| Author |
 Topic  |
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
 Posted - 06/14/2006 : 10:20:57
|
| Placebo effect, pure and simple. |
 |
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2006 : 11:36:55
|
Hi Nor,
No problem, I repect your right to disagree. I don't know what Dr.Weil's current views are on pot but, although, he actively opposes tobacco smoking, I'm not seeing him just as activley opposing pot.
San Francisco has become one big bad neighborhood from one end to the other. I've lived here since I was a kid in the 50's and seen it go from a very civilized place to the anarchy it is in today. I contribute it's decay directly to drugs that began with the "summer of love" in the mid-sixties. I was there and I can remember. I've done my own share of "experimentation" and even made some side money to help overhaul my MG's blown engine back in '68 when I was atending SF State.
Through my personal eperience with pot and observing pot's effects on my once fair city, friends and acquaintances, I've come to the conclusion that pot is BAD news and I don't think it helps anyone with their TMS.
Do a google search on Dr. Weil, and pages of sponsored links come up of stuff he is selling. He is a marketing machine. If you want to learn more about him, google search "Dr. Weil and quack".
Regards,
tt |
|
|
|
wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2006 : 23:56:09
|
Tennis Tom,
I don't know where to begin. Your posts on this subject are full of opinions and unproved assertions masking as fact. This is obviously something very personal for you because you are hardly objective.
First, I don't know what Weil's current views on marijuana are either, but even if they are favorable that would not make everything else he says bogus. Anyway, it is a fact that alcohol and cigarettes destroy far more lives per year than marijuana. Let me add that I have always been extremely anti-drug myself.
Second, you said drugs have destroyed San Francisco. Well, as someone has lived there 18 years (1979-97) and visited it years earlier, I think I can speak to whatever supposed changes occurred. It's true that SF became a rougher, less civil city over the years, but you're talking about every big American city. Why blame it on drugs alone? Society in general has gone through extreme upheaval in the past 40 years and you would need a sociologist to explain why. Anyway, I think you exaggerate the decline of SF. I get back there a couple of times a year (just there last month) and I can attest that in some ways (except the skyrocketing real estate) SF is better than ever. The neighborhoods--Noe Valley, North Beach, for example, are thriving like never before. And where else can you find a more diversified group of people outside NYC who live in relative peace and harmony? San Francisco is not like it was in the 50's, it's true, but what city is? Maybe you've been there too long. |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2006 : 00:37:34
|
wrldtrv,
I stand by everything I have said. I live in SF now and have to do business here. Yes, my opinions are very personal-so what. Whose opinions do you possess? I observe, I read, I have a life and I have hard fought for and hard earned opinions.
The facts on Weil, as I said just do a google search, as I did and tell me what you find. He's a huckster for every new-age product there is, from fire-walking to you name it. I have no objection to him making as much money as he can, I like money too and we live in a capitalist country.
Yes I have lived in SF too long, the real San Franciscans, have been driven out to the suburbs and replaced by yuppies.
I feel drugs and alcohol are destroying society, but it is just a natural consequence of what occurs in the evolution of empires when they get to the more money than brains stage. It happened to the Greeks, the Romans and it is happening to us. The great increase of TMS is also a product of our societal decline. As we have more wealth and leisure time we have more time for our minds to create psychosomatic "disease". Just MY opinion. |
|
|
|
Nor
152 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2006 : 05:38:47
|
Okay, we're obviously still on the Dr. Weil bandwagon so I'll hop on for another ride.
I'm not sure why and where you get these strong opinions about Dr. Weil, tt. Perhaps you are angry at the big picture and see him as a root cause. I encourage you to see things as more gray. As I stated earlier in this post, Dr. Weil does NOT endorse a lot of alternative therapies. If you take a look at his monthly newsletter, he regularly sets the record straight on various "trendy" "miracle" herbs and techniques. For example, he's stated on many occasions that he thinks colonics, ear-candling and various weight-loss herbs are a waste of money and potentially dangerous. I doubt seriously that he is a huckster for fire-walking either.
I put him in the same camp as Sarno - despite his endoresement of yoga for back pain. (Yoga is a wonderful way to prevent problems and stay flexible - and, yes, maybe even alleviate some back pain. Not everything is TMS.) One of his long-held beliefs is that a combination of western and eastern techniques works best. That's why he calls it "integrative" medicine. Very sensible in my book. The reason I see him in as similar to Sarno is b/c of their common belief in using our own abilities to heal ourselves, aka TMS work. |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2006 : 09:31:41
|
Ask Dr. Weil
Today's Q&A
Q&A Library
Ask Your Question
Put Some Sizzle in Your Walk?
I'm looking for information on firewalking. What can you tell me?
Q&A Library:
Looking for an old question? Curious about other topics? Click here for Dr. Weil's complete library of questions and answers.
Firewalking is an ancient practice, although no one seems to know just how old it is or where it began. It apparently has been practiced for centuries by shamans, priests, and ordinary folk, as a religious ritual and as a healing ceremony. Firewalkers walk barefoot over beds of red-hot coals, usually without getting burned. The practice became popular in this country when Tolly Burkan introduced it in 1977. Burkan, a Californian on the mend after his cervical spine was crushed when he was hit by a car, was immediately hooked by what he felt was the transformative nature of firewalking and determined to teach it to others.
Burkan sees firewalking as a technique for personal growth and believes that “knowing how it works can bring you better health and increased personal power”. He maintains that firewalking demonstrates how our thoughts impact everything else in our lives and that thoughts change brain chemistry and body function. In other words: if you can walk on hot coals and not burn your feet, your mind must have a powerful influence over your body. Firewalking is wonderful example of the mind-body connection at work, and a means of demonstrating that we do have control over the process.
Over the years a number of skeptics have come up with various theories about why firewalkers don’t get burned, but the fact is that some people do get advertisement
burned while others don’t. I’ve done firewalks myself, both with Tolly Burkan and with personal power guru Tony Robbins, and my experience has convinced me that the only variable is the mind set of the firewalker, which is strongly influenced by the group energy.
I once did a 40-foot walk over an extremely hot bed of coals without experiencing any burns or even any sensation of heat. (The coals just felt crunch.) This was in a large group with Tony Robbins, where everyone got very charged dancing to African drums, chanting, and engaging in other rituals. On another occasion I got burned attempting a mere six-foot walk over cooler coals. On that occasion, there were no exciting rituals, no charismatic leader, and only a small group of not-very-bonded individuals.
The coal beds used for firewalks are usually between eight and 12 feet long and range from 1,200 to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to cause third degree burns. If you’re really interested in this, I recommend seeking out classes conducted by Certified F.I.R.E. Instructors. You can get information about certification and more information about firewalking from Tolly Burkan’s website www.firewalking.com. Bear in mind that even with the best training there is a risk of being burned. But if you succeed, you’ll join the ranks of millions of firewalkers who have been empowered by the experience.
Dr. Andrew Weil
Have you tried firewalking? Click here to describe the experience in our discussion groups.
|
|
|
|
Fox
USA
496 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2006 : 10:01:14
|
| Nuff' said, Tennis Tom. I think that I can close the book on Weil now. Or maybe he has available a strong evidence base on firewalking? |
|
|
|
Fox
USA
496 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2006 : 10:15:29
|
| Hope I didn't sound too sarcastic in the last post. Like a good TMSer, now I feel guilty about that post.....But seriously folks, from what I'm hearing about Weil, he seems to support trendy, new age stuff that's not backed up by research - so why should we listen to him?....As mentioned earlier, Sarno's ideas are supported by research, although admittedly he did his own research - it wasn't third party and it wasn't rigorously scientific, and although the "evidence" found on this forum is anecdotal in nature, there is a large volume of success stories....That makes me feel comfortable with Sarno and uncomfortable with Weil. |
|
|
|
Scottydog
United Kingdom
330 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2006 : 11:16:53
|
I've seen firewalking (Burma, now Myanma, 1983)and they do walk on glowing red hot coals and they don't get burned!
Anne |
|
|
|
Nor
152 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2006 : 15:38:59
|
| Well, I tried. Sorry I couldn't sway you but I'm not changing my mind based on some of his ideas when he has many others which make good sense. Nor |
|
|
|
art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2006 : 18:05:34
|
quote]Through my personal eperience with pot and observing pot's effects on my once fair city, friends and acquaintances, I've come to the conclusion that pot is BAD news and I don't think it helps anyone with their TMS.[/quote]
This is nothing more than an unsubsantiated diatribe. It's simply absurd on its face to blame the decline of a city, to the extent that even exists, on marijuana. The way you talk about it has the air of an idee fixe, and I know from experience that no amount of logic, or evidence, will sway you.
I'm a pretty old guy at 55 these days, and not too much angers me anymore, but I still reserve the right to get upset at those who claim to have the way, the truth, and the light for everyone else.
End of rant/
|
|
|
|
wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 00:10:09
|
| That's exactly the point I tried to make too, Art. It's simpleminded in the extreme to blame the supposed decline of San Francisco on marijuana (and this is coming from someone who also hates drugs). And Tennis Tom, it really does sound like you hate that great city, so why stay? You might be happier in a city that has not been touched much by the changes of the past 40 years. Tulsa? Fargo? |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 00:51:11
|
| Yup, I'm sure I would be happier in Tulsa or Fargo and I like being simpleminded. I'll be hitting the road shortly. I've got plans to stop at Braxton and Dollywood on the way. |
|
|
|
art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 10:38:51
|
quote:
I like being simpleminded.
It seems a universal tendency that people enjoy the things they are good at.
quote:
That's exactly the point I tried to make too, Art. It's simpleminded in the extreme to blame the supposed decline of San Francisco on marijuana (and this is coming from someone who also hates drugs). And Tennis Tom, it really does sound like you hate that great city, so why stay? You might be happier in a city that has not been touched much by the changes of the past 40 years. Tulsa? Fargo?
I'm convinced, as long as the civilized world is not destroyed by religious fundamentalism of wahtever stripe along the way, that some day perhaps not too far into the future, we as a society will look back on our practice of putting people in prison for 20 years for possessing marijuana, with precisely the same bemused horror that we now look back on the practice of hanging women for being witches.. |
Edited by - art on 06/16/2006 16:14:15 |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 11:01:39
|
The changes in SF are not in my head. They are on the police blotter and the nightly news. SF, Richmond, East Palo Alto, Oakland, and now Milbrae, have daily murders of innocent people. People get murdered here on a routine basis sitting on their living room couches by drive-by gangsters, randomly shooting at rivals. This is 100% being caused by disputes over drug turf and and by gangsters hopped up on drugs.
Within 24 hours a 12 years old was murderd on his way home from playing basketball, by mutiple gunshots. A totally innocent couple in Milbrae, the wife in her late 60's, the husband his late 70's were murdered, in their suburban home. The "random" murders and mayhem in the Bay Area has increased dramaticly.
There are neighborhoods that I used to do business in that I would not dare to venture into anymore. One would be safer in Bagdad.
Citizens hold candle-light processions begging for an end to the vilolence--while the cowardly politicians, like Jerry Brown do nothing about it.
If you cannot make the relationship between the tons of dope coming across our borders and grown in our forrests, and the serious "health" hazard it causes, than you are in denial.
No one is going to prison for a joint. That is an urban myth. Even in Kansas, all you'll get for personal possession is a ticket. I have personally witnessed in criminal court, drug dealers, stoned in front of the judge, arrested for a pound of coke, given no time and sentenced to a "program" and told to come back and tell us how you like it.
Those people in prison "for drugs", were doing drugs in addition to other crimies that were plea bargained down. |
Edited by - tennis tom on 06/16/2006 11:11:43 |
|
|
|
art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 16:30:11
|
quote:
Those people in prison "for drugs", were doing drugs in addition to other crimies that were plea bargained down
This is simply not true. Our prisons are overflowing with people accused and convicted of drug possession only. For just one small but useful example, there was a recent case of a guy in Florida which has been covered extensively in the NYT's, who is doing long hard time for using painkillers which were prescribed by his physician for chronic and intractable pain. The DA decided that he was taking so much, that he simply *had* to be selling the stuff...He was given the option of testitying against his doctor for su[pposed "over-prescribing." When he refused, the DA turned on him...
The "war on drugs" is alive and well in this country, and causing untold pain and suffering..
quote:
People get murdered here on a routine basis sitting on their living room couches by drive-by gangsters, randomly shooting at rivals. This is 100% being caused by disputes over drug turf and and by gangsters hopped up on drugs
Nobody commits violent crimes because they are "hopped up" on marijuana. The implication that they do is laughable..
To the extent that turf wars and violence and crime surrounding drug use exist, it is because of the laws against them. It has nothing to do with the drugs themselves...People steal and commit petty crimes becuase drugs cost so much...Can you guess why they cost so much? Exactly, because they are illegal...
If you want the pushers and "drug lords" and gang violence surrounding drugs to go away, look to the laws themselves..Why it's not immediately obvious to all but the most rabid anti-drug people that the prohibition model is 100 percent applicable to drugs is something I'll never understand..
It's an absolute disgrace that we spend so much of our precious resources in this futile cause, and that we as citizens sit passively by while the government takes away our most basic civil liberties, one of them being the right to do wehat we wish with our own bodies...How absurd, how positively laughable that we allow the government to pass laws against the personal ingestion of flowers and plants that exist in nature....
You can take your perverse pride in being 'simpleminded" all day long if you like, but real people are being hurt every day in profound and permanent ways in this country by attitudes and beliefs just like yours.. |
Edited by - art on 06/16/2006 18:58:30 |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 19:19:50
|
Gee Art,
if the NYT you refer to is the new york times then i won't waste my time reading your post. isn't that the fish wrapper that "pubishes all the fiction that fits into print"? it has less credibility than andy weil with me. maybe you should get out of the library and walk the streets. i get my info first-hand, not from fish-wrappers.
i hope everyone is being entertained by this tms tangent. a little comic relief, is always a good thing, as a tms distraction.
regards,
the simplemined one 
|
|
|
|
art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 19:33:14
|
quote:
i get my info first-hand, not from fish-wrappers
Why even respond if this is the best you can do?
I want you to know that I sincerely hope you don't someday contract some horribly painful illness and find yourself unable to get the medication you need because your doctor is afraid the DEA is going to toss him into jail.
|
|
|
|
wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 20:47:32
|
Tennis Tom--I know it is pointless trying to get you to see in shades of gray. I have a brother exactly like you. Not only is he a born-again Christian, but is about as right-wing as you can get. We have been having arguments about religion and politics for 25 yrs to no effect.
I'll add my opinion on your "SF has gone to Hell" comments though. The areas you mention, Oakland, Richmond, and East Palo Alto have always been bad areas. You say there are areas of the city you used to go that you no longer feel safe in. Which ones? All the time I lived in the area I felt very safe going into just about any area, even at night. I would think twice about Hunters Point, of course. The Tenderloin was okay in the daytime, but iffy at night. Otherwise, no problems anywhere else. In my 18 yrs in the area I never had an incident of any kind. My brother, who has been there for over 30 years STILL loves the city and also has never had any kind of violent incident. He would have to be dragged from the area and his wife and kids feel the same way. I guess the moral is, each person lives in his own reality. For my brother, his family, for me, SF was and is a fine place; for you, apparently, it is a living nightmare. |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 20:54:36
|
hi art,
isn't your tms unconscious really saying, that you hope i DO get some really painful illness and i won't get the medication i need 
i guess i better start stockpiling my morphine now.
regards,
the simpleminded one
p.s., i can do better but i won't...watch out, i think i hear Dave coming...i feel this TMS comic relief will be ending soon.  |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
Another note on Quackwatch
