Microstyle by Christopher Johnson – a book review

Tags

Advertising lingo, Christopher Johnson, Linguistics, Micro speak, Spin doctoring, Writing style

Microstyle:the art of writing little, by Christopher Johnson is an essential book for everyone who writes and a worthwhile book for all those who read. This book was my lunch time reading this last couple of weeks, and was read aloud to me, by last week’s The New Yorker prize winning book puzzle solver, Debbie Foster, while I pondered, fussed and quibbled. I had some problems with this well written book because it was in some sort of time twist, space sponge, content conglomeration and style stilt. I couldn’t decide if it was a text book – it did have something of a didactic tone; a book of comedy – there were plenty of chuckles; a required reading for first year linguistic students – there was the required Chomsky quote – Colorless green ideas sleep furiously, and of other linguists’ elaborations. Or perhaps this book should be required memorization by Madison Avenue Madmen or a content resource book for spin doctors. There’s plenty of meat in these pages for hungry minds. The book could have ended with the Dwinerman quote – The three worst mistakes you can make are overpromising and underdelivering. If anything my conclusion would be the reverse. Microstyle is about little things, but it underpromises and overdelivers.

A spider bite photographed for two months

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Photos of spider bite, Progression of spider bite, Spider bite, Spider bite progress

Click here at <a title="This web site is being moved to a self hosted account." href="Probaway – Helps“>Probaway – Helps for an update photo taken a year later .

A two month sequence of photos of a recluse type spider bite from August 16, 2010. Fortunately for me it wasn’t the very dangerous Brown Recluse, found in the lower Mississippi river valley, or the photographs below would look even worse.

I found this Recluse-Spider in my house but not a Brown-Recluse - no violin on its thorax

Spider bite. It's the first photo of my lower leg about four days after the bite. 8/20/2010

Spider bite six days after the bite. - 8/22/2010

Spider bite seven days after the bite has developed long extensions 8/23/2010

Spider bite eight at days has developed long tendrils and isolated patches. 8-24-2010

Spider bite 15 days after the bite. 2010/09/01

Spider bite 25 days after the bite 2010/09/21

The spider bite 65 days after the bite. 2010/10/18 it still has soft dented tissue.

Wikipedia has a good article on Spider Bites.

Although this bite looked bad, it appears that the best treatment was to clean the wound as early as possible with soap and water, which I did and then an application of iodine or some similar disinfectant, which I didn’t and then as the ugliness develops just keep it as clean as possible which I did and then to avoid spiders in the future which I will most certainly do.

The bite never hurt or itched which was why I didn’t notice it for a day or two. The first symptoms was the spot, which later had the ulcer, developed a liquid filled blister over a scarlet area. The first photograph in this series was taken soon after the blister burst. It looked ugly and I saw a doctor immediately but since there wasn’t any infection he suggested that I just keep it very clean – which I did.

There is still an obvious discoloration around the ulcerated spot and that ulcer still has a slight indentation and feels spongy to the touch. The progress on healing is so slow now that it will only be necessary to photograph it occasionally, such as on the monthly anniversary of the bite.

Watch for an update of this bite on the yearly anniversary August 16, 2011.

Click here at <a title="This web site is being moved to a self hosted account." href="Probaway – Helps“>Probaway – Helps for an update photo taken a year later .

Reducing the flu threat for everyone.

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Anti-sneeze face mask, Bird flu preventions, Capsicum prevents flu, Flu prevention, Left elbow sneeze, National anti-flu stockpile, Right elbow scratch, Swine flu prevention, Virus killing doorknobs, World anti-flu stockpile

The official governmental authorities are grim on the subject flu. They have given up on reasonable responses and admit they are helpless in the face of a new worldwide pandemic. They admit there isnt enough antivirals for more than a few percent of the Earth’s population and it would take as long as three years to make enough vaccine for everyone, even if they tried. So there is discussion among the authorities as to who should receive the limited supply of these life saving medicines. One thing is certain at the present time—the majority of humans will have to take care of themselves.
I have been trying to develop methods which everyone can use to prevent flus and which have some possibility of controlling a pandemic once it gets started.
These new methods are based on the idea of suppressing the flu to the point where there is less than one transmission per flu sufferer be it animal or human to a new human or animal. No single method, even the most draconian forms of isolation or vaccination will prevent a new flu from developing but if the spread of flu can be limited to less than a single transmission per person any new flu will die out. Therefore, if all of the flu suppressing methods are instituted at once the transmission rate in a local community would be reduced to a lower level. If people could be informed and trained to use these methods for reducing the transmission the flus would far less widespread.
When a new flu does develop and a local community has an outbreak or one imminent they could institute a three week maximum effort at control. They would be fully informed that the inconveniences and draconian measures are temporary. Most people will accept a temporary inconvenience if everyone around them is obeying the ordinance. After three weeks the restrictions could be lifted or given another three weeks stint.

Probaway’s new list of possibilities for controlling flu pandemic

1. To prevent a new and virulent form of flu from coming into existence, let everyone on Earth learn well that, When you are sick with a flu avoid people and totally avoid sick birds and sick pigs. It is when one individual has two flus simultaneously, especially those caught from birds or pigs, that it is inside of them that the new and dangerous forms of flu come into existence.
2. When your community is experiencing an epidemic, avoid sick people, move quickly away from a sneezing person, wear a N-95 mask when in public, and never bring your hands near your face except to eat with a utensil. These are common sense but practice them and help others to practice them by correcting their habitual behavior when they make a mistake. This could be practiced in public: when someone brings their hand to their face you say, “STOP and sneeze into your left elbow” or just “ELBOW!” and learn to scratch your facial itches with your right elbow and never with your fingers.
3. This next suggestion is a desperate one but it is based on the idea that an infection will take two days longer to reach your lungs from your nose than if you contract an airborne virus into your throat or lungs from a sneeze. When it is impossible to avoid sneezing people and catching the flu in your throat or lungs it might be possible to inoculate yourself against a deadly flu by using my new form of the variolation technique. That general method was first brought to Europe by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, for controlling smallpox. You can voluntarily give yourself a milder case of the flu—Take mucus from a recovering person’s nose and rub it into the nostrils of your own nose. You will get sick, but it will take about two more days for the infection to get to your vital organs and that two days gives your body a chance to develop antibodies which destroy the virus and you won’t get as sick. It is a way to lower your risk of dying from the flu. See: A history of variolation. Vaccination is much better than variolation but vaccination won’t be available to most humans during a worldwide pandemic flu and variolation will. This might also work by putting the infected nasal mucus directly on your skin or possibly the anus. These methods could be tested as the flu strikes a new area and the results published for the rest of humanities use.
4. Once you have some symptoms of flu, about the 3rd day after exposure, begin the following techniques which by my personal experience alone I have found to subdue common colds. This isn’t tested science which has been verified by controlled experiment but it is a testable theory which anyone can verify. 1. The cure for the common cold is six 102°F degree fevers. 2. A cure for the common cold using 105°F baths. 3. The Bird flu is coming sooner or later—so prepare for it
5. Virus killing doorknobs could be installed. For example, copper doorknobs are known to kill viruses and could be used to replace as many public knobs as possible. This is generally a good idea even where there is no flu. It that policy could be instituted as a civic ordnance it could be implemented over several years and cause no hardship. During a flu local epidemic the doorknobs could be covered with a virus killing glove with an appropriate viral-cide. These could be easily manufactured in huge quantities and have a universal size with a draw-string for attaching.
6. There should be viral-cidal spray bottles readily available for spraying commonly touched items like computer keyboards, telephones, doorknobs, money, and public utensils in restaurants.
7. There could be one minute training classes in school on not touching your face with your hands. The students could train each other to scratch their face with their right elbow and cough and sneeze into their left elbow and get into the habit of gently correcting others behavior.
8. Television could be used to train people in the flu suppressing techniques and the various programs like TV news casts about flu supression techniques and TV exercise programs could have a brief mention and demonstration perhaps with a special exercise.
9. Advanced training classes could be held where there is a mildly charged electric glove which would give a small shock to the face when it was touched. If this were worn for an hour during a lecture there would typically be several touches and shocks. These would help the person to learn the better procedure of scratching the face with the right arm and elbow. At this same lecture a sponge laden with some capsaicin could be passed around and the students would dip their fingers onto the sponge. Then for a couple of days whenever they touched their eyes, mouth or nostrils they would get a burning feeling refresher course on appropriate behavior.
10. Have hand washing facilities placed in many public places with some anti viral fluids and paper towels readily available with a disposal can nearby for recycling the paper.
11. Wear a homemade face mask if there is nothing better available and wear the anti-sneeze mask which sould be manufactured and given a massive distribution at locations where there was an out break. Once there is a flu in a community there will be people sneezing and coughing and a standard N95 mask with a flapper valve will allow the sneezed dropplets with viruses out into the public air supply.
12. A ready public supply of nose tissues and convenient places to dispose of the viral laden used tissues.
13. Isolate children from each other and from public adults as much as possible because they catch flus more easily and children cant be trained to cough and sneeze into their left elbow.
14. Create national stockpiles of the flu controlling materials equal to the population of Earth so they could be deployed in quantity to any community within hours of possible outbreak. Have a pre-made distribution pack which could be set up by simply placing them at high traffic locations.
15. When a outbreak occurs, mail to every household an anti-flu package made up of anti-sneeze flu masks, anti-viral doorknob covers, a small bottle of anti-viral spray and whatever else is appropriate like an information sheet with behavior suggestions.
16. Give money to the anti-flu stockpiles and encourage other people and governments to support these stockpiles. Because they are made of nonperishable materials they would be permanently available once created.

When all of the flu fighting methods are used there will be a much lower rate of transmission between people and the flu will die out much quicker. Also, these methods will create more time for anti-viral medicines to be distributed to where they are needed most and time for the specific vaccines for a specific flu to be manufactured.

Cramps— How to relax cramps with Capzasin and Quinine and stop the pain.

Tags

capsaicin, Capzasin, cramps, foot cramps, leg cramps, menstrual cramps

Foot cramps writes Wikipedia are common in older people, and at present there is no known cure for them, so it seems a mention of my successful experiences might be of some interest to those suffering people.

My problem and the usual cures.

My number two toe was cramping into a curled position which was annoying, and painful. The usual procedure of stretching the toe back out to its straight position relaxed the muscle, and relieved the pain, but left the sensation that it was about to cramp again. After about 10 seconds it did cramp again, and I straightened it again. This went on for quite a few cycles, and I walked around for five minutes to see if that would help. It did but in a few minutes, after sitting back down, the toe cramped again, and again.

Here is what worked for me

The cause of cramping is some sort of chemical-nerve thing, I thought, so why not try some nerve pain medicine. There is a product called CAPZASIN © with the stated uses: to temporarily relieve minor pain associated with, arthritis, muscle strains, simple backache, sprains, bruises and cramps. I applied this liquid using its built in applicator sponge to the sole surface of my foot, mostly on the arch, where the muscles were cramping, hoping for some relief from the pain. To my surprise within a couple of minutes the pain eased and the cramping muscles stopped cramping. And with no cramping there was no pain. Because it states right on the bottle that this product works for cramps I can’t claim any originality in that discovery, but what they didn’t say and what the standard medical practice doesn’t say is that it stops the cramping. They say it eases the pain, but I say it stops the cramping. And that is different. —

Other types of cramps where this might work.

There is the possibility that other types of cramps might respond to the active ingredient in CAPZASIN © which is capsaicin. That is the natural chemical in hot peppers which makes them hot. Now, just supposing the capsaicin works on nerves or the muscle cells somehow to change their responsiveness, and that is why there is a relaxation from cramping. If that were so then women who eat a lot of spicy hot foods should have fewer menstrual cramps. It is just an idea, not even a theory really, but it would be easy to interview a lot of women and compare those who ate lots of spicy hot foods to those who didn’t.

[ Comment September 4, 2008 – The Capzasin treatment works okay but it needs a couple of minutes to sink in but once it does it seems to work for several hours perhaps it even helps for a few days. Another thing to try is Quinine Tonic water. You can get bottles of this beverage right beside the Coke in the grocery store. Drinking one of these 12 ounce bottles in the evening gives me all night protection from foot cramps]