Deep State

Much is written about who really pulls the strings of politicians around the world, what’s really behind the many terrorist attacks and seemingly endless wars that plague humanity. When I first started to pay attention to such events I realised this was a very deep and labyrinthine rabbit hole and that to avoid the many false paths and dead ends I’d need an experienced guide. A friend told me to simply ‘follow the money’ for enlightenment. I’ve come to understand this as a reliable way to shine light into some very dark and smelly places. Of immediate application to personal health ‘following the money’ allows us to better evaluate the treatment options available Vs investing effort in health protection and disease prevention. The much revered National Health Service in the UK has become a bureaucratic behemoth that needs people to be sick in order to justify its own existence. There’s actually no incentive for the NHS to be truly focussed on health. Rather, it is a national sickness management service. At a cost of billions of pounds the nation’s biggest employer is superbly equipped to provide point of need care to anyone in distress. To me the sad part of this is that illness is allowed to progress to the point where millions of us are prematurely and chronically distressed. The NHS Emergency services are second to none, and undoubtedly saved my own life in 2008, but even after my surgery and hospitalisation there was little interest in identifying the cause of the illness or of educating me to avoid it happening again. I thought my lifestyle was healthy(ish) but when my illness struck hard I was forced to reassess several hallowed truths of conventional medicine. Following the money reveals an uncomfortable perspective, which was summed up succinctly by Upton Sinclair – ‘It’s hard to understand something when your livelihood depends on your not understanding it’ When the human genome was mapped, scientists discovered that we had many fewer genes than would allow for one-to-one coding for the vast range of proteins required in the body. This discovery ought to have given pause to continued research into the genes at fault for the genesis of disease – with the vain promise that a pill can be patented to offer individualised relief to sufferers. Several years later researchers understand that human genetic material is dwarfed by the genes of the symbiotic bacteria of the microbiome. In a very real sense we each carry a Deep State within us that truly determines our health. The nutritional content of our food and lifestyle has an immediate impact on the health and balance of this microbiome so that by active engagement we can promote health. There are many researchers who understand the power of nutrition for the treatment of disease but their voice will not be heard by our hierarchy of medical fascism that dogmatically refuses to give credence to this simple truth. – Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas! It is much easier to continue to demand ever more resources for the NHS than to change its direction of travel. It’s more profitable to continue mopping up the floor than to turn off the taps that cause the sink to overflow. So we may question Deep State involvement in the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King. We may explore the truth behind the 9/11 attacks and endless Middle East wars. We may allow myths to be perpetuated about the efficacy of cholesterol lowering drugs in preventing heart attack or the absurdity of chemotherapy to treat cancer. Whatever the truth behind these veils of illusion we must acknowledge that by attending to our own Deep State contribution – nurturing the health of our microbiome, we can materially protect our health. The ripples from this change of direction and acceptance of personal responsibility for the mess we’re in will protect our families, our communities, our countries and our planet.

The Emperor has no clothes

It’s heart-wrenching to learn of a sudden life-threatening illness in a close friend and understandably one is torn when wondering what to do. Should you rush to his hospital bed? Would he be weakened or strengthened by your visit? This weekend past I learned of a young man’s sudden diagnosis of metastatic cancer. Just weeks ago he appeared in the best of health and he went on holiday with his friends. All are shocked at the suddenness and severity of his illness. The conventional oncology team have started their treatments in an attempt to slow his deterioration but are not optimistic about the outcome. Such situations are very difficult for everyone involved and especially frustrating for Health Coaches and Naturopathic doctors whose non-toxic recommendations might prove more effective. They certainly honour the Hippocratic Oath to ‘First Do No Harm’. Perhaps it’s because natural methods pose too great a challenge to conventional oncological dogma that they are ignored, ridiculed and derided by those who are supposed to know what to do but whose efforts are failing. In a situation where the ‘professionals’ have abandoned hope surely their patient’s best interests are served by seeking a second opinion? Yet too often the entrenched position of the white coat and stethoscope brigade displays a shocking arrogance. It’s like they think what they don’t know isn’t worth knowing. Sadly it’s a familiar story in the longest war fought in modern times – President Nixon’s war on cancer. But he may as well have declared bonanza for pharmaceutical interests who will wantonly spend billions of dollars pursuing patentable remedies to profitably treat rather than cure disease. Their genome research science is bewilderingly complicated to the layman who accedes to their superior knowledge but the situation is crying for someone to call them out – the emperor has no clothes! How many millions of lives have to end prematurely to protect their crumbling edifice? Corporate greed demands that they continue to search for a magic-pill solution where it will never be found. One day, hopefully very soon, we will look back at today’s oncological practice with the same incredulity with which we regard leeching in the middle ages. In the meantime our young friend is suffering greatly and it seems only a miracle can save him. Amen, so be it. Let us call with confidence for this miracle, this change of perception, that will lead to the best outcome for mankind; perhaps even to an end to this contrived war on cancer.

Good People

I have the great good fortune of living in the Co Down village of Castlewellan. It is a beautiful town nestled in the Mournes where walkers have come for generations to commune with nature. As I walked into town yesterday morning I was struck by the realisation that we are blessed with a disproportionately high number of good people. They nod, greet you with a smile or a joke so that complete strangers seem like friends. In Castlewellan I’ve never met a bad person. I then tried to recall if I’d ever met a bad one, not only in Castlewellan but anywhere. No I haven’t; how strange! Good people have guided me through my darkest moments, surgically intervened to save my life, shared their experiences of life to support me and still persist in bringing me joy, laughter and the best of music. What did I do to deserve such good neighbours? Nothing at all. Each of us has an innate intelligence that recognises the perfection in others and drives us to be our best selves, thereby building healthy communities. Around the world various conflicts and tensions suggest others are having a torrid time; so what’s the difference? I suspect that vested interests, power and greed are used to distract people from experiencing their true nature. At heart all of us want to live in a clean, peaceful and prosperous world. As a coach I want to help us achieve it, both as individuals and also at business and societal levels. There are limitless excuses used to defend entrenched positions that prolong conflict. All of us are masters of the very human trend to blame someone else, their personalities, business ethics or their societies for everything that’s going wrong in our lives or the world. Only a few brave souls successfully undertake the recovery journey that demands that we take a full moral inventory of our lives. No one escapes the dreaded AFLO (Another F………. Learning Opportunity) but we can embrace the opportunities they bring and grow Better rather than Bitter. It’s perhaps through habitualising reflective practice that we grow in tolerance and diminish in judgement. That vastly improves our chances of only encountering Good People