Environment World

As some may know I am a sufferer(?) of multiple sclerosis. I have the sufferer with a question mark as at present I don’t suffer but have manageable discomfort (sounds like marriage). This is old news but recently I made a significant change in my management scheme thanks to the help of the Japanese government (Tokyo specifically). I’ve had let my work contract expire to save myself from further attacks, they are what caused me to use a wheelchair to get around. The change and the assistance come in the form of physical rehab that comes with no significant cost for my out of work ass. This sounds like an opportunity to work on my Japanese which needs work. We got together on Saturday and went over some paperwork and I gave a show of my physical abilities. The show didn’t involve singing or dancing but hat my legs could do. The singing or dancing would have been better but only to those that truly admire art (and are deaf and blind). It is going to slow going but I feel it will eventually pay off, maybe we can start to talk about dance (singing will always be out of the question).

While you read over this fact sheet be forewarned that ES = “Embryonic Stem” and that the US Executive branch has an impairment. All those with impairments should be given the opportunity to lead normal lives but they may be beyond hope. Then again never mind the facts just give me a fact(&%(’=(0)ing cure for my MS. Multiple Sclerosis News Blog

I’ve had this blog for awhile. I’ve tried to be forthright in my writings but I haven’t talked about me which is the most important subject in my mind (as feeble as it is). The original intent of this blog was to stay in touch with family on the other side of the world both literally and psychology (just a joke mom). In the last few month I’ve noticed that many people are coming to read my rants, 14,000/month average for the last few months. I know it’s by accident but maybe I’m being read. So now I want to acknowledge you all and say thanks for stopping by and don’t let that door hit you in the ****** when you leave, Damn I’ve got to be nice, really unfamiliar terrain for me. I keep reading about this disease that affects millions (must not be enough to actually cure it). That disease is Multiple Sclerosis and I have it. If you check my photoblog/gallery you might see this handsome man in a suit, that’s not me but the wheelchair bound sad sack behind him. I tried drugs they prescribed for me when I was stateside but they did nothing except make me feel sick. I stopped and did nothing until I was wheelchair bound. Not my shining-achievement. What I did when I thought it was too late was read Dr. Swank book “The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book” which I mentioned before. This dramatically changed the way I felt. I since added dietary supplements and altered the diet to fit my lifestyle living in Japan but to always adhere to the diet book written by Dr. Swank. If I had learned earlier my life I would not be the same. I’ve since increased my knowledge and it’s an ongoing battle. I’m in no way winning the battle but we are in cease fire (more that I can say about bush and his fiasco). The new Democratic congress holds hope for stem-cells. Which I don’t believe holds the cure for MS but maybe more importantly holds the key to knowledge for a cure, there I said it no cure but knowledge. We as human being hold the keys to all with knowledge as long as we fight against those that are threaten by knowledge.
This may be my first blog post that makes sense (as far as I can make sense). If you or someone you love has MS I can’t think of a better post Christmas gift then The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book and telling that person you love them if you have MS get the book and get started in feeling better and happier.

By The Way: I almost forgot to wish you a very Very Merry 2007.

I’m becoming a very lazy blogger. I’ve got issues with my eyes (sounds like a cop out). I do read the net when I can and I read a blog entry that I want to share with you. A well written rebuke to the asshole rush (ditto heads BEGONE!), read and emphasize: http://mukundar.blogspot.com/2006/10/michael-j-fox-versus-rush-limbaugh.html

Hello Everyone, it’s Christmas and I hope everyone has gotten what they wanted or needed. I’m a wheelchair user living in Japan and in the last few years Japan has gotten around to making my life a little more comfortable. The world (almost) has been working on making sure everyone has an equal chance, everyone but the Barbie world. I didn’t know this but Barbie’s friend, the girl in the wheelchair, had her wheelchair taken off the market for the same old problem that many in chairs have seen. The problem is that the wheelchair couldn’t got through …

There has been a new addition to my household. We’re very glad to have him. He’s a sturdy, black, 30 lb. hunk (maybe less) of rolling metal and he is all mine. Yes, a new wheelchair all my own, a Otto bock Avantgarde T. He’s German. Of the models that where shown to me the Japanese designs are not “slick” and the American model was designed for an American household and American asses, oversized (the oversize ass comment wasn’t very fair since the chair I got was custom fitted for my ass). The model I have is a very compact design which fits in perfectly with the tight spaces found in Tokyo. I can even get it into my apartment which is not wheelchair friendly. I have enclosed a picture of my “baby” as we toured around Yokohama, I’m so proud. I never want him to grow up, just stay the way he is until he falls apart from rust.

A city who claims that they are environmentally friendly in a country where many people will jump into a car to go to the convenience store 30 meters away has announced that their citizens will not be fat or lazy, by law. San Francisco has made the Segway Personal People mover illegal on sidewalks as a way to fight American laziness and clumsiness.

I just read this news snippet about successfully creating a cloned embryos from monkeys. I assume humans aren’t too far behind. What got in my head is that clones are the exact copy of the original animal. Many animals use their finely attuned sense of smell to identify each other. If a cloned animal is allowed to enter the society of the original will the other animals tell them apart (assuming body scent doesn’t change over time). If a human is successful cloned will the fingerprints be the same?

I went to see John Q. last Saturday night (12/7), opening night in Japan. The story was pretty good. It doesn’t hold a candle to Training Day (not many movies do) but it brings to mind the problems with the American health care system (which was the point the movie was making). If the topic of American health care comes up in conversations with Japanese friends I tell them “if you have the money, it’s the best health care in the world.” Sad but true in my experience. I believe that many places will leapfrog American medicine because of a lag in research.

This perceived lag could be attributed to the present right wing administration’s mentality that limits the use stem cells in research. Places like Singapore are on the cutting edge of stem cells research and if they haven’t already, they will pass American medicine soon. Japan is not very far behind in that regards also. Another point to make about Japan; like the US it has top notch medical care for people with the money to afford it but unlike the US it has good medical care if you don’t have the money. Japan has a socialized health care system, if you have a job you must pay into medical insurance. My last (present?) employer uses a foreign insurer, BUPA. I may have mentioned it before that I live with MS (Multiple Sclerosis), BUPA has a long list of illnesses they won’t cover and MS is on that list. The Japanese insurance system doesn’t have a list, if you pay you’re entitled and pre-existing condition don’t mean squat. In my previous job in Kyoto I used Japanese health care so I have a little first hand experience with Japanese insurance. I’m not going to sing on the mountain tops about Japanese hospitals but they’re there for the people. A lot more than I’m willing to say about American hospitals.

Saw an article here (NYT free reg required) on improving balance in the elderly with vibrations. If they speed up the vibrations can I get to work like those old football players in that kid’s games?