know by now that the Nobel prize-winning Dr. Barry Marshall is credited with the discovery of the bacteria that causes most stomach ulcers, and that he actually ingested some of the bacteria himself to prove his wild theory.
And unlike Ulcer Lady's doctor, threatened by an early-adopter for everything and assisted in voting her off the island, my doctor tested me for H. pylori when I came to him for stomach issues. My, how times change, and also when it comes to schoolyard games, some things never change.
So here I am, sitting in a cold tub, taking turns using up all the cold water with my very real former boyfriend who also enjoys the very real benefits from the leptin reset and CT. I have jettisoned most of my old paleo haunts, yet I am sure that while I am away from Paleohacks, the minions are still doing all their downvoting in their pack when Ulcer Lady yells "fire".
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Kruse Kontrol on the Cruise?
Looks like our newest "low carb guru" got to walk the gangplank recently, which is even worse than being voted off the island. I'll admit, I have never had my stateroom trashed and all my electronics confiscated, but I wonder what is worse, having to leave your fans at the dock, or being labeled by the media as "low carb"? Kiss of death either way, or is it?
I haven't heard too much about Krusegate from the low carbers, probably because they were on a wonderful cruise together, but I wonder why I haven't heard from many of the paleo luminaries about the type of behavior that has been going on for quite awhile. I have heard it from Robb Wolf, and rumors that it was discussed at paleof(x), but I find it interesting that you can go all over the paleoweb and hear people trash Kruse, but you have to buy a whole set of expensive DVD's to hear some luminaries say, "Hey, this isn't right!"
I'll leave y'all with a little personal story. Recently I started taking an exercise class at a local community center. Then I found out there was a little knitting group that met near the same time. Soon I started going to all of this Tuesday knitting session and I eventually ditched the exercise class (hip hip hooray for all that movnatty stuff anyway..)
We started having a fine ole' time in the knitting group, talking about all sorts of crafts, and lots about nutrition, and cause I am just a fine darn knitter, the ladies told me about a couple of other groups that meet on other days. Sounds fine, right?, so I decided to go to the other meetings and start knitting for charity.
The Wednesday group was fine after a couple of awkward first moments. When they asked about my skill level I said I could knit pretty much anything. They were skeptical, but put a bunch of yarn and needles in front of me and after a couple of weeks, that was all ironed out. They realized that yes, I could knit anything, and people started coming to the class specifically to take advantage of my free expertise.
The Monday group was not fine. I had even been warned about this group by some of the other ladies and members of the local community. When I sat down, one of the ladies told me I was sitting in someone else's seat and I needed to move. 'Course, that someone else wasn't there, and never did show up, and I am thinking that if they wanted a reserved seat they should buy a ticket online in advance. Oh well, anyway, I moved down at the end of the table, and they told me that now I was sitting in someone else's seat.
This went on for a couple of weeks, with the ladies alternating between telling me to move and telling me, "oh, it really shouldn't be like this," but none of them were willing to stand up to the lady I call the "Alpha Bitch". Not as a reference to her behavior, but more a reference to the dog-pack that she rules.
There was a change the third week. I got there early, and sat next to the only other person there, but it turns out I was sitting in Alpha Bitch's seat. (Forgive me if I hadn't memorized all the seat positions yet.) This caused quite a ruckus when Alpha Bitch strolled in later, as she proceeded to make fun of me right in front of me for the next three hours. One lady even told me I had my stuff spread out too far. As I examined my workspace and pulled out my tape measure to measure the amount of space, she quickly grabbed her ball of yarn as she realized she was taking more space than I. And I am thinking, wow! what is this, high school? No, they just a bunch of old ladies.
Finally, something interesting happened. Another lady, I'll call her Irene (cause, you know, they are all called Irene or Vera or Ann or Doreen at this age) asked me if I wanted to join her table to play Querko. I accepted the invitation. During the next few weeks, I quit trying to sit on Alpha Bitch's table, and joined Irene on our own table where we organized yarn or played games. As most of the other ladies filed in and took their assigned seats, they all said hello to each other but would refuse to say hello or talk to me. I noticed that some of the other ladies would talk to me only when Alpha Bitch left for the day. They would also invite me to the BIG TABLE at that time, though I politely declined.
Now Irene, she's an interesting lady, always inviting me into her circle of friends, saying encouraging words. Seems like she had been in the same situation earlier, until the rec center gave her the key to the yarn cabinet. See, in addition to organizing and doling out the yarn, this table is for the ladies to drop off any yarn donations and finished projects. It's a big table. But wouldn't you know that, no matter where I sat on that table, the other ladies would come over and dump their stuff right on top of mine. Just like dogs peeing all over their territory. Not satisfied with kicking me off the kool kids table, that made sure to claim the second space too. And Irene just smiles and rolls her eyes, and clears off another part of the table for me.
So, the question to the people in Paleoland is, do you want to be an Irene, or do you want to be an Alpha Bitch? Do you really want to be like the Monday group? We're watching and waiting for your answer. Oh, and the FBI is watching, and the CIA, and CNN, and B B King, and Doris Day. Can you dig it?
I haven't heard too much about Krusegate from the low carbers, probably because they were on a wonderful cruise together, but I wonder why I haven't heard from many of the paleo luminaries about the type of behavior that has been going on for quite awhile. I have heard it from Robb Wolf, and rumors that it was discussed at paleof(x), but I find it interesting that you can go all over the paleoweb and hear people trash Kruse, but you have to buy a whole set of expensive DVD's to hear some luminaries say, "Hey, this isn't right!"
I'll leave y'all with a little personal story. Recently I started taking an exercise class at a local community center. Then I found out there was a little knitting group that met near the same time. Soon I started going to all of this Tuesday knitting session and I eventually ditched the exercise class (hip hip hooray for all that movnatty stuff anyway..)
We started having a fine ole' time in the knitting group, talking about all sorts of crafts, and lots about nutrition, and cause I am just a fine darn knitter, the ladies told me about a couple of other groups that meet on other days. Sounds fine, right?, so I decided to go to the other meetings and start knitting for charity.
The Wednesday group was fine after a couple of awkward first moments. When they asked about my skill level I said I could knit pretty much anything. They were skeptical, but put a bunch of yarn and needles in front of me and after a couple of weeks, that was all ironed out. They realized that yes, I could knit anything, and people started coming to the class specifically to take advantage of my free expertise.
The Monday group was not fine. I had even been warned about this group by some of the other ladies and members of the local community. When I sat down, one of the ladies told me I was sitting in someone else's seat and I needed to move. 'Course, that someone else wasn't there, and never did show up, and I am thinking that if they wanted a reserved seat they should buy a ticket online in advance. Oh well, anyway, I moved down at the end of the table, and they told me that now I was sitting in someone else's seat.
This went on for a couple of weeks, with the ladies alternating between telling me to move and telling me, "oh, it really shouldn't be like this," but none of them were willing to stand up to the lady I call the "Alpha Bitch". Not as a reference to her behavior, but more a reference to the dog-pack that she rules.
There was a change the third week. I got there early, and sat next to the only other person there, but it turns out I was sitting in Alpha Bitch's seat. (Forgive me if I hadn't memorized all the seat positions yet.) This caused quite a ruckus when Alpha Bitch strolled in later, as she proceeded to make fun of me right in front of me for the next three hours. One lady even told me I had my stuff spread out too far. As I examined my workspace and pulled out my tape measure to measure the amount of space, she quickly grabbed her ball of yarn as she realized she was taking more space than I. And I am thinking, wow! what is this, high school? No, they just a bunch of old ladies.
Finally, something interesting happened. Another lady, I'll call her Irene (cause, you know, they are all called Irene or Vera or Ann or Doreen at this age) asked me if I wanted to join her table to play Querko. I accepted the invitation. During the next few weeks, I quit trying to sit on Alpha Bitch's table, and joined Irene on our own table where we organized yarn or played games. As most of the other ladies filed in and took their assigned seats, they all said hello to each other but would refuse to say hello or talk to me. I noticed that some of the other ladies would talk to me only when Alpha Bitch left for the day. They would also invite me to the BIG TABLE at that time, though I politely declined.
Now Irene, she's an interesting lady, always inviting me into her circle of friends, saying encouraging words. Seems like she had been in the same situation earlier, until the rec center gave her the key to the yarn cabinet. See, in addition to organizing and doling out the yarn, this table is for the ladies to drop off any yarn donations and finished projects. It's a big table. But wouldn't you know that, no matter where I sat on that table, the other ladies would come over and dump their stuff right on top of mine. Just like dogs peeing all over their territory. Not satisfied with kicking me off the kool kids table, that made sure to claim the second space too. And Irene just smiles and rolls her eyes, and clears off another part of the table for me.
So, the question to the people in Paleoland is, do you want to be an Irene, or do you want to be an Alpha Bitch? Do you really want to be like the Monday group? We're watching and waiting for your answer. Oh, and the FBI is watching, and the CIA, and CNN, and B B King, and Doris Day. Can you dig it?
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