Writing – research – hypnotism & predictions – psychic-03

 More snippets gleaned from the 1970 book Psychic Discoveries from behind the Iron curtain by

Sheila Ostrander & Lynn Schroeder (1970) this copy 1976.

At the time of writing the book, Russia had serious concerns about China. Chairman Mao ordered the Chinese scientists to research parapsychology. In response, Russia established psi research bases at Vladivostok and Khabarovsk on the disputed Chinese border. (p142) At one time there were about forty cities within the USSR that contained centres where research was being done on paranormal subjects. One of these was Moscow’s Pavlov Institute where secretive research delved into parapsychology… (p152)

Two so-called pseudoscientific subjects discussed here

are acupuncture and hypnotism. The definition of pseudoscience attached to these subjects is questioned by many adherents and beneficiaries.

Hypnotism

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s First Symphony was performed in St Petersburg in 1897 and was unanimously panned, one critic having likened it to a depiction of the ten plagues of Egypt, suggesting it would be admired by the "inmates" of a music conservatory in Hell. The symphony was not performed again in his lifetime.

The composer was devastated and decided never to compose again.

For three years music seemed blocked to his mind.

Distressed by this, his friends suggested he go to a hypnotist, Nikolai Dahl, who was also an amateur musician. 

A daily course of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy brought the music and inspiration back.

Rachmaninoff composed his Second Piano Concerto in C Minor, dedicating it to Dr Dahl. It was a success and his self-worth was revived. (p166)

Superstition in old Russia was as concrete and pernicious as the lice infesting most of the populace. Magic spells, amulets, potions, powders, and counter-hexes were widely considered to be necessities of life. (p251)

Acupuncture

The Soviets had a machine that registered energy flow in the body coincidentally using as checkpoints for its electrodes the acupuncture treatment points, the meridians, where the chi force flows. This machine picked up changes in body energy caused by alterations of consciousness and varying emotional states. (p163)

For decades, China has used acupuncture in open heart surgery, with good effect. A report in 2011 confirmed this too.

Tana learned to use acupuncture needles while on a mission during her first mission (The Singapore Signal, 1965, as yet unreported). Since then she has carried these needles in a pouch on her belt when penetrating enemy territory, and used them in The Prague Papers, 1975 (Crooked Cat Publishing (2014).

Predictions

Baba Vanga (Vanga Dimitrova) was a blind Bulgarian who was actually paid for by the state. She received thousands of callers asking for predictions – and apparently some 80% of these were proved correct…

She died in 1996. Some of her predictions that have yet to happen include (Wikipedia):

1) The 44th President of the United States will be the last US president. As Barak Obama is the 44^th, this is unlikely, though perhaps Trump will somehow make the prophecy happen!

2) Europe will be transformed into an Islamic caliphate and the transformation will be complete in the year 2043. ..

3) Communism will return to Europe and the rest of the world in 2076.

4) There will be a war on Mars in 3005.

 ***

Tana Standish doesn’t go in for predictions, happily. Yet from time to time she experiences flash images that are later perceived to be slicing of future events; no dates, no specific time, just the image, sometimes featuring her, sometimes not. Each adventure tends to feature at least one ‘flash-forward’ image from a mission yet to be transcribed.

Tana Standish can be found in The Prague Papers and TheTehran Text.

Cataclysm - China and surveillance

During my research for Cataclysm, I learned that, like Britain and the United States, China has one of the most pervasive citizen surveillance operations in the world. Besides some of the strictest internet access controls by any government, the country also boasts an expensive and sophisticated CCTV network (over 30 million cameras), on highways, in public parks, on balconies, in elevators, in taxis, and at sporting stadiums – a constant eye on the streets, searching for anything that could suggest criminal activity or a looming terror attack. They’re also intended to maintain ‘social stability’ – which could be construed as shutting up critics.

That fact posed a few issues for me. How could Cat hope to conspire against the Cerberus factory plants in China if everywhere is under surveillance?

Surveillance cameras - Wikipedia commons

Well, monitoring such an immense system has to be a gargantuan task for any administration. So there must be many blind spots. And I’m assured by someone who has been to China frequently that the CCTV cameras do not intrude on normal day-to-day living. Just don’t openly plot the government’s overthrow…


There’s another aspect that affects the efficiency of the system.


Smog is now such a problem in China’s cities that its surveillance cameras can no longer see through the thick layers of pollution that choke the streets on an almost daily basis. The authorities believe that there is a real fear that terrorists could take advantage of these increasingly frequent hazes to carry out attacks and flee unseen.


Existing technology, such as the infrared cameras used by firefighters as they move through smoke-filled buildings, can help see through smog at a certain density, but when it reaches the concentration found on some Chinese streets, even that is shown to be useless.


Some experts have claimed that in many Chinese cities the pollution particles are so compressed that they block light almost as effectively as a brick wall. [Cat encounters thick fog, too.]


Killers have been identified, shoplifters have been deterred, and criminal suspects have been apprehended thanks to such surveillance.


Naturally, there are human rights issues here, too. Even modest freedoms may be curtailed by such monitoring. Certainly facial recognition technology is being refined – and indeed is used in my novel Cataclysm. As yet, such technology is not effective in streets, due to the lighting variety – shadows, shade from buildings, passing vehicles etc. And there is no sci-fi style all-seeing eye … yet.


Cataclysm – e-book now available, published by Crooked Cat

http://authl.it/B01953NVY4

Writing – research - goji berries

While doing research for the third ‘Avenging Cat’ crime novel Cataclysm, I decided to include goji berries in the storyline; I’d actually come across them in a crossword puzzle and looked them up, and found that they could very nicely fit into the plot!

Goji berries are exported to more than twenty countries, such as the USA, Japan, Australia, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and the EU. [There are quite a few instances of the word ‘may’, so maybe the jury’s still out on the efficacy of the berries, but it still makes interesting reading!]

The Ningxia Hui region of Northern China, where goji berries are grown and eaten on a daily basis, has sixteen times as many centenarians as the rest of the country. Apparently, as residents of the region age, they are much more active, healthy and vibrant than their peers in Western cultures. The small, red goji berry, traditionally regarded as the "longevity fruit," is a key ingredient in their healthy diet. Researchers who study medicinal plants have identified a variety of nutrients in the goji berry that may help people enjoy longer and healthier lives. Claims of anti-aging properties for these small berries include:

Protecting DNA with Antioxidants

As we go through life, our DNA is damaged by free radicals generated as a byproduct of normal metabolism and by exposure to toxins. Although our bodies are equipped to continually repair themselves, they can become overwhelmed by too many free radicals, especially as we age. This results in the premature death of healthy cells, which may contribute to a variety of degenerative diseases and mutated cells that can lead to cancer -- unless antioxidants counter the onslaught. Vitamins, minerals and amino acids may have antioxidant properties. Here are some of the key antioxidant nutrients found in goji berries and vital body functions they purportedly support, in addition to fighting free radicals:

Vitamin C	Heart health
Beta-carotene	Immunity
Cystine	Immunity, healthy stomach lining
B2 (riboflavin)	Conversion of carbohydrates into fuel
Manganese	Healthy skin, bone, cartilage
Zinc	Wound healing, fertility, vision, immunity
Copper	Energy, hormonal function, healthy skin
Selenium	Healthy liver, thyroid, immunity, cancer protection

Promoting Human Growth Hormone Production

Levels of human growth hormone decline as we age. It seems that a 70-year-old produces only one-tenth of the amount generated by a 20-year-old. As Oscar Wilde said, Youth is wasted on the Young! This decline parallels physical deterioration, such as lower levels of energy, muscle wasting and a tendency to store more body fat. The belief is that boosting the natural production of growth hormone helps us feel, look and function like a more youthful person. But it doesn’t turn back time! They say that goji berries help our bodies aid the growth hormone in two ways:

• Potassium: Goji is a rich source of the mineral, vital for health and longevity. Too little potassium interferes with the normal function of the pituitary gland, which produces the growth hormone.
• Amino acids: Certain amino acids promote the production of growth hormone. Goji is a rich source of l-glutamine and l-arginine, two amino acids which may work together to boost growth hormone levels and revitalize youthful appearance and function.

Increasing Energy

The goji berry is an "adaptogen," a term used in the world of medicinal plants to describe a substance with a combination of therapeutic actions. An adaptogen invigorates and strengthens the system while helping the body to deal with stress without collapsing. It also supports healthy function of the adrenal glands, which tend to get overworked in times of stress.

Improving Vision

The goji berry contains two key nutrients for healthy vision: zeaxanthin and lutein. These are concentrated at the center of the retina and protect the eye from the most common causes of age-related loss of sight, including macular degeneration, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy. Free radicals also attack the eyes, and zeaxanthin and lutein protect against such damage.

Controlling Cholesterol and Blood Pressure

Super Potassium. A 3-ounce serving of dried goji berries contains 1,600 mg of potassium -- four times the potassium in three ounces of banana.

Goji berries have the ability to combat two key factors that promote heart disease: oxidized cholesterol and elevated blood pressure. Cholesterol becomes especially dangerous when it oxidizes as a result of free radicals, and the oxidized blood fats then attach to artery walls as plaques. Our bodies have a built-in defense system, an enzyme called superoxide dismutase (SOD). SOD produces antioxidants to prevent cholesterol from oxidizing, but levels of SOD decline as we age. Chinese research shows that goji berries can increase our production of SOD, reducing oxidization of cholesterol.

Keeping Vital Organs Healthy

In addition to helping keep the heart healthy, goji berries help balance blood sugar and enhance the liver, digestive system and skin:

• Blood sugar: Goji berries have been used in Asia for the treatment of diabetes and to help regulate high blood sugar, which is a precursor to both diabetes and heart disease.
• Liver: Several types of phytonutrients in the fruit enhance the ability of the liver to detoxify and guard against the organ being damaged by carcinogens and the hepatitis virus.
• Digestion: Goji berries are helpful for all types of digestive problems and can aid in recovery from digestive illnesses, such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome.
• Skin: Goji berries contain fatty acids, which can stimulate collagen production and retain moisture, resulting in younger-looking skin.

Improving Sleep

Goji berries are a rich source of two nutrients that are necessary for healthful sleep:

• Thiamin (B1): The vitamin is found in the hulls of grains, but it is missing from diets that mostly contain refined grains. Thiamin improves mood, alleviates depression and increases energy levels.
• Magnesium: The mineral reduces the time it takes to fall asleep and improves the quality of sleep.

 ***

The above is a slightly edited version of an article on the goji berries; there are other claims, too. The western world is chary of much Chinese medicines – the rapacious slaughter of endangered species doesn’t help; rhino horn doesn’t possess any beneficial properties, for example, but is still prized, sadly. Yet you can’t throw the baby out with the bath-water – many Chinese remedies and techniques are highly efficacious.

The goji berry plotline is an intriguing one; I hope any readers of Cataclysm will appreciate it!

Writing – research – 1933

I’ve been researching the year 1933 for a short story project and found the following news items of interest; whether I’ll be using any of them is debatable at present, as I’m still in the planning stage.

May 10. Nazis burn books considered to be ‘un-German’ in the square of Berlin University. Another bonfire in Munich, while children watched: ‘As you watch the fire burn these un-German books,’ the children were told, ‘let it also burn into your hearts love of the Fatherland.’ Books came from a blacklist of tomes removed from public libraries – works by Heinrich Mann, Upton Sinclair, Erich Maria Remarque. Any books that depict war in an unpleasant light were destined for the flames. Their places on the shelves were filled with Mein Kampf by Hitler and books by other leading Nazis, mostly novels written by home-grown authors that glorified war.

Comment. Books have been destroyed for centuries; most odd, it’s as if the philistines believe that ideas can be un-thought. The most tragic and famous is the destruction of the library of Alexandria. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953 and he stated it was his response to the scourge of McCarthyism, though later he considered it was a general abhorrence of book burning. Needless to say, books still get burned by people who believe they know best – even the Harry Potter novels! [Naturally, book burning by the Nazis was nothing compared to their heinous treatment of Jews and others, even this early in their short-lived so-called Thousand Year Reich.]

 

 

July 23. Germany. Importing banned books is punishable by death.

July 26. Hitler’s cabinet announced plans for the compulsory sterilisation of people suffering from blindness, deafness, physical deformity, hereditary imbecility, epilepsy and St Vitus’ dance. Force may be necessary.

Comment. Hitler’s belief in eugenics and the uber-Aryan is like something out of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, though that book was published in 1932. Huxley’s book has been banned over the years, notably in some US states, one of them citing ‘because it centred around negative activity’!

July 28. UK – drought warning as temperature reaches 90F (32C)…

Comment. Oh, this was before anyone had invented the catch-all excuse Global Warming, conveniently renamed Climate Change.

August 4. Forest fires rage in Dorset and Hampshire following dry weather… (12 Aug – rainfall ends the drought and puts out the forest fires)

Comment. You can rely on the English weather to sort things out…

August 23. Decree from Berlin – all doctors must be Nazis.

Comment. Of course it wasn’t only this profession that was forced into following the Nazi credo. If you wanted to work or advance in work, then it seemed the only way was to espouse the Nazi doctrine. Appalling; it would never happen in the UK...

 
Sep 1. HG Wells has his sci-fi novel published: The Shape of Things to Come – a future history, predicting the Soviet experiment will become hidebound in dogma, while the capitalist US Treasury will soon be unable to afford its armed forces. Germany and Poland would be at war by 1940, and after a hundred years or so a Utopia will be formed, with a benevolent dictatorship, which too will fall though bloodlessly…
 
Comment. This alternate history (1933-2106) features the abolition of all organised religion (including Islam and Roman Catholicism), among other things! His prediction was that Poland and Germany would fight for ten years; Britain would remain neutral.

Oct 14. Germany quits the League of Nations and walks out of the Geneva disarmament conference. ‘Equality, not arms, was my aim,’ Hitler said. A referendum will be held to get the German people’s approval of their policies – however, only the Nazi Party is on the ballot paper, all opposition is banned… Result: 95% in favour!

 
Comment. There was no way that Hitler would honour any verdict at the end of a disarmament conference, so it made sense that walked out. He had a completely different agenda, outlined in his book, of course. Of course other regimes around the world have emulated this plebiscite ruse = one party, bound to win!
 
What is done in the past, echoes through all eternity... to paraphrase a certain general who became a slave who became a Gladiator.

Writing – research – fingerprints-01

Beloved of crime novelists and readers, fingerprints have figured in fiction for a considerable time. They still have a part to play, even though we now have DNA profiling.

For hundreds of years, a thumb-mark was often used as a signature, but little was made of its uniqueness with regard to criminology.

Fingerprint - Wikipedia commons

 

The ‘papillary ridges’ we know as fingerprints are formed during the fourth and fifth months of the development of the foetus in the womb, and no changes occur after birth, save in size. No two individual fingerprints are believed to be alike (observed by JCA Mayer in 1788.)

In 1858, William Herschel, a young administrator of a rural area in Bengal, India, used right-hand first and middle finger prints of workers as signatures on contracts and receipts; then he extended the practice to all legal documents in his area and finally gave orders for prints to be taken of all convicted criminals so that identity would not be questioned. Twenty-one years later, he retired from the Indian Civil Service, taking his collection of fingerprints with him to England.

In Japan Henry Faulds, while working in the Scottish Medical Mission, became interested in fingerprints in pottery and experimented to such an extent that he discovered that fingerprints retained their uniqueness no matter how the hands were treated (with pumice stone, sandpaper, emery dust and even Spanish fly). He took prints of all ten digits. He wrote to the British scientific journal Nature in 1880, stating that ‘bloody fingerprints or impression on clay, glass etc’ could be used for the scientific identification of criminals.’ He named the technique dactylography.

His letter gained little interest, save that Herschel countered that his use of fingerprints antedated Faulds’. Dactylography remained unrecognised until after Fauld’s death.

However, Herschel gained the support of Sir Francis Galton who studied countless fingerprints and arrived at four distinguishing types:

Those with no delta (a small triangular area where the ridges ran together); those with a delta to the right; those with a delta to the left; those with several deltas.

He published his results in his book Finger Prints in 1892.

And in India yet again assistant magistrate Edward Henry studied Herschel’s techniques, even visiting London and Galton on leave.  By 1897, still in India, he developed a workable system of classifying the prints of all ten fingers, identifying arches, tented arches, radial loops, ulnar loops, and whorls, as well as deltas. The government of Bengal established the first national fingerprint bureau in the world.

In 1901 Henry was recalled from India and was appointed assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He swiftly set up a Fingerprint Department.

Writing - 'The pen conveys...'

During my research for Cataclysm (set mostly in China [but also Tenerife, Madrid and Rome]), I discovered a few interesting quotations – none of which I’ve used in the book.

But they may be interesting to readers and writers – or not...

Certainly, the old fellow Anonymous has the most attributed to him; he must have been very busy.

 

 

***

Procrastination is the thief of time – Anonymous

 The cure of ignorance is study, as meat is that of hunger – Anonymous

The difficulty is not in reading books, but in applying the truths to life, and the greatest difficulty is in remembering them – Chang Chao

 

In making a candle we seek for light; in reading a book we seek for reason: light to illuminate a dark chamber, reason to enlighten a man’s heart – Anonymous

The pen conveys one’s meaning a thousand miles – Anonymous

It is more profitable to reread some old books than to read new ones, just as it is better to repair and add to an old temple than to build an entirely new one – Chang Chao

The benefit of reading varies directly with one’s experience in life. It is like looking at the moon. A young reader may be compared to one seeing the moon through a single crack, a middle-aged reader seems to see it from an enclosed courtyard, and an old man seems to see it from an open terrace, with a complete view of the entire field. – Chang Chao

And… a general quotation:

He who has never tasted the bitterness of life has never known the sweetness of it all – Anonymous

 

 

Writing - research - update

I’m getting to the end of the novel set mainly in China (Shanghai and Nanjing) and this has involved quite a lot of interesting research, most of which won’t appear in the book (happily, say most readers!) – subjects such as:

Architecture

Surveillance
Food and farming
Pollution
Grand Canal
Wuxi district
Sino-Japanese relations
Corruption

An immense and fascinating country, with stoic and long-suffering people, and influenced by complex even contradictory politics. Yes, there are considerable human rights issues – and privacy and health concerns – and these will be touched upon, though not too much as the book is a thriller, after all!

The country’s most recent reform era began in 1978, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that free market ideas started to have a major impact on smaller cities. Locals coped with overwhelming change: the end of government-assigned jobs, the sudden privatisation of housing.

 

Pollution is serious. Not only dirty air, but contaminated soil and water. Yet action is being taken to combat this (whether fast enough is another matter.) For example, all local cabs and buses in Fuling now run on natural gas, in order to reduce pollution. Hundreds of factories bordering Lake Tai (a huge freshwater lake at risk) have been closed down or moved.

Here are some quotations from a 2013 National Geographic: There is an old saying of China: Dog loves house in spite of being poor; son loves mother in spite of being ugly. That’s our feeling. Today we are working hard, and tomorrow we will do what we can for our country.

Since the late 1970s, about 155 million people have migrated to the cities from the countryside.

Three Gorges Dam is the largest concrete structure on Earth – 5 times as wide as the Hoover Dam.

 

Writing – research – Toxicology-02

The first in this series can be found here

If your crime novel or short story is going to feature a poison, then research is vital. Apparently, around 1800 more than 90% of poisoning cases were caused by toxic plants; nowadays, they account for about 7%. Many sources conflict regarding toxicity so seek out more than one reference, if possible.

Some plant poisons are quickly fatal, like oleander or Jericho rose, Barbados nut, banewort, moonseed, muskrat weed, jimsonweed, lily of the valley, monkshood and rhododendron, for example. 

If your villain plans to kill a victim with a toxic plant, then the taste needs to be disguised. As you would guess, salads are popular, as are casseroles – though bear in mind that cooking may reduce the effectiveness of the poison.

Our garden contained many aloes, which are liable to poke out your eye if you’re not careful. We decided to remove them for the sake of our grandchildren. Other resident plants are oleanders, which are staying, even though they’re considered to be ‘the most dangerous flowers on earth’. With that kind of comment, you’ll appreciate that caution is called for with regard to these evergreen colourful bushes. In Italy it’s used as a funeral plant – just make sure the funeral isn’t yours or a loved one’s.

 

Oleander - Wikipedia commons

 

The oleander is found almost anywhere. On the central reservations of our dual carriageways here in Spain, it provides splashes of colour – red, white and pink blossoms. Once it takes hold, it requires little watering.

All parts of the plant, including the nectar of the flower, are poisonous. So is the smoke from burning the plant; and even the water in which it may be placed. The poison contains cardiac glycosides, oldendrin and nerioside.

The poison acts immediately; it is a cardiac stimulator, causing sweating, vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, unconsciousness, respiratory paralysis, and death.

Recommended treatment is prompt vomiting and to quickly seek medical aid.

Like many poisonous substances, they possess beneficial properties too. Extracts of oleander have been employed in the treatment of leprosy. In Europe the plant has been used as a rat poison.

It has also been used as an abortifacient, and as a means of suicide. In Sanskrit the plant’s name means ‘Horse Killer’; in Arabic and Italian, ‘Ass Killer’. Goats, however, seem immune!  Moral: treat this plant with respect, don’t be an ass and horse around with it…