Homemade Toothpaste

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(A side note~ Thank you to my oil industry friend for understanding.  It’s important to me that we talk about oil and fracking toxicity and the need to reduce our use of it for our health, our children, and the planet.  I know that we have to have it because of some necessity, but with everything, there needs to be restraint in use and balance in nature.  And the U.S. oil companies are notorious for carelessness and stupidity. They are not proactive in knowing what to do if a spill occurs and they don’t take the damage they do seriously.  And we haven’t even begun to really push for sustainable energy, and no, sustainable does not include nuclear.)

Okay…on with this neat toothpaste recipe a poster in our mercury support group posted–

As you all are aware, I think Nature trumps everything man-made, so if I can find the natural remedy, I’ll take it.

I’ve been using plain baking soda to brush because A) it’s cheap, and B) I can afford it on food stamps.  (Now that I’ve mentioned I’ve used something I bought with food stamps, the neocons will do their best to get baking soda banned from food stamp programs.  Just wait for it.   They’re getting candy banned from food stamps because they’re just plain mean.  And while I’m here, you cannot buy alcohol with food stamps. ++ You.can.not.buy.alcohol.with.food.stamps. ++ It’s an electronic card swiped into an electronic system that will NOT allow a sale to go through of alcohol or cigarettes.  <sigh>  )

Sorry for the diversion, folks….just had to get that out of my system.

Okay, back to the toothpaste…she posted two recipes:

HEALTHY MOUTH BLEND (2-3 drops on wet toothbrush)
essential oils of cinnamon, peppermint, spearmint, clove, myrrh and manuka in almond oil
1/2 oz apricot or almond kernel oil
18 drops manuka   
24 drops myrrh
27 drops clove
34 drops cinnamon (20 bark, 14 leaf)
36 drops peppermint
42 drops spearmint
MAKES TOTAL generous 3/4 oz
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I’m not wild about oil, although others swear by it.  They also swear by oil pulling, which is where you put olive oil in your mouth and swish it around like mouthwash.  This is called “pulling” because it is supposed to pull the icky stuff out of your mouth.
I tried it for awhile, and it actually made things worse.  I started having tooth pain.  This was at the start of the GAPS diet, and my teeth were really showing the detox at that time–lots of tooth aches.  Weston Price is spot on about one’s health showing up in the mouth.  He was a dentist that traveled the world, and noticed that the indigenous folks had beautiful teeth.  They did not brush their teeth, and they did not have dental decay!   However, once they adopted a Western diet of grains, they suddenly began to have dental issues.  Fascinating, eh?
Here’s the other recipe:
Herbal Healing Toothpowder Recipe (Dip your web toothbrush in it) It healed my teeth sensitivity
This combination of herbs helps heal mild to moderate cases of gingivitis by tightening gums and fighting bacteria. It’s very astringent.

2 tablespoons powdered myrrh
4 tablespoons powdered white oak bark
4 tablespoons baking soda-arrowroot
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon powdered cloves
¼ teaspoon powdered cinnamon
(my addition: red clay for stains)
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I made a batch up this morning — only mixed together the chemical free baking soda, pink salt, powdered cloves, powdered cinnamon…and it smells w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.
I’m wary of the clay, because of lead being in clay, but according to Redmond Clay’s analysis, aluminum is actually higher than lead, which appears to be minimal.   So…I might sprinkle a tiny bit on my toothbrush, but not add it to the mix.  That way, if I decide later that I don’t want to use it, I haven’t wasted the whole batch.

 

Senate asks Canadian residents for testimony

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The U.S. Senate has asked residents that were forced out of their homes by tarsands in Alberta, Canada, to testify about their experience.

They say in the report that they don’t want to be used for political gain.  I can’t blame them for that–enough evidence of people being used by politicians for them to be wary.

But it is no secret that petroleum is toxic and tarsands are much, much more toxic. 

From the second link:

Tailings ponds which now cover an area the sized of Washington DC contain multiple toxic chemicals including arsenic, benzene, lead, mercury, naphthenic acid, and ammonia.  As much as 2.9 million gallons of toxic tailings leak into the environment every day.  A 2014 study showed that extreme concentrations of PAHs present in tailings may be evaporating into the air and then deposited into water.  New federal research by Environment Canada released in February 2014 confirms that leaking tailings ponds are leaching into groundwater and then into the Athabasca River.

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As someone whom has suffered from mercury toxicity, this is particularly alarming to me.  I can be a witness to how devastating this heavy metal is and how difficult it is to get it out of your system and get well again.

Meanwhile, the Enbridge pipeline project is due to get underway in Indiana.  Yet, there are *crickets* from the environmental groups, media, etc.  This is our “XL”…and no one gives a sh*t.

As a side note~ I know there are folks in the oil industry who read my blog–this is not meant to offend, but I can’t be silent on the destruction of the environment for humans, animals, plants, water, and soil.

 

 

 

Update: Shanesha Taylor

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I went back to look for updates on Shanesha Taylor, the mother who left her kids in a car to go to a job interview. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Leonard Pitts has a good piece up on her plight–the difficulties the poor face in trying to get out of poverty.  He makes some stinging observations about all the waste in Congress…and yet…they would rather deny people food and aid to get out of poverty…

 

 

 

Vancouver peaceful pipeline protests

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A problem that plagues peaceful protestors are those that wish to cause trouble.

The problem is in knowing if they are bad actors looking to stir things up for their own amusement or agent provocateurs–sent in by agencies or the oil companies themselves to give the non-violent activists a bad name.  The next problem is banishing them from the movement.

The person calling himself “james Moore” in the piece is typical.  Not knowing the writer of the piece, it’s hard to know if this person said those things or whether it is fabricated to make them look bad.  Or worse–to put this out there to justify police crackdown.

Like I’ve said before, I won’t support violence and many folks who would otherwise support environmentalists will back away from violent protests.

Setting police vehicles on fire is not violence in that it hurts a human being, but it is destructive…and is counterproductive if you think about all the toxins you’re sending into that very environment you’re trying to protect.  You might feel a release of frustration for a moment or two, but in the end, it doesn’t further your cause.

 

 

We are Not Bug Splats

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Just how dehumanizing is it to refer to people you kill as “bug splats”??  Good God.

Dehumanizing the “other” is as old as…well, war…I suppose.  The “other” are portrayed as dogs, rats,  and other things to dehumanize them.  It makes it easier to shoot someone if you no longer see them as a human being.

200 innocent children dead.  We should hang our heads in shame.

 

Koch Brothers and Kansas

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Jan Resseger has another excellent post up on her take of the Americans for Prosperity, aka Koch Brothers, and what’s happened in Kansas.

 

Jeff Glendening, the director of the Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity was quoted—framing the legislation as part of a fight between those who stand for children and those who stand for “adult” interests—by the NY Times : “We appreciate the willingness of the Legislature to place the interests of Kansas children over the welfare of the teachers’ union.”  This kind of rhetoric is widely promoted by far-right groups such as StudentsFirst and Stand for Children. These groups try to imply that teachers, who have committed their lives to nurture children, are somehow a class of people working purely out of self interest.

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Incredible.  The teacher’s intentions are an example of a stunning psychological twist of the truth.  They claim to be concerned for the welfare of the children…but with Common Core, shoving special needs and struggling students out the door, and money being siphoned away from public education…we know differently.

As was pointed out yesterday, the teacher’s union is the same as the police and fire fighter unions….yet no one would think of saying that those unions are operating against the welfare of the people.

Related to this, Fred Klonsky has a post up on the pension raids with a statement on  the theft by Karen Lewis.

“This is a sad day for our paraprofessionals, especially our retired ones, who will see their pensions reduced and devalued significantly. They will lose the value of a third of their retirement savings, so instead of the people who crashed the economic system having to pay their fair share, our elected officials brutally attack the people who are most vulnerable—many of whom have become the head of their households, caring for both children and grandchildren,” Lewis said.

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Target the elderly/retired.  They have worked their entire lives putting into the system.  They deserve to have those pensions.  Now that they are retired, they have less money to fight back with–sly ploy by cowards to attack the weaker.

 

 

 

Kansas eliminates due process for Teachers

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What sad times we live in….

As usual, the comments are insightful and compelling.  They bring up the fact that it really isn’t that hard to get rid of “problem” teachers–all the administration has to do is harass them until they’ve had enough and leave.  Done. Problem solved.

I’ve seen this in the state government, as well, so yeah, it’s not really that hard to get rid of someone.  All you need is a bully in the midst while the administration looks the other way (or even worse–participates).

Urged on by conservative special interests such as Americans for Prosperity, Republican leaders pressed hard to eliminate due process rights for teachers.

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The handiwork of the Koch Brothers.  Destroy public education so the Koch brothers don’t have to pay one more penny for unionized workers.  More for me…poverty wages for you…