Information: Vitamin D may Fight Cancers

The Buffalo News for Buffalo, New York has reported a study on how manufacturing Vitamin D may fight many types of cancers. From the article:

Research suggests vitamin D helps regulate cell growth and differentiation, the process that determines what a cell becomes. This is important in cancer. Cells should change normally, such as the way skin cells form throughout life, and not proliferate wildly to produce a malignant tumor.

As such, vitamin D is seen both as a protectant against cancer and as a potential treatment.

“Vitamin D may inhibit cells from growing and dividing and may kill tumor cells in some cases. It may also cause cancer cells to change into more mature, harmless cells,” said Dr. Candace Johnson, senior vice president for translational research at Roswell Park.

In recent years, the cancer center has put together a large, well funded vitamin D research team.

The researchers have demonstrated in laboratory tests that several forms of vitamin D control cells in ways that can prevent cancer and regulate proteins that affect tumor growth.

The institute also recently started a clinical trial of high-dose vitamin D replacement in individuals with high risk of lung cancer, and other scientists there are looking at boosting the effect of chemotherapy by adding vitamin D.

Read the full article here.

Birthright Campaign Setting

I've been reading an old favorite AD&D campaign setting. Birthright is one of the best campaign settings to come out of TSR in a very long time. The idea about Birthright is roleplaying High Fantasy with a bent on politics and intrigue. In Birthright, you play kings, queens, counts and contessas, barons and baronesses, earls, lords and ladies, and princes and princesses. You can also play pontiffs in a mighty theocracy; or be adroit corporate businessmen and merchant princes.

Fighters, Rangers, and Paladins manage Law holdings and make war. Clerics, Priests, and Druids manage Temple Holdings, theives and rogues manage guild and trade holdings, while sorcerers and wizards control mighty source holdings. Finally, the cultures are based on real world analogues: The Anuireans are based on Early Renassiance England and France (i.e. around the time of Henry Tudor VII); the Khinasi are based on the Spanish Moors at the hieght of their power; the Brechts are based on the Hanseatic League, the Rjurik are based on the Viking and Pictish cultures; and the Vos are based on the Mongol culture with a strong Russian influence.

In the Campaign Setting, which is taking some ideas from the Highlander franchise and turned them into an interesting campaign setting. The game is based on Richard Baker's old novel manuscript: Kingmaker.
It's awesome to be reading about it again. I'm looking forward to playing it as Atlantis is shaped.

Freedom News

The Naturist Action Committee won a hard fight in Texas today, defeating a bill that was needlessly worded wrong. As was reported:

Dear Naturist:

The Naturist Action Committee (NAC) declares victory in the fight against a legislative bill that threatened naturists in the state of Texas.

Texas House Bill 1466 attempted statewide regulation of sexually oriented businesses. The bill's broad primary definition would have included naturist and nudist parks, camps and resorts. Any other business (like a health club or bowling alley) that might be rented or used temporarily for naturist activities could also have been defined as a sexually oriented business.

With help from NAC and NAC's professional legislative lobbyist, House Bill 1466 found itself mired in committee. The bill is dead.

DISCUSSION

Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) was the sponsor of HB 1466. First elected in 2002 with the help of money from the political action group of discredited former Congressman Tom DeLay, Rep. Zedler has enjoyed success with a number of his bills.

The threat to naturists from House Bill 1466 was frightening and easy to understand. To the customary list of sexually oriented business definitions, HB 1466 added "any other commercial enterprise ... whose employees or customers appear in a state of nudity."

Not only would the definition have applied to every naturist and nudist park in the state, it would have included gyms, spas and pools with changing rooms.

WHAT HAS NAC BEEN DOING ABOUT THIS BILL?

Immediately after House Bill 1466 was filed, the Naturist Action Committee hired a professional Texas legislative lobbyist for assistance and advice. While working behind the scenes to kill the bill, NAC and its lobbyist also developed and presented revised language for HB 1466.

NAC considered it essential to assure that naturist resorts and parks in Texas would not be considered "sexually oriented businesses." At the same time, NAC saw it as equally important that other commercial venues would not be discouraged from allowing naturist usage, out of concern for being labeled as "sexually oriented businesses." The revised language that NAC developed was based on conditions of usage, and not on organizational affiliation.

On February 21, 2007, the Naturist Action Committee issued a NAC Advisory concerning House Bill 1466. The text of that Advisory is archived on the Web site of the Naturist Action Committee.

Some legislation is best dealt with quietly, and House Bill 1466 is an example. In this instance, NAC chose not to call for the sort of grass roots action that can be so very effective in other situations.

WHAT IS NAC ASKING YOU TO DO?

This is an update and an announcement of a specific victory. The Naturist Action Committee is NOT asking you to take action at this time. The threat from House Bill 1466 is gone, but those who introduce such legislation are not. Please watch for NAC Action Alerts, Advisories and Updates on other topics of interest to naturists.

MORE INFORMATION

You can access additional information on the Web site of the Naturist Action Committee.

www.naturistaction.org

Select "Alerts, Advisories and Updates." Under Current Updates, you'll find the text of this NAC Advisory, along with links to the complete text of Texas House Bill 1466 and the NAC Advisory of February 21, 2007.

PLEASE HELP NAC HELP NATURISTS

As the nonprofit volunteer political adjunct to The Naturist Society, the Naturist Action Committee is a vigorous force at work on behalf of naturists. NAC stands up for private naturist and nudist resorts, parks and camps, just as it champions the responsible clothing-optional use of public lands.

NAC does not hesitate to engage legislative lobbyists when it becomes necessary. But lobbyists are expensive. NAC relies entirely on your voluntary support. Please donate generously with a check to:

This is actually a good thing. May the Naturist Action Committee, and other groups that value our freedom as individuals, be equally successful.

Ack, still alive!

I've been working hard getting readmitted to the Salt Lake Community College and haven't been able to offer any updates. I've also been pretty tired lately. Meanwhile, here is a picture for your perusal. It's Pin-Up art from Howard David Johnson. Since this site is educational, this falls under educational use.

Dungeons and Dragons Research Notes: Heraclitus

A native of Ephesus, Hereclitus lived from 540 B.C. to 475 B.C. Hereclitus was a Greek philosopher of aristocratic birth. The aristocratic philosopher supposed that change is the only constant in the Universe, and argued against a Universe of permanency and no change. Through his efforts, Hereclitus became the bridge of the Ioanian school to the philosophy of Parmenides. He eventually critizes his opponents for not seeing unity.

Hereclitus' Accomplishments:

• Hereclitus proposed a theory of knowledge. He believed that understanding the Word would bring understanding.
• Hereclitus proposed a theory that the Universe is constantly changing, and through change its in equilibrium. Hereclitus held that (1) everything is constantly changing and (2) opposite things are identical, so that (3) everything is and is not at the same time.
• Hereclitus critized the Ionian school of philosophy.
• Herclitus proposed a natural, physical theory.
• Hereclitus theorized some moral and political theories.

External Links:

• Hereclitus biography and Philosography on Hypatia lovers dot com.
• Internet Encyclopedia's article of Hereclitus.

Family Naturism and Swinging are not the same

From a couple of kindred spirits over at a popular clothing optional; nudist resort:

Now the problem still exists that people who don't know any better, are still confused thinking that swingers are also nudists. (Although some are, it does not go hand in hand). In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a reporter is definately confused. For the full story click here

The reporter writes "You might think someone running a campground named for its nudist policy and dedicated to mate-swapping..." The reporter continues "He bought the campground in 2002 and began welcoming nudists."

Why this problem still exists, I have no idea. But nudism should not be equated with Swinging. Swingers are those who swap their mates for mating; family naturists pass on the value of chaste nudity to their children and set a good example for them by being nude and faithful to their spouses. Now don't get me wrong, but sex is fun. It's the most beautiful, most sublime, and most fun way to connect with your spouse or partner. But this really shouldn't be going on.

This blog may be about my roleplaying hobby, but I also use it for my other hobbies as well. One of these is family naturism. I believe naturist resorts who call themselves famly naturist resorts should cater to the family. De Anza Springs Resort is one of these. So is the Terra Cotta Inn. The more we focus on how Naturism and nudism revolves around the family and chaste social nude functions: the less people will confuse swinging or free sex with the naturist/nudist community. Sexuality is for the family, and naturism is for developing close relationships.

Oh, and to day, I feel uninspired; but I'm still going to put up an article about one of the Greek Philosophers.

Harn World

I've been playing around with writing an adventure for HârnWorld, Columbia Games' real fantasy world designed for any roleplaying game system. The adventure is inspired by Daggerfall, of all games.

I can't say much, but this is actually my first adventure in a long time. Hopefully something good will come of it. As for Hârn World, I can say some things about it from the FAQ.

Hârn is an island on an imaginary world called Kethira. This island and world are the setting for a fantasy role-playing game. The proper spelling of Hârn has a carat (^) over the 'a'; in LaTeX it would be spelled H\^arn. Sometimes the word Hârn is used by players to refer to the entire world of Kethira, or at least those parts that have been described in official and fan-developed publications.

Confessions of an LDS Free Thinker (2)

Dealing with unrequited love can really be a bear, really. Although Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Theory really help, it can be quite a burden.

I keep declaring that I love my princess. The reason why is simple, every time you declare something; something immediately happens and the Universe swings its way. Remember the power words article below? Anyway, it works in love like this. I declare my love for this woman, and she instantly responds no matter where she is in the Universe. So, she aught to know that a real man actually loves her very deeply in her unconscious mind.

My description of the last time I saw her is getting very poetic. Anyway, with legs like hers, she really should show them off. And I acknowledge that she may not want to. But this is a confession so I'd like to confess a desire. Unlike me, I have a feeling that she isn't a nudist, but I'd love her to be.

Here is my desire:
We are on a dinner date at one of the best restaurants in Salt Lake City (yes, I know, there are probably a lot of restaurant critics who have been in better restuarants in other cities -- Salt Lake City doesn't really have the best restuarants in the country let alone the Universe). While eating our main course, she reveals to me, hesitantly, that she's a nudist. Containing my excitement, I ask her out on a hiking date. She accepts and then I surprise her by showing off my hiking clothes -- going skyclad. She gets skyclad too and we have a wonderful hike, as any anxiety between us is immediately dispelled. The next week, we go to Hawaii and on one of the nude beaches in an Edenic paradise; I ask her to marry me and bring along a ring for the occasion.

That would be awesome.

Excercise can help Parkinson's Disease

From Dr. Mercola's blog:

The evidence is growing by leaps and bounds about the beneficial effect exercise has on Parkinson's, according to a pair of recent studies.

In one report discussed during a recent medical conference, researchers tracked the health of some 63,000 men and nearly 80,000 women (average age 63) from 1992-2001. During that period, slightly more than 400 developed Parkinson's. Patients who participated in the highest levels of moderate-to-vigorous exercise lowered their Parkinson's risks by 40 percent. And, patients who exercised more often than folks who didn't reduced their chances of Parkinson's by 20 percent.

In the latter study on animals models, USC researchers learned exercise may enhance the way our bodies use dopamine, forcing the brain to work more efficiently and making the dopamine-producing neurons work harder. Doing both may produce stronger connections to the brain, says the lead researcher.

Well, who would have thought. Parkinson's Disease can be treated by simple exercise. This is something worth thinking about, actually. Since I enjoy exercise, I have another reason to enjoy it more and to exercise more. Thank you Doctor Mercola!

External Links:

• Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 27, No. 20, May 16, 2007: 5291-5300
• EurekAlert May 15, 2007
• Health Central.com April 25, 2007
  
  

Research Notes: Xenophanes

It's interesting reading the Philosophy of the Greeks how they are coming closer and closer to the Truth that Christianity promises, but not all sects and versions of Christianity offers. As the Natural Philosophers of the Greeks continued in their theory advancing to understand the true nature of the Universe, the closer they come to the Absolute Truth of Nature.

All science or Natural Philosophy is about advancing and learning the truth about the Universe and how it works. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, scientists are often denigrated for their pursuit of the truth. However, their pursuit is a righteous cause and the journey is long and hard. Take in the case of Xenophanes, the next Philosopher on our list.

“All is one.”

— Xenophanes

Xenophanes is a poet and a religious reformer based out of Elea in Italy. Born in Colophon, located in what is now Turkey, Xenophanes was a Greek philosopher and poet. He also happened to be a social and religious critic. Xenophanes was the founder of the Eleatic School of Philosophy, but often Parmenides holds that honor. To highlight Xenophanes' contributions to Natural and Metaphysical philosophy, one has to understand that his poetry criticized and satirized a wide range of ideas, including the belief in the pantheon of anthropomorphic gods and the Greeks' veneration of athleticism. He is the earliest Greek poet who claims explicitly to be writing for future generations, creating "fame that will reach all of Greece, and never die while the Greek kind of songs survives."

Xenophanes' contributions:

• Xenophanes was the first to express monotheism in a pantheistic way. He believed that God was expressed in how the Laws of the Universe operated and deserved not to be Anthropormorphized.
• Xenophanes gave us the Rain Cycle, which is expressed as water evaporating from the oceans and forming clouds and storms, and eventually rains the water on the Earth, which collects into rivers and drains back into the ocean. So, instead of a Fertile Crescent god masturbating and releasing his seed on the ground, or Zeus urinating into a sieve, Xenophanes presented the foundation of modern Meteorology.
• Xenophanes believed that the Rain Cycle will produce another beginning and another flood by water.
• Xenophanes also laid the foundations of the Eternity of Matter and Energy (i.e. Matter and Energy cannot be created nor destroyed; but converted from one form to another.
• Xenophanes thought that the truth is relative rather than absolute.
  
• Finally, Xenophanes was more of a reformer to science. He sought to revolutionize science from thinking in polytheistic terms to thinking in terms of what one observes and understands. A practical approach to science.

A Latter-day Saint's views on Xenophanes' Philosophy: While Pythagoras said that Mathematics was the science of understanding beauty (which is a principle of the Gospel); Xenophanes sought to impersonalize the Anthropormorphic nature of the Greek Gods -- stating that they are unworthy of worship because they had huiman attributes attached to their personalities. He instead insisted on God's existence through how the Laws of Nature operated.

I'm not Pantheist like Xenophanes and Einstein were. But I can see how Xenophanes had seen some truths. First of all, the work of God is seen in how Nature operates within the Laws we've come to understand. That is where Xenophanes, Einstein, and I agree. However, I do disagree with Xenophanes that God is not Anthropormorphic. Latter-day Saints believe in Jesus Christ and believe on His name as a personal savior. We believe that He is a person, human, with flesh and bones and thus operates within and by the Laws of the Observable Universe. So, how can I agree with Xenophanes and yet disagree with him? That will have to be saved for another time.

External Links:

• Xenophanes on Hypatia-lovers dot com.
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's article on Xenophanes.
• Giannis Stamatellos' article on Xenophanes.
• Stanford School of Philosophy's article on Xenophanes.

Dungeons and Dragons Research Notes: Pythagoras

I'll be getting to the game mechanics as I'm still building the cultural foundation for Atlantis 600 B.C. Just be patient. Today, we are going to meet the famous, and inestimable, and mostly admired Pythagoras.

PYTHAGORAS AND THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM

In any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (i.e. the two sides other than the hypotenuse).

Pythagoras is one of the most influentual Greek philosophers, and one of history's most influential mathematicians, he helped lay the ground work that Archimedes and other mathematicians would build on -- including Sir Isaac Newton, one of the Renassiance discoverers of Calculus. Pythagoras is also responsible for founding musicology and music theory.

Pythagoras was born in Samos, and later he would go on to found the Pythagorean school of Philosophy. The Pythagorean school was a religious and philosophic school which had a lasting influence on religion and philosophy -- including Gnostic and Aesthetic Christianity. Pythagoras was instructed in the Ionian school of thought and eventually made his way to Egypt where he was instructed by the Egyptian priesthood. Because of his disgust over the Tyranny of Polycrates, Pythagoras was exiled from Samos. Having moved to Italy, he founded the Pythagorean school in which men and women would flock to. However, Pythagoras' life on Earth came to an end when the Democratic party won out in Italy and the Aristocratic Pythagoreans attacked the Democrats and Pythagoras died in the struggle.

Accomplishments by Pythagoras:

• The Pythagorean Theorem is attributed to him. Necessarily, the history between Pythagoras and his theorem is quite complex.
• Pythagoras introduced the concept of reincarnation to the Greeks through the idea of mentempsychosis.
• A music theory that says that music is based on proportional intervals of four.
• The theory that the Universe is base 10. Including the postulation of a tenth planet, known as Gorea (see John Norman's novels).
• Pythagoras discovered the theory of mathematical proportion.
• Proposed that the Earth was a sphere that revolved on it's own axis.
• Killed a student for his discovery of irrational numbers.

Pythagorean Influence:

• Plato: Pythagoras or in a broader sense, the Pythagoreans, allegedly exercised an important influence on the work of Plato. According to R. M. Hare, his influence consists of three points: a) the platonic Republic might be related to the idea of "a tightly organized community of like-minded thinkers", like the one established by Pythagoras in Croton. b) there is evidence that Plato possibly took from Pythagoras the idea that mathematics and, generally speaking, abstract thinking is a secure basis for philosophical thinking as well as "for substantial theses in science and morals". c) Plato and Pythagoras shared a "mystical approach to the soul and its place in the material world". It is probable that both have been influenced by Orphism.
• Roman Influence: n the legends of ancient Rome, Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, is said to have studied under Pythagoras. This is unlikely, since the commonly accepted dates for the two lives do not overlap.

External Links:

• Pythagoras' biography on Hypatia-lovers.com.
• Wikipedia entry on Pythagoras.
• The Pythagorean Theorem on wikipedia and Apronus dot com.
• Pythagoras article on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Pythagoras biography on MacTutor of Mathematics.
  

New Evidence: Sun Exposure Prevents Cancer

From Mercola.com and Globe and Mail.com:

An American study scheduled for a June release compared the health of some 1,200 female patients, some of whom took a vitamin D supplement while others didn't.

The number of patients who reduced their risk of cancer by taking a vitamin D supplement -- 60 percent -- was so unexpectedly high that some initially believed it to be a typographical error.

This study, and many similar ones, may force conventional medicine to re-evaluate its vitamin D recommendations. A deficiency in vitamin D figures into many diseases in addition to cancer. One researcher pointed out, "We don't really know what the status of chronic disease is in the North American population, until we normalize vitamin D status."

Globe and Mail.com April 28, 2007

My Comment:
This has come out before I could present my argument on how Naturism is beneficial to the human body this Monday. I was going to argue that the Sun is actually beneficient for our bodies as our bodies use UV rays as a catalyst to produce Calcipherol, otherwise known as Vitamin D. Doctor Mercola, a doctor who is crusading for truth, has actually beaten me too it. I'd be a voice a among many to saying how naturism is good for the body and the psyche.

And I'm still going to do it this Monday. I'll have the weight of the medical profession behind me as studies have been published in the Journal of the American Assocation of Surgeons as well as Globe and Mail. Doctor Mercola said that sunlight exposure -- i.e. sunbathing -- can reduce cancer risk by 50 percent. While UCAN and other Cancer Prevention networks try to turn us into molemen, I'm happy that Doctor Mercola is telling the truth about sunlight exposure.