Up Close and Personal
The monthly interview with CTM Founder, Phillip Day

ECLUB: Where are you calling from?
PD: Adelaide. Rain streaming down the windows.
ECLUB: Not getting that second summer then?
PD: Actually, we are. The trees are in bloom. A strange feeling considering we left the UK as autumn was coming on.
ECLUB: How fares the Attitude Tour? Can you give us an idea of some of the problems people are having Down Under?
PD: Same as Britain. Mostly lifestyle and diet problems that, with a little tweaking, can produce amazing results. Depression is a big issue, as with the UK, life's woes gaining the upper hand. The next disaster around the corner after the tsunami, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Pakistan earthquake, bombs in London and Bali. Now the avian flu scare with governments adopting their usual stance of 'vaccinate or die', running the usual sales pitch on Big Pharma's behalf.
ECLUB: Are chickens a realistic threat?
PD: Only at certain fast-food outlets, in my view.
ECLUB: No, really.
PD: Was it with SARS, Swine Flu or Hong Kong, Brian? Let us remind ourselves of the scary headlines two years ago in regard to SARS, when TV was regaling us with pictures of Asians hurrying down the streets, face-masks clamped to their mouths. Professor Andrew Burd, a surgeon in Hong Kong interviewed by the BBC, had this to say at the time: "With this SARS, we have colleagues fighting for their lives. We have an invisible killer in our midst. We are at war, but our enemy has no name, no identity. Now, as I sit at home with my young son quietly sleeping and my wife pottering in the background, I wonder what tomorrow will bring." And from Dr Patrick Dixon: "Even if we rapidly eliminate SARS, we remain at risk of future viral mutations, and should expect more dangerous new viruses to emerge over the next ten years." Some estimates in 2003 put the projected death toll at 500,000,000. What was the reality? 100 fatalities, none provably anything beyond usual flu, affecting those with impaired immunity.
ECLUB: And that's the whole point, isn't it?
PD: Absolutely. What annoys me are the comparisons drawn with the 'Spanish Flu' epidemic of 1918, which did kill an awful lot of people. Interestingly, no mention is ever made of the unique factors which gave rise to that disaster.
ECLUB: Which were?
PD: Millions of soldiers returning from the trenches of WW1, having endured unspeakable hell, terrible conditions of mud, TB, non-existent nutrition, dehydration, unbounded terror, bombs, bullets and artillery. These and other factors uniquely contributed to these hapless survivors returning home with a myriad of physical and emotional problems, only to be confronted with vaccination programs, many mandatory, on an already impaired immune system. After that -?
ECLUB: The more the epidemic took hold, the more resolute the inoculation.
PD: Precisely. The resultant flu disaster killed more worldwide than all the bombs, machine-gun bullets and shells of the war itself. The baleful lesson we learned from that was that such pandemics are not 'infectious', they are opportunistic.
ECLUB: What advice do you have for those already frightened by what chickens have in store?
PD: Firstly, in the words of Corporal Jones, 'Don't panic!' Secondly, ensure you are well exercised, well fed, well watered and are taking a basic supplement program of vitamins, minerals and essential fats. Thirdly, and perhaps most controversially, think very carefully before you leap at anything Nurse intends shooting into your arm. These inoculations, whether 'tested' or otherwise, have a propensity for wreaking havoc on a weakened immune system, bringing on the very problem the jab itself was designed to abrogate.
ECLUB: The obvious question then, do you foresee a chicken flu pandemic?
PD: Certainly, if a particularly virulent pathogen bandies abroad, there will be problems, but only to the degree that people are susceptible to it through poor immunity - the bubonic plague is a case in point. My feeling is, we are witnessing yet one more chapter in an encyclopaedia of still-born, scaremongering programs which doubtless sell a lot of vaccine, which can certainly make people very sick if their body lacks the usual defences to cope. If there is a burgeoning flu season ahead, folks would do well to protect themselves by implementing the measures above and those discussed by Steve Ransom in his excellent Wake up to Health in the 21st Century. Garlic, allicin, proper hydration, exercise, sleep, reducing stress and worry are all excellent ways of improving immunity. No-one, unfortunately, is discussing the potential health problems of the vaccines themselves, and for obvious reasons.
ECLUB: A part of your Attitude talk this year has been to do with stress-busting. Can you explain some simple pointers people can use to accomplish this?
PD: Compound stress - that is, non-discharged, accumulative stress - is the big killer. For those it does not kill, the resultant existence can be wretched and torturous, fraught with symptoms, broken relationships, debt, crime, and so on. My Little Book of Attitude is designed to engage the reader in dispassionately examining areas of their life where they may be red-lining it. Most are not taking four-week holidays, for instance - we've discussed this before - which are most effective in breaking the locational factor that builds stress enormously. Simply removing yourself physically for a four-week period from work or home locations where repetitive programming thrives can produce dramatic results in peace of mind. People are able objectively to review their lifestyles and reprove themselves for 'overdoing it'. This objective stance is most important in bringing the sufferer to the point of doing something to change the path they are on.
ECLUB: Debt is a big issue too, isn't it?
PD: I'm afraid so. Those in hock have no choice but to work harder, longer hours, driving themselves relentlessly to avoid a financial meltdown, which usually happens anyway when they run themselves into the ground and can no longer work. In a world where credit is so available, people are tempted by the feel-good factor of a new purchase, a new lifestyle, which as we all know, is a Band-Aid for the true, underlying causes to their woes.
ECLUB: What dates have you got coming up?
PD: Cairns, Brisbane x 2, Caloundra, Gold Coast, Melbourne x 2, Perth and Shepparton (tickets available here). Also, next year's UK tour, entitled What's News? takes the theme of lifestyle changes much further, building on what we have been examining. Among the latest health news, I shall be examining major corrosive influences such as terrorism threats, political correctness, anger, unforgiveness, uncertainty, fear, and the control of everyday issues that can make the difference between whether you have a great life or whether you don't. Political correctness, especially, will be my declared and sworn enemy for 2006. Tickets are now on sale for UK and Ireland 2006. Don't miss this!
ECLUB: Thank you, Phillip.