September 19, 2008

Well, this week, I’m off to a seminar on internet marketing in Tampa and, while I’m there, the lease on my Mercedes E320 wagon expires. So, I was forced to surrender my car a few days earlier than I had originally intended. To prepare, I took all my crap out of the car. You know, all the little stuff that accumulates in rear seat pockets, the trunk, the glove box, over the years, like barnacles on a ship. Then, I had it washed and polished. And finally, I drove it to the dealership for inspection and surrender. Sayanora.
 
Just in time, too. Despite the steady fall in price of a barrel of crude to $92, the first time in a while that it’s been under $100, the recent Hurricane Ike and the anticipated damage to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico (which did NOT materialize) did not allow gas prices at the pump to decrease to the same extent as crude prices. And it’s pretty obvious to me that any little glitch in the supply pipeline, whether it’s from natural causes or an uptick in terrorism in the Middle East, will shoot gas prices right back up again. And, frankly, I’m getting damned tired of dropping nearly $70 to fill up my car with premium gasoline (MB cars don’t take Regular).
 
With China and India coming “on-line” for their share of the precious resource, more and more, the days of cheap oil are OVER. And that’s without the determined efforts of Congress to prevent ANY more supply from being drilled, or refined. No, those geniuses know better…they’re happy with this opportunity to “encourage” the benighted masses to “alternative” fuels: Wind, solar, geothermal, that’s the ticket… never mind that we’ve been spending beaucoup bucks since the eighties on just such sources and we’re no closer to a real solution than before. So the ideal car would be one that moves by a giant sail, but only when the wind’s blowing .
 
Look, it’s just like knee surgery. I believe that Medicine, which is to say, non-surgical treatment, is inherently superior to surgery, because it allows the body to heal itself. That’s why I wrote my new healing program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY  http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html   But until Medicine has evolved so it can cure all diseases, there are times when surgery is going to be needed. In the same way, until the alternatives are well developed, cheap and practical, there will still be a need for oil. So let’s do it all.
 
Like I’ve mentioned before, if you’ve ever visited a city or country with NO air polution controls, like Bangkok in Thailand, and your eyes start to water as soon as you’re off the plane, you develop a whole new appreciation of those emission regulations. There’s no question that they’ve improved the general health of the population, especially regarding respiratory diseases. But, “global warming?” Not so much. 
 
I’m a skeptic when it comes to that particular article of faith of the Left. And it’s worth noting that there IS evidence of prior cyclical warming, over centuries before the invention of the internal combustion engine. And then, there’s that business of the shrinking polar ice caps…on Mars! The whole thing is based on projections of computer models!
 
It’s hard to refute the charge that the whole “Man-Made Global Warming” religion has a lot less to do with the environment but instead, is actually a leftist, anti-capitalist movement, designed to slow our economy.  Don’t think so? Observe that it’s not enough that you believe in global warming; you must believe that it’s all the fault of Man’s activities on the planet. And by the way, lately it’s all “Climate Change,” so they’re covered, as it becomes more apparent that in that we’re not actually warming all that much…and in fact, has been cooling for the last seven years. There’s now evidence by the Norweigian Meteorological Society that there is MORE ice in the polar caps than normal. Oh, where have you gone, Al Gore?
 
Sorry. I just don’t buy it. I think that if there’s any warming, it’s from sun activity. And it’s most likely a normal, cyclical phenomenon. And there is a growing body of evidence, much of it from former global warming scientists, that this is so. Of course, this is heresy to the True Believers. But, eventually, the truth will out, as it usually does. I believe in what IS.
 
Despite my conviction that the environmental crisis business is a scam, for reasons of self-interest, I’m all for developing any and all alternative sources of energy. And in my day to day life, that means abandoning my love affair with Mercedes, since 1984, and getting a hybrid. Actually, I’d get a fuel cell car, if you could find some places to fill the damn things. Dependence on a finite and diminishing resource just makes no sense, anymore. And I DON’T like being dependent on our enemies for fuel–that’s just crazy.
 
So, finally, the skeptic goes green. I picked up my Prius yesterday. And you know, it’s remarkably good. 48 miles to the gallon, in the city and regular gas, too. Okay, it doesn’t have the pickup of an SL500. But I’m at least 20 years away from having to “peal out,” or project an image. And, now, every time the price of gas goes up, I’m just gonna smile….
 
Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

Well, here we are in Orlando, where it’s cloudy but not even raining yet. And the press has worked itself into a lather over the approach of Fay, a tropical storm with hurricane potential. Now, it is true that Fay has spawned some tornados, apparently killed ten people and should be taken seriously. But so far, virtually nothing that has been predicted has happened.
 
I’m well aware that meteorology is an inexact science. That’s rather like saying King Kong is a large monkey. I mean, these guys are wrong so often that they could probably do better if they flipped a coin. They know it’s raining when they look out the window. For all the sophisticated computer models, specialized radars and scientific analysis, they are clueless about what’s going on in the real world.
 
See, the problem is the computer models. The models are accurate ONLY if the premises on which they’re based are valid. Wrong assumptions, wrong results. Since the facts on the ground (or rather, in the air) are always changing, it makes it tough to accurately predict what’s actually going to happen. You see, I understand their limitations, but talk about your overpaid guys!  They get paid whether they’re right or wrong! In fact, most people expect them to be wrong. Meanwhile I was supposed to be perfect–any deviation from perfect is assumed to be defacto evidence of malpractice. Feh! Makes me sick!
 
Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad we don’t have to deal with a major hurricane. It’s just annoying that every prediction these guys make is presented with a certitude that keeps us all in a state of fear. That was the premise of a very good book by Michael Crichton, he of Jurassic Park fame, of the same name (State of Fear). His theme was the constant “state of fear” that the media tries to keep the public in, with one dire prediction after the next. And it’s absolutely true.
 
And here’s something else to think about: this is the same “science” that supports those who buy into the whole apocalyptic “global warming” business. Almost all of it is based on computer models, just like the day to day weather, apparently with the same degree of accuracy. 

This would explain the phenomenon of melting polar ice caps, rising seas (which, given Al Gore’s time line, should have swallowed several coastal cities by now) et al, which are a product of extrapolated computer models. Same problem: if the assumptions on which the models are based are faulty (ie. warming, such as it is, is the product of man made activity, greenhouse gases and the like), the results are, too. This is why the polar ice caps of Mars are also observed to be receding, absent ANY man-made activity (so far as we know). And it explains why our polar ice is now INCREASING, contrary to the predicted findings of the models.
 
People who are fully invested in the whole global warming enterprise are aware of these disturbing variations in the real world from the computer models. That’s why you now hear more about “climate change,” than global warming these days. Here’s a clue: the climate is ALWAYS changing–that’s what it does. And all climate is a function of the activity level of the SUN, the source of all energy on earth. The amazing thing is not that climate varies now and again, but that the narrow range necessary to preserve life on our little planet is remarkably constant.
 
So while the meteorologists and weathermen appear to be fey on Fay, I’m going to look out my window, onto the real world, and see what the weather’s doing. Still cloudy, still no rain, mildly breezy here in Orlando. But the radio says twisters were noted in Southern Florida. Which way will it go? They have NO IDEA, though they have plenty of predictions. Ah well, let’s hope it misses us. We’ll soon know…
 
Speaking of the crappy weather of the Hurricane Season, ever notice that your joints ache when it’s about to rain? Or that you feel sleepy when it’s cloudy and damp? Well, that’s a function of specialized nerve endings in the tissues around your joints that respond to a fall in barometric pressure (baroreceptors). Any inflammation, as from synovitis, arthritis, a chronic sprain or strain, a recent fracture (even if healed) aches with damp weather.
 
You can ease those aches and pains with some local heat applications and the various anti-inflammatory measures I teach in my newest program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY    http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
Using measures from across the medical spectrum, you can relieve pain, reduce inflammation and restore function in your painful knee–without surgery. 

Til next time, my friend, stay dry, stay safe, and be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved