Journalists in Nairobi
protest against pressure
to reveal sources.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
Willem Reich & Orgone Accumulators
Orgone energy is a term coined by physician and psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich for the "universal life energy" that he claimed to have discovered in published experiments in the late 1930s. Reich claimed that orgone energy was a "life energy" which filled all space, was blue in color, and that certain forms of illness were the consequence of depletion or blockages of the energy within the body. When alive, Reich was hotly attacked by his critics, triggering a formal investigation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Following a court case, in which materials were found to be improperly advertised, his books and scientific journals on the subject were collected and burned by the FDA.
Reich claimed that life was founded upon bioenergetic phenomena, and characterized by the pulsation of bioenergy, as with heart-beat, respiration, and bladder functions. Emotions and sexuality, he argued, also followed a similar basic bioenergetic pulsation, and optimal health necessitated open emotional expression and periodic sexual release of accumulated bio-energy. He measured bioelectrical signatures of emotional-sexual human subjective experiences, using sensitive millivoltmeters, interpreting these as expressions of a specific "bio-electric" life-energy. He later observed and developed objective measures to identify energetic fields around humans and other living forms, including microbes, and claimed the same bio-energy also charged non-living matter, and existed in a free form in the atmosphere.
Reich claimed that life was founded upon bioenergetic phenomena, and characterized by the pulsation of bioenergy, as with heart-beat, respiration, and bladder functions. Emotions and sexuality, he argued, also followed a similar basic bioenergetic pulsation, and optimal health necessitated open emotional expression and periodic sexual release of accumulated bio-energy. He measured bioelectrical signatures of emotional-sexual human subjective experiences, using sensitive millivoltmeters, interpreting these as expressions of a specific "bio-electric" life-energy. He later observed and developed objective measures to identify energetic fields around humans and other living forms, including microbes, and claimed the same bio-energy also charged non-living matter, and existed in a free form in the atmosphere.
In 1940, Reich built boxes called orgone accumulators to concentrate atmospheric orgone energy. Reich said orgone was the "primordial cosmic energy", blue in color, which he claimed was omnipresent and responsible for such things as weather, the color of the sky, gravity, the formation of galaxies, and the biological expressions of emotion and sexuality. Composed of alternating layers of ferrous metals and insulators with a high dielectric constant. He believed that sitting inside the box might provide a treatment for cancer and other illnesses. Based on experiments with the orgone accumulator, he argued that orgone energy was a negatively-entropic force in nature which was responsible for concentrating and organizing matter.
Reich posited a conjugate, life-annulling energy in opposition to orgone, which he dubbed Deadly Orgone or DOR. Reich claimed that accumulations of DOR played a role in desertification and designed a "cloudbuster" with which he said he could manipulate streams of orgone energy in the atmosphere to induce rain by forcing clouds to form and disperse. Reich reported observing UFOs over Orgonon, Maine and also in the Arizona skies during his drought-relief expedition into the American Southwest. Reich speculated that these UFOs were propelled by orgone and released DOR as a by-product.Reich even claimed to have done battle with the UFOs, convinced that his "cloudbuster" could be deployed to extinguish the anomalous "stars" from the sky.
Reich posited a conjugate, life-annulling energy in opposition to orgone, which he dubbed Deadly Orgone or DOR. Reich claimed that accumulations of DOR played a role in desertification and designed a "cloudbuster" with which he said he could manipulate streams of orgone energy in the atmosphere to induce rain by forcing clouds to form and disperse. Reich reported observing UFOs over Orgonon, Maine and also in the Arizona skies during his drought-relief expedition into the American Southwest. Reich speculated that these UFOs were propelled by orgone and released DOR as a by-product.Reich even claimed to have done battle with the UFOs, convinced that his "cloudbuster" could be deployed to extinguish the anomalous "stars" from the sky.
Acording to Reich's theory, illness was primarily caused by depletion or blockages of the orgone energy within the body. He conducted clinical tests of the orgone accumulator on people suffering from a variety of illnesses. The patient would sit within the accumulator and absorb the "concentrated orgone energy". He built smaller, more portable accumulator-blankets of the same layered construction for application to parts of the body. The effects observed were claimed to boost the immune system, even to the point of destroying certain types of tumors, though Reich was hesitant to claim this constituted a "cure." The orgone accumulator was also tested on mice with cancer, and on plant-growth, the results convincing Reich that the benefits of orgone therapy could not be attributed to a placebo effect. He had, he believed, developed a grand unified theory of physical and mental health.
If you would like to find out more about Reich and his theory of Orgone, or are interested in building your own Orgone Accumulator, try visiting the following links:
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Mahjong game 'can cause epilepsy'
A study by doctors in Hong Kong has concluded that epilepsy can be induced by the Chinese tile game of mahjong.
The findings, published in the Hong Kong Medical Journal, were based on 23 cases of people who had suffered mahjong-induced seizures.
The report's four authors said the best prevention was to avoid playing - or even watching - mahjong.
The Chinese tile game, played by four people round a table, can involve gambling and quickly becomes compulsive.
The game, which is intensely social and sometimes played in crowded mahjong parlours, involves the rapid movement of tiles in marathon sessions.
The doctors conclude that the syndrome affects far more men than women; that their average age is 54; and that it can hit sufferers anywhere between one to 11 hours into a mahjong game.
They say the attacks were not just caused by sleep deprivation or gambling stress.
Mahjong is cognitively demanding, drawing on memory, fast calculations, concentration, reasoning and sequencing.
The distinctive design of mahjong tiles, and the sound of the tiles crashing onto the table, may contribute to the syndrome.
The findings, published in the Hong Kong Medical Journal, were based on 23 cases of people who had suffered mahjong-induced seizures.
The report's four authors said the best prevention was to avoid playing - or even watching - mahjong.
The Chinese tile game, played by four people round a table, can involve gambling and quickly becomes compulsive.
The game, which is intensely social and sometimes played in crowded mahjong parlours, involves the rapid movement of tiles in marathon sessions.
The doctors conclude that the syndrome affects far more men than women; that their average age is 54; and that it can hit sufferers anywhere between one to 11 hours into a mahjong game.
They say the attacks were not just caused by sleep deprivation or gambling stress.
Mahjong is cognitively demanding, drawing on memory, fast calculations, concentration, reasoning and sequencing.
The distinctive design of mahjong tiles, and the sound of the tiles crashing onto the table, may contribute to the syndrome.
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