Category Archives: Big Pharma

Selling of the war

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Rachel Maddow has a special out on the selling of the Iraq War.  Unfortunately, I’m at a computer with no sound today, so I can’t listen to this piece.  I hope that she holds Hillary Rodham Clinton accountable, and the other dems who were all too happy to go along with the charade.

Gluten and dementia

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I’ve touched on this previously, but wanted to put out the links I’ve found about the connection between Celiac and dementia.  This really hits home because of my Mom’s suffering, which I am more and more positive comes from undiagnosed Celiac.

This is an interesting link about how someone might have Celiac, but the symptoms are neurological, not in the gut.

From the site:

British clinician, Dr. Maios Hadjivassiliou, a world renown authority on gluten, reported in The Lancet that gluten sensitivity can be at times exclusively a neurological disease.2 In other words, people suffering from gluten intolerance can have absolutely no digestive symptoms but will have issues with brain dysfunction.

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This is my Mom, in a nutshell.

Here’s another short and sweet site with a connection. Note that it says that the Celiac diet only helped one patient.  I would question that because the sample is too small and it doesn’t state what exactly the person was eating.  I have actually seen sites and cookbooks that claim to gluten free and they had gluten in the recipes.  And I would also want to know if the diet contained GMO food, which is also suspect at causing Celiac.

Another site here. Note that they say they saw a reversal of symptoms…nothing short of miraculous!

They often talk about how our compromised gut allows Candida (yeast) to get waaaay out of control, which also affects brain function.  They talk about it here on celiac.com and a post here on the NY Times site –-these are very good descriptions on what we go through–it’s also a good description of heavy metal poisoning sufferers. Note IrishHeart’s description of holding her husband’s sleeves when they went out–that shyness/autistic-like symptom.  Been there, done that…still have *those* days…

Another neurological affliction linked to Celiac is Ataxia–your balance is off and you look like you’re drunk (walking sideways)  when you walk.  People have been mistakenly diagnosed with multiple schlerosis when their symptoms were from Celiac disease.

Remember the teacher who wanted to carry a gun in school?  Remember the constant movement of her eyes?

From the site:

About 80% have problems with their eyes, in which their eyes move involuntarily back and forth.

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Now look again at that video here. I would say she’s probably a Celiac and has heavy metal poisoning.  (That will be $100 for a diagnosis. :p )

Once again, I am in awe of our miraculous bodies and how the body will constantly try to fix itself….if only given the proper tools of organic (gluten free) diet, clean air, clean water, and exercise….

 

 

 

Like the bad penny that keeps resurfacing…

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…Dick Cheney has emerged once again to darken the airwaves…

As Jon Stewart illustrates, you don’t even have to be credible in your assertions to be put on the tube.  You could be wrong about everything and because you’re a conservative hack, you’re given more air time than someone with half a brain who is fair in their assertions.

I was watching a bit of Charlie Rose this morning, and didn’t realize his was conservative-leaning until this program–which was about fixing the economy.  Since I came in on the last part of it, I didn’t catch who the three white guys were who were speaking.  They all seemed to be conservative and wanting to cut “entitlements” (how I am beginning to despise that word–these are programs that people pay into their whole lives!) and they pretty much spewed the conservative lies about how Social Security was going to have to be cut or other programs were going to have to be cut  in order for Social Security to survive.

Paul Krugman’s take on the S.S. program.

From the article:

Social Security has been running surpluses for the last quarter-century, banking those surpluses in a special account, the so-called trust fund. The program won’t have to turn to Congress for help or cut benefits until or unless the trust fund is exhausted, which the program’s actuaries don’t expect to happen until 2037 — and there’s a significant chance, according to their estimates, that that day will never come.

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President Obama mentioned Alan Simpson again last night in his speech….<sigh> …the guy is an ogre who believes he should be blessed while others suffer….

His 310 million teats comments. (hat tip to David Dayen at firedoglake.com)

And then there’s this. Greedy geezers? Seriously?  Does he not know that nobody is rich off of Social Security?  That it’s really not enough to live comfortably?  I suppose they should be happy they’re not eating dog food, but perhaps that is what he would like–that would show those “greedy geezers” for wanting to have enough money for food as well as rent, utilities, gas for the car (if they’re still able to drive, if not, money for a cab or public transportation), and heat in the winter.

(One of the sites I visited made a point that Simpson has been on the public dole for fifty years. )

Sure, I think Social Security and Medicare should be cut…

…let’s start with your benefits first, Alan Simpson (along with all of Congress).

 

Because it’s better to be mean and slim…

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…than fat and…well, fat and anything else…

Seriously, if you can’t look beyond a person’s physical appearance to see their true nature and humanity, then there’s nothing I can say to help you…

A story on the heartless remarks.

I am soooo sick of the attack on women’s appearance.   I have a sibling who is big, and she suffers injustices all the time from people who don’t even know her.  She is the sweetest person who would give you the shirt off her back, and for people to judge her on her size alone is shallow and contemptible.

I was thinking about this and how it seems that it’s become part of the bullying culture that is now the U.S. and I was asking myself “why”?

Well, with judgment shows like “Survivor” and “Weakest Link” and other garbage masquerading as entertainment, one doesn’t have to look too far as to why we’re so much more judgmental of each other.  Anyone who doesn’t fit the “perfect” model is to be judged, scorned, ridiculed, and disposed of in short order.  Because the person’s value isn’t in their humanity, but in how much they can gain for themselves…..

It isn’t about seeing the positives a person has and what gifts they bring.  It’s not about how each person has a gift to give, but about picking the “perfect one” who we raise up above the rest…

…and life just isn’t like that.

And I love what Gov. Chris Christie did the other night on Letterman.  What a great way to put it back into Letterman’s lap–very funny.  (and this is coming from someone who doesn’t agree with Christie on public/private/charter schools).(Personally, I do think he should cut out the gluten–probably has gluten intolerance, too, but that’s just me.  Also, someone needs to tell him about the cholesterol myth–that the studies linking high cholesterol were flawed, because he believes the myth that if his cholesterol is okay, then he’s healthy.)

Also, nothing is stated about the effects on GMO’s and the obesity rise in the U.S.

This cannot be stated enough.  Being fat does not mean you’re automatically unhealthy.

If I could live to be 100 by not eating gluten-free donuts (or cakes or bacon or whatever treat they say is bad for you)….but I could only live to 70 eating those things, I’d take the 70 and call it a good life.  I mean, what’s the point if I’m going to live to be 100 but can’t enjoy food?? Screw that.

And, lastly, let’s remember Jim Fixx.  He’s the guy that was an avid jogger and he died of a heart attack while running.  And you know what?  That is how I want to go out–doing something besides rocking in a chair or lying in a hospital bed  or worse, a nursing home bed, waiting to die.  People say “oh my!” when they hear of someone who was skydiving and died, but that’s what I would want to be doing.  Criminy, it’s not life if you’re home sitting on your arse, watching the world go by.

And while I’m on the heart attack thing–for the longest time the medical profession ignored the symptoms of heart attack in women “because they just didn’t get them”.  Then they began to discover that women were having heart attacks, but were not diagnosed because of doctor’s ignorance and prejudice.  Some women were autopsied and it was discovered they had had several heart attacks in their lifetime.  Now I hear that things have changed, and women are being diagnosed now, as their symptoms are different.  The medical profession has hopefully realized that women are different than men!

First Impressions

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Utility companies are not known for being friendly towards environmentalists…

…so it was with some amusement this morning at the organic grocery that I noticed a couple of young guys in Carhart’s getting what appeared to be their lunch for the day–hummus and some other healthy stuff.

Obviously they were employed in a profession that required them to be outside. Farmers? Not likely to come all the way in town for just a few things. Street dept. workers?  Possibly.

I got my answer when I left the building and saw a utility company truck parked in the lot.

Yeah, so I’m not sure if these guys supported sustainable agriculture (which means a decrease in toxins in the environment if we’re to survive) or if there is a total disconnect and they’re buying organic/healthy food without a care of how it got there….

I’m left to ponder…

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One of our rightwing radio hosts was talking Friday about the return of the robins to the area soooo early.

He tried to say that these were Canadian robins, therefore they were *south* for the winter….

Um, yeah…

I’ve lived in Indiana all of my life, and it has always been a right of Spring for them to return.  We never saw them the entire winter. Never.  That’s why it didn’t make it for the state bird–because it didn’t stay here all winter.

We were always excited when the first robins returned–we’d “stamp” the first one we saw for *luck*.

Canadian robins….pshaw.

 

Speaking of Scam Artists

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PR Watch.org has this up on the gerrymandering in Wisconsin.

From the article:

In early February of 2012, GOP legislators released multiple documents, but continued to keep around 84 emails confidential. The three judges — two of them appointed by Republican presidents — again criticized the Republican legislators for “an all but shameful attempt” to keep documents secret, writing:  “Without a doubt, the Legislature made a conscious choice to involve private lawyers in what gives every appearance of an attempt — albeit poorly disguised — to cloak the private machinations of Wisconsin’s Republican legislators in the shroud of attorney-client privilege.”

And…incredibly:

According to the documents that were released, Republican legislators signed a pledge of secrecy during the redistricting process and were told to ignore what GOP leaders said publicly about the new election maps.

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What is this, high school or college where you make secret pledges?  Seriously?? Does this mean they get double secret probation?

Note that some emails obtained by Center for Media and Democracy  were not released to the lawyers challenging the maps.  Just incredible!

I think this is why Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the tea partiers are so baffled that they lost the election….how could they lose when they’ve worked so hard against the democratic process??

 

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More on ALEC sponsors here.

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And, lastly, ALEC and the electoral college here.  They just can’t figure out enough ways to demolish the democratic process….

 

 

The political dynasties

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I’ve posted this years ago, and it popped into my head this morning, so I thought I’d re-post.

Doing a quick run-through, I saw this of the Bayard and Clayton family, which morphed into the Duponts.

Also, take note of the Baldwin, Evarts, Hoar, etc., families….There should be some law that families cannot monopolize politics—some sort of limit, eh?

And, this I never knew:  P.T. Barnum, of circus fame, was a politician….note the label of a “scam artist”.  Heh. politicians haven’t changed much, eh?

Enjoy the read.

Whales

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So, I finally got around to turning my calendar over to the month of February this morning.  It’s a nature based one, and this month has a whale majestically propelling itself out of the deep blue, much like this one.

A cool event here with a whale.  Playing hide-and-seek…gotta love it.

This once again proves that we know very little about wildlife and how they can display compassion.

Greenpeace is still fighting the good fight. 

This bears repeating:  the sad story of seagulls attacking the whales. Argentina has this plan to thwart them, but I think it’s not really addressing the reason behind the gulls’ attacks.  Something has caused them to begin attacking eight years ago…I hope that they’re going to test the dead gulls for mercury and other toxins, since it’s been documented that the birds are pretty messed up with mercury.  This would explain why they suddenly began this eight years ago–the rubbish aspect doesn’t really make sense to me because we’ve had garbage around for decades…why now?

Finally, a wonderful story here. The will to survive never ceases to amaze me…no matter how we screw up, nature still tries to come back.  Awesome.

The winter scene

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I was watching TV in our community room, when I see a motion out of the corner of my eye.  I look to see a border collie mix running and jumping in the snow, grabbing at an object and throwing it up in the air with his teeth.  The owner is shoveling snow and throwing the play toy to the dog’s delight.  As the owner walks along, pushing the shovel, the dog puts the toy next to her, but she’s busy and keeps moving.  The dog looks for a second at her, and then picks up the toy and places it even closer to her than before.

I love seeing the simple delight in dogs when they’re at play.  They’re just playing…freely enjoying the moment without thinking about the next moment….

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So, yeah, we have the normal winter weather that’s to be expected in Indiana….

…and I notice that a flock of birds are perched in the tree outside my apartment.  I do a double take when it looks like….no, it can’t be…yes, it is…a robin!  NO!!! They are not supposed to be here for another month!

Nope, there’s no climate change…

As a side note~ back in the day when Indiana was deciding what it’s state bird was going to be, the robin was up for it, but they decided against it because the robin flew away for the winter.  They wanted a bird that stayed here all winter and the beautiful cardinal won out.

If the climate change isn’t arrested, the robin will once again be back in the running for the state bird because it will be so warm that it will just stay here all winter…

…well, that’s if there are any robins or birds once we get done poisoning them in their (and our) environment…

<sigh>