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Obama contemplates limited, punitive, strike on Syria

8/30/2013

Canada's Steven Harper voiced support for a "firm response from the international community" to punish Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons in Damascus. Harper, according to a CBC report, "made it clear that he shares the view that the recent chemical weapons attack was carried out by the Syrian regime and described the use of these weapons as an outrage," carried out by the Syrian regime. David Cameron of of the UK initially supported the response and was prepared to commit resources along with the United States. Parliament voted against the initiative but Obama has indicated that he may proceed unilaterally.

I am linking this video, below, from Mimi al-Laham, a Sunni Muslim, also known as Syrian Partisan Girl. While, I do not agree with every aspect of her thinking (I think she veers into excessive conspiracy theories), some of her insights are interesting and compelling. She was born in Syria and her family had previously been associated with the opposition government. She believes that this chemical attack was, in fact, carried out by the rebels, as a "false flag" to draw the United States into the conflict. Obama last year had spoken about a "red line" with respect to the use of chemical weapons and so his credibility is at stake in this. I am not sure that his credibility and standing is sufficient reason to engage in a strike, the consequences of which, could be dire. Afterall, World War I started over the assassination of the Archduke of Austria by Serbian militants. Similarly, this conflict has the potential to widen beyond the Syria itself.

Many voices within Syria are also expressing concern and caution. A Syrian monastic nun, Mother Agnes Mariam has also urged caution. Her caution is linked below. It isn't the case that Assad is not problematic. At issue, is the response and how that may broaden the conflict and involve Iran and Russia. Ironically, while this strike is being touted as limited and not aimed at regime change, the consequences in terms of instability in the mid-east could be worse than the Iraq invasion.

UN inspectors have been asked to return earlier than scheduled tomorrow. Notwithstanding the fact that Obama has said that he has not made up his mind with respect to a missile attack, all the indicators point to a strike on Saturday. Ships are in place and speeches have already been made by John Kerry, Secretary of State.

Trying and concerning times.

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Sathima Bea Benjamin

8/27/2013

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Peter Hum wrote a moving and eloquent eulogy for Sathima Bea Benjamin. The South African jazz vocalist has a soft, smooth, almost crystal like voice. There is a haunting loneliness that you can hear between the notes. In fact, the selection below is entitled, Solitude. Enjoy. Read the whole Peter Hum article from the Ottawa Citizen:> here

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Epigenetics, freedom, choice, and mental health

8/17/2013

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Epigenetics is a niche within biology. Essentially, epigenetics is the study of how we are not entirely genetically predetermined. While genes do play a role, how and whether these genes are expressed in a body varies considerably.For example, even within people who share identical genetical structures, such as identical twins, one will get a disease such as cancer while the other will not.

Mark Sisson discusses how, through diet and reduction of stress, we can minimize the way in which genes may or may not express themselves in our body. Our genes change during critical periods such as adolescence. When these changes occur, the changes are then passed on through generations. Mark discusses the nutritional component in this article, You are what your mother and father (and grandmother and grandfather) ate. I will pull out the research he summarizes and shares relative to mental health. Remember, the important point; choices we make can have significant and lasting changes not only for ourselves but our children. That is to say, genes can be "reprogrammed".

On September 11, 2001, passenger jets struck the Twin Towers, leveling them, killing thousands of New Yorkers, and traumatizing tens of thousands more. Among those directly affected, but not killed, by the attack were 1700 pregnant women. Some of those women developed post traumatic stress disorder, some did not. When the PTSD-positive group had their kids, their cortisol secretion was lower and stress response to novel stimuli was impaired. Although as fetuses they weren’t conscious of the chaos, it affected them as if they had directly witnessed the blast. The affected children were no different genetically – they didn’t have “the stress gene.” Rather, the activity of the genes that regulate the stress response had been altered by an environmental input.

This was epigenetics in action.

Simlar research has been done with fathers and the results for their offspring are the same. Sisson continues:

What does this all mean?

That our choices are bigger than us. It’s easy to see how the foods we eat, the exercises we do (or don’t), and all the other choices we make can affect our own health, in this lifetime. Anyone who’s ever made a positive change to their lifestyle and seen the subsequent health benefits can attest to that. But these stories indicate that those very same life experiences can send epigenetic shockwaves to your offspring – and in some cases your offspring’s offspring. There’s more to it than bullied mice, Swedish famines, and terrorist attacks, though, as you’ll see below. The life experiences of both moms and dads can exert a wide range of powerful effects. But how, exactly?

He goes on to describe how the mechanism relative to nutrition has an effect and then discusses stress.

Stress

Maternal (and paternal) stress is one of the largest area of study in epigenetics, probably the largest besides nutrition.

Using a mouse model of prenatal stress, researchers were able to epigenetically trigger neurological and psychiatric disease states in the offspring. Prenatal stress induced microRNA regulation at sites in the fetus that affect and/or induce multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, brain inflammation, and bipolar affective disorder.

Lesson? It’s not like a traffic jam in the 2nd trimester is going to give your kid schizophrenia, but it does illustrate the worst-case scenarios associated with prenatal stress.

Even the mom’s mood during pregnancy exerts an epigenetic influence on the outcome of the pregnancy. If a mom was depressed or anxious during the 3rd trimester, her offspring was more likely to have altered cortisol regulation, including increased cortisol responses to stress at three months.

Lesson? Relax, kick your feet up, and try not to let daily stressors consume you during pregnancy. Easier said than done, I know. Also, don’t let the stuff from the previous section – what you’re eating – turn you into a ball of stress. Eating anything can be hard when you’re pregnant. Just make the best choices you can, and make your “bad” choices better.

Six weeks of chronic stress were enough to alter the microRNA (a regulator of gene expression) of sperm in male mice, whether the stress occurred in adulthood or childhood. When those mice later bred, they sired pups with dysfunctional stress responses reminiscent of neuropsychiatric disease. Another stressed out mouse dad study had similar results: altered stress responses in the offspring.

Lesson? Stress matters for dads, their sperm, and their offspring, too. Not just the moms are vulnerable.

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Breaking Bad - Blood Money

8/13/2013

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I am a big fan of the series but will forego my temptation to comment on this episode too much or to offer predications. Breaking Bad is one of the most compelling series in a long time; complex characters, great writing, stellar performances. The scene below between Hank and Walt is, in my view, the best scene in the series to date. A mature Walt/Heisenberg confronting Hank who, last season, discovered his brother-in-law's identity along with a semi-fully prepared Hank wounded and feeling betrayed, shocked, and amazed that the "enemy" could be so close. Watching this scene, I was fully engaged in the moment and they delivered in a way I have not seen in a long time.

It is fascinating to observe how the threatened becomes the one who threatens as the power shifts and moves between these two as they face off. Dynamics surrounding law and order for Hank versus desire for empire building and working outside the bounds of conventional constraints for Walt as he tries to rationalize an end game for them ("what's the point?" asks Walt with typical nihilistic aplomb). Hank is just beginning to see the transformation and emergence of Heisenberg within Walt in that moment. We have had the privilege of watching his evolution (or devolution depending on your perspective) throughout the series but we must remember that Hank is observing it for the first time. You can see the epiphany in his eyes. The scene begins, in part, by Walt saying, "I don't like the way you are looking at me right now" and ends with Hank saying "I don't even know who you are". Chilling.

It is hard to imagine that this scene will not go down in the annals of television history along with Al Pacino's kiss in the Godfather 2. At a minimum one or both of these fine actors deserve the Emmy this year for this performance alone!

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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the secret to happiness

8/11/2013

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Along wth Martin Selligman and others, Mihaly Csikszentmihaly is part of an emergent group of psychologists who have researched positive psychology as a means of understanding how human beings achieve, maintain, and create happiness in their lives. Usually, it is connected to a sense of existential meaning and contribution.

Interestingly, he notes that about $1000.00 above the poverty line, increases in income do not correlate to increases in happiness. Consequently, the solution is not so much economic but psychological. Csikszentmihaly has researched creativity by interviewing artists and cites one quote who said that when composing, he (the artist) enters into a state of ecstasy. Csikszentmihaly goes on to describe what is meant about by the term ecstasy linking it to the Greek etymology. A poet he interviewed described ecstasy as opening a door that floats to the sky.

Csikszentmihaly found that there is a state called flow which can be measured by the amount of challenge people have compared with their level of skill. The challenge is to increase challenge in ways where we feel aroused. That in turns increases our level of skill which then creates a sense of flow which is manifested in feelings of ecstasy. Boredom and apathy are the biggest contributors to decrease of flow. Watching television is the largest contributor to apathy although he does note that seven to eight percent of the time television can be part of flow provided you are watching a program you want to watch and you receive feedback from it.

Interesting program and Csikszentmihaly has written other books on how to incorporate activities that increase your level of flow. The obvious takeaway from his research is to find those activities that challenge you while increasing skill level in some way. Bruce Lee seems to be describing a sense of flow through martial arts below. Bill Evans, the jazz pianist described it through composing music and the art of creativity. Csikszentmihaly interviewed business leaders who have been nominated by their peers as being very successful, very ethical, and very socially responsible who describe a sense of flow through their enterprises. Their are a variety of modes but similar mechanics involved in the process.

Enjoy!

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Bruce Lee on Self Expression

8/5/2013

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I would like to get the entire interview from Pierre Berton but this clip from his exchange with Bruce Lee is fascinating. Bruce Lee was not only an actor but a philosopher and martial artist. His quest was for devising a form of marital arts based on attack. Some have said that the form he began was a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. Berton notes that the Western world hasn't since the Greeks combined philosophy and art with sport. He poses this to Bruce Lee and Lee responds in a compelling way. In these interviews, it is really cool to hear how Bruce Lee responds at the end of some of his statements with, "that's it man" or "there you go baby". Interesting man to listen to and a tragedy that he died so young.

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God Gave a Loaf to Every Bird - Emily Dickinson

8/5/2013

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I like the simplicity of Emily Dickinson's poem, God Gave a Loaf. I see in this poem an authentic representation of humility that provides the author and reader with riches and dignity. It reminds me of the famous image of Julian of Norwich who, in a mystical vision, saw a hazlenut in her hand and understood that it lasts, and always will, because it is loved; and thus everything has being through the love. In the smallness of that food, the largeness of our life is revealed. Gratitude is an important attitude to have in order to maintain healthy psychological equilibrium and this poem, along with Julian of Norwich's vision, provides a good meditation for this August civic holiday. Interestingly, I came upon an artist who produced a piano accompaniment for the poem. The artist is Denize Atay and he wrote and uploaded the song. Thank you Denize!

God gave a loaf to every bird,
But just a crumb to me;
I dare not eat it, though I starve,--
My poignant luxury
To own it, touch it, prove the feat
That made the pellet mine,--
Too happy in my sparrow chance
For ampler coveting.

It might be famine all around,
I could not miss an ear,
Such plenty smiles upon my board,
My garner shows so fair.
I wonder how the rich may feel,--
An Indiaman—an Earl?
I deem that I with but a crumb
Am sovereign of them all.

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My Pensées

The title of this blog is an allusion to the famous work of Blaise Pascal. This blog represents the variety of my interests and thoughts on any given day and are strung together, like Pascal's Pensees, in no particular order. I work in the field of mental health, education, and human rights. I write and am a human rights advocate. I enjoy poetry, jazz, spirituality, politics and a potpourri of other interests that you will see reflected in this blog.