Little Gifts

(PERSONAL BLOG)

I thought with all the violence going on, to switch focus for a moment…

I have to say this has been one of the best summers we’ve had here in a looong time.  Except for a couple weeks of really hot weather, it’s been absolutely ideal.   I can’t believe the summer is over already!

So I’ve been taking pookie (a schnauzer with way too much personality) out for longer walks…neither one of us wanted to go back inside on such nice days…it’s always nice to listen to the birds sing while we’re out or a butterfly float nearby.

Today I saw that the grapes on the vines had matured, so I picked one  to taste and it was delicious.  Sweet concord grapes. Yum.

My tomato plant has bit the dust…something got to it and the tomatoes were developing black spots.  But I can’t complain because I had plenty of tomatoes from it.

Another gift was discovering the name of this phenomenal opera song that I heard while still in FW–I had access to cable from the former occupant and the public arts channel broadcast this song.  I regretted that I didn’t write it down then, but recently learned it is Con Te Partiro and it was Sarah Brightman singing it.  What a beautiful song…and a beautiful voice.

…and the gift of members of my family who have taken care of me.  I hope that I can return that gift one day…

Blessings to you all.

 

 

Syria update

Global News has this up on Al Qaida’s overtaking a village in Syria.  So the question begging to be asked is–why are we supporting the rebels, if the rebels are linked to Al Qaida?

Rallies here protesting Syria strike.

Rehab Saad, who came to Canada from Syria 17 years ago, said the Obama administration should back off its calls for military intervention.

“Barack Obama: You got the Nobel Peace Prize not to start war… Don’t start a war that nobody will know when and where it’s going to end,” she said.

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The President had this message.  I don’t think anyone is against helping people but going to war over it is not the answer.  Diplomacy is the answer…or don’t we know how to do that anymore?

 

Grandmothers to Grandmothers

This story covers the non-coverage of the AIDS epidemic in Africa.  The question of diet and gluten intolerance and poor immune response popped into my head, naturally…and I have to wonder about it with what is going on with these folks.

Why are the grandmothers okay?  That is, why are they healthy while the younger generations becoming ill? It struck me while watching the move “Philadelphia” with Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks that Tom Hanks’ partner in the movie, Antonio Banderas, was not infected with AIDS.  Why?  Why were some becoming ill and others not?  What weakened one’s immune system?  What strengthened the others?

I see this over and over with each passing generation.  Our DNA is altered by chemicals/toxins in the environment, becoming weaker with each generation.

Here’s a really good piece on AIDS in Africa and all the devastation.  It’s an older piece, but lots of good background here.   The first video on here is only six minutes, but wow does it pack a lot in.  The second video is equally informative about the TB connection.

It is disheartening that vitamins are dismissed in this article.  Granted, the person pushing them might have been looking for profits, but without extra vitamins, I would not be recovering.  When the body is toxic and the immune system is under attack, the ability to absorb vitamins is seriously impaired, making it imperative for the person to take extra amounts to counteract it.  Diet probably has more do to with recovery than any drug.  The body performs miracles every day with chemical-free food, chemical-free water, and chemical-free air.  To dismiss these factors does a grave disservice to the ill.  Drugs alone cannot cure someone.  This approach by Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders) bothers me in that they are pushing Western medicine which places little importance on diet and promotes vaccination.  I also wonder about the genetically modified food in Africa and its impact on the gut and therefore, their health and ability to fight off AIDS.

So…I couldn’t shake the feeling of the stealth push for more drugs from Big Pharma…and I started getting that “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation” feeling…

….so I went searching to see if there was a link….yup.

My first thought was to delete everything I had written…but no, there is good info here, but I just ask my dear readers to keep the drug pushing stuff in perspective.

Here’s a piece by greenpeace on warning the Africans of GMO’s.

There was plenty of non-GM food available including surpluses in other parts of Africa, but the White House ignored appeals by the World Food Programme and the EU to donate cash to African countries to buy surplus food from the region which would have supported local farmers rather than US-based GM multinationals.

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At the time Dr Chuck Benbrook, a leading US agronomist and former Executive Director of the Board on Agriculture for the US National Academy of Sciences said: “There is no shortage of non-GMO foods which could be offered to Zambia by public and private donors. To a large extent, this ‘crisis’ has been manufactured – might I say, ‘engineered’ – by those looking for a new source of traction in the evolving global debate over agricultural biotechnology. To use the needs of Zambians to score ‘political points’ on behalf of biotechnology strikes many as unethical and indeed shameless.”

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As  a side note~~I was watching TV recently where they talked about a huge white diamond taken out of Africa, worth I think he said $35 million.   I cynically told my sister, “and that money went right back to Africa, didn’t it….?”

And on it goes…

University of British Columbia also has the “YOUNG” chant for freshmen.  <sigh>

From the article:

“It certainly fosters a sense that the violation of women and young girls is no big deal and that can’t help but encourage people to consider taking advantage.”

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My point exactly.

Think of it in the terms of racism.  Most people understand racist songs or jokes now because the black community pointed them out.  So it’s my hope that pointing this out will lead to the end of the rape culture.   It is more difficult to do when, as we see here, violent sex is considered normal and even celebrated.

Those participating in it have ignored or dismissed the spiritual aspect of sex.  Women are objects to do things to, and not spiritual human beings to connect with…

David Vs. Goliath

….or in other words, everyday farmers versus Monsanto.

It makes no sense whatsoever that farmers who want nothing to do with Monsanto are being charged with patent infringement when their fields become contaminated.  If anything, they should be able to sue Monsanto for trespass.

 

The rape culture in action

Students were actually chanting misogynist lyrics advocating rape.    The administration claims to not have known about it, but a student had complained when she was a freshman in college, but….wait for it….her complaint was not taken seriously.   She probably was portrayed as an uptight bitch who hates men….<sigh>