http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/its-official-carrier-pigeons-are-faster-than-rural-internet/173
Top 10 Tricks that Give You Power Over Your Body – Lifehacker
If you aren’t very good at swallowing pills, you can try this trick to get them down: tilt your head forward instead of backward once its in your mouth. The capsule should float to the back of your throat, where you can swallow it easily. Photo by Keith Ramsey.
Being able to dilate your pupils at will canhelp you see the world differently, and there are a number of ways you can go about it—from tensing your stomach in different ways to just focusing on objects that are far away. Useful for affecting how others feel about you or for pulling of a major bluff in a poker game.
We all know that tingling feeling you get when your hand or foot goes to sleep, and how annoying it is. If you get it in your hand, it’s likely a result of some nerve compression in your neck, so just move your head around for a few seconds to make the feeling dissipate. Sadly, this won’t also work for your feet—you have to get up and walk around to wake them up. Photo by Namida-k.
When your body feels like its going to overheat from the scorching summer sun, you can lower your body temperature quickly using one of your body’s quick cooling spots, like your wrist or the back of your knee. Running some water over these pulse points (or, even better, wrapping them in a wet bandana) can help cool down your entire body in a flash. Original diagram by RexxS.
When your body’s cooperating but your brain just isn’t, you can boost your memory, attention, and cognitive reasoning skills by chewing some gum. The benefits only last about 20 minutes or so, but it can be helpful for that last-minute cramming session or the end of your big exam. Incidentally, chewing gum can also relieve heartburn, too. Photo byJamiesrabbits.
As silly as it may seem, you can boost your «far vision» just by making your hand into a fist and looking through it like a telescope—just like you did when you were a kid playing pirates. More interesting is using the «pirate’s method» of improving your vision at night: if you move from darkness to light, then back to darkness, keeping one eye closed, you can retain your night vision in that one eye (apparently, this is why pirates wore eye patches). If you don’t have light nearby, you can always hold your cellphone or other lighted device up to one eye, improving the night vision of the other eye. Photo by Andy Arthur.
When you gotta go, you gotta go, but if youscratch the back of your calf vigorously, you can stall your brain and give you a bit more time to get to the bathroom. It’s hardly a long term solution, but when you’re in a bind—as one often is in these situations—it can be a life saver. Photo by Gregg O’Connell.
Dentist haters of the world unite: it seems that by making a fist and squeezing your left thumb, you can suppress your gag reflex. It’s unknown as to whether it’s a specific set of nerves in your hand or just a distraction for your brain, but either way, if you’re starting to choke, this could help you out. And, if you move your hand up a few inches to your wrist, you can relieve nausea by applying pressure there, too.
When it’s time to chop up some onions, you can curb the crying by pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Alternatively, you can also cut out a cone at the bottom of the onion, where most of those tear-causing juices are stored. These tricks won’t help if onions just make you sad, but if those juices are causing your eyes to tear up involuntarily, one of these should help dry your eyes. Photo by Jennifer Dickert.
One of the most annoying feelings for us ice cream and smoothie addicts is the dreaded brain freeze. Once again, though, pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth—covering as much of your mouth as you can—can keep those nerves from getting too cold, which will keep your brain from thinking its freezing as well. The more pressure you apply, the better. Photo by Jayel Aheram.
How essential is it to have layers of executives supervising workers? Managers are expensive, increase the risk of bad judgment, slow decision making, and often disenfranchise employees. Yet most business activities require greater coordination than markets can provide.
Is there a way to combine the freedom and flexibility of markets with the control of a management hierarchy? Economists will tell you it’s impossible, but the Morning Star Company proves otherwise. It has been managing without managers for more than two decades.
At Morning Star, whose revenues were over $700 million in 2010, no one has a boss, employees negotiate responsibilities with their peers, everyone can spend the company’s money, and each individual is responsible for procuring the tools needed to do his or her work.
By making the mission the boss and truly empowering people, the company creates an environment where people can manage themselves.
http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2011/11/the-burzynski-clinic-threatens-17-year-old-blogger.html
I have been hinting that Burzynski has been threatening other prominent UK bloggers. Well, thatblogger has now gone public.
Rhys Morgan
Rhys Morgan is a 17 year old schoolboy from Wales. He has a keen interest in quack remedies, having been exposed to many through his own health problems with Crohn’s Disease. He hit the headlines on the BBC last year for exposing thebizarre world of a quack cure called Miracle Mineral Solution, that had been touted to fellow Crohn’s sufferers.
Rhys not only blogged about this dangerous form of quackery, but lobbied Cardiff City Council to persuade them to get the Trading Standards Authority involved. For his efforts, the James Randi Educational Foundation awarded him him the Grassroots Skepticism prize at the London Hilton Metropole. The BBC reported that Rhys would go onto tackle more ‘miracle cure’ web sites.
The Blog Post
So, Rhys wrote about (see here) the Texas based clinic of Stanislaw R. Burzynski, M.D., Ph.D who offers a urine based therapy as a cure for cancer. In his article, Rhys discussed Stan Burzynski’s “antineoplaston therapy”. He highlighted the recent examples in the press of where a teenager in Ireland with a brain tumour was having €120,000 raised for him to be sent to the Burzynski clinic, and also the case of a young mother in the UK whose family was trying to raise £95,000 to be sent to America “as the NHS does not fund this treatment.”
The problem is, as Rhys noted, is that antineoplaston therapy is considered an unproven treatment based on a hunch. Burzynski has been conducting continuous clinical trials on his therapy. Indeed, it would appear that the only way to get treatment is to enrol in a trial – and then pay for the trial yourself. The results of these trials have not convinced other researchers. The American Cancer Society states that “Most cancer specialists believe there is insufficient evidence to recommend use of antineoplastons.” They note that even alternative medicine enthusiasts are wary of this treatment with Dr Andrew Weil saying, “I see no reason for any cancer patient to take this route.”
Rhys’s article is thoughtful but direct. Of the patients he mentioned, he says, “I hate the idea of taking away someone’s last hope. Even though this is false hope, I still hate taking it away.” But he fears that misleading desperately ill patients is even worse. I too share a contempt for those who seek to take huge sums of money off the dying by offering vain hopes through unproven cures. I get family members writing to me on this web site after loved ones have been dragged into quack cures during their last months, wasting money that surviving families really need and wasting time that could have been better used being close to those you love.
It is therefore no surprise that Rhys noted Burzynski conviction for fraudulently claiming money from an insurance company and hence saying “I take no issue with calling Stanislaw Burzynski a quack and a fraud.”.
The Threat from Burzynski
A few weeks ago, Rhys received an email from a Marc Stephens who stated that his post and tweets were “in violation of several state and federal laws.” and that he “immediately cease and desist in your actions defaming and libeling my clients.”
The letter gave Rhys a bit of a lecture of US law on libel seemingly unaware that they were talking to a 16 year old school boy who was not resident in the United States. The letter ended with the threat, “ I suggest you remove ALL references about my client on the internet in its entirety, and any other defamatory statement about my client immediately, or I will file suit against you.”
“GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.”
You might have seen similar threats elsewhere.
Rhys is a bit of a smart chap. But receiving this is not pleasant. It could have threatened his entire wealth of a few hundred pounds in a savings account. Furthermore, it offended his sense of justice and ethics to take down an article that he felt was entirely justified on the basis of a broad threat that failed to identify anything that was factually incorrect. Instead, Rhys noted the rather odd statement in the letter that “Every comment you made in your article is highly incorrect.” He knew this was not true.
A quick bit of Googling by Rhys revealed that Marc Stephens did not appear to be a lawyer but was employed by the Burzynski Clinic for the purposes of Marketing and Sponsorship.
Rhys responded saying that he had to finish school that day before he could do anything. Stephens responded asking Rhys to “Please forward the notice to your parents if you are actually in High School. This is a very serious matter. “ and then demanded that Rhys “provide a public apology to Dr. Burzynski and his patients and post it on your websites, and social media sites.”
All very odd behaviour.
So what to do?
Rhys has many good friends. He contacted myself for help. He spoke to Simon Singh who had been through a two year ordeal when the now totally discredited British Chiropractic Association tried and failed to sue him for defamation. He got some good advice.
Taking down his blog posts appeared to be a sensible thing to do in order to show good will whilst the problem was explored. That goodwill has not been extended back. So, Rhys has now republished and added a commentary. You had best read it.
My take
Rhys is a bit of an hero. With his campaigns to close down the dreadful Miracle Mineral Cure, he has undoubtedly helped many very poorly people from being duped into taking dangerous quack medicines.
You know what? It is just likely that at 17 years of age, Rhys Morgan has already saved more lives by simply speaking out than Burzynski has in three decades with his fixation on his “antineoplastons.”
@juanvalera 
