Game of Thrones controversial moments
Day: May 22, 2015
Best selling book about how we poo
The author of an unexpected German bestseller on how to love your gut has had her work translated into English – and is set to teach new millions in the Western world that we’re all pooing wrong.
Speaking to The Guardian, microbiologist and newfound publishing sensation Giulia Enders explained the first basic error we all make in the West is to poo while sitting down.
Squatting, it seems, is the natural way to relieve yourself because it “opens the hatch” of the bowels, whereas sitting or standing shuts off the pipe. Enders said: “1.2 billion people around the world who squat have almost no incidence of diverticulosis and fewer problems with piles. We in the west, on the other hand, squeeze our gut tissue until it comes out of our bottoms.”
Enders also explains in the book how humans in fact have two sphincters, an inner and an outer, and that listening to what they’re telling us could be one of the easiest ways to avoid constipation.
While we can control the outer sphincter, the inner one is automatic – an evolutionary development that responds to other stimuli to decide whether we are in a “safe” place to take a loo break. Ignoring your inner sphincter, say if you are worried someone might hear you poo, can cause it to stop functioning properly.
Enders’ book also includes more controversial passages on the link between psychological wellbeing and a healthy gut – she speculates, for instance, upon the fate of a man she met who had terrible breath and killed himself, wondering whether the two were linked.
But it also includes little gems on the gut in general, including that the oft-discarded appendix is in fact full of useful bacteria and that eating well increases the amount of a naturally-occurring painkiller in our spit.
Enders’ book in translation, Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ, with illustrations by her sister Jill, is available in the UK and online from 24 May.
Game of Thrones rape scene criticised as disgusting
The controversial episode, which aired in the US on Sunday and the UK on Monday, included an off-camera attack on Lady Sansa Stark by her new husband, Ramsay Bolton.
While the rape was not explicitly shown, audiences were clued in as to what was happening by the distressing sound of Sansa’s cries, and the look on the face of her chilldhood friend Theon, who had been made to watch.
REVIEW: UNBOWED, UNBENT, UNBROKEN
GEORGE RR MARTIN DEFENDS HBO
COMMENT: PLEASE STOP USING RAPE AS A PLOT DEVICE
After so long in King’s Landing, Sansa sees snow falling at the Eyrie in the Vale, it reminds her of Winterfell
Missouri Democrat senator Claire McCaskill tweeted that she was prepared to stop watching the show because of the “gratuitous and unacceptable” moment.
HBO, which produces the hit TV series – and has so far declined to comment – has been accused of going “too far” with the episode “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken”, particularly because the rape was not featured in the original novels by George R R Martin.
Ms McCaskill was also quick to point out that it was “depressing” that her opinions on the fictional programme had garnered more reaction than her thoughts about US intelligence.
Some said that the attack, which was acted out by Welsh actor Iwan Rheon – whose character Ramsay has been shown throughout the series to be a sadistic torturer – had “crossed the line”.
Other critics felt that the scene had undermined the strong female lead played by British actress Sophie Turner, who described in an interview that she “kinda loved” the scene, which showed the rape being watched by Theon – who Sansa had grown up with.
“I love the way Ramsay had Theon watching,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “It was all so messed up. It’s also so daunting for me to do it.”
She added: “I love the fact [Sansa’s] back home reclaiming what’s hers. But at the same time she’s being held prisoner in her own home.
“When I got the scripts, it was bit like, dude, I felt so bad for her. But I also felt excited because it was so sick, and being reunited with Theon too, and seeing how their relationship plays out.”
HOW TWITTER RE-WROTE THE GAME OF THRONES RAPE
GEORGE R. R. MARTIN SAYS ‘WHOLE DYNAMIC’ WAS DIFFERENT
It’s not the first time the show has landed in controversy. In April last year, critics hit out about another rape scene which showed character Jaime Lannister having sex with his twin sister Cersei, next to the body of their murdered son King Joffrey.
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister
At the time, Game of Thrones director Alex Graves claimed it was “one of my favourite scenes I’ve ever done” and insisted that the act was “consensual by the end”.
A fall can change your brain… have you heard of “synesthesia” ?
Colorado rancher, 49, becomes accidental genius in art, poetry and mathematics after suffering traumatic brain injury in 2009 fall
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Leigh Erceg, 47, suffered traumatic brain injury in fall at her ranch in 2009
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Injury resulted in rare medical condition called ‘acquired savant syndrome’
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Condition causes enhanced cognitive ability in areas such as art and math
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Ms Erceg has consequently become gifted artist, poet and mathematician
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She also suffers from ‘synesthesia’ – she ‘sees’ sounds and ‘hears’ colors
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Described as ‘only woman in world’ to have both neurological conditions
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Fall occurred at Colorado ranch while Ms Erceg was feeding her chickens
By SOPHIE JANE EVANS 
She cannot remember anything about her life before 2009, when she had a bad fall at her ranch.
But now, Leigh Erceg – who suffered a traumatic brain injury in the fall – is an ‘accidental genius’.
The 47-year-old has become a gifted artist, poet and mathematician – who can ‘see’ sounds and even ‘hear’ colors when she listens to music – after her injury resulted in a rare medical condition.
The condition, dubbed ‘acquired savant syndrome’, causes greatly enhanced cognitive ability in areas like art and math – usually to such an extent that it is far in excess of what is deemed ‘normal’.
Genius: Leigh Erceg (left) has become a gifted artist, poet and mathematician after she suffered a traumatic brain injury during a fall at a Colorado ranch in 2009. Right, a selection of Ms Erceg’s impressive artworks
In Ms Erceg’s case, she was diagnosed with the syndrome following a series of scientific studies and brain scans that were carried out after her fall at the Colorado ranch, ABC’s Nightline reported.
She has also been diagnosed with ‘synesthesia’, a neurological condition in which two or more of the five senses, whi
ch are normally experienced separately, are involuntarily joined together in the brain.
This particular condition, which reportedly affects a number of celebrities including singers Pharrell Williams and Lady Gaga, causes Ms Erceg to ‘see’ sounds and ‘hear’ colors on a daily basis.
‘Leigh is the only woman in the world who has acquired savant syndrome and synesthesia following brain injury that I know of,’ Dr Brit Brogaard, a neuroscientist in Miami, told the ABC program.
Ms Erceg was left with a catastrophic brain injury – and no memories of her life – after she fell into a ravine at the ranch she was managing in Maybell, Moffat County, in 2009 while feeding chickens.
She was told she may never walk again – and would likely never be able to retrieve her memories.
Artwork: The 47-year-old can also ‘see’ sounds and ‘hear’ colors after her brain injury caused her to develop both a rare medical condition called ‘acquired savant syndrome’ and the neurological condition ‘synesthesia’
Creative: ‘Leigh is the only woman in the world who has acquired savant syndrome and synesthesia following brain injury that I know of,’ said Dr Brit Brogaard. Left, one of Ms Erceg’s poems, and right, the talented artist
‘I don’t know what type of fall it was but it must have been pretty dramatic… I just remember them saying ‘Leigh, keep breathing,’ said Ms Erceg, who also suffered severe spinal injuries in the fall.
Despite undergoing extensive life-saving treatment, the former athlete, who has a degree in physical education, still has no memories of her previous life – and does not even recognize her own mother.
She is also unable to feel emotion, although she has learned to smile in response to social cues. She is reportedly reliant on her best friend, Amber Anastasio, to help her understand her life.
Ms Erceg’s home is filled with mathematical equations, poems and incredible pieces of art. For each artwork, she listens to music and draws as ‘all the dimensions of the house’ go through her mind.
Unique: Ms Erceg’s home is filled with math equations, poems and incredible pieces of art (left and right). For each artwork, she listens to music and draws as ‘all the dimensions of the house’ run through her mind
More creations: ‘Most people, if you ask them to draw a house or a car, they will start with the outline of the car or house,’ Dr Brogaard told Nightline, explaining how Ms Erceg’ starts with the details’ then adds to them
‘Most people, if you ask them to draw a house or a car, they will start with the outline of the car or house, and they will fill in the windows and door, and the wheels,’ Dr Brogaard told Nightline.
‘When you ask Leigh to draw something, she will start with the details. She will start with the windows or the wheels, and fill out that way. She is attending to details before she is attending to the whole.’
Ms Erceg lives in Steamboat Springs in Routt County. According to her Facebook page, she currently runs brain support groups at Hayden Public Library in East Jefferson Avenue.
She apparently had no interest at all in art or math prior to her fall.
Ms Erceg apparently had no interest at all in art or math prior to her fall in 2009. Above, another of her pieces
Breaking the poo taboo !
“There is a muscle that encircles the gut like a lasso when we are sitting… creating a kink in the tube,” Giulia Enders explains in Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ. She calls the mechanism “an extra insurance policy, in addition to our old friends, the sphincters” (you have two sphincters – keep reading) and cites studies showing that squatters, with their unkinked guts, are less susceptible to hemorrhoids and constipation.
I meet Enders, a 25-year-old student at the Institute for Microbiology in Frankfurt, inside an underground public lavatory in central London. “Is there a toilet in this toilet?” she asks when she arrives. There is not, a barista tells her. The Victorian urinals, abandoned in the 1960s, have been converted into cafe with booths and stools, and no room for anything else.
After a dash to a pub loo above ground, Enders talks with infectious energy about the wonder of the gut. She has been delighted to discover how many people share her fascination with a subject that can suffer for being taboo. “Even today in the taxi, I told the driver what I was doing and within about two minutes he was telling me about his constipation,” she says in perfect English, which she owes to a year of study in the US. “And it’s not just him. It’s ladies with chic hair at big gala dinners, too. Everyone wants to talk about it.”
Enders first got noticed after a self-assured turn at a science slam in Berlin three years ago. Her 10-minute lecture went viral on YouTube, and now, weeks after completing her final exams as a doctoral student, she is a publishing sensation. Her book, called Darm Mit Charme (“Charming Bowels”) in Germany, has sold more than 1.3 million copies since it came out last year. Rights have been sold to dozens of countries.
Her way into the gut is a lightness that some reviewers have found too childish or lacking in scientific rigour to be taken seriously. But there is something compelling and refreshing about her curiosity and popular approach. “When I read the research, I think, why don’t people know about this – why am I reading about it in some paper or specialist magazine? It’s ridiculous because everyone has to deal with it on a daily basis.”
After she explains the inspiration for her fixation (the suicide of an acquaintance who had had severe halitosis, and her own teenage skin condition, which turned out to have been caused by a wheat intolerance) Enders starts at the end of the digestive tract with what she calls the “masterly performance” that is defecation. “There is so much about the anus that we don’t know,” she says, reaching for a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie. “The first surprise is the sophistication of our sphincters… you know about the outer one because you can control it, but the inner one nobody knows about.”
This inner opening is beyond our conscious control, releasing waste material into a sort of anal vestibule where, in Enders words, “a small taster” hits sensor cells that tell the body what it’s dealing with and how to respond using the outer sphincter. This opening, and our mouths, are the recognisable and controllable ends of a system that, stretched out, would be almost as long as a bus. But it’s the bits in between, and their link with the rest of our bodies, including our brains and emotions, that really interest Enders.
“Medical diagrams show the small intestine as a sausage thing chaotically going through our belly,” she says. “But it is an extraordinary work of architecture that moves so harmonically when you see it during surgery. It’s clean and smooth, like soft fabric, and moves like this.” She performs a wavy, pulsating motion with her hands. Enders believes that if we could think differently about the gut, we might more readily understand its role beyond basic digestion – and be kinder to it. The great extent to which the gut can influence health and mood is a growing field in medicine. We speak of it all the time, whether we describe “gut feelings”, “butterflies in our stomachs”, or “pooing our pants” in fear, but popular understanding of this gut-brain axis remains low.
Author and scientist Giulia Enders at The Attendant, a cafe converted from a public looLast week, Professor Simon Carding, head of gut health and food safety at the Institute of Food Research, gave a talk about the role of the trillions of organisms that live inside each of us. Collectively known as the microbiome, these foreign bodies influence countless functions via the dizzying number of sensory cells in the gut. “Understanding how they influence the brain is becoming increasingly relevant to understanding aspects of human behaviour – particularly the causes and possible future treatments for serious neurodegenerative diseases,” Professor Carding said.
A clinical trial at Oxford University, the results of which were published in January, suggested that “prebiotics”, which promote the existence of certain kinds of bacteria in the gut, may work as nutritional therapies for stress, anxiety and depression. “We don’t have all the evidence figured out, but there are some great scientists who are doing tremendous work on this and really pushing the hypothesis forward,” Enders says.
Her own research concerns one of the two big, related challenges for the gut. One is the food industry and its increasing departure from the diets that our bodies evolved to deal with. The other is the growing resistance to antibiotics of many bacteria. A report commissioned by the British government proposed last week that the pharmaceutical industry invests £1.3bn to revitalise antibiotic research after decades of dangerous neglect. Enders’ thesis, which she will complete this summer, concerns the way “bad” bacteria attach to cells in the gut in the first place. If they can be discouraged using new medicines, they could be flushed away before resistance becomes a threat.
Enders has the energy and telegenic features to become a celebrity doctor, but she would much rather be a real doctor and as soon as she files her thesis, she will start her practical year in hospital. “I just want to become a good gastroenterologist,” she says.
While she is at ease while talking about sphincters, she understands that poo chat does not come naturally to us all – at least not right away. “Patients sometimes start to whisper when I ask them, like, how often do they go a day,” she says. “And I start whispering too, but after a minute they realise I don’t find it embarrassing at all, and nor do they, and we laugh about it. Then we stop whispering and talk normally.”
‘Gut’ by Giulia Enders (Scribe, £14.99) is out now
What is Huna ?
Who is Serge Kahili King ?
AUTHOR
Serge Kahili King, Ph. D., has published the world’s largest selection of books and tapes on Huna, the Polynesian philosophy and practice of effective living, and on the spirit of Aloha, the attitude of love and peace for which the Hawaiian Islands are so famous. He also writes extensively on Hawaiian culture and is a novelist as well. Critics describe his style as “practical, down-to-earth, and easy to grasp.”
SCHOLAR
His academic background includes a Ph.D. in psychology from California Coast University, a Master’s degree in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Arizona, and a Bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies from the University of Colorado, where he also became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. King also teaches and guides healing circles on two virtual islands owned by Aloha International in Second Life.
HUMANITARIAN
During seven years in West Africa, Dr. King directed community development and disaster relief programs for Catholic Relief Services in Dahomey (now Benin), Togo, Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania. He organized, funded and administered school lunch programs, nutrition education programs, agricultural development programs, social services programs, leprosy treatment programs, and credit union programs. President Leopold Sedar Senghor, then president of Senegal, gave him a medal and inducted him into the Grand Ordre National du Senegal in recognition of his services to the African people.
SHAMAN
When Serge Kahili King was fourteen he was initiated into the path of Hawaiian shamanism by his father. At eighteen he was adopted as the grandson of Joseph Kahili of Kauai, a “kupua” or shaman of the Hawaiian tradition. In addition to his years of training with the Kahili family, Dr. King spent seven years in West Africa being trained in African shamanic traditions, and has made in-depth studies of other such traditions around the world. Today he teaches people how to use shamanic healing techniques and uses his knowledge to help others discover their own creative power.
Serge Kahili King, author of “Urban Shaman,” explains the principles of Huna, the Polynesian philosophy of esoteric knowledge and practice.
What is Huna ?
Huna is a Hawaiian word adopted by Max Freedom Long (1890–1971) in 1936 to describe his theory of metaphysics. Long cited what he believed to be the spiritual practices of ancient Hawaiian kahunas (experts) as inspiration, however, the system is his invention, with roots in New Thought and Theosophy, rather than in traditional Hawaiian beliefs. Huna is part of the New Age movement.
History
Long, who was not Hawaiian, went to Hawaii in 1917 to work as an elementary school teacher. He became interested in the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient kahunasand modern practitioners of traditional, indigenous Hawaiian religion, but none of the ceremonial people talked to him so he was unable to penetrate to the inner workings of this religion. He left Hawaii in 1931, convinced that he would never learn these secrets. In 1934, he woke with a revelation that the secrets were encoded into the Hawaiian language itself. He called the religious system he developed from this revelation ‘Huna’ (the Hawaiian word for secret), and wrote his first book in 1936 to chronicle his beliefs. There are no accepted Hawaiian sources that refer to the word ‘Huna’ as a tradition of esoteric learning.
In 1945 Long founded Huna Research. In 1953, he published The Secret Science at Work as a Huna textbook, and in 1965 The Huna Codes in Religions, examining parallels between his invented system and religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity
Principles and beliefs
The New Age practice of Huna emphasizes practical living and harmony with three levels of consciousness or selves. Long claimed that a low, middle, and higher self were recognized by the ancient kahunas. Long called these selves the unihipili (subconscious, inner, emotional, intuitive), uhane (waking consciousness, rational) and aumakua(super-conscious, connection with the divine), however these are not the Hawaiian meanings of these words. Long also redefined the Hawaiian concept of mana, (privileged as a divine power in traditional Hawaiian belief), and presented it instead as a vitalizing life force, which can, with knowledge of the three selves, be used in a manner of “personal empowerment” to heal body and mind and achieve life goals.
Long believed he had discovered an ancient Truth, not just about Hawaiian spirituality but linking back to India and ancient Egypt. He believed Hawaiians were a lost tribe of Berbers. He wrote that spiritual adepts migrated to Hawai‘i from Egypt, passing on to the priests of India some of their basic beliefs.
Long linked Huna to Theosophy and New Thought movements of the time. He wrote that the Christian Scientists understood positive thinking better than any group he knew, and encouraged his readers to subscribe to Unity Church’s magazine, Daily Word. Later Huna teachers have placed it firmly in the New Age, with Serge King claiming that Huna came originally from aliens from the Pleiades who were remnants of the mythical advanced civilizations of Mu or Lemuria, and Pila Chiles associating the islands withchakras, vortexes and lay lines.
Serge King misappropriated three Hawaiian language words for his idea of “the three selves”: “Ku,” “Lono,” and “Kane.” However, the meanings he gives these words are not the meanings of the words in Hawaiian. King wrote that the seven principles of Huna are:
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IKE (ee-kay) – The world is what you think it is.
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KALA – There are no limits.
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MAKIA (mah-kee-ah) – Energy flows where attention goes.
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MANAWA (man-ah-wah) – Now is the moment of power.
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ALOHA – To love is to be happy with (someone or something).
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MANA – All power comes from within.
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PONO – Effectiveness is the measure of truth.
But again, this is not what these words mean in Hawaiian, nor are they a part of traditional Hawaiian beliefs. King also calls what he does, “shamanism” and cites “West African shamanism” as an influence.
New Age author Rima Morrell has written that one who truly practices Huna has the ability to influence consciousness. The consciousness is not restricted to human consciousness, but may include that of animals, rocks, everything in the world around us both seen and unseen, therefore can include gods and goddess and the spirits of the departed who often appear in the form of animals.
Everyday Magic by Serge Kahili King
Everyday Magic
by Serge Kahili King
Magic refers to things that really work, but that don’t have a recognized scientific explanation. What I call “Everyday Magic” consists of seemingly ordinary things that produce magical results, in terms of the normal way of thinking.
Where your physical body is concerned these suggestions are not intended to replace any other form of help that you feel is necessary.
I’m going to present these ideas in four categories: physical, telepathic and energetic, imaginative, and mimicry.
Serge Kahili King, author of “Huna: Ancient Secrets for Modern Living,” gives a workshop on Self Esteem and Self Confidence
Physical Magic
1. Everyone has a tendency toward shallow breathing under stress, and everyone is under stress at some point. Problems occur when shallow breathing becomes a habit. Deeper breathing increases alertness, raises your general energy level, contributes to stress relief, and often helps to relieve pain.
2. Most people have heard about the importance of drinking more water for general health purposes. However, drinking a glass of water right after getting up in the morning can get rid of multiple aches and pains in less than a minute. Drinking more water also helps to prevent and remove wrinkles.
3. Maintaining awareness of your navel while walking, climbing, hiking, or lifting will help improve balance and coordination.
4. This one really seems magical. Lightly dragging your fingers back and forth across your skin in areas of pain or tension can often provide immediate relief. It will even work through clothing.
5. Placing five black tea or green tea bags in a clear one gallon container of water and leaving it in the sun for about an hour will greatly reduce the bitterness of the tea.
6. Leaving a liter of water in a green bottle in the sun for an hour and giving it to indoor plants will help them grow better and have greener leaves. Some people say it’s good for the health of people and animals, too.
Telepathic/Energetic Magic
1. Talking silently to your body or body parts with appreciation, kindness and clear direction can often help relieve any kind of symptoms and speed up healing.
2. “Extending” your breathing can help you relax, have more energy, and speed up healing. This would be like inhaling with your attention a foot above your head, and exhaling with your attention a foot below your feet.
3. Holding a crystal in each hand while you walk, stand or sit can help you relax, relieve symptoms and speed up healing, especially when you also inhale with your attention on the crystals and exhale with your attention on your navel.
4. If you talk nicely to a jar lid or a screw-on bottle cap and ask it to open easily, it will almost always open easier, if not easily.
5. You can talk to any object. Give it a compliment, ask it to do something for you, and it will either do it or respond better than if you don’t. This can work with anything from plants to computers to clouds.
Imaginative Magic
1. Imagining a symbol of a problem and changing the symbol until the change feels good can often help resolve the problem. If you can’t think of a symbol, ask yourself what color it is, how much it weighs, and what shape it has. Then change those.
2. Imagining that you are traveling to a sacred place where a wise person answers all your questions about whatever problems you have can often open you up to valuable inspirations and insights.
3. Thoughtform imagination is when you imagine something existing in your outer environment. Imagining flowers, trees, or waterfalls in places that don’t feel good or look good will often help the people and animals there feel better.
4. And here’s one i use a lot: when I’m walking over slippery or steep terrain I imaging spikes growing out of my feet and sticking in the ground and my steps become more firm and secure.
Mimicry Magic
Even without thinking about it, everyone learns by mimicking what they see, hear or feel, and we can purposely use this to make what seems to be magic. It can be related to what is happening now or what we can remember.
1. Watching videos or movies or live action of people dancing or engaging in sports AND pretending that you are one of the people doing it as you watch can help your body to mimic the movements, health and skill of whomever you are watching.
2. Your body will mimic animals in the same way for the same purpose, like the grace of a gazelle, the strength of a bear, or the agility of a monkey. Some martial arts use this a lot.
3. Vividly remembering times when you were healthier, stronger or skilled will help to regenerate or reinforce those qualities in the present.
4. If you take a moment to recall something exciting and focus on your navel before lifting heavy objects you will find them much easier to lift.
I hope that you find these idea useful and that you come up with many more on your own.
brain-perks 