02:59 - 30.03.06
Phoenix Rising
I had to pull out my inhaler as soon as we stepped out of the door this afternoon. Part of what was in the air was pollen and spores as spring explodes into summer. I suppose it would be easy to blame that for the asthma symptoms, but I have lived in this province all my life. The asthma attacks didn't really take hold until about the '90's. They weren't that severe in the beginning either. The progression of their severity has a correlate in the increasing amount of particulate matter now flowing into our lungs with each breath. For those of us with more vulnerability, it appears particulate matter is also a factor in other chronic ailments, like heart disease. As I was walking along with my youngest heading for the grocery store I was thinking of the speech given in Ontario a few days ago on environmental issues by one of the Water Keepers - Robert Kennedy Jr. He commented that all of his children have asthma and how much he hates watching them struggle to breathe,even while the polluters actually get subsidies from government to increase those levels of toxins even more. Our new Prime Minister is said to be asthmatic and was hospitalized right after election day, partly from breathing difficulties - at least according to the reports. It actually caused quite a stir among a lot of Canadians to think that our leader might have fragile health or a disability that would impair his ability to serve the country. I'm guessing that most of them don't recall Franklin Roosevelt's record or they would not judge the man by his illness. Mr Kennedy went on to say that is one of the reasons he appreciates Canada so much - easier breathing for his family when they visit here. I don't know where they normally live, but I guess it is a place I won't be able to go given I can't handle the air quality here some days. I don't enjoy the feeling of being the canary in the mines.
Maybe having a Prime Minister whose life can also be cut short by the same dis ease with the environment is not such a bad thing. Hopefully he'll care enough about the state of his own health enough to do something about environmental damage. That will also benefit the rest of us who find we can't leave our homes safely some days. After all, between them one American and one Canadian did find vaccines for polio. The proviso would be that one cure doesn't produce something worse through carelessness or haste in bringing it on to the market for profit. Whatever happened to the concept and commitment to the common good. Another example is in the treatment of asthma itself where the use of cortisone is being pushed so aggressively - especially for children. Replacing one debilitating illnes with another isn't the answer - cleaning up the environment is. Think of all the money, productivity and lives saved through a dramatic reduction in health care costs caused by environmental illnesses simply by addressing the source of the problem. You know - the polluters.
In the e-newsletters today, the story about the eclipse and the second cyclone (hurricane) to hit Australia in a week were of note. Surfing around my favorite astrologer's site brought me unexpectedly to the google music video service. I had no idea that the guitarist - Brian May - of Queen was actually an astronomer of some note - Dr May to you - and that the band's crest was made up of the four zodiac signs of the members surrounding a phoenix. Nor did I realize that Freddie Mercury was raised as a Zoroastrian - "Thus Spake Zarathustra" - considered to be the faith of the Magi. Hmmmm. There is a whole 'nother train of thought leaving the station right now - my brain that is - but I think I'll leave that to my amygdala and my dreams tonight. As I was skimming through some of those music videos I came across this number one prize winner using a piece by Crystal Method. It fits in with Zarathustra's prophecies too. As I watched I was riveted, but also appalled. I worked with burn patients when I was at the hospital and I read the very detailed descriptions of what happened to the Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in either one of James Michener's or James Clavell's books - two of my favorite authors. It's late and I can't quite recall which right now. All I know is that I could once again smell burning human flesh and gangrene. There is nothing else that those odours can be mistaken for and I found myself needing to vomit. I think I'll go back to contemplating that connection to the Phoenix and it's need for Frankincense and Myrrh. Next I think I'll reread Gore Vidal's book "Creation" since he seems to understand the connection too. Good Night dear diary.
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