Category Archives: food

The rule of law

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A plea from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.  I find it real hard to believe Israel feels threatened by Palestinians when they have nuclear capabilities.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe Hamas has those same capabilities.  They just want to feed their families. To live their lives and be let alone.  This means not starving them.

And how would Hillary Clinton help smooth tensions? Since she threatened to obliterate Iran if it starts a war with Israel, I’m not real confident that she would be seen as neutral by Palestinians.  Just a guess.

Pay us enough…

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…so we can raise our own families….

It’s now too common that workers in stores are paid so little that they can’t even afford to shop in the store they work for…

I’ve had a friend who shopped at Walmart and when I raised concerns about how they treated their employees, she was upset because she couldn’t afford to shop anywhere else.  I avoid it like the plague–only going there if no other option is available (i.e., I’m in another town or the item I want is not in what few independent stores are left).

Another person remarked about how a national chain grocery store that paid its employees a decent wage was “gouging them with high prices” when Walmart had so much lower prices…the national chain store eventually went out of business, naturally, so now they’re stuck with only Walmart to shop for groceries in their small town.  Wanna take bets on how long that lasts–either they’ll raise prices with no  competition or the folks in town will find yet another mega-store in a nearby town that has even lower prices so they’ll shop there, driving miles out of the way…buying more crap made out of China in sweatshops…God, this depresses me even writing it…

When is Congress going to raise the minimum wage to a living wage of $11.00 an hour?  Oh, wait, we can’t do that…because that will…what are the excuses again…?

Progress

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(PERSONAL BLOG)

I haven’t posted on my progress for awhile, so I thought I’d put this up–

I am finally able to eat a little garlic. This is wonderful for me because I love it in butter sauce over spaghetti pasta.  Only now I have to use spaghetti squash.  It’s still delicious, though, and garlic is a wonder food.  It was actually used in WWII for the soldiers’ ailments (before penicillin was discovered).  It’s a natural antibacterial, antifungal and is just an all-around superfood for the immune system.  So, yeah, it’s good that I can eat it…as long as it’s not too often–still have issues if I eat too much of a good thing.

I can eat green leafy lettuce now, too, which is w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.  I discovered a simple but delicious recipe in the book How to Cook without a Book.   I’ve discovered that most gluten-free books are written by people who don’t know how to cook.  This book, although not aimed at the gluten-free crowd, nevertheless has wonderful recipes that I’ve adapted.  She gives a basic ingredient list and then gives one different go-togethers.  A favorite of mine is a basic leafy green salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing.  (personally, I prefer it without the vinegar) and she adds bacon, avocado, and tomato.  It’s the closest thing to a BLT, and I love BLT’s, but of course can’t have the bread anymore.  This is a great alternative and nutritious, to boot. 🙂

My skin looks so much better just since March, when starting this diet.  I figure if it looks better on the outside, the inside is hopefully making the same progress.

Other progress I’ve noticed is that I’m able to handle stress a lot better.  This is crucial because the adrenals take such a beating with heavy metal poisoning that they can’t put out the cortisone to calm you down when you’re in a stressful situation.  In other words, you don’t freak out over stupid stuff.

Another crucial recovery is with my sense of humor —it is more frequently there than not…because I can tell you that my sense of humor has always been a part of my personality and with mercury’s affects on my brain’s creativity and linear thinking and constant exhaustion– that precious gift had disappeared.  It’s a cruelty that at the time when I needed my sense of humor the most, with the sense of connectedness, it wasn’t there for me–I had lost “myself”.  I cannot begin to describe how it feels to lose oneself–you know you’re still *there*  but you can’t bring *her* out.  Even more cruel is that every now and then, I’d get a glimpse of *me*, but as I tried to grab hold, she slipped back *underwater* and out of my grasp.

I’m sleeping better, which probably helps all of the above.  Not great, but much better.

There are still days, though, when I want to withdraw and not talk to anyone (autistic symptoms).  And the memory stuff comes and goes…and of course, the dreaded migraines.  I do have hope, however, as others on the GAPS diet have testified that they had suffered, too, but are now headache-free (keeping fingers and toes crossed).

So…yeah…I’m…Feelin’ Stronger Every Day (James Pankow, Chicago)

Blessed.

 

 

Feed the soil…

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…and the rest will follow. (hat tip to organic farmers’ group)

Here we are, 2012, and still rediscovering what wisdom has been known forever…nature can do a bang up job when we cooperate with her instead of fighting against her…

The cover crops angle is the missing link that nourishes the soil while preventing erosion.  As the article states, it puts back nutrients that create that rich compost responsible for holding the soil together, holding water when droughts hit, and feeding the worms, which add their own version of rich casings (fertilizer).  (A side story–someone told me of a woman who detested worms and requested a chemical fertilizer be applied to kill all the worms in her yard.  I kid you not.)  Also, the article doesn’t mention the beneficial microbes that eat e.coli –which helps keep it in check.

 

The meningitis outbreak

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I’m waiting to see this entire story unfold, because there’s definitely more going on behind the scenes here.

Links here and here.

Here’s the CDC description of fungal meningitis:  http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/fungal.html

(I thought the symptoms are what I experience every month with my migraines–stiff neck, low grade fever, nausea & vomiting, altered mental state….interesting.)

Indiana is now up to 32 cases:  http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/indiana/ind-agency-state-has-32-fungal-meningitis-cases

It’s interesting that the CDC says the Midwest is particularly susceptible to the causes of fungal meningitis, that we have all sorts of bugs floating around that will cause illness if our immune system is compromised.  I’m also curious about the mold that has begun growing on houses here for…say, at least the last two decades.  I’ve lived here all my life, and never saw this.

I found this interesting piece on Purdue’s website:http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2012/Q3/poor-pollination-leads-to-moldy-growth-in-corn.html  Makes one wonder, doesn’t it?

My  “antenna” went up with compromised immune system, since I’m trying to fix my “leaky gut”–so….I went on a search to find more stuff on the connection between leaky gut and meningitis.  While I couldn’t find any articles directly linking it, I am suspicious this may be a factor in why these folks became ill–one of the big reasons is that we on the mercury support group talk about the fight against Candida and other fungal infections that take over because our immune systems are shot.  With the inflamed gut, that fungus enters the bloodstream, creating all sorts of health issues.

One of the cures, however, is a natural one:  coconuts.    It has lauric acid in it which naturally kills off fungal critters.  The group recommends taking a teaspoon of organic, non-refined coconut oil per day.  It has to be non-refined because the process of refining it takes away all the benefits.  You can also cook with it, as the health benefits are not destroyed by cooking.  I’ve also used it instead of shortening when I used to make oatmeal cookies <sigh> one of those things I won’t be able to have anymore….

It is supposed to be like breast milk, which also has lauric acid.  Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride (GAPS doctor/author) has stated that breast milk is crucial for the first six months of life–babies are born with a sterile gut and the breast milk will provide the beneficial “good” bacteria.  I think that is why the Boomer generation is so screwed–the majority of us were bottle-fed, and exposed to chemicals unlike generations before–both of which will diminish and destroy the immune system.

Here’s a pretty good website on all the health issues mold/fungus can cause.  It’s stunning that birth defects and cancer can be caused by mold.  And that it is a neurotoxin.  Wow.  Why isn’t more attention paid to this? And does GM corn and other food multiply mold’s effects?

Social Security going up by 1.7 percent

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…your grocery bill, gas bill, etc. will go up by 25 percent…/snark

Link.

See, this is what I don’t get–they were just saying not two months ago that this was one of the worst droughts on record and our grocery bills were going to be severely affected–but this article states that food prices have pretty much stayed the same.

Ahem.

Like I’ve noted in my personal grocery bills, I’ve seen several items jump $1 or $2 per item in a month’s time, which really adds up if you’re on a restricted budget, as folks on S.S. are.  They know that every time there’s a S.S. increase, it isn’t enough, and the prices will go up accordingly.  (No, I’m not on S.S. or disability.)

I’ve done a quick search of several articles, and they all insist, via the Consumer Price Index that grocery prices have remained the same.

I looked up the table they publish:  http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid11av.pdf for the 2010-2011 price list…and somebody ain’t telling the truth, here…

You have to scroll down to get specifics, and looking at something that most poor folks purchase: ground beef went up 11%.  Eleven freaking percent in one year!  White bread 5%; Cereal 3%; Bacon 13%; Fresh Fish and Seafood 8%; Eggs 9% Milk 9%; Potatoes 12%; Coffee 14%;  Butter 14%; Peanut Butter 6%….and non-food:  fuel oil 30%; water and sewage 5%; motor fuel 26% and on…

(note that medical care only went up 3%…well, now, the oil companies aren’t getting nearly as much attention from the politicos as the medical community’s medical costs increases…hmmm…twenty-six percent should garner a little more attention, dontcha think?)

But they’ll give you a 1% increase…

…so you can try to make that can of dog food go a little further…after all, the top 1% need those tax breaks so they can…feed and house their horses…and  John McCain needs another house…

 

List of Heirloom Seeds

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A member of the organic farmers group I belong to posted this website promoting heirloom seeds with lists of companies that provide them.  I thought I’d pass it along to anyone interested.

Here’s the main page and think it’s a pretty cool site on the harm caused by Monsanto, et al.   (As a side note~look at the end of this article–boy, does that hit close to home! <sigh> 1996…pre-9/11…)

Link to their “booklet” on the website–can’t read it all but the first few pages look very good.

Here’s another informative article.

Holy Crap

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Secret Cold War tests in St. Louis…

From the story:

But in 1994, the government said the tests were part of a biological weapons program and St. Louis was chosen because it bore some resemblance to Russian cities that the U.S. might attack. The material being sprayed was zinc cadmium sulfide, a fine fluorescent powder.

Now, new research is raising greater concern about the implications of those tests. St. Louis Community College-Meramec sociology professor Lisa Martino-Taylor’s research has raised the possibility that the Army performed radiation testing by mixing radioactive particles with the zinc cadmium sulfide, though she concedes there is no direct proof.

…makes you wonder what they’re doing now, in unsuspecting neighborhoods, for the war on terrorism?

My thoughts went to the chemtrails and how much they affect me and others.  I’ve definitely noticed a correlation between behavior and continuous (daily) spraying of trails.  When I had this last migraine, they had been spraying five or six trails at a time, all day,  every day, for three weeks.  (And I noticed that just before the elections in 2008, they were spraying the hell out of the skies for the four days prior to election day–keep your eyes on the skies before this election, folks, and see if you see the same phenomenon.)

Here’s a report on a news station:

I’ve read this this website before, but I can’t remember if I posted it.  A little dramatic, but I think there is cause for concern.

I went to the Environmental Working Group website, and could find nothing on the chemtrails.  Nothing on the Union for Concerned Scientists, either.

Joe Marmon has sued California authorities for contaminating the air.

Here’s a European take on the chemtrails phenomenon.

Czech Republic: