thelerner

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Everything posted by thelerner

  1. nCov19 Development and Prevention Discussion Only

    We will see. Some countries have a head start on others. Most are using a suppression, lower the curve, strategy. Probably some aren't. With statistics we should get real data on whether the Do Nothing strategy is best in the end or rather buying time with social isolation works. Rideforever is right that its a politically unpopular strategy, but it'd be a disaster to do, then have a vaccine or treatment pop up a little later that saves the day, after your nation has suffered losses. Are there any countries that fit the Do Nothing strategy? England was headed that way but changed course. https://www.technologyreview.com/f/615369/uk-dropping-coronavirus-herd-immunity-strategy-250000-dead/ "..Sharp realizations: That strategy was met with fierce criticism over the weekend. The Covid-19 Response Team based at Imperial College in London revealed on Monday that the government’s experts realized only over the last few days that its policy would “likely result in hundreds of thousands of deaths”—potentially 250,000—and that the burden on health systems would exceed their capacities and resources by as much as eight times. "We were expecting herd immunity to build,” Azra Ghani, head of infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College, told reporters Monday. “We now realize it’s not possible to cope with that.” Instead, the report advocates suppressing the virus with aggressive measures that would keep case numbers consistently low, in line with what many other countries are doing. Correcting the ship: The UK government seems to have realized its errors and is now scrambling to to do better. On Monday, Johnson asked people to avoid “non-essential contact” and refrain from going to crowded spaces and venues. A ban on mass gatherings starts Tuesday. Families were urged to stay home for 14 days should any members exhibit symptoms, not going out “even to buy food or essentials.” “The aim now is not to slow the rate of growth of cases, but pull the epidemic in reverse,” Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College, told reporters Monday. “Hopefully there will [only] be tens of thousands of deaths. Maybe just a few thousand.” Unfortunately, the report also suggests that isolation and social distancing might have to remain in effect until a viable coronavirus vaccine is produced, which could take as long as 18 months. “The only exit strategy is really vaccination or other forms of innovative technology,” Ferguson. This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the coronavirus/Covid-19 outbreak. You can also sign up to our dedicated newsletter."
  2. Dawg's Awakening

    There have been some good discussions here on enlightenment and awakening. Ones that didn't get immediately short circuited by critics with other ideas. Thought we could discuss Dawg's recipe for Awakening from a 2013 thread. What's good, what's questionable, what can we learn from it. Dawg- FIVE STEPS ON THE PATH TO AWAKENING Step (1)… Concentration (samahdi)…this is developing the ability to temporarily stop the voice in your conscious mind, so that your mind is quiet and peaceful… this is the first step in regaining control of your conscious mind… Step (2)… Getting rid of “anger” (dislike) and “greed” (like)… anger and greed are the two sides of the same coin… understanding that when someone makes you angry or greedy, that they are not only controlling you, but they are also stealing your energy…and then learning how to remain indifferent, so that you no longer respond with anger or greed… You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger… (Buddha) Step (3)… Reaching equanimity (“live” and “let live”)… Realizing and accepting that other people have different opinions and beliefs than you, and that their opinions and beliefs are just as valid as yours… a person with equanimity is never sucked into arguments with others, about who is right, and who is wrong…nor do they become upset if they are beset by the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”…equanimity is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of, or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind… Step (4)… Body investigation… understand that you are not a body and personality with a spirit; understand that you are an ancient spirit with a new body and personality…understand that you are not your “body” or your “personality”… understand that you are an ancient immortal “spirit” with a temporary “body” and “personality”, and that you have had an uncountable number of bodies and personalities in the past… understand that the spirit that is you could not “die” even if you wanted it to, and that when your body dies, your spirit is alive in the spirit world, and if you have not attained enlightenment, your spirit reincarnates in another physical body and personality… Step (5)…”The middle path”… the “truth of our existence” is that there is no “reality… everything just “is”, nothing is good or bad… good and bad are just value judgments of mundane reality… and mundane reality is just a survival strategy created by humans to ensure the survival of the species… “the truth of our existence” is that we live in a universe of “cause” and “effect”… consider that in the physical world that if you stick your hand in a fire (the cause), the effect is that your hand will get burned… does that mean that the fire is “bad”, No!... it is just the truth of our existence... in the spiritual world, “intention” is the “cause”, and “karma” is the “effect”… if you intentionally harm another person (cause), you will create “karma”, karma that harms you (effect)… this is the truth of our existence... this is the reason why it is necessary for you to make everything (and everything means everything) “neutral” (middle path, neither good nor bad ) to reach “awakening”… consider a “screwdriver”.., is it good or bad..? No… it is neutral… it is just a useful tool if you want to drive a screw…this is being indifferent, treat everything with this kind of indifference…you must be able to hold this attitude of indifference, long enough for mundane reality to collapse and vanish permanently, to reach awakening… once you reach awakening it is permanent…when you reach awakening, you will “know”… it is impossible not to “know”…
  3. nCov19 Development and Prevention Discussion Only

    Good chart. The scale seems to be logarithmic. China in the last 10 days has beaten the 33% exponential growth curve of infection. That's very good news. This chart bears watching to see if and when other trajectories start flattening out and when they go down. So many unknowns. There is the hope the disease follows a bell curve and goes away, but there's a chance it's more a 'simmer' ie it never goes away, like the pneumonia or cancer its an opportunistic disease that keeps coming back and we learn to live with it. <another thought, since its based on Cumulative cases, when the line flattens, in some ways, the number of infected is going down because (hopefully most) recover and some die, thus when the line is moving flat, numbers might be going down. **Except for all the cases we don't know about, and potential of those cases to infect others. some camels have 2 humps.>
  4. Bums I am missing

    Steve, on the front lines, whoa. God bless and be well. Hagar, great to see you online. There was a fear some Ragnarok event drove you away .
  5. This perspective has holes in it, but its kind of optimistic. The 1918 pandemic swept thru the world in 4 months and killed 50 million. This virus is different yet in 4 months it has killed around 8,000 people. Its been in China the longest. China has 1.38 billion people. So far, in China its killed 3,237 human beings. That's bad, but its also a death rate of .00023456. (strange the numbers lined up to 23456). I don't down grade the threat. We need to be vigilant. These things can move up exponentially in infected and fatalities. And the danger that this could continue flare up. The present and very real danger of overloading hospitals limiting vital life saving treatment. Yet on some scale the death rate in the country it hit first has been statistically minute, compared to the whole population. (note odds of me misplacing a decimal are fairly good). And by some reckoning China infection rates have been dropping. Again that claim is fraught with unknowns. I've long considered the fatality rate skewed because its largely from cases who've sought medical attention and those under 60 with milder cases can shrug it off may not be counted. So.. while what I'm saying is probably wrong and full of gross simplifications. Yet sometimes we need it to counter balance the similar probably wrong, gross simplifications on the other side, ie this is apocalyptic. The truth is probably in the middle. But we can point, right now, to a country which has been dealing with it for many months and compared to the population, compared to all the other deadly things we take for granted (like driving in a car), this, death wise, is not world shaking. Not yet and probably won't be. Again thats not to say we should let down our guards and not work to socially isolate and take precautions. This saves lives, predominantly our elderly, since the older you are the deadlier this disease. Its the many unknowns and worst case scenarios that are so scary. Most often the very worst doesn't happen, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't plan and take precautions for it. That also means we should keep some of our attention on the most probably path. Which I believe, in my naivety is the crisis will lost longer then expected due to 'flattening out the curve/social isolation', ie a past summer into fall and that the death rate percentage will be less then expected, way under 1% of the population. Though any number is tragic. <the story isn't written but for a deadly contagious virus with a WHO reported 3% fatality rate, I'd expect after 4 months of contagion a country with 1.3 billion to have millions of deaths, not 8,000. Course maybe the worst is yet to come, or it'll be closer to WWI, a long slow nasty deadly slog. Or I don't understand the numbers. Or it be bad, but as I'm making the case here, not apocalyptic. We won't lose 1.0000% of the population. We will see>
  6. One thing we can do to help others. If you're brave and feeling healthy- donate blood. Apparently there's a shortage. It can save a life. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/american-red-cross-faces-severe-blood-shortage-cancelations/story?id=69642130
  7. An old very good member here was Yael. She hasn't been around in a couple years, unfortunately, but she turned to writing and has made a living out of it. Though she's more article oriented. She's had many insights and has written extensively into the publishing game. Friendly person, might be worth starting a correspondence with. Especially seeing you're both Dao Bums. https://yaelwrites.com stuff she write- https://businessjournalism.org/2019/01/the-business-of-freelancing/?fbclid=IwAR2-2uWu3lsXgkn_0KuRb3iCtBJH6kmfBqj_N8cJUvEmC6UD4P28aYAZewk https://businessjournalism.org/2019/09/how-to-fact-check-your-business-story/
  8. How's this.. instead of trolling my comments here. Why don't you PM me your wise adultlike comments, instead? tell you what. That's what I'll do now. I have comment to you. I'll PM you but.. odds are I won't see much reason to talk to you.
  9. I've gotten back into Wim Hof breathing, for the past 3 mornings. Still have to man up and get back into cold showers. On the breathing- (from Wimhofmethod email sent today) ..For one, WHM breathing wards off stress. Do a couple rounds of breathing, and feel yourself take a sobering step back from all the pandemonium. The 2014 Radboud study showed that WHM practice upregulates your immunity by increasing the production of white blood cells and B-lymphocytes. These are the little critters that protect you from foreign marauders such as viruses. WHM practice won’t keep COVID-19 from invading your body, but a strengthened immune system means a bigger arsenal to combat the infection, and therefore fewer and less severe symptoms. Now, if you’re not feeling too well, and you’re looking to use the Wim Hof Method to fight off the infection: do not do the cold training parts of the method. When you’re sick, your immune system has its hands full just fighting off the virus. If you then expose yourself to the cold, you add another stressor, forcing the immune system to divide its capacity and fight a war on two fronts. We all know how that worked out in the past. Furthermore, please don’t see Wim Hof Method practice as an adequate substitute for medical treatment. If you exhibit symptoms associated with COVID-19 (a dry cough, fever), seek medical attention and follow the directions of your local health authority. Everybody can benefit, so be proactive in recommending the WHM to friends and family. The Wim Hof Method is very accessible and we offer many avenues for practice. There is the free app available on the Google Play and Apple stores; the guided breathing bubble on YouTube; and our free MiniClass. This is a great moment to fire up your video course and rekindle your WHM practice. With bars and gyms closed, you have ample time to do so.
  10. Yawn, is this what you're back for- trolling and insulting? Grow up. Figure out if you're adding to the conversations here. If you're at all cultivated or mature, I assume you have better things to do then come here and play troll. Otherwise I assume you're a pissed off, depressed kid wasting his time on a forum he doesn't like.
  11. Super sleep

    When things are dank or when I've spent too much time the washroom, I reach for a can of Ozium for a quick spray. Smell minty and I think its more germ killing then most. OZIUM is a product that sanitizes the air you breathe. It is clinically proven to eliminate odors, unlike current products that just mask odors. OZIUM combats airborne contaminants and eliminates odors with glycol-ized actiondispensing micron sized particles that linger in the air, attach to airborne bacteria and malodors to drastically reduce air pollution, purify and sanitize the air. ELIMINATES MALODORS BAUSED BY AIRBORNE BACTERIA FROM: Mildew, sinks and drains, cars, bathrooms, automotive interiors, dining rooms, living rooms, kennels, mobile homes, campers, sick rooms, garbage, storage areas, offices, nurseries, locker rooms, garages, closets, hampers..
  12. Super sleep

    Possible mold or so so air. Can you open a window, get in some fresh air and sun. The farting may be more food oriented. As I get older and the digestion slows down, sugar and starches are more bloating and gas producing. For relaxation try Yoga Nidra, lots of free ones on the internet. Great for learning to relax. Though for a true insomniac, sleep is a hard riddle.
  13. Daoists in popular literature and film

    That looks good. Classics, modernized.. I like it.
  14. nCov19 Development and Prevention Discussion Only

    Huuh, sitting at home, usual haunts of coffee shops and restaurants closed. So.. this might be a good time to journal or even write in our PPD's here.
  15. coronavirus lethality and age

    I forget if it was recovery or not catching the virus, but woman had a few percentage points advantage over men. The author of the report speculated that it was due to a more active immune system, ie one that can backfire giving them more autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, but in cases of this virus gives some protection.
  16. So far, I've been real happy with the non-enlightened ones. I don't think I'd want to go out with an enlightened woman or that we'd be very compatible. I'm a creature of wants and desire. Full of moods and foibles. I need someone equally imperfect to understand and sympathize with me.
  17. Dawg's Awakening

    In Dawg's description there is no energy work. No mention of sitting or breathing or meditation. No esoteric practices though he may mention them in other writings. so Let me throw this out- What part does meditation(moving & seated) and energy work play in your ideal of awakening?
  18. Worse then adding to posts is deleting them. Which I'm doing here because it was overly negative. And there's enough of that already in the world these days.
  19. You may want to increase your practice of equanimity, perspective and grounding. Think about foregoing drama for awhile. Sometimes we think things are chasing us when really, we're chasing them. <I could answer the post below, but to fuel Mo Pai arguments is stupid. good try gatito> <<gatito this is someone elses thread. you don't need to troll it>> <<<really>>>
  20. Social Closeness Measures

    That's been one of my greatest pleasures in Burning Man, and in real life hosting get togethers. Playing bartender. It's not so much the drinking part, its the uhm, adult break. Sitting, sharing, jawing about whatever.. nothing much, just escaping from roles and life amongst friends.
  21. Sadly, the counter offer came back $600 and dental plan with a high deductible. I've decided to hold out for $800 and no deductible. It's hard to be a Dark Agents these days, when so many are giving it out for free
  22. Social Closeness Measures

    swap stories. sounds good. here's a piece from my original Learn to Burn thread- I headed off into dark toward the main tent a mile or two away, in a certain reverie from the event. I stopped at one of the fire art works. An out door fire pit, made of iron and cut to allow light to shine through intricate symbols. It wasn't large and there was a pile of fire wood next to it. I found a log and sat on it and watched the flames. There was a poet reading and a family listening. The man I took to be the father was short, trim, wearing a dark leather vest and an outfit like a subdued bull fighter. The woman was taller, dark hair, open shirt, leather skirt. There were two kids. A boy maybe 11 and a younger sister of about 7. They had an Adams Family jibe to them, the kids less so. The woman was enraptured by the poem being read. Literally swaying to the words as if they were music. I found the poem a bit trite and cliched. Finishing the poet bowed and walked away. The woman was still clearly in awe of it. I told her 'You are the one who makes the poem great. It was was your listening that gave it power.' I meant it, the poem didn't effect me, but watching her reaction to it did. She smiled appreciatively. The man, I assume her husband was doing tai chi inspired movements toward the fire. Like the fire in the pit was a dance partner, pulling and pushing towards it. Franz Bardons descriptions of Fire Salamanders came to mind. The boy emulated his father, but the power of the movement wasn't as evident. It's not hard to fake Tai Chi, but it can't be done balanced on one leg. There were movements he did on one leg that had flow and precision. I found his moves as interesting as his wife's reaction to the poem. When he ended I complimented him on the power of his movements and he bowed graciously. Here and now they were in there element, I don't know how people like this live in the outside world. I hope they had there nitch and thrived. Before they walked away the mother gave me a small leather pouch. I thanked her and wished I had something to give in return. They left and I put it in my pocket without opening it. I continue to sit, the log making a good zafu. A young woman came by. She asked me if I was the Guardian of the Flames? (Sounds like something out of a Ghostbuster movie, but honestly it happened) I said no. Seemingly ignoring my answer she asked if she could throw some rose petals into the cauldron? I said 'Yes, ofcourse. That'd be great'. We talked a little bit and she went away. I threw some logs into the fire to keep it burning. A couple comes by, they begin to kiss by the fire. I stopped them and moved them away. The woman's long dress was getting dangerously close to the flames. I guess I was a Guardian of the Flames of a sort.
  23. First I'd like to say these Dark Agents are despicable and ineffective. Second I'd like to offer them my services. For $38,500 a year I will do your bidding on the Daobums. Not sure if you want me to be for the virus or against it, proChina or against them.. but no problem. Just $38,500 plus health benefits (there's a virus going around, I'm sure you know that). I'm ideal for the job, been writing here for years, the fools, good members trust me. Thank you for your consideration, Sincerely, Michael
  24. nCov19 Development and Prevention Discussion Only

    Thanks Mitzy, while I can't make heads or tails out of the formulas, Chicago has a decent Chinatown with many herbal stores that might be able to mix up a batch. Hopefully people who know more can keep us appraised of the efficiancy of the formulas.
  25. nCov19 Development and Prevention Discussion Only

    A little woo woo but I like it. I think this being Earl Grey's thread, if we post and he asks us to remove cause it doesn't fit, we should. Transfer the post to a PPD or one of the other 12 Covid threads. <<I see this as 'beating' Coronavirus.. dum dum.. by not shaking hands! Rather a spiritual greeting instead.>> anyhoo