Uplifting TV

Bill Dam

April 17, 2020

Last night, we finished watching the NBC five season TV series “Highway to Heaven.” It’s a highly recommended family show focusing more on spirituality than religion. I had previously seen many individual episodes but I’m now a bigger fan after evening watching from start to finish over the past two months. The last episode finished in 1989 and is currently available for streaming including on Netflix which provides the tagline: “Under God's direction, angel Jonathan and ex-cop Mark help troubled souls overcome adversity and embrace honesty, kindness and forgiveness.”

Major themes in the series involved 1) the healing beauty of nature, like in the final two episodes of Season 1 called “Thoroughbreds” with 24-year old Helen Hunt, 2) overcoming and accepting illnesses, disabilities, ageism (youth and elderly), parenting, education, victims of war, death and dying and 3) environmental causes such as in season 2 episode 9 called “Birds of a Feather.” Spoiler alert: Jonathan wears a bird costume and dies trying to protect kids and parents working at a factory that’s polluting the environment.

Watching the final show last night, I wondered if the provocative episode caused the series to get cancelled as they really pushed some huge corporate and political buttons extremely relevant then and today! In “Merry Christmas from Grandpa,” Jonathan warns a tycoon building a nuclear power plant how an accident could destroy his grandchildren and a farmer using to many chemicals polluting drinking water including fertilizers and Malathion (the Latin word for bad or evil is Mal and the pesticide is widely used in agriculture, residential landscaping, public recreation areas, including killing mosquitoes). Going up against the nuclear and chemical industries for the final episode was not enough so the angel also appears in the White House at the bed of President George Bush (a look-alike actor) and the First Lady that his future children to great, great, great grandchildren will disappear if he does not take a stand to protect the environment! Looking back on the life of George Bush, as I did in a blog in December 2018, he was relatively a great environmentalist especially compared to many current disgraceful world leaders.

Well this last episode did not get the show cancelled but apparently it was a combination of lower ratings and the actor Victor French, who played Mark, sadly died at age 54 of lung cancer from smoking.

Bill Dam

January 13, 2019

Finding Nature’s Fountain of Youth

Bill Dam

January 13, 2019

Remember the story of Ponce de Leon who sailed from Spain to Florida about 20 years after Columbus looking for the fountain of youth? He searched for spring water that could heal all ailments to live a long life.

My growing up with asthma, the fountain of youth seemed magical to think that nature could heal us. I’ve learned to control asthma by living in a healthy environment with clean air and exercise. We’re still looking for the mythical fountain of youth but know so much more about living a healthy, balanced lifestyle by combining the best from western and eastern practices to conserve and prosper!

When I developed acid reflux as a young adult, I tried various antacids which did not solve the problem. I explored various treatments like Ayurvedic medicine that focused on my diet to eliminating toxins. This helped tremendously but did not solve the problem until many years later I learned about Celiac disease and needed to go “gluten-free.” That was over seven years ago when it was hard to find many wheat-free options. Now there are so many great gluten-free foods and meals at restaurants available! But just because the food is gluten-free it still many not be healthy if loaded with sugar or salt. In general, reducing carbs and eating more fish, fruits and vegetables keeps us from gaining weight.

Recently, I’ve been learning more about the effects of stress causing inflammation that can lead to many diseases. Check out the website and publications by Dr. Mimi Guarneri, a cardiologist who speaks passionately about her work in Integrated Medicine. Listening to Dr. G’s audio tapes on the Science of Natural Healing, I had no idea that my frequent sinus infections could be caused by eating too much cheese and other dairy products!

So nature does provide us a fountain of youth when we care for our environment and are careful with what we eat and drink!

Bill Dam

October 29, 2017

Celebrating the Life and Environmental Stewardship of the King of Thailand

Bill Dam

October 29, 2017

This week, Thailand is celebrating and mourning the life and passing of King Bhumibol, with a cremation ceremony one year after his death. I've traveled to Thailand many times over the past 23 years and always felt greatly impressed by the love people displayed for their King. By learning more about his many accomplishments - especially with environmental stewardship, I began to understand the people's devotion.

I experienced first hand the great accomplishments of the King regarding environmental and economic development. In 1994, I traveled to several Asian countries as a tourist and no where else did I feel so warmly greeted with great kindness as in Thailand - the Land of 1000 Smiles. One of the first things that I noticed was the caring and respect for family and especially the elders, the lack of homelessness, and genuine generosity.

I traveled with an American doctor friend who volunteered at a hospital in Bangkok. When I saw the newspaper of an environmental conference in honor of the King to be held near Pattaya, I knew I had to go. The conference displayed technology from many countries for air and water purification and ways to improve agriculture. I became very impressed with the many accounts that I heard for the King's direct involvement and creativity to improve the lives of Thai people. One example I observed was the way he worked with rural farmers to improve rice crops, reduce flooding, and clean water.

Here is an article on the King's sustainable development practices and a thoughtful speech last year shown by video of U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power on the life and connections of the Thai King.