Pico de Orizaba

Pico de Orizaba
Taken from Huatusco, Veracruz, the closest town to Margarita's family's ranch.

Monday, December 31, 2012

Mexico isn't the United States for "Democracy", physical and economic health

Why would Mexico not allow the same dosis as the United States... Why would Mexico allow the entrance of so many stolen vehicles... Why would a 1973 Monte Carlo I bought for $700 USD in New Jersey in 1986 sell for $3,000 USD here in Mexico in 2012, and not because it's a classic car (Volkswagon Bugs are sold here for at least $1,500 USD when they were removed from the U.S. market almost 30 years ago). Why are pharmaceuticals banned in the U.S. sold in Mexico? Why are Kitchen Aid stand up beaters taken off the U.S. Market sold all over Mexico, yet at twice the price of the most luxury/advanced Kitchen Aid in the U.S.? Why would a lower quality Toyota Corolla sell for 40% more in Mexico than in the U.S., although it is manufactured here? A 180 capsule bottle of GNC Vitamin D3 5,000 IU in the U.S. costs $20 USD. A 100 capsul bottle of GNC Vitamin D2 400 UIs in Mexico (they don't sell it in the U.S. and GNC is from the U.S.) $15 USD, meaning that the equivalent of what costs you $20 in the U.S. will cost me $270 USD here... Imagine that. Mexico is the #1 consumer of Coca Cola products. If I am correct, they are #1 in the world with Diabetes and #1 or #2 in the world in Obesity. Mexico is #11 of the richest countries, #10 of the most populated countries; the U.S. is #3 of the most populated countries. Imagine the pharmaceutical market here... The top 4 "industries" in Mexico that make up the brunt of the GNP here are (not in order because it changes every year) Petroleum, Tourism, exportation of resources--non-luxury-items (corn, minerals, coffee, sugar etc) and Dollars sent back to Mexican families by "migrant" Mexican workers in the U.S. The Mexican government exports it's almost poorest people to the U.S. and removes a grand public health/social programs burden on the government (that the U.S. absorbs in return for very important industrial favors by Mexico). The "American" anti-immigration/anti-Mexican "racists" don't understand international trade and political economy. With all the money that Mexico has from it's GNP, Mexico could create social/education/public health programs that remove the need for so much internal and external migration. However, that would require a ton of investment (moreso in time and energy) and the Mexican political culture was never created for planning for the future. Plus, the U.S. and Canada gain too much from the exchanges here to want a truly independent Mexico. So, why wouldn't they want me to have access to information and adequate supplements, adequate diet? Because "I" possibly wouldn't need to buy BP medication or Genaprazol for gastritis or diabetes meds or new Coca Cola vitamin water/electrolyte products. The number #1 bakery in the world BIMBO bought the formerly #1 bakery in the world Weston Foods of Canada/U.S. (former owner of Wonder, Branola etc). BIMBO is Mexican. Their most whole wheat bread in Mexico, is one step above white bread... BIMBO controls the Hostess-style cake and cookie market in Mexico. Pepsi Co is the #1 fried or baked "junk food" manufacturer in the world since it owns Frito Lay Co. Come to Mexico and you'll be amazed at the variety of Frito-Lay products that you wouldn't dream of seeing in the U.S. Here, Nestle controls most of the milk market in Mexico. The milk producers are almost totally dependent upon selling their milk to Nestle. Here in Mexico Nestle can promote on the Television Nesquick chocolate milk for advanced growth in Children. In the U.S. Nestle would be sued for misleading the consumer. Here in Mexico Nestle promote Nescafe as having a high amount of anti-oxidents for promoting health. In the U.S. they would be sued for misinformation and lying. I'm sure you've heard about the Walmart Corruption Controversy in Mexico... I'm sure you've read about HSBC money laundering here in Mexico. The "big guys" don't do this so much in the U.S., Canada, Northern/Western Europe, not because of ethics or morals, but because of safeguarding, monitoring. However, the same well-meaning "people" in those countries see a financial opportunity in Mexico and they forget about their ethics, morals... 

It was recently published in the U.S. that if the government seriously addresses the issues connected with Vitamin D deficiency, it could decrease healthcare costs 25-50% by decreasing hypertension, heart disease, many cancers etc. And that's why it's in the Mexican medical and pharmaceutical (although the pharmaceutical sector actually is American, Canadian and German for the most part) private sectors best interest that "I" can't obtain adequate vitamin suppliments here... And, if the U.S. government pays a descent amount of healthcare costs for the elderly and the disabled and a little bit for the poor, why would the medical/pharmaceutical industry wish to decrease the healthcare costs? "Americans" are fortunate because they truly believe in democracy and fighting for it and fighting for freedom of speech and expression and access to information and access to improved quality of life and access to adequate education for their children. It's a complex socio-political system that has deep roots that almost automatically protects your best interests and those of your children and grandchildren even if you never communicate with anyone and you don't set foot out of your house. Here in Mexico, the socio-political situation is opposite that of the U.S., and has it's deep set roots cultivated by a totally different historical situation based upon Spanish Conquest and explotation never planned for creating a safer, "freer", healthier situation outside of Spain. And within Spain, the cultural, political and educational situation was maintained in the Dark Ages by the Inquisition that existed well into the 19th century. In its territories the idea was day-to -day how do we remove as much value from the earth as easily, quickly and cost-effectively as possible. If someone offers 100 million dollars to a few politicians in Latin America, the constitution momentarily becomes null and void and oil, silver, uranium, gold, tequila distilleries, super lucrative beer companies, people (generally girls between the age of 10 and 16), land... is sold. In Mexico the pseudo-intellectuals yell, "Pinches Gringos" when the truth is that Mexico has always been for sale when the price is right... That's how Mexico has the richest man in the world who controls half of the Mexican GNP... controls less than 50% of the New York Times and now the NYTs doesn't publish anything controversial about Mexico... Imagine that! One of the most important newspapers in the world for being "liberal", now has moved a bit to the right... 

Vitamin D Deficiency, J-Pouch Group Discussion

I was just "diagnosed" with Vitamin D "insufficiency"... I am not IBD, nor Crohns, but Gardner's Syndrome. As for where in the world exists more or less Crohns... It is very dependent upon the documentation and access to information along with the education/training quality of the Medical practitioners in each country. I live in Mexico. I am "American", born in Philadelphia, raised in New Jersey, college educated in Amherst Massachussetts... And living here in Guadalajara, Mexico with FAP/Gardner's/J-Pouch and now "diagnosed" with hypertension and vitamin D "insufficiency". Some of you talk about taking between 5,000 and 50,000 UIs of Vitamin D. Imagine living here in Mexico where the highest dosage found in the farmacies and GNC are 400UIs at a higher price here than the 5,000UIs sold in the U.S. How would you do that? You wouldn't. 

About the lack of elevation of your Vitamin D. Are you/were you taking D2 or D3? D2 is about to be removed from the U.S. market since it 500xs slower at being processed by the human body, if it actually functions. The human body produces D3... GNC U.S sells D3 between 2,000 and 5,000 IUs. GNC Mexico only sells 100 capsul bottles of D2 400IU at the same price as GNC U.S.'s 180 capsule D3 5,000 IU... 

As for malabsorption of Vitamin D and the J-Pouch... The J-Pouch is constructed using the former Ileum, which is the 3rd and last part of the small intestine. Vitamin D is absorbed in the Duodenum and the Jejenum (1st and 2nd parts of the small intestine). So, it's more probable that the IBDs and the Crohns have problems unrelated to the J-Pouch. Granted, the FAPs with Gardner's Syndrome have a risk of problems in the Duodenum... 

As I mentioned, I live in Mexico; a ton of sun from February until November... However, if you live in hot/sunny climates, you may opt for not finding yourself in direct sunlight, since you find yourself hot enough in the shade; I became accustomed to walk on the shady side of the street because my wife (from the mountains of Veracruz) prefers being in the shade... I've never been a sunbather either.

Plus, if you wear sunscreen during the sunny seasons, you will not produce Vitamin D. Today, most people avoid the sun due to fear of skin cancer. Now, after reading all I have read about Vitamin D deficiency, I would be more afraid of the deficiency that can cause up to 18 different cancers, along with kidney failure/ heart disease/heart attacks/anneurisms/strokes due to hypertension caused by Vitamin D deficiency, auto-immune problems, chronic fatigue, Alzheimers/memory problems/depression/nervous disorders, stress fractures due to muscle fatigue, bone weakening/bone deformation/osteoporosis all due to calcium deficiencies: WITHOUT VITAMIN D YOU DO NOT ABSORB CALCIUM.

So, maybe you should risk skin cancer.

Here are the RDA recommendations (although they are considered horribly low and incorrect):

0-10NDs of Vitamin D: Deficiency

10-20 NDs: Insufficiency

30-50 NDs: Normal

400-600 IUs daily requirement.

Now, what I've been reading amongst the health and nutrition specialists and in the exercise magazines such as Runners World where there are many cases of world class runners suffering stress fractures, broken bones and horrible muscle fatigue not knowing that they have a vitamin D count of between 15 and 19, the recommended daily dose is 5,000 IUs (and you can't get that in your diet). What the RDA says is insufficient is actually deficient and puts you at horrible risk. What is considered normal is actually "at risk" or insuffficient. And your numbers should be between 50-70.

I went to a GI for for an upper endoscopy. The GI was the president for the Mexican Association of Gastro Enterologists (one of 3 liver transplanters here in Guadalajara) and even met my "super-star" world leader or pioneer in J-Pouch surgeries Dr. Gorstein of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. However, my GI told me that the J-Pouch automatically removes the ability to absorb ALL B vitamins; which is not correct and prescribed a B12 injection without prescribing blood tests or knowing my levels, and he told me I didn't need an Upper Endoscopy although 7 years ago I was diagnosed with 2 ulcers in my stomach, gastritis, duodenitis and an inflamed gall bladder due to gall stones (that I diminished with my own self-prescribed dietary change). He also said that I didn't need an ultrasound, althoug I told him of discomfort in the region of the gallbladder and a strange and new discomfort behind my left rib cage/stomach I thought was from the ulcers, but is generally caused by kidney stones... Without his suggestion I went to a laboratory and requested an Ultrasound and blood tests. The ultrasound showed that my gallbladder was normal and only had 3 gallstones (thanks to my diet change plus grapefruit juice and olive oil half hour before breakfast and Coriander seeds soaked in water; very bitter, soy lecithin if I am correct, although that may have just been for my hypertension--it was a long time ago). My kideys are clean; no problems with my spleen nor my pancreas... My B12 was over 2,000! and my Vitamin D was 18.5... The day after injecting myself with the B12, I started experiencing horrible fatigue in my calves, my ankles and the arch of my feet and later on, my left thigh muscle while running. Now I walk/run without my shirt on at midday:-)

The GI sent me to a Cardiologist because of high blood pressure the GI claimed was caused by hypertension of the Kidney. However, kidneys don't cause hypertension; kidney disease is caused by hypertension.

I was NEVER diagnosed with hypertension when living in NYC, nor when I had my surgeries at Mount Sinai Hospital. The cardiologist here in Guadalajara said that I would be on BP medication for the rest of my life. And, although I have problems retaining water due to the Colectomy and then the J-Pouch (I go to the bathroom at least 15 times a day and usually sitting), he prescribed a BP medication (Micardis) that lowers blood pressure and is a diuretic. Now, we all know that diarhea lowers potassium levels. Potassium deficiency raises blood pressure and can cause heart attacks... Vitamin D deficiency also raises blood pressure. So, why didn't he ask for blood tests before prescribing me the medication? and he prescribed the highest dosage. Plus this medication normally is prescribed for people who have recently had angioplasties and had problems with their heart attack BP medication. Own arm had a BP of 170/100, the other had a BP of 160/90. He said that I was in the mid-range, not at heavy risk of heart failure. 

The worst thing was that, without checking my kidneys for kidney stones or kidney disease he suggested that my discomforts were from muscle pain and prescribed a pain reliever banned by the FDA due to high risks of Heart Attacks! What Cardiologist would prescribe a medicine banned in the U.S. because it creates a high risk of Heart Attack?

I have a whole bunch of tests scheduled for the forth to see if the BP meds are causing problems for with my Kidneys and Liver; the next appointment with the Cardiologist is for the 7th to analyze those findings. 

I figure I will do all of that, especially since I want to know how are my urine tests, cholestorol tests and other tests, pay the cardiologist, receive his prescription and suggestions and forget about the BP meds and his office. I will buy a BP monitor, continue with my wonderful diet/cooking, exercize without a shirt on for an hour and a half, take the little Vitamin D suppliments I find here along with Calcium and test myself for Vitamin D in mid to late January... 

I am almost positive that the hypertension is caused by the vitamin D deficiency. But we will see in a month :-)

Ross

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Another discussion about Vitamin D deficiency, Crohns, IBD, Gardner's Syndrome...

I was just "diagnosed" with Vitamin D "insufficiency"... I am not IBD, nor Crohns, but Gardner's Syndrome. As for where in the world exists more or less Crohns... It is very dependent upon the documentation and access to information along with the education/training quality of the Medical practitioners in each country. I live in Mexico. I am "American", born in Philadelphia, raised in New Jersey, college educated in Amherst Massachussetts... And living here in Guadalajara, Mexico with FAP/Gardner's/J-Pouch and now "diagnosed" with hypertension and vitamin D "insufficiency". Some of you talk about taking between 5,000 and 50,000 UIs of Vitamin D. Imagine living here in Mexico where the highest dosage found in the farmacies and GNC are 400UIs at a higher price here than the 5,000UIs sold in the U.S. How would you do that? You wouldn't. 

About the lack of elevation of your Vitamin D. Are you/were you taking D2 or D3? D2 is about to be removed from the U.S. market since it's 500xs slower at being processed by the human body, if it actually functions. The human body produces D3... GNC U.S sells D3 between 2,000 and 5,000 IUs. GNC Mexico only sells 100 capsul bottles of D2 400IU at the same price as GNC U.S.'s 180 capsule D3 5,000 IU... 

As for malabsorption of Vitamin D and the J-Pouch... The J-Pouch is constructed using the former Ileum, which is the 3rd and last part of the small intestine. Vitamin D is absorbed in the Duodenum and the Jejenum (1st and 2nd parts of the small intestine). So, it's more probable that the IBDs and the Crohns have problems unrelated to the J-Pouch. Granted, the FAPs with Gardner's Syndrome have a risk of problems in the Duodenum... 

As I mentioned, I live in Mexico; a ton of sun from February until November... However, if you live in hot/sunny climates, you may opt for not finding yourself in direct sunlight, since you find yourself hot enough in the shade; I became accustomed to walk on the shady side of the street because my wife (from the mountains of Veracruz) prefers being in the shade... I've never been a sunbather either.

Plus, if you wear sunscreen during the sunny seasons, you will not produce Vitamin D. Today, most people avoid the sun due to fear of skin cancer. Now, after reading all I have read about Vitamin D deficiency, I would be more afraid of the deficiency that can cause up to 18 different cancers, along with kidney failure/ heart disease/heart attacks/anneurisms/strokes due to hypertension caused by Vitamin D deficiency, auto-immune problems, chronic fatigue, Alzheimers/memory problems/depression/nervous disorders, stress fractures due to muscle fatigue, bone weakening/bone deformation/osteoporosis all due to calcium deficiencies: WITHOUT VITAMIN D YOU DO NOT ABSORB CALCIUM.

So, maybe you should risk skin cancer.

Here are the RDA recommendations (although they are considered horribly low and incorrect):

0-10NDs of Vitamin D: Deficiency

10-20 NDs: Insufficiency

30-50 NDs: Normal

400-600 IUs daily requirement.

Now, what I've been reading amongst the health and nutrition specialists and in the exercise magazines such as Runners World where there are many cases of world class runners suffering stress fractures, broken bones and horrible muscle fatigue not knowing that they have a vitamin D count of between 15 and 19, the recommended daily dose is 5,000 IUs (and you can't get that in your diet). What the RDA says is insufficient is actually deficient and puts you at horrible risk. What is considered normal is actually "at risk" or insuffficient. And your numbers should be between 50-70.

I went to a GI for for an upper endoscopy. The GI was the president for the Mexican Association of Gastro Enterologists (one of 3 liver transplanters here in Guadalajara) and even met my "super-star" world leader or pioneer in J-Pouch surgeries Dr. Gorstein of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. However, my GI told me that the J-Pouch automatically removes the ability to absorb ALL B vitamins; which is not correct and prescribed a B12 injection without prescribing blood tests or knowing my levels, and he told me I didn't need an Upper Endoscopy although 7 years ago I was diagnosed with 2 ulcers in my stomach, gastritis, duodenitis and an inflamed gall bladder due to gall stones (that I diminished with my own self-prescribed dietary change). He also said that I didn't need an ultrasound, although I told him of discomfort in the region of the gallbladder and a strange and new discomfort behind my left rib cage/stomach I thought was from the ulcers, but is generally caused by kidney stones... Without his suggestion I went to a laboratory and requested an Ultrasound and blood tests. The ultrasound showed that my gallbladder was normal and only had 3 gallstones (thanks to my diet change plus grapefruit juice and olive oil half hour before breakfast and Coriander seeds soaked in water; very bitter, soy lecithin if I am correct, although that may have just been for my hypertension--it was a long time ago). My kidneys are clean; no problems with my spleen nor my pancreas... My B12 was over 2,000! and my Vitamin D was 18.5... The day after injecting myself with the B12, I started experiencing horrible fatigue in my calves, my ankles and the arch of my feet and later on, my left thigh muscle while running. Now I walk/run without my shirt on at midday:-)

The GI sent me to a Cardiologist because of high blood pressure the GI claimed was caused by hypertension of the Kidney. However, kidneys don't cause hypertension; kidney disease is caused by hypertension.

I was NEVER diagnosed with hypertension when living in NYC, nor when I had my surgeries at Mount Sinai Hospital. The cardiologist here in Guadalajara said that I would be on BP medication for the rest of my life. And, although I have problems retaining water due to the Colectomy and then the J-Pouch (I go to the bathroom at least 15 times a day and usually sitting), he prescribed a BP medication (Micardis) that lowers blood pressure and is a diuretic. Now, we all know that diarhea lowers potassium levels. Potassium deficiency raises blood pressure and can cause heart attacks... Vitamin D deficiency also raises blood pressure. So, why didn't he ask for blood tests before prescribing me the medication? and he prescribed the highest dosage. Plus this medication normally is prescribed for people who have recently had angioplasties and had problems with their heart attack BP medication. One arm had a BP of 170/100, the other had a BP of 160/90. He said that I was in the mid-range, not at heavy risk of heart failure. 

The worst thing was that, without checking my kidneys for kidney stones or kidney disease he suggested that my discomforts were from muscle pain and prescribed a pain reliever banned by the FDA due to high risks of Heart Attacks! What Cardiologist would prescribe a medicine banned in the U.S. because it creates a high risk of Heart Attack?

I have a whole bunch of tests scheduled for the fourth to see if the BP meds are causing problems for with my Kidneys and Liver; the next appointment with the Cardiologist is for the 7th to analyze those findings. 

I figure I will do all of that, especially since I want to know how are my urine tests, cholestorol tests and other tests, pay the cardiologist, receive his prescription and suggestions and forget about the BP meds and his office. I will buy a BP monitor, continue with my wonderful diet/cooking, exercize without a shirt on for an hour and a half, take the little Vitamin D suppliments I find here along with Calcium and test myself for Vitamin D in mid to late January... 

I am almost positive that the hypertension is caused by the vitamin D deficiency. But we will see in a month :-)

Ross

Vitamin D Deficiencies; Something You Should Know

I wrote the original piece on my discussion "Concerns About Malabsorption". While writing I decided that many more people should know about the health risks caused by vitamin D deficiency; the "symptoms" or the issues/ailments tend towards being seen as separate from the actual deficiency. That being so, other very serious ailments will appear if the deficiency is untreated.

Forgive me if I repeat myself or if I haven't responded to your comment... The past few days I've been "embroiled" in a frenetic search for information and solutions to my Vitamin D deficiency. You may say, "just go out into the sun..." or "take some suppliments" or "drink a glass of milk"... Or "you live in Mexico, you shouldn't have a Vitamin D deficiency..." Or it's probable you wonder what's the big deal... Yeah, what's the big deal? I imagine most doctors don't understand that there's a big deal, especially here in Mexico where it seems there is a "conspiracy" against allowing adequate Vitamin D suppliments onto the market. "Now, why would they do that?" you may ask. If I succeed in writing this adequately, you should understand why it's in the doctor's (especially the cardiologists) and the pharmaceutical industry's best interest to keep the suppliment off the market. 

When you think about healthy bones and children and issues of calcium deficiency connected with Menopause and Osteoporosis, I imagine you only think of Calcium. Ok, if you are a middle-aged woman in the U.S./Canada and Northern and Western Europe, I imagine this will not come as news for you... Who knows? Your body cannot absorb Calcium without Vitamin D. So, if you have a vitamin D deficiency, you should have a Calcium deficiency. When you have a calcium deficiency, your body removes calcium from your bones in order to meet muscle and nerve cell requirements (among others), leading to osteoporosis, fragile and malformed bones. Have you heard of cradle cap in newborn or recently born babies? My wife is from a very poor farm community in the mountains of Veracruz where all babies are breast fed for at least a few years. When I mentioned this... to her, she replied that all the babies have cradle cap and that it's because the mothers are afraid to wash their scalps due to the softness of the front of their skulls and that cradle cap is just dirtiness that she always scrubbed off her siblings... Now, here's the news for you recent mothers, aunts and grandmothers in the recent push for breast-feeding in public etc... (forgive the poor writing, since it's really just a movement for helping women [and men] become comfortable with breast feeding etc...) Although breast feeding helps babies with the development of their immune system because they receive the anti-bodies of their mother, without giving the babies formulas and/or fortified milk, the babies will automatically have a vitamin D deficiency that leads to cradle cap...)

Vitamin D regulates blood pressure. Vitamin D deficiencies cause hypertension and can lead to heart disease and kidney malfunction. 

As I imagine you remember, I went to a GI about 3 weeks ago. I was experiencing abdominal discomfort I thought was connected with my gall stones and also a new discomfort in the region of my left kidney. The GI didn't want to do an Upper Endoscopy, said that all J-Pouchers are B12 deficient, prescribed a Vitamin B12 injection and said that I was hypertensive that he believes could be found in the region of the kidney. He connected me with a cardiologist who put me on BP medication... The day after injecting myself with B12 I experienced horrible fatigue in my calves and then in my calves and feet and then also in my thighs first at mid run (about 1.2 miles/2 kms) and then at the beginnings of the runs... The reason I went to the GI in the first place was because Gardner's Syndrome can affect the small intestine. How? Truthfully it is very difficult to find information about Gardner's Syndrome because we are such a small test group... However, my last upper endoscopy showed inflamation of my duodenum (duodenitis) explaining a slight iron malabsorption problem... So, I figured the problem could have increased. Until this GI informed me of the J-Pouch causing malabsorption problems since the Ileum supposedly ceases absorbing the B vitamins, I never thought much of malabsorption... The sudden and drastic muscle fatigue along with the new information sent me into a scramble for information about the J-Pouch, Ileum and other related deficiencies (and is what ultimately caused my joining [again] the J-Pouch community...) What could be causing this fatigue? How horrible for me, trying to lose weight and truly become healthy approaching middle age (I've always put my health way behind 2nd...) The GI's contempt for "educating" oneself through the internet was very clear when he scoffed at my "research" on the internet (although that's how I "healed" myself 7 years ago and how I removed the gall bladder problem without removing the gall bladder) and said, "95% of what you read on the internet is garbage, and said that he is sure that part of my high blood pressure is from all the misinformation I find on the internet and the obsession with seeking..." 

Ok, I know this is getting very long. My concern about "American" short attention span ADHD theater... 

Against my doctors' silence, I went to a local laboratory and asked for blood tests that test for malabsorption problems. In my reading I realized that the muscle problem could be an issue of biotin or a potassium deficiency. I had just read that the beginning of Vitamin B12 supplementation can cause a sudden potassium deficiency due to the production of new red blood cells. I had also spent lots of time trying to find out where Biotin and Potassium are absorbed (and produced)... Potassium deficiency also causes the rise of blood pressure and risks of heart attack. 

Do you notice that I haven't mentioned Vitamin D deficiency and muscle pain? Well, I hadn't seen that on the internet until just before I received the results. When I asked for the blood test appointment, I didn't ask for a Vitamin D exam. Somehow the attendent slipped that test in (which created a $100 dollar increase in cost). Truthfully, I didn't know what I needed there and entered the laboratory very confused, hoping they would know what to test for. I said, all the vitamin Bs, Iron and Potassium. They only tested for B12, Iron, Potassium and Vitamin D. My B12 was over the roof, my iron was acceptable, but low and my potassium was normal... However, my vitamin D was "insufficient"... When you look up Vitamin D deficiency and muscle pain while running, you find a ton of articles on Runners World and other professional exercise magazines explaining that what is considered an "insufficiency" is actually a "deficiency" that could lead to some very grave problems. Further reading shows that the RDA created by one of the "American" medical associations (that informs all the doctors of the world- the scales and the recommendations are used here in Mexico...) is way off, and if you have an insufficiency you are a decent amount of time at risk of stress fractures, heart attacks, breast, colon, prostate and stomach cancers, Alzheimer's Disease, depression, chronic fatigue and a whole number of auto-immune diseases...

Imagine, you were just put on BP medication and your (my) cardiologist just told you, "you will be on this medication all your life"... but no one tests your Vitamin D levels... Fine, the medication lowers your blood pressure artificially. However, your D deficiency combined with/causing a calcium deficiency and a phosphorus deficiency causes nerve damage, memory impairment, fatigue (which you probably think is what causes you to be mentally lax; and for how many years?). Drink your vitamin C, eat your vegetables and your fruits, drink your electrolyte drinks and your coffee... (And don't let ANYONE tell you that "coffee is high in Anti-Oxidents"; my father-in-law is a coffee farmer; originally an organic coffee farmer; my business is a travelling coffee bar. LISTEN TO ME CLEARLY: The coffee bean which we roast in order to use it in coffee, does NOT have anti-oxidents. What has the anti-Oxidents is the pulp surrounding the bean. The bean is removed from that wonderful pulp and the pulp is disposed of. If you want to sell anti-oxidents to producers of anti-oxident drinks, you would buy the ripe coffee "cherries", discard the bean and chemically extract the anti-oxidents from the coffee bean flesh and sell it at a nice price. But you will not find those anti-oxidents in brewed coffee -- SORRY NESTLE/Nescafe!)

Vitamin D deficiencies cause muscle fatigue and muscle spasms. Muscle fatigue leads to stress fractures, since the Skeletal muscle doesn't have the strength for protecting the bones from the constant pounding caused by running or other types of resistence training. A world class runner from California was beginning a marathon (5 miles into it), when a bone in her foot snapped. At first they (the doctors) didn't know what could be the issue. It turns out that she uses a lot of sunscreen due to skin cancer she has suffered. However, she has a good diet, is well trained, well informed. However, there are very few foods we injest that have sufficient levels of vitamin D... You must eat 2 servings of Salmon or Halibut or Tuna per day in order to maintain your Vitamin D levels. You would have to drink a lot of milk and eat a lot of cheese in order to maintain your daily levels. Plus, the RDA recommendation is very low (400-600 NDs) when it is advised that you injest 5,000 NDs per day... The RDA says that normal D levels are 20-50. Insufficient is 10-20. Deficiency is 0-10. However, when you are found with an insufficiency, your specialist (in the U.S.) suggests your taking as much as 10,000 NDs per day until your # reaches 55... It is suggested that healthy levels are between 50 and 70 and that 20-50 puts you at risk of 18 types of cancers, auto-immune diseases and other issues. The runner who "broke her foot" had my level: 18. The experts say that below 20 is an emergency situation. And, I'm "the only one" here in Guadalajara who believes this is an emergency situation. It is almost impossible to find Vitamin D supplements here. And those suppliments are 400 IUs... The only store here that sells Vitamin D is GNC (General Nutrition Centers). They sell D2 (which has all but been removed from the U.S. market) 400 IUs. here. In the U.S. they offer up to 15 different D options, all being D3, which is what is produced in our skin and all above 2,000 IUs up to 5,000 IUs...). Costco in the U.S. offers D suppliments of 1,000 and 2,000 IUs. Costco Mexico offers suppliments between 200 and 400 IUs... Now, if I need to take between 5,000 and 10,000 IUs per day for 6 weeks, how would I do that with 400IU capsules, that cost more than the 5,000IU capsules sold in the U.S.? Imagine that! And if I go to a specialist here? Even if they understood this, there is no way of obtaining the suppliments.

I've rambled on a ton and I'm sure I haven't offered you adequate information. However, I suggest you look up on Google, Vitamin D deficiency, cancer, muscle fatigue, Runners World, etc and you will find all the information you need.

I truthfully believe that we could remove a big hypertension issue placing a fraction of the HP cost into vitamin D supplimentation and possible regular stints in the sun (if you can do that dressed in just short shorts and a bikini top if you are a woman). However, if you are categorized as being at the very beginning of obesity (#30 on the scale), sunbathing will not help. Granted, if you are stocky (big boned or big muscled) it is probable that your doctor has not calculated your true # since, the height weight equation does not account for those with bigger bones or more extreme muscle mass. Ever since I was a child in elementary school I was told that, for my height, I was 5 pounds over weight. I will attach some photographs of myself from that period and you tell me if I was overweight. I am waiting for an Omron body mass scale, so I can know what is my true overweight-obesity. I have much bigger bones and a hell of a lot of "unintentional" muscle; I am not a body builder, but I have super muscular legs, gluteos and arms/shoulders. I've been told many times that I should compete as a body builder, since a little bit of training and my body explodes. However, truthfully, I don't want to look like a gorrilla... My fat quotient today is 30. I am qualified as Obese. However, I was running 4 kilometers (28-31 minutes) 4-5 times a week since August. In August I was running up to 45 minutes in a flat park 4 times per week. At any given day I can do 30 pushups, twice... I've always joked that, "I could become annorexic and they would still say I MUST lose weight if I don't wan't to risk heart attack...!" I wasn't able to attach a photograph due to size problems...

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Gardner's Syndrome a "Terminal" disease?; all depends upon how you experience or experienced it...



“Light the Night for Gardners Syndrome” is a support group on Facebook created by a woman who had recently lost her husband to Gardner’s Syndrome related cancer.  Although what she writes may not be 100% accurate and may be fueled by a certain form of desperation (highly understandable), especially from her and her husband’s experience with the disease and the medical response (or lack there of), there is something very important in these exchanges.  

She wrote:

Gardner’s Syndrome/familial adenomatous polyposis is a chronic, incredibly painful and terminal disease that approximately 200,000 American men, women and children endure without hope for a cure, and Americans are not the only ones affected—it hits every age group, ethnicity, and country on the planet. There is little to no research being done, little medical knowledge to help the doctors who deal  with it (I was told by a doctor that all he knew of it came from ONE paragraph from one of his medical textbooks that he more or less memorized to pass an exam while in med school), and often, by the time the diagnosis is made, the damage done is far too extensive to hope for much quality of life.

Worse still, the average life span for anyone is 35-40 (meaning age at time of death, not how long you have after diagnosis); far too frequently, however, children and teenagers are struck down before they can ever have anything resembling a life.

There are no celebrities to help publicize the need for help or to educate the public, nor are there organizations offering support and help to those who suffer it, or for their families; medical poverty is the norm, along with guesswork from medical teams and abandonment by families, spouses, and friends.

It’s more than time for a change, it’s time for action. On August 17, 2011, we are asking that everyone who reads these words join us in lighting the darkness of ignorance by making luminarias and lining their driveways, walkways, porches and/or any path that leads to their front door.

Let the world know there is a danger, a nightmare no one knows about, and share hope with those who have little by lighting their darkness.

I’ll be lighting the first one, and on it will be written my husband’s name and the date of his death on one side, and on the other, LIGHT THE NIGHT FOR GARDNER’S SYNDROME.

Please email this to everyone you know; forward it, post it on a blog, print it up and put it on bulletin boards….but share it. Don’t let one more person die because the night stayed dark.


N said:

Gardners syndrome is not a terminal disease, it is when the polyps turn to cancer and is not detected that it can be terminal. It is a genetic disease that with regular scans can be controlled. So while I'm supporting the awaremess of this disease I don,t like the incorrect information being handed out.

My response:

N, in the U.S., 1% percent of cancer of the colon is FAP/Gardners Syndrome related.  However, the survival rate of those FAP/Gardners detected with colon cancer is 5% while, for all the others, it is above 80%.  Think about it.  My father, a blooming star in Optholmology in 1973, became ill with colon cancer and died of Liver cancer (in Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York) less than a year later, leaving my young mother with a 2, 4 and 7-year-old...  My cousin died of a brain tumor at the age of 16.  Before having my rectum removed (18 years after the removal of my colon) I asked my  doctor (#1 in the world in J-Pouch surgeries), although I was experiencing pain and rectal bleeding, "Doctor, but the polyps aren't malignant...  What if we wait on having my rectum removed?"  and his response was, "Yes, we can wait. There is no guarrantee that the polyps will become malignant.  HOWEVER. The second that one of them becomes malignant, IT IS ALL OVER. TOO LATE!"  I had done my research when my younger sister developed thyroid cancer 6 years earlier.  I live with how my superstar father died.  And I couldn't refute his statement.  Think about it.  It's possible that you should do some more research before you make quick statements.  No, I've never had cancer.  However, I live with this horrible situation since I was 4-years-old.  And, yes, if you want to create a list of the worst diseases, you will find many that fall well before Gardners...  But that doesn't remove the reality from what is written here and experienced by so many others...  When I was at Sloan Kettering in 1983, having my first surgery, sharing a room with a beautiful boy who wouldn't live to the age of 15 because of his Leucemia, my mother said, "others have it much worse than you...  I just heard a young woman say to her mother, plead with her, to just let her die, since she was on her 6th surgery."  But, my mother, at the current age of 68 never had a surgery in her life (with the exception of a face lift), although she experienced her American Dream husband die so suddenly and two of her 3 children blah blah blah...  And I hadn't said anything warranting her rude and inconsiderate statement about that poor young woman...  You don't live anyone else's life, nor their health, nor their disease.  You only live your own.  But, one must learn compassion and respect for others, regardless of the limits.  There is always someone better or worse, more talented, less talented, "luckier and unluckier".  I live in Mexico after living my first 33 years in the U.S.  My wife was born into a much worse situation than any of us computer owners and internet surfers from the U.S. and having been born into the country that is now between #10 and #15 of the richest countries in the world.  But, she doesn't have health issues.  And she is mentally healthier than any of the woman I dated in New York City, New Jersey and Massachusetts, although she grew up and lives in a much more racist, classist and sexist country than the one from where I was born and raised.  Now, where do we put her and I on that value line?  Think about it.  Horrible life, wonderful life... Terminal disease, or not as terminal a disease as possibly others...  Familiar Adenamous Polyposis/Gardners Syndrome are umbrella syndromes...  The question is what falls below that umbrella and when and how...  If you are diagnosed with FAP and/or Gardners because of a colonoscopy showing that your large intestine is lined with polyps, GREAT.  But, why would someone shove a sigmoidescope up your ass when you are 13-years-old or 21-years-old if you were not ill and if someone in your family hadn't just died from FAP/Garnders Syndrome related cancer?  They wouldn't.  And the second that those polyps become malignant, it is too late.  And that is the concern.  My uncle was saved by my father's death, as were 2 of my 3 cousins and my younger sister and I.  However, what about those who didn't know that their mother or father died of FAP/Gardner's related cancer?  And that is the question.  And, if you pay attention to those who commented on these pages, you will find that many of them are spouces of recently deceased...  My father was a Doctor for Christ sakes...  He had just saved a girl's eye that was hit with an egg on Mischief Night/All Hallows Eve...  The other surgeons said that there was no solution.  However, her parents took her for a second opinion which was my father.  And less than a year later he was dead.  And I am approaching my 4th surgery and live with the constant concern of "what next?", since Gardners has so many unknowns... When my paternal grandmother died when her sons were young boys, they did not know anything about FAP/Gardners.  Today, they know much more.  But they know so little.  We, the living FAP/Gardners patients, are the test group, the constant and the variable.  And we live with the uncertainty and the what next?  And, not only us, but our spouces live with that question, as do our children and our unborn children...  Today all is sunny and green.  Tomorrow horrible dark clowds or worse...  Suddenly we can't plan for the future.  Suddenly we must just plan for disaster relief or the apocalypse...  And should I subject this to my unborn children.  But, no, my last surgery took care of that and I can't impregnate my wife...  The hand of God, divine intervention or the hand of the devil.  And I wonder, If I die of a Gardners related heart attack ontop of my wife and there is a miracle and I impregnate her...  Is it a good thing or a bad thing?  At least she will have something-- a living connection with me...  It's much better if one suddenly dies, a bullet to the head or my cousin's Gardner related brain tumor or in a car accident before ever having made a committment to another person or other people...  Gardners Syndrome would be a benign terminal disease if it matured 10 to 15 years earlier, before most of us will become parents.  But that's not the case, is it?  

J-Pouches, FAP/Gardner's Syndrome, Crohn's Disease; Letter to Will



Hey Will, I just stumbled across your website looking for more information about J-Pouch and B12 "absorption"... Actually, I injected myself (for the first time in my life) with B12 about an hour ago and am having difficulty walking:-) In any case, I really appreciated reading your statements and advice along with your candid comments about farting and shitting in your sleep. I'm glad you have a sense of humor and are able to share it with others. I don't know if your fiance is now your wife. She must be a wonderful person for living with your condition. But, based upon your photos and comments, I'm sure she must consider herself very fortunate... I had my J-Pouch surgery just after 9/11 in NYC and left for Mexico 1.3 years later... I met my wife Margarita 3 weeks into my journey here and we are married almost 9.5 years now. The eating and fiber issue is probably #1 on my list of complaints over the past 11 years. However, I am a great believer (just over the past 4 years) that our only true recourse is hightened dietary awareness. I know that's not really clear. I have Gardners Syndrome which falls under Familial Adenamous Polyposis that I inherited from my father, who died when I was 4-years-old. I grew up disregarding my health until my mid 30s, a few years after the J-Pouch surgery. And truthfully, I'm the last person you would expect as a semi-"expert" on nutrition. However, I've come to believe that, although FAP/Gardners Syndrome and J-Pouches carry certain risks and hightened uncertainty about the future, we are also forced into the opportunity towards being healthier than others, due to our dietary concerns and vigilance. I, for one, don't want thicker stools. They make it very frustrating in the bathroom. I'm left with the sensation that I must return in 5 minutes... At least with liquidy stools, I feel that I have successfully vacated, especially when the stool is followed by gas. For me, potatoes cause what I call cement..., which creates a sense of irritation. Natural Yogurt removed issues of what may have been Pouchitis. When it seems that something is inflamed or blocked up, apples push everything through. Which is an incredible finding, since I hated eating apples as a child into adulthood and I was sure that the fiber in apples would cause horrible blockage... I've read a lot on healing foods and swear by high vitamin C and anti-oxidant fruits and vegetables. Sadly, broccoli, spinach, kale, cauliflower and papaya cause obstructions for me if I eat them enthusiastically. However, I'm thinking that creating some sort of a smoothy with those vegetables or something like a creamed soup with them (without the cream) may be a suitable alternative. When I entered Mexico I was in-love with chile peppers, especially the dried ones, such as chipotle. To date, my favorite chile pepper (not dried) is Habanero. You have no idea how much dried chile sauces I consumed in my first few years here. I would eat it by the spoonful. I used to claim that the average Mexican couldn't tolerate the spicyness of my food, especially when a stranger would ask my wife or my brothers-in-law, "does the Gringo eat chile HA!HA!HA!" and I would jump in and say, "You wouldn't be able to tolerate my food I cook..." Thinking, "JERK". Today I avoid dried chiles because they create horrible inflamation of the stomach, intestine and J-Pouch. Today you will find my cooking with green chiles like JalapeƱo and Serrano... Supposedly Serrano helps cure ulcers. Aside from imparting wonderful flavor to sauces, stews and ceviches, I haven't experienced problems on any end. I don't know if you've heard anything about Crohn's disease or J-Pouches connected with Gallstones. My gastroenterologist here in Guadalajara informed me that the two are directly connected. 7 years ago I was diagnosed with gallstones and had an inflamed gallbladder. The recommendation was for removing the gallbladder. But, 7 years ago we didn't have money for the surgery and I started investigating alternative healing... and that's where I am. I probably could write a ton more. But I will spare you. If you have any questions, feel free to write me. I'm also on facebook with my other email address: rossjgoldstein@gmail.com

ross

Oh, by the way, my #1 passion is international cuisine. You can imagine that restricting my diet was the last thing on my mind. The saddest thing for me moving from New York City to Mexico was the lack of international ingredients (and, if they exist here, they are 5 times more expensive than in NYC) for cooking Thai, Indian, and Chinese food... You mentioned alcohol intolerance. I've found that that intolerance has increased for me over the years, which is tragic, since Mexican beer is the best beer in the world. But, if I want horrible irritation problems or digestive restlessness; something like a nasal drip (you could call it an anal drip, although that would just be funny and not accurate), I would continue drinking beer occasionally, which I refrain from... But, thinking about wonderful Chinese cuisine... The main ingredients for Chinese cuisine are fermented in some form or another, meaning that they create similar conditions as does alcohol.. Indian cuisine causes other irritation/inflamation problems with all of the seeds, nuts and spices (but mainly spices). It's funny though, Indian cuisine (which I would put way ahead of French cuisine) is one of the oldest and most mastered cuisines of the world. They understand the consequences of high concentration of spices and fats that cause indigestion and encountered spices that calm the digestive tract, that they may place in the same dishes as the other problematic ingredients. Ginger, turmeric, yogurt and garlic tranquilize, disinflame, and sanitize/disinfect and purify the digestive tract... I don't believe in dried forms of any of these roots or herbs or whatever you call them... The #1 natural anti-inflamatory is Turmeric. It is also a blood thinner, which helps with issues of blood pressure etc... #2 anti-inflamatory is cabbage... Basil is a natural sterilizer/anti-bacterial. My next comment is irrelevent for you and I and contraversial for western doctors, but I must say it: Had we known about all of this before we had the surgeries, maybe we wouldn't have needed them... I wonder what effect a super conscientious diet high in natural yogurt (along with cabbage, beets, ginger, turmeric, basil and garlic) would have upon Crohn's disease and FAP. Throw out red meat (especially pork), all fermented products including aged cheeses, vinegar, refined grains like white flour and all oils with the exception of Canola and Olive Oil... Throw in a super increase in certain fish and a disregulation of citric fruits and berries (regardless of the cost). I can already hear myself and half the rest of the world screaming "AND WHERE DO I GET THE MONEY FOR THAT FISH AND THOSE OILS AND THOSE BERRIES ALONG WITH THE AVOCADOS!!!???" And I ask, "How much are you willing to pay in doctors, surgeries and medicine? Where does that money come from?" But, it's too late for this for you and I. But, maybe not for others... The problem is that denying Western Medicine in the Occidental world is like saying that you don't believe in God. "What if I am wrong like every warns? What if there is a Judgement Day and a Hell or a Purgatory? What if the only cure or prevention is what the doctor prescribes, but I ignored those doctors?" When I met with J-Pouch specialist #1 in the world just before 9/11 and asked him, "and what if we wait?", his response was very convincing: "Well, yes, you can wait. There is no guarrantee that the polyps in your rectum will become cancerous. HOWEVER... The second that one of those polyps changes... IT'S TOO LATE!" And, yes, I know what it means to carry the FAP/Gardner's Syndrome gene... And he had a point. However, what if our diets were different, much different well before the problems began? In college I was a vegetarian for 5 years, but for moral reasons. Certainly not for health reasons. I lived with a time bomb and knew that there was no solution for me... I was living without a colon for 8 years before I became vegetarian. I didn't care about myself probably because I believed that "God" didn't care about me and that's why I inhereted my disease. But, the truth is that, as long we live, we have a responsibility towards ourselves, and that responsibility is to live the best we can. I believe, if anyone understands this, you do, and that's why you can share with others, have dedicated so much energy to this blog and why you maintain a sense of humor. The situation is an incredible life challenge. Challenges lead to "intestinal fortitude", increased strength in character... Growing through this gives you the opportunity for sharing your strength and increased knowledge with others. I am 43-years-old. I don't believe I started understanding this until after I turned 37... Ross

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Pete Bernhard (lista de reproducciĆ³n)

strange dictatorship masquerading as a Democracy for your eyes...

Suspicious of the newly elected president?  No.  It's all part of what's been going on here...  In Veracruz a "law" was put into place that marches on the capital will be considered an act of terrorism...  The road from Xalapa to Huatusco we took you and Bruce to visit Margarita's ranch was wripped up and never replaced... isolating that region from the capital of Veracruz; a "military" tactic, although not by the military...  There is no law here; at least no law protecting the "people"...  We went to Leon (which is not on the Department of State's Travel Warning for Mexico) to visit the international Balloon Festival and were followed by municipal police after they pulled us over for suspicion because we were taking photographs of the event from a scenic overlook at night; they followed us to the gas station where we stopped for information about hotels and bought water etc...  They followed us into the following hotel that was way too expensive; what would have happened had we stayed there?  Fortunately the hotel was right on the state line and they didn't follow us across that line...  We decided against pressing our luck, "burned" the five tickets we bought for entering the event that following sunrise when the balloons would take off, and returned to Guadalajara; a loss of $200 USD... and 9 hours straight of driving...  It was an international event that made it onto the NY Times with wonderful photographs last year.  The other day a family was traveling on that road we took you and Bruce to Puerto Vallarta not far from where we ate lunch.  They were shot off the road; the driver and his wife killed by the bullets.  The assailants pulled out of the SUV a woman who was alive and took her with them.  It just happens that the woman kidnapped (now disappeared) is an environmental activist in the region...  There has been a series of murders of Environmental Activists here in Mexico over the past few months... The last one was leader of a group in Sonora complaining that a Canadian mining company was illegally working and contaminating land that affects the lives of many farmers/ranchers of the region... The murder of him and his son was blamed on "El Chapo" (leader of The Sinaloa Drug Cartel)...  Now, tell me, why would drug traffickers kill activists who aren't heading movements against drug traffickers?  But you wouldn't understand this because these are just random examples; not what we "see" and read every day; one more absurd piece of information offered by the local governments or the federal government... And this has nothing to do with who is, was or will be in the President's chair... Reuters published a very interesting artical about Ciudad Juarez yesterday... Maybe you should read that... it seems that the tactics there are being perpetrated throughout the country.  But, because Ciudad Juarez was the international leader of Homicides before this year, it distracts attention away from what may be happening elsewhere in Mexico...  

Yes, it's very concerning that Enrique PeƱa Nieto was "elected" as president of Mexico with his lack of personality and lack of the slightest bit of intelligence along with his history...  Don't take the following comment/comparison lightly:  Enrique PeƱa Nieto is Mexico's equivalent of George Bush Jr.  Marrionette...  But the President isn't who runs a country...  He is just a figure head...  Felipe Calderon Hinojosa will be living in Texas when his term is over tomorrow.  His chief of the Federal Police will be living in Miami...  What are they afraid of?  Mexico is beautiful especially if you are wealthy and protected...

This is so very concerning. I had read that the government will be focusing on violence and not the drug trafficing that is occurring. I get a notification from Google everyday regarding Guadalahara and the news doesn't reflect what you have writen about. In fact much that is transmitted must be for potential tourist since it is such possitive news clips.

Well, yes.  That's the concern... A lot of investment for pulling American tourist dollars... But, nothing for protecting the people here...  

Don't worry about this.  Just wanted to be sure that the messages are from you and not someone who has access to your accounts or to mine...  My brother-in-laws left this morning for Veracruz.  We opted against my going because I could be a target for extorsion/ransom there...  It's very sad, because it's not Paz's fault and she won't understand our decision no matter how much Nicolas or JosĆ© Francisco explains to her and the rest...  The situation here is very isolating.  But, it's better to be alive at risk than being...

... It sounds like you are feeling very distrustful right now. It must be an extremely uncomfortable feeling. I doubt that somebody would have access to my e-mail account and I am sorry that you are worrying about it.

What makes you feel that you would be a target for extorsion or ransome? Has something occurred to make your worry? How does Margarita feel about not visiting her family?

Speaking of Vera Cruz there was a marching band from Vera Cruz in the Thanksgiving Parade this year. They wore traditional garb and were doing Mexican dances whenever the parade halted.

Take good care of yourself Ross. Isolation is not healthy.

The Zetas and Cocaine have appeared in the ranch/zone of where Margarita's family lives...  The Zetas have what are called "Halcones" (Hawks) hired as investigators/observers.  In the cities they are generally adolescent gang members.  But, where there aren't gangs, they are poor people who will exchange their services for very little.  If they are drug addicts, they work for drugs.  My brother-in-laws mentioned that they know of one guy who passes along the only road day long on his motorcycle...  An artical just came out about high level politicians/heads of the state police in the region of the ranch who protect the Zetas in that region, release them from jail, offer warehouse space for the trailers hijacked enroute from Mexico City to the Port of Veracruz and warehouse space for the holding and the torture of kidnapped people...  There is only one route in and out of the region of the ranch and that route passes through the two worst sections for assaults in Central Veracruz, now that they destroyed the route directly to Xalapa...  Kidnapping/extortion has more to do with fantasies about the amount of money one can squeeze out of a person.  Margarita's family's ranch is not a tourist section.  I was the first foreignor the ranch ever knew; lots of fantasies about the money I have...  The second "American" who moved to the zone is from Georgia and moved with his wife he must have met there (Georgia), who is from near where Margarita is from.  He supposedly brought cocaine into the region and throws parties regularly...  Extorsion and kidnapping is the popular way of obtaining a little bit of money now here in Mexico.  However, the people aren't returned to their families complete or alive.  Plus, if the Zetas are concerned about who is meddling around in their region and if it is true that most of the trouble they have had with the Marines and the Army is from information supplied by American investigators, then I guess it wouldn't be good for me to appear there with my American heritage and my accent... 

And that's the story.  

Just after Hurrican Sandy we went to a first communion mass for our landlords' youngest daughter.  I walked out of the church (A place I generally don't find myself) after listening to 2 minutes of the priest's speech to Jessica and the community about where money doesn't take you... He mentioned that with all the money that the "Gringos" (his words) have, you can see them in food lines asking for hand-outs... Imagine if someone videotaped his sermon and posted it throughout the NY/NJ region during the aftermath of Sandy?  The jist is that this priest in a middle-class section of Guadalajara (the second largest city in Mexico) speaking to an 8-year-old girl is speaking badly against "Americans" as people infront of a supposedly religious and spiritual community; those gringos may also be Mexican Roman Catholics who wouldn't appreciate if their priest in New Jersey started using Mexicans as negative examples...  Catholicism supposedly isn't political nor national and should not utilize nationalism or racism in their masses...  My point being that, if a priest in Central Guadalajara believes anti-Gringoism is a justifiable subject matter for his congregation and this one mouth enters the minds of 200 minds and of how many children, then imagine what fantasies exist in the minds of people more isolated, more desperate and with less access to information.  And when these people meet me?  And when Jessica sees me passing through her house every day...  She knows where I'm from...  But, this is not an isolated incident.  It is daily and wherever I am.  And I experience it in so many forms over the 9+ years I'm here.  Who will protect me if I set foot in a high risk zone?  If you hear that I was killed in Veracruz and you speak with the U.S. Department of State, they will ask you, "what was he doing THERE?", a region that was incredibly tranquil just a few years ago.  The U.S. government cannot protect American adventurers who go off the tourist track...  and they will say "nor can or will the Mexican government...."  Miss Sinaloa was killed in cross-fire between the Mexican Army and Narcos 3 days ago.  She supposedly was with her boyfriend who supposedly open-fired on the army caravan.  Now why would he go and do that?  And she was Mexico's representative in events all over the world...  But, now she is dead for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  No problem if I fly from tourist city to tourist city; but I'm not one of THOSE rich "gringos"; and if I were, I wouldn't be living here, would I?.  But, the moment I find myself crossing dangerous sections of Mexico...  Guadalajara is surrounded by those regions...  Almost all rural regions of Mexico are insecure...  Now, about the Department of State's Travel Warning a few days ago; their information is always out-dated.  To know what risk exists in Veracruz today, you must wait for the following report in 1.5 years (granted, the new report came out 8 months earlier).  However, Veracruz is not an important "American" tourist destination without a U.S. Consolate, meaning that the U.S. could give a damn about what's happening there, with the exception of Petroleum pumped out of the Gulf of Mexico and coffee beans exported to New Orleans from the Port of Veracruz... I'm as responsible a person as I can be here.  I'll be darned if someone accuses me of setting foot where I don't belong, which means I won't be visiting my in-laws... It's sufficient that one can accuse me of setting foot in Mexico.  Well, it's just a bit too late for changing that...  Isn't it?

Monday, November 26, 2012

"Interview" with the Documentary Film Maker/Activist Gregory Berger "Gringo Yo"

Documentary Filmaker Greg:  

Watch out!  According to crazy right wing U.S. news anchor Nancy Gunn in this video, the "so-called victims of the Drug War" in Mexico are actually part of a vast conspiracy to smoke crack and kill your children!


Ross:


Of course they are.... Greg.   And Mexico is a democracy.  Don't you remember?  I think it's time you returned to New York City and played some TRI infront of the U.N. Building; because nothing you say or do will change the tide here...  That said, I'm just being sarcastic.  We live here and expect to live here quite a few years more, or "until death do we part" with our 'beloved' Estados Unidos Mexicanos...  But living here in aprehension and repressed fear.  Granted, the "government" can send a few municipal police officers to your house or your office and beat you to death on the way to no where and say that it was one of the cartels...  and no one will truly care.  When I say "no one" I mean CNDH/ONU, the office of Barak Obama...  No One, because there's a whole lot of money at stake... And should we blame them for wanting to grow their investments?  No.  But, that doesn't have to cause the suffering and deaths of so many people (and I'm not talking about the victims of the "war on drugs"...)  Or maybe it must... But watcha gonna do?  I guess you're doing what you believe you must...  And they haven't encarcelated you, blacklisted you or killed you yet.  It's a good thing I never learned to write real well, not even in Hampshire.  Otherwise, maybe I would find myself in big trouble... Or maybe my intelligence level is greater than that of my ego and I can put things into perspective.  Actually, I don't believe I'm as intelligent as I had thought I could have been...  Afterall, I'm here, aren't I?  Truthfully, who truly gives a damn about what's happening here?  The U.S. Department of State plays dumb in their travel warnings ignoring what they suspect or know is truly occurring here. Blame the violence on international crime organizations and don't accuse the Mexican governments of anything.  I guess there is much more at stake than the lives of journalists, socio-politically concerned activists and the average Mexican who just wants to get by tranquilly...  I lost hope a long while ago.  Every day I notice another revealer of the the grand farce...  Hopefully they don't come knocking on my door just because I wrote this to you...  Sounds paranoid?  Maybe it's just realistic.  Remember Al in "the Honeymooners"?  "I've got a big mouth"... And I just opened it responding to your email...  


Greg:


Wasn't it Ralph, the guy from the Honeymooners?  I think so...


Ross:


Ralph Kramden, Al Bundy...  yes, you've got a point... Right show, wrong name...  Where did you say we're living? South East Asia.  How did we get here, anyway?  Willy Wonka's glass elevator?  I think if I click my heels, I'll find myself back in South Hadley, with Roger Rabbit...  And I didn't even like Married with Children.  Would you believe I've never bought a television in my life?  A childhood friend turned me onto "The Honeymooners"...  Just a word of advice Mr. Turner, word has it that SeƱor Diaz has recovered from the Revolucionarios and seeks revenge in a big way; non of this blacklisting in California...  By the way, if you see Mr. Steinbeck lending a hand at the loading dock on the southwest side of the Merced, ask him how he managed to pass unscathed by el SeƱor del San Simeon and the Greater California Fruit Company?  Last night I dreamed I was Dorothea Lange with my camera limping through the Dust Bowl and the San Joaquin Valley...  But then I realized I'm just the baby breastfeeding in the arms of Florence Owens Thompson...although not her son, just a poor little helpless baby; today almost # 7 billion human inhabitant on this planet.  Remember when we were just over 4 billion in the late 70's?  What do you do with those numbers Ken? Ted? Greg? Alex? Put on an indian headress, say things your pseudo intelectual fans will enjoy, call yourself a "pinche Gringo" and "Chinga Su Madre a Estados Unidos" and then sing 3 songs by the Rolling Stones in perfect English...  And what happened with those mines in Sonora; who leases most of the mines in Mexico?  I would call Canadians Gringos also, but here, the Canadians go unscathed.  And did you hear the last one about Great Britain being behind the Zapatistas in the 90s, an event created to distract the world away from their discovery of Uranium in Chiapas?  Here in Mexico all information is rumour or chisme or...  How about those Maras who were tied together, put on an army helicopter and dropped into the Pacific Ocean of the coast of Tapachula...?  But if you want the true story, maybe you should just put a bullet in your head before they come to cut you up into little itzy bitzy pieces.  At the moment before dying, place your finger on the roulette wheel of life and where it stops on your finger, is where you will born the following life...  Or if you are fortunate like Mr. Steinbeck, maybe nothing will happen to you and you'll come across all of the forbidden information and awaken all the people to march on Mr. Duarte's office in Xalapa; a peaceful demonstration.  Who knows?  Maybe Javier will accompany you and your peaceful entourage to San Lazaro where you can play some more TRI.  But, today it may be more effectivo going their with el Tambor cantando, "No Tengas Miedo Porque Soy de Sinaloa"...  !ComĆ³ me gusta comĆ³ imitan balaceras con el tambor! ¿Has escuchado?  Si no... vete a Fresnillo o Colima, Zacatecas o Guadalajara o Durango...  Tal vez lo disfrutarĆ”s en Cordoba, Veracruz donde musica Tropical, Cumbia y Salsa fue desplazada por La Banda NorteƱo... Go figure!  Afortunadamente no estoy aya... AquĆ­ es puro CafĆ© Tacuba, Zoe, Radiohead y Massive Attack...  Who knows, maybe I'll listen to some Manu Chao before re-reading "La Casa de Los Espiritus" for the 3rd time.  I'm still recovering from The Grapes of Wrath in Spanish and Octavio Paz gave me a horrible headache with his hypocracies... leaving me with the question, "what would have become of Chuck Fountainboy had he been born 50 years later?  How would he have documented Mexican culture and politics today?  Truthfully I've never placed much attention upon his writings.  However, when I read about the childish games Mr. Not so Peaceful  played with his former friend el Fuente, and heard about how Charlie kept his head in the game, faithful to his values and human rights, well I thought, maybe there is something to be found in his writings...  I don't know, afterall, Mexico doesn't let "her" writers write the truth...  So maybe I'll just pass on that idea and return to the phantasms of early 20th Century "America", ha ha ha... I think Al Jolson will be performing at the ROXY on Friday.  Supposedly there's a Central Park with that exact name here in Guadalajara.  I want to see if there's a Strawberry Fields too before crossing to Sheeps Meadow for the Simon and Garfunkel concert...  And don't tell me it's not in Sheeps Meadow... AL...  


He is like the sea, she is like the moon
And on nights of the full moon they make love 
And in this immenseness their souls are united  
To give life to this sad love song 
This sad love song...


Cantale Jack! Al, Fred, Ed, Gregory...

History has a way of swallowing it's tale and placing us in a black hole...  The one thing that doesn't repeat in history is the human population...  It just increases and increases...  Mexico is the 10th most populated country next to the 3rd most populated country, the 10th to 15th biggest economy next to the biggest economy.  Mexico is almost #1 out of 190+ countries for inequality.  Look at the numbers Greg.  And there are many more to look at.  This isn't just about freedom of speech... false democracy, illusions of party politics etc.  It is about #s and economic opportunities... Investments and manipulating human spirit moreso than human minds...  

I made a grave mistake as an "intellectual" concerned about justice and truth after leaving Hampshire.  I focussed upon immigration and racist movements and then didn't realize there was so much more to investigate.  Although I had read "The Grapes of Wrath" early in High School (not because an English teacher said we must) I did not know that one base of understanding political economic movements in countries that base their society upon constitutions, "democracy" and justice systems... is by looking into the roll of banks, the urgency of experimenting with new expensive farm technology (not much different than the urgency of testing out an Atom Bomb on a living human population) and unions upon the destinies of those who lived for generations off a difficult land, although they lived fine by their standards.  I bought the book for my wife and brother-laws-to understand that they and their campesino family must never sit back on their laurels.  Not because I want them to organize campesinos and be accused of terrorism in Xalapa.  But because I want them to be prepared to take care of themselves beyond what their grandparents taught their parents and what their parents taught them, to try and avance in a world that doesn't believe they can avance without selling their ranches and moving to Mexico City, or better yet, to the U.S. in order to buy illusions...  No, no one is thinking about moving to the U.S., not I Mr. Jones..., although, if I could subsist economically there with my wife, it would be much safer and much more secure, and I wouldn't be wondering everyday, what if they grab me or my wife...

But the truth is Greg, I always wondered how you manage here ("con permiso") unscathed foreignor meddling in Mexican affairs.  No, if you got this far in this letter, I don't believe you will answer the question, certainly not after your trite response/correction of names...  Flavio Risech, who connected me with you years ago, once said, "Stories of 'Americans' in Mexico generally bore me, since they tend to be of wealthy Americans or children of wealthy Americans and the Mexican government tends towards serving Mexico on a silver platter; no trials or tribulations; but your story... yes that interests me, because you don't come from money; you aren't protected... you didn't hook up with an upper middle-class Mexican..."  

But the truth is Greg.  The issue isn't political.  It's financial.  Slavery wasn't political.  It was financial. Nor was it personal, although those geniuses in perfecting systems of exploitment realized that if you make it personal, you encounter much more energy for moving the ignorant masses for protecting your investments...  

If you read through world history you will see those horrors repeatedly, every day of our lives from way before the invention of "Christ" until the assassination of journalists or activists or other people supposedly perpetrated by Joaquin Guzmans and Heriberto Lazcanos...  In San Luis we were visited by a Southern Italian straight out of a Bruce Willis movie protected by State Police...  Crossing the border from Aguascalientes to Zacatecas, a Mexican Soldier approached me and spoke to me in an English from my childhood (not from an English class) without my having spoken one word; my licence plates are from Veracruz.  How did he know I was from the U.S?  It wasn't a hunch.  Mexicans think I'm Mexican until they hear my accent.  He hadn't heard my accent.  

I'm not an activist.  Nor am I a rabbalrowser... (however you spell that).  I've always been concerned about the truth.  However, what I've learned here in my almost 10 years here in Mexico married to my wife who can't enter the U.S. legally married to me, is that more important than the truth is personal survival.  More important than personal glory is personal survival.  But, we live in Mexico; a country that clearly disrespects the personal struggles of "her" so-called ciudadanos.  But, looking at the numbers and the events, I truly wonder if there is a true country named "Estados Unidos Mexicanos" or Mexico and if this isn't something just a bit much bigger...  Like the difference between your privilege and that of the journalists and activists who have been assassinated over the past few years...  

It sounds like the same old financial monopoly/chess game... and those in the know gain and those deamed pawns or artilary or peons or share croppers or servants or slaves...  Now, I'm just Ralph Kramden.  I've gotta big mouth...  

You go on with your "project" and just ignore me as you always have...  Don't you remember the day you sent this same email a message asking me not to include you on your list of my writings?  But, then you continued sending me your videos and other movements...  I've never disrespected you.  But, I've never taken the time to look at what you send me (ever since we watched your documentaries "Gringo Yo"/Atenco, Pinche Presidente, Presidente Demente blah blah blah...  It was an interesting documentary.  But, I truly wonder what it is you think you are doing or where it is you think you are truly going...  Most likely you feel the pressure to maintain a name for yourself with the Hampshire Alumns...Most likely you are one of THOSE mentioned by Flavio protected by the governments for what reason?  Probably because they know you aren't actually going anywhere with your project, otherwise I'm sure you wouldn't still be here.  Or, is it that you are safely back in New York City...  Lucky you.

I'm here.  I live a story you don't know.  But, since it is at the grassroots level and isn't mixed with activist idealists without a true clue, you wouldn't be interested in reading about it.  That's cool.  I just wanted to give you a long winded reason to remove me from your "fan list" or to actually have a true conversation with me.  Granted, that conversation would probably have me killed while you remain protected...