A few months ago, I wrote a small piece on the disappearance of the Iron Mountain Steamboat here.Â
Bill Pitts, the creative director of
The New Southern View ezine just let me know that he wrote an article on the subject. It’s wonderful!  Larger– more in-depth. The New Southern Review looks to be an informative and fun ezine for lovers of Mississippi.  And what southern publication would be complete without a section devoted to ghosts?Â
Check out the Creaking Floorboards…Â
You probably do not think of germs as a theory. Ever since you were little and asked your mom why you have to wash your hands or cover your mouth when you cough, she said “Germs.” At first you didn’t believe her. You couldn’t see the germ, so how did you know it was there? But eventually, you were brainwashed into belief.
I would like to point out now, that you still haven’t seen them. And even if you did, through a microscope or on television, you still looked at it through some kind of contraption. Truly, germs could be just as real as UFo’s, the moon landing, or the loch ness monster.
Even if they do exist, who is to say that germs are “bad” and make you sick, anyway? There are supposedly billions of germs living inside you right now, and you may or may not be sick. Consumption of germs are even marketed to us in the form of yogurt. [More] Also, if germs are the cause of illness, why do some people get sick, and some not?
Theories abound. At one point, the Catholic Church believed that illness was sin, and did not allow doctors to heal people, because sickness was “the will of God.” A great-great grandchild of that idea is the New Age claim that illness is due to unhappiness for one reason or another. [Read more.] Personally, I feel that is materialist and shallow viewpoint, especially if the illness is severe.
The huge pharmaceutical industries have been built up around the theory of germs. It is in their interest to keep the belief going. They have even made sure that children are not allowed in school without “proper” vaccinations of strange goo which will be sure to kill the tiny monsters, but may also make the young children ill.[More.]
A great deal of ill health can be blamed on poor diet, exercise, sleep/rest, and stress levels. But the giant pharmacorps can’t make money on selling carrots and pom juice and a shorter work day, so germs are pushed instead.
Louis Pasteur disavowed his own germ theory before he died. [More.] I, for one, am not ready to stop washing my hands. But I am ready to eat more carrots and possibly try some pom juice.
In early January 2004, a bunch of us at happy hour were discussing the usual crap like rock & roll, pop culture, current events. We talked about the upcoming Superbowl half-time show, which we all dissed as being retarded and Nuremberg Rally-like. I said at the time, “I predict that within a couple of years Britney Spears will perform topless at half-time.” Well, not a couple of years but a mere coupla weeks later it wasn’t Ms. Spears but Janet Jackson who let it all loose at the Superbowl spectacle. This past weekend, Britney finally got her turn to let it all loose in public, and in a big way. It wasn’t a big event like the Superbowl, but there it was nonetheless, Britney getting out of a car baring her uncovered private region (aka “snatch”) for all the world to see. (Talk about your media distractions–see previous post).
