The Cannabis Papers: A citizen’s guide to cannabinoids (2011)
By Publius
 
A Super Bowl of Cannabinoids

In sports as in life, teamwork creates homeostasis. Sure there will be big plays and impressive moves in Sunday’s Super Bowl, yet all fans and players know it’s the little things that count – that create the conditions for that game-winning moment. It’s the same in our bodies as homeostatic processes – teamwork – function without notice or acclaim (even while we sleep). In celebration of game-winning moments, here are four new PubMed articles discussing our CS and homeostatic teamwork: management of neuroinflammatory (brain) disorders, CB1 anti-aversive panic properties, obesity and the therapeutic agents THCV and CBD, and cannabinoids as a tool in modern cancer pharmacotherapy.

Happy CS Super Bowl All!

I. Neuroinflammatory: Cannabinoids as Immunoregulatory and Immunomodulatory
“A growing body of evidence suggests that Cannabis sativa-derived phytocannabinoids, as well as synthetic cannabinoids, are endowed with significant immunoregulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, both in peripheral tissues and in the CNS, through the activation of cannabinoid receptors. In this review, the immunomodulatory effects of cannabinoid signaling on the most relevant brain immune cells will be discussed. In addition, the impact of cannabinoid regulation on the overall integration of the manifold brain immune responses will also be highlighted, along with the implication of these compounds as potential agents for the management of neuroinflammatory disorders.”
Cannabinoid Signaling and Neuroinflammatory Diseases: A Melting pot for the Regulation of Brain Immune Responses.
Chiurchiù V, Leuti A, Maccarrone M.
J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2015 Jan 20. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 25601726 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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II. Brain: Panic, Dorsolateral Periaqueductal Grey and CS CB1 Receptors
“Since the cannabinoid CB1 receptor modulates various types of aversive responses, this study tested the hypothesis that enhancement of endocannabinoid signalling in the dorsolateral periaqueductal grey inhibits panic-like reactions in rats. … The present results confirm the anti-aversive property of direct CB1 receptor activation in the dorsolateral periaqueductal grey.”
Role of endocannabinoid signalling in the dorsolateral periaqueductal grey in the modulation of distinct panic-like responses.
Batista LA, Bastos JR, Moreira FA.
J Psychopharmacol. 2015 Jan 19. pii: 0269881114566259. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 25601395 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Related citations

III. Obesity: Liver Metabolism, Hepatosteatosis and the Cannabinoids THCV and CBD
“Obesity and associated metabolic syndrome have quickly become a pandemic and a major detriment to human health globally. The presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD; hepatosteatosis) in obesity has been linked to the worsening of the metabolic syndrome, including the development of insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease. Currently, there are few options to treat NAFLD, including life style changes and insulin sensitizers. Recent evidence suggests that the cannabinoids Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) and cannabidiol (CBD) improve insulin sensitivity; we aimed at studying their effects on lipid levels. … Our results suggest that THCV and CBD might be used as new therapeutic agents for the pharmacological treatment of obesity- and metabolic syndrome-related NAFLD/hepatosteatosis.”
Two non-psychoactive cannabinoids reduce intra-cellular lipid levels and inhibit hepatosteatosis.
Silvestri C, Paris D, Martella A, Melck D, Guadagnino I, Cawthorne M, Motta A, Marzo VD.
J Hepatol. 2015 Jan 13. pii: S0168-8278(15)00003-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2015.01.001. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 25595882 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Related citations

IV. Cancer: Cannabinoids and Antimetastatic and Antiangiogenesis
“Regarding the underlying antimetastatic mechanism, several studies revealed cannabinoids to alter the gene expression of cancer cells toward a less-aggressive phenotype and to modulate their secretomic profile. Cannabinoids likewise modulate the release of factors from tumor cells that subsequently suppress the chemoattraction of vessel cells thereby conferring antiangiogenesis. … In addition, beneficial interactions of cannabinoids with currently used chemotherapeutics as well as the influence of cannabinoids on tumor-immune surveillance are addressed. Collectively, the currently available data suggest cannabinoids as a potential tool in modern cancer pharmacotherapy.”
New insights into antimetastatic and antiangiogenic effects of cannabinoids.
Ramer R, Hinz B.
Int Rev Cell Mol Biol. 2015;314:43-116. doi: 10.1016/bs.ircmb.2014.10.005. Epub 2014 Dec 18.
PMID: 25619715 [PubMed - in process]
Related citations

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Super Touching Serotonin Edition

Fans and athletes alike produce serotonin (5HT) for game day; 80-90% of it is made by our stomach’s enterochromaffin cells (the rest is made in our brains) and then transported and distributed throughout our bodies.

Touch, or “good hands,” is a Super Bowl fundamental, as any big play – made or broken – is sparked by a finger’s give-and-take. Today’s serotonin system focus is on touch, in particular, serotonergic and dopaminergic activity. From the National Institutes of Health (PubMed), our Super Bowl line-up includes three 2015 articles and one from the archives (2005). The serotonin touch-tales include: brain trauma (blast) and the serotonin N-acetyltransferase gene (Aanat), food metabolism (tryptophan) and the kynurenine pathway, ADHD changes with age, and, the one from the archives, touch/massage therapy decreases cortisol and increases dopamine and serotonin.

Have a Serotonergic Super Bowl All!

I. Blast-related Brain Injury and the Serotonin N-Acetyltransferase Gene (Aanat)
“Long-term molecular changes in the brain resulting from blast exposure may be mediated by epigenetic changes like DNA methylation that regulate gene expression. … Functional validation via gene expression analysis of 30 differentially methylated neuronal and glial genes showed a 1.2 fold change in gene expression of the serotonin N-acetyltransferase gene (Aanat) in blast animals (p < .05). These data provide the first genome-based evidence for changes in DNA methylation induced in response to multiple blast overpressure exposures. In particular, increased methylation and decreased gene expression were observed in the Aanat gene, which is involved in converting serotonin to the circadian hormone melatonin and is implicated in sleep disturbance and depression associated with TBI.”
Neuronal DNA Methylation Profiling of Blast-related Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
Haghighi F, Ge Y, Chen S, Xin Y, Umali MU, De Gasperi R, Gama Sosa MA, Ahlers ST, Elder GA.
J Neurotrauma. 2015 Jan 16. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 25594545 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Related citations

II. Kynurenine Pathway (Food/Tryptophan Metabolism) and Serotonin Circuits
“The kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism is involved in the pathogenesis of several brain diseases, but its physiological functions remain unclear. We report that kynurenic acid, a metabolite in this pathway, functions as a regulator of food-dependent behavioral plasticity in C. elegans. The experience of fasting in C. elegans alters a variety of behaviors, including feeding rate, when food is encountered post-fast. Levels of neurally produced kynurenic acid are depleted by fasting, leading to activation of NMDA-receptor-expressing interneurons and initiation of a neuropeptide-y-like signaling axis that promotes elevated feeding through enhanced serotonin release when animals re-encounter food. Upon reseeding, kynurenic acid levels are eventually replenished, ending the elevated feeding period. Because tryptophan is an essential amino acid, these findings suggest that a physiological role of kynurenic acid is in directly linking metabolism to activity of NMDA and serotonergic circuits, which regulate a broad range of behaviors and physiologies.”
Kynurenic Acid Is a Nutritional Cue that Enables Behavioral Plasticity.
Lemieux GA, Cunningham KA, Lin L, Mayer F, Werb Z, Ashrafi K.
Cell. 2015 Jan 15;160(1-2):119-31. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.12.028.
PMID: 25594177 [PubMed - in process]
Related citations

III. Age, ADHD and Dopaminergic and Serotonergic Genes
“Elucidating genetic mechanisms involved in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been challenging. Relatively unexplored is the fact that genetic mechanisms can differ with age. The current study explored the association between dopaminergic and serotonergic genes, ADHD symptoms, and neurocognitive functioning in relation to age. … Our results are preliminary, but may point to differential genotype-phenotype associations at different ages. This can be seen as a proof of concept for the importance of age in dopaminergic and serotonergic genetic association analyses. Our findings are consistent with the idea that genetic and neurocognitive mechanisms underlying ADHD may change throughout life.”
The role of age in association analyses of ADHD and related neurocognitive functioning: A proof of concept for dopaminergic and serotonergic genes.
Thissen AJ, Bralten J, Rommelse NN, Arias-Vasquez A, Greven CU, Heslenfeld D, Luman M, Oosterlaan J, Hoekstra PJ, Hartman C, Franke B, Buitelaar JK.
Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2015 Jan 14. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32290. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 25586935 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Related citations

IV. Massage (Touch) Decreases Cortisol and Increases Dopamine and Serotonin
“In this article the positive effects of massage therapy on biochemistry are reviewed including decreased levels of cortisol and increased levels of serotonin and dopamine. The research reviewed includes studies on depression (including sex abuse and eating disorder studies), pain syndrome studies, research on auto-immune conditions (including asthma and chronic fatigue), immune studies (including HIV and breast cancer), and studies on the reduction of stress on the job, the stress of aging, and pregnancy stress. … These studies combined suggest the stress-alleviating effects (decreased cortisol) and the activating effects (increased serotonin and dopamine) of massage therapy on a variety of medical conditions and stressful experiences.”
Cortisol decreases and serotonin and dopamine increase following massage therapy.
Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Diego M, Schanberg S, Kuhn C.
Int J Neurosci. 2005 Oct;115(10):1397-413.
PMID: 16162447 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations

Video: The most important lesson from 83,000 brain scans, Daniel Amen, TEDxOrangeCoast

*Tomorrow: New Homeostasis with Publius’ Super Bowl of Cannabinoid Science.
~
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

In memory and honor of the Liberation of Auschwitz, 27 January 1945

Our reviewed author, Yehiel De-Nur, wrote more than 20 books, many using the identity KZ for Ka-Tzetnik 135633, the concentration camp number branded on his arm.

The picture shows De-Nur testifying in Israel at the trial of Adolf Eichmann; the year is 1961 – sixteen years after Auschwitz and fifteen years before his LSD-serotonin therapy and healing. In the photo, the guard is showing De-Nur prisoner garb that would have reminded him of Auschwitz; if it looks like he’s about to gag, you’re correct; in a few moments he basically loses it and can’t continue with his testimony.

De-Nur “lived” through two years at Auschwitz; he was sent to his death, to be gassed and burned, and found a way to survive. His survival came with a burden: he worked in the crematorium and gave witness to the ashed dead of Auschwitz.

In 1976, with his sleep marred by three decades of Auschwitz nightmares, De-Nur left Israel and went to the Netherlands, Leiden University, in search of relief; he had heard stories of other concentration camp survivors using a new therapy at Leiden, a treatment involving LSD and his serotonin system.

SHIVITTI (the reminder of the presence of God): A Vision by Ka-Tzetnik 135633 is an LSD-serotonin therapy story. KZ (De-Nur) went to the Netherlands after 30 years of Auschwitz nightmares; locked away in his mind, in five LSD-serotonin therapy sessions, he was enabled to heal via his own body and its serotonin system.

The doctor who helped De-Nur, Jan C. Bastiaans, professor of psychiatry at Leiden University, treated over 300 people with LSD-serotonin therapy. Two resources from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies give background and political context to his work: The LSD Therapy Career of Jan Bastiaans, M.D. (1998) and The Bastiaans Method of Drug-Therapy (1999).

Of course, this is very political. LSD, since 1970 in the US, has been a Schedule I drug: this means no medical value and high abuse. De-Nur’s book shows medical value (an N of 1) and he has only five sessions and stops; he then returns to Israel, waits ten years, then uses the tape recordings from the 1976 sessions to write his book. Hakibbutz Hameuchad published Shivitti: A Vision in Hebrew in 1987. Harper & Row published an English version in 1989; the book was published again in 1998 in the First Gateways Edition, the one used in the review.

We’ll stop for now and continue this journey next month with the addition of Hannah Arendt: specifically, her footnotes … from her book, The Human Condition.

A citizen ponders page turning and The State of the Union

Hmmm … The State of the Union, and there’s talk of page turning: turning what page? Must be the US Constitution, as they gather because it says so.

Yes, the Preamble is nice. States the goals and objectives, with John Bunyan-like capitalization. We the People, in Order to form a more perfect Union (sounds like marriage), establish Justice (nice), insure domestic Tranquility … Well, that’s a 2016 political, being domestic and all; let’s turn the page and see what it says about representing We the People in Congress …

Hmmm … something underlined: “The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand.”

Well, that explains it, this must be the page they’re turning to; the founder Madison’s way, the way of Enumerated Representation, is America’s constitutional blueprint. Looks like we are to build America a new home, founded on the ratio “thirty Thousand,” a House where We the People are legally counted and represented.

How’s this story end? Let’s turn to the last page …

Well, what do we have here? A quote from Ben Franklin and – oh, an index line showing “Women, see Persons” – that’s good to know.

What’s Ben up to? When asked what kind of government they had “wrought,” he provided an eternal answer: “ … a Republic, if you can keep it.”

Hmmm … yes, a Republic, one built on small districts and represented in a large House, like Madison and the founders intended; sounds like a home for We the People (all Persons, Women included) is an American birthright.

Thanks for the page turning all ~ and thanks for the US Republic.

Today's video: Our American Republic, Episode 5: Republic

Next up: Tomorrow, in honor and memory of the Holocaust and the Liberation of Auschwitz on 27 January 1945, Ew Publishing will announce the release of a new booklet, Shivitti: A Review of Ka-Tzetnik 135633’s Vision, a prisoner’s story of LSD-serotonin therapy and healing from Auschwitz nightmares.    

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

The Cannabis Papers: A citizen’s guide to cannabinoids (2011)
By Publius

2014 Cannabinoid Champions ~ Bivalency and Heteronomy


Publius’ 2014 cannabinoid science champions, Bivalency (it doubles) and Heteronomy (not autonomous), are spotlighted for their contributions to future knowledge. Both are CS homeostatic processes within the human body that work without notice or acclaim. Forward looking to 2015 and beyond, bivalency and heteronomy are cannabinoid science players with a high-knowledge upside. For now, here are four 2014 PubMed articles discussing: heteromerization and CB2, unexpected (intrinsic) bivalent CS properties, and two on Orexin, involved in arousal, wakefulness and appetite, and CB1 heterodimers and heteromeric signaling complexes.

I. Heteromerization of GPR55 and CB2 to form Unique Signaling Units
“Heteromerization of GPCRs is key to the integration of extracellular signals and the subsequent cell response via several mechanisms including heteromer-selective ligand binding, trafficking and/or downstream signalling. As the lysophosphatidylinositol GPCR 55 (GPR55) has been shown to affect the function of the cannabinoid receptor subtype 2 (CB2 receptor) in human neutrophils, we investigated the possible heteromerization of CB2 receptors with GPR55. … Heteromers, unique signalling units, form in HEK293 cells expressing GPR55 and CB2 receptors.”
Heteromerization of GPR55 and cannabinoid CB2 receptors modulates signalling.
Balenga NA, Martínez-Pinilla E, Kargl J, Schröder R, Peinhaupt M, Platzer W, Bálint Z, Zamarbide M, Dopeso-Reyes IG, Ricobaraza A, Pérez-Ortiz JM, Kostenis E, Waldhoer M, Heinemann A, Franco R.
Br J Pharmacol. 2014 Dec;171(23):5387-406. doi: 10.1111/bph.12850. Epub 2014 Sep 5.
PMID: 25048571 [PubMed - in process]
Related citations

II. Bivalent Cannabinoid Receptor Ligands and Unexpected Intrinsic Properties
“The design of bivalent ligands targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) often leads to the development of new, highly selective and potent compounds. To date, no bivalent ligands for the human cannabinoid receptor type 2 (hCB₂R) of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) are described. Therefore, two sets of homobivalent ligands containing as parent structure the hCB2R selective agonist 13a and coupled at different attachment positions were synthesized. Changes of the parent structure at these positions have a crucial effect on the potency and efficacy of the ligands. However, we discovered that bivalency has an influence on the effect at both cannabinoid receptors. Moreover, we found out that the spacer length and the attachment position altered the efficacy of the bivalent ligands at the receptors by turning agonists into antagonists and inverse agonists.”
Synthesis and biological evaluation of bivalent cannabinoid receptor ligands based on hCB₂R selective benzimidazoles reveal unexpected intrinsic properties.
Nimczick M, Pemp D, Darras FH, Chen X, Heilmann J, Decker M.
Bioorg Med Chem. 2014 Aug 1;22(15):3938-46. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2014.06.008. Epub 2014 Jun 13.
PMID: 24984935 [PubMed - in process]
Related citations

III. Orexin OX1 and Cannabinoid CB1 Heterodimers and Oligomers
“Cannabinoid CB1 and orexin OX1 receptors have been suggested to form heterodimers and oligomers. … Bivalent ligands targeting CB1-OX1 receptor dimers could be potentially useful as a tool for further exploring the roles of such heterodimers in vitro and in vivo.”
Toward the Development of Bivalent Ligand Probes of Cannabinoid CB1 and Orexin OX1 Receptor Heterodimers.
Perrey DA, Gilmour BP, Thomas BF, Zhang Y.
ACS Med Chem Lett. 2014 Mar 25;5(6):634-8. doi: 10.1021/ml4004759. eCollection 2014 Jun 12.
PMID: 24944734 [PubMed]
Related citations

IV. Heteromeric Complexes, Orexin OX1 and Cannabinoid CB1 Receptors
“Human OX1 orexin receptors have been shown to homodimerize and they have also been suggested to heterodimerize with CB1 cannabinoid receptors. The latter has been suggested to be important for orexin receptor responses and trafficking. … As orexin receptors efficiently signal via endocannabinoid production to CB1 receptors, dimerization could be an effective way of forming signal complexes with optimal cannabinoid concentrations available for cannabinoid receptors.”
Human orexin/hypocretin receptors form constitutive homo- and heteromeric complexes with each other and with human CB1 cannabinoid receptors.
Jäntti MH, Mandrika I, Kukkonen JP.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2014 Mar 7;445(2):486-90. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2014.02.026. Epub 2014 Feb 13.
PMID: 24530395 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related citations

Video: Cannabinoid System in Neuroprotection, Raphael Mechoulam PhD

Happy New Year and a Forward Looking 2015 ~ Thanks All!
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

The Cannabis Papers: A citizen’s guide to cannabinoids (2011)
By Publius


Mammalian Holstein Edition

Mammals produce serotonin (5HT); it’s transported from our gut, where 80-90% is produced (the rest made in one’s brain), until it connects with our serotonin receptors, our most prolific set with 15. Today’s serotonin system science update covers modulating our digestion: specifically, our gut. Below are three (brief) science stories from the National Institutes of Health (PubMed). The serotonin gut tales include: serotonin transporters and colitis pathogenesis, serotonergic and glutamatergic dual signaling, and, one for our mammalian clade (a single branch of the tree of life), 5HT liver glucose homeostasis during transition from pregnancy to lactation (making milk) in Holstein dairy cows.    

Bonus: Medical News Today posted a good (gut) serotonergic summary in September 2014, What is serotonin? What does serotonin do? Learning about our serotonin systems will make us healthier; that’s really why they are studying the Holstein dairy cows, for example. Stress on a lactating dairy cow hurts profits; life's modulations, such as the stress of pregnancy, birth, and lactation, are serotonin system dependent – in all mammals, not just in Holstein dairy cows.

I. Colitis Pathogenesis, Serotonin and the Serotonin Reuptake Transporter (5-HTT)
“Serotonin (5-HT) release and serotonin reuptake transporter (5-HTT) expression have been reported to be decreased in experimental colitis, in interleukin-10 knockout-associated colitis, and in patients with ulcerative colitis. Serotonin is known to play an important role in the pathogenesis of colitis, but individual genetic variants of 5-HTT gene in microscopic colitis and ulcerative colitis are not known. … A significant association was observed between LL genotype of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and microscopic colitis, suggesting that 5-HTTLPR is a potential candidate gene involved in the pathogenesis of microscopic colitis. Serotonin levels were significantly higher in microscopic colitis and ulcerative colitis patients compared to healthy controls.”
Association of Serotonin Transporter Promoter Polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) with Microscopic Colitis and Ulcerative Colitis.
Sikander A, Sinha SK, Prasad KK, Rana SV.
Dig Dis Sci. 2014 Dec 23. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 25532499 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

II. Serotonin, Glutamate and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)
“Neuroscientists have been puzzled by the fact that acute administration of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) produces results that are, at times, compatible with either decreases or increases in serotonergic neurotransmission. Furthermore, the underlying cause of the delayed onset of antidepressant effects of SSRI treatment has remained obscure. It has recently been reported that serotonergic raphe neurons co-release glutamate and that serotonergic and glutamatergic components constitute a dual signal with behaviorally distinct effects.”
Dual serotonergic signals: a key to understanding paradoxical effects?
Fischer AG, Jocham G, Ullsperger M.
Trends Cogn Sci. 2014 Dec 10. pii: S1364-6613(14)00237-X. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.11.004. [Epub ahead of print] Review.
PMID: 25532701 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

III. Serotonin, Liver Glucose Homeostasis and Lactation (Holstein dairy cows)
“Nonneuronal serotonin (5-HT) participates in glucose metabolism, but little is known regarding the actions of 5-HT in the liver during the transition period in dairy cattle. Here, we explore circulating patterns of 5-HT and characterize the hepatic 5-HT receptor and glucose transporter profiles around calving in multiparous Holstein dairy cows (n = 6, average lactation = 4 ± 1.9). … These results indicate that 5-HT could be important for liver glucose homeostasis possibly through receptor mediated signaling at specific times. Additional research is needed to further explore the functional role of these receptors in the liver during the transition from pregnancy to lactation.”
Serotonin receptor expression is dynamic in the liver during the transition period in Holstein dairy cows.
Laporta J, Hernandez LL.
Domest Anim Endocrinol. 2014 Nov 26;51C:65-73. doi: 10.1016/j.domaniend.2014.11.005. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 25528206 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Video ~ Digestive Wellness: The Brain-Gut Connection with Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN (2010)

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Part II: Victories

Victories have peripheries. The failure of the 1944 German offensive in the Ardennes against Allied forces precipitated the collapse of the Nazi regime; Auschwitz would be captured in one month (25 January 1945) and Hitler would commit suicide in five.

Perseverance is a quality George Washington is noted for and one the American forces exhibited while bearing the siege of Bastogne. Leo Barron and Don Cygan's book No Silent Night: The Christmas Battle for Bastogne (2012), is the story of a fulcrum battle in the German siege of Bastogne, Belgium, 20-27 December 1944. Today we’ll use Barron and Cygan’s work to see the campaign from Lt. Colonel John T. Cooper's viewpoint; the colonel has a Christmas day like Lt. James Monroe did in 1776 at Trenton:

16 December 1944
German offensive begins; General Eisenhower orders the 101st to Bastogne in response. Cooper’s command, the 463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, had been refitting and resting along with the 101st, though a bit incognito.

18 December
The reputation of the 101st was well established by 1944 in Europe: D-Day for one, and Operation Market Garden, portrayed in the movie A Bridge too Far, for another. Cooper’s command had been assigned to the 101st for less than a week; they had been in other theaters of the war (Italy and Sicily) and around the 101st veterans had kept quiet about their own prowess. Cooper pleads to go along and General McAuliffe, commander of the 101st, finds him a spot.

20-23 December
The American forces get to Bastogne ~ mostly in open-air cattle trucks ~ and once there, are surrounded by the Germans. Supplies are para-dropped in; on the 22nd the Germans ask General McAuliffe to surrender: his response was “NUTS!” Cooper’s artillerymen fortify their position near Hemroulle, Belgium, on the outskirts of Bastogne, and wait.

24 December Christmas Eve
The German Luftwaffe bombs Bastogne. Cooper’s 463rd hold a Christmas Eve service in a Hemroulle stable, with the gathered soldiers singing “Silent Night” to conclude the service. 

25 December Christmas Day
The German tanks attacked Bastogne via Hemroulle. The 463rd was prepared, due to Lt. Colonel John T. Cooper’s perseverance and patience; he had defenses constructed and offenses employed and inflicted fulcrum, battle-changing, force: infantry, with field artillery support, beat tanks.

Time was perhaps the biggest victor that Christmas day long ago, as Germany and the United States have shown for 70 years that two who fought from 1776 to 1945, in varying ways, can turn it around: the US and Germany don’t fight militarily anymore. That is a real change; in fact, one could say the former adversaries Germany and the US now work together For something – even something like yesterday’s illuminating lament, that 70-year peace reprise from Ein Deutscher Offizier, a known unknown inspiration:

“Let the world never see such a Christmas night again!
To die, far from one’s children, one’s wife and mother, under the fire of guns, there is no greater cruelty.
To take away a son from his mother, a husband from his wife, a father from his children, is it worthy of a human being?
Life can only be for love and respect.
At the sight of ruins, of blood and death, universal fraternity will rise.”

Video: Battle at Bastogne
Bonus Video: Historic Stock Footage WWII Battle of the Bulge – Siege of Bastogne

*Announcement: In January, look for Ew Publishing’s first booklet of 2015, Bryan W. Brickner’s Shivitti: A Review of Ka-Tzetnik 135633’s Vision. The booklet will be available by (or before) 25 January 2015. 

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Part I: Lamentations

Silent night, Holy night

A replica Austrian chapel depicts the place of the initial 1818 performance of Stille Nacht (Silent Night). Two pious dudes had an idea for a Christmas Eve show; one had words, the other beats. The wordsmith was Josef Mohr, the man with the beats, Franz Xaver Gruber, played church organ. Stille Nacht was put together like most great things (out of necessity); Mohr had a midnight Christmas Eve performance and needed something new. Including guitar and choir accompaniment, the two crafted the performance that evening – and the show went on at midnight. In 2011, UNESCO declared Stille Nacht part of our intangible cultural heritage.


All is calm, all is bright,
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child


No Silent Night: The Christmas Battle for Bastogne, written by Leo Barron and Don Cygan (2012), is the story of a fulcrum battle in the German siege of Bastogne, Belgium, 20-27 December 1944. This German siege within the American Ardennes Counteroffensive hinged on a Christmas Day battle between US infantry, with the 101st Airborne on point, against German tanks, specifically, the feared Panzer and its three inches of steel plating. Tomorrow we’ll view the Christmas Day battle from one officer’s perseverance and patience, Lt. Colonel John T. Cooper. The colonel has a soldier’s day like Lt. James Monroe did in 1776 at the New Jersey Battle of Trenton. In 1776 it was German Hessians hired as mercenaries for the King of England to fight the Yankee Doodle Dandy rebels; in 1944 it was the last of Germany’s Jerries against more of those US rebel Yanks.

In Belgium (and not far from Bastogne) the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial is the final resting place for 5,329 WWII US vets: 792 are buried as Unknowns. The memorial itself is grand; the rows of headstones providing background for an emboldened American eagle accompanied by three goddesses: Justice, Liberty and Truth. There are also thirteen stars for America’s founding, when thirteen independent states united to become one nation.

Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Lamentations are passionate expressions of grief or sorrow; they are illuminated wails. Barron and Cygan show their spirit, and the spirit of their book, by prefacing No Silent Night with a German officer’s Christmas night lamentation; the sorrow was chalked in a school after tomorrow’s 1944 Christmas Day battle. Seventy years on and the German’s sorrow rings eternal in its human, all too humanness: besieged by ruins, blood and death, the human nonetheless cries for – laments for – a vision of universal fraternity:

“Let the world never see such a Christmas night again!
To die, far from one’s children, one’s wife and mother, under the fire of guns, there is no greater cruelty.
To take away a son from his mother, a husband from his wife, a father from his children, is it worthy of a human being?
Life can only be for love and respect.
At the sight of ruins, of blood and death, universal fraternity will rise.”

This evening, pause in Peace for that holy infant, so tender and mild … in all of us.
~
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Part II Tomorrow: 70 years from Christmas Day 1944 ~ Perseverance, Patience and Victory in Bastogne.

Science Political


Written by Annie Jacobsen, Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Project that Brought Nazis to America (2014), is a tale long suspected by those of my generation (baby boomers). The truth found in Jacobsen’s book is that departments of the American government, specifically the State Department, FBI, CIA  (originally the OSS) and the Pentagon, went way beyond “hiring” Wernher von Braun and a few other rocket scientists to help run the American Space Program.

As a child, I remember seeing pictures of a smiling von Braun, living in Huntsville Alabama, helping us with our nascent space program. After all, it made sense that you’d want to grab the cream of the crop from the Nazis, if for no other reason than keeping them from falling (willingly or otherwise) into the hands of the British, French, Russian and others who would want to make use of their rocketry knowledge. Long ago after I grew up I learned it was an American GI who slipped Hitler’s second in command, Reichsmarschall Herman Goering, a potassium cyanide capsule to help him cheat the hangman’s noose at Nuremberg. Later still I heard it was the Americans who concealed uber-criminal Klaus Barbie from the French, who desperately wanted to try him for war crimes (atrocities) committed during the war in France.

At the time our government had a prohibition on allowing hard-core Nazis to emigrate to the US, so former Nazis had their dossiers cleaned up so that one American agency of government could get individuals past other American government agencies. To cite an example, Wernher von Braun had not only been a Major in the Nazi SS, he selected and directly negotiated with other high-level Nazis for slave labor to work at Peenemunde Army Research Center and other German rocket installations.

And now, at the end of 2014, Americans are shocked to learn that Nazis were paid US Social Security benefits. Annie Jacobsen enlightened us as to our involvement in Operation Paperclip; more now from Congress, who just overwhelmingly approved a bill stripping Nazis of the pensions we the US government offered them to just go back to Europe without an argument. That’s right, giving Nazis pensions to leave the country even though they’d entered illegally.

All in all nearly 1,600 Nazis were sneaked into the US under the rubric “Operation Paperclip” (for the paper-clipped info on Nazi dossiers so the truth could be removed when necessary). Using various forms of subterfuge, the operation paid, fed, housed and utilized former Nazis in US government agencies without the knowledge of Congress or the general population of American citizens. There were comic instances as well; one former Nazi working at Fort Bliss had passed himself off as trained in rocketry – in reality, he had been a cafeteria worker at a Nazi rocket facility.

There are many reasons to go to war: stupidity, self-preservation if attacked, striking preemptively an enemy thought to be ready to strike you, and others. There are gains to be made in a war whether a country wins it or not. For example, in the Battle of Kadesh, when Egyptians met Hittites in Palestine some thousands of years ago, it was generally thought to be a draw, but as far as we can tell reading hieroglyphics and other historical writings, Ramesses claimed victory and his version was accepted … in Egypt that is. These advantages to come of war, such as material profits, territorial gain, and national prestige, play another role as well, one noted by Orwell in his 1984: “the object of waging a war is always to be in a better position in which to wage another war.”

William Abens, author

Video: Bringing Nazi Scientists to America – Annie Jacobsen

Next: a 70th Christmas Eve WW II story in two-parts beginning Wednesday 24 December, with Leo Barron and Don Cygan’s No Silent Night, The Christmas Battle for Bastogne.        

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner 

The Cannabis Papers: A citizen’s guide to cannabinoids (2011)
By Publius

Green Sunday

Publius’ Green Sunday edition highlights three 2014 PubMed articles on the cannabinoid system (CS) modulating homeostasis. Today’s line-up links to CS PubMed articles discussing: skin homeostasis and cannabinoid lipids, cancer angiogenesis with radiotherapy and CBD/THC, and cannabinoids for neuropathic pain.

One finds some disheartening numbers in the Survey of the Endocannabinoid System in Medical School (July 2014):

“Not one of the medical schools surveyed had a department of endocannabinoid science or an ECS director. None of them taught the endocannabinoid science as an organized course. Only 21 of the 157 schools surveyed had the ECS mentioned in any course. 21/157 = 13.3%
In the United States of America, only 13% of the medical schools surveyed teach the endocannabinoid science to our future doctors.”

The good side to such numbers is they can only improve: CS Medical School and we’ll all do better!

I. Skin Homeostasis (Transient Receptor Potential) and Cannabinoids
“In the skin, cannabinoid lipids, whether of endogenous or exogenous origin, are capable of regulating numerous sensory, homeostatic, and inflammatory events. Although many of these effects are mediated by metabotropic cannabinoid receptors, a growing body of evidence has revealed that multiple members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channel family can act as "ionotropic cannabinoid receptors". Furthermore, many of these same TRP channels are intimately involved in cutaneous processes that include the initiation of pain, temperature, and itch perception, the maintenance of epidermal homeostasis, the regulation of hair follicles and sebaceous glands, and the modulation of dermatitis. Ionotropic cannabinoid receptors therefore represent potentially attractive targets for the therapeutic use of cannabinoids to treat sensory and dermatological diseases. Furthermore, the interactions between neurons and other cell types that are mediated by cutaneous ionotropic cannabinoid receptors are likely to be recapitulated during physiological and pathophysiological processes in the central nervous system and elsewhere, making the skin an ideal setting in which to dissect general complexities of cannabinoid signaling.”
TRP Channel Cannabinoid Receptors in Skin Sensation, Homeostasis, and Inflammation.
Caterina MJ.
ACS Chem Neurosci. 2014 Nov 19;5(11):1107-16. doi: 10.1021/cn5000919. Epub 2014 Jun 17.
PMID: 24915599 [PubMed - in process]
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II. Cancer (Glioma) Angiogenesis and the CS (THC and CBD)
“High-grade glioma is one of the most aggressive cancers in adult humans and long-term survival rates are very low as standard treatments for glioma remain largely unsuccessful. Cannabinoids have been shown to specifically inhibit glioma growth as well as neutralize oncogenic processes such as angiogenesis. In an attempt to improve treatment outcome, we have investigated the effect of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) both alone and in combination with radiotherapy in a number of glioma cell lines (T98G, U87MG, and GL261). … Taken together, our data highlight the possibility that these cannabinoids can prime glioma cells to respond better to ionizing radiation, and suggest a potential clinical benefit for glioma patients by using these two treatment modalities.”
The Combination of Cannabidiol and Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Enhances the Anticancer Effects of Radiation in an Orthotopic Murine Glioma Model.
Scott KA, Dalgleish AG, Liu WM.
Mol Cancer Ther. 2014 Nov 14. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 25398831 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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III. Homeostasis: Neuropathic Pain and the CS
“Treatment options for neuropathic pain have limited efficacy and use is fraught with dose-limiting adverse effects. The endocannabinoid system has been elucidated over the last several years, demonstrating a significant interface with pain homeostasis. Exogenous cannabinoids have been demonstrated to be effective in a range of experimental neuropathic pain models, and there is mounting evidence for therapeutic use in human neuropathic pain conditions. This article reviews the history, pharmacologic development, clinical trials results, and the future potential of nonsmoked, orally bioavailable, nonpsychoactive cannabinoids in the management of neuropathic pain.”
Cannabinoids for neuropathic pain.
Fine PG, Rosenfeld MJ.
Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2014 Oct;18(10):451. doi: 10.1007/s11916-014-0451-2.
PMID: 25160710 [PubMed - in process]
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Video: HOW and WHY does Cannabis Cure Cancer - Scientific Explanation

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner