Tarryall.net
. . . a Guide for Living Energetically
. . . a Guide for Living Energetically
NEWSLETTER
July 2008
Independence Day 4th
July 2008
Independence Day 4th
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| God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: This is my country! Benjamin Franklin There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty. John Adams |
What's New
Testimonial
No founder! Hi Rowan - Have a good report to give you: Little Jack Pony
did not founder at all this year. Thanks to you and your black oil sunflower
seeds and Chromium GTF! Little Jack thanks you and so do I! Alice V., WI
Reader Participation ... Thank you, Cathy!
Bottled Water ... Just found this gem of a resource. Comprehensive info
about bottled water. Over 2900 brands from over 115 countries shown
with their contents. You too might be stunned by what's shown here!
"Mineral Waters of the World"-- sorted by Fluoride content: http://www.
pmgeiser.ch/mineral/index.php?
func=sortMinerals&parval=Fm&dir=DESC&start=0
Did You Know?... (from various sources)
Point to Ponder #1 -Genetically Engineered Sugar to
Hit US in 2008
Background Information: American Crystal, a large Wyoming-based sugar
company and several other leading U.S. sugar providers have announced
they will be sourcing their sugar from genetically engineered (GE) sugar
beets beginning this year and arriving in stores in 2008. Like GE corn and
GE soy, products containing GE sugar will not be labeled as such.
Since half of the granulated sugar in the U.S. comes from sugar beets, a
move towards biotech beets marks a dramatic alteration of the U.S. food
supply. These sugars, along with GE corn and soy, are found in many
conventional food products, so consumers will be exposed to genetically
engineered ingredients in just about every non-organic multiple-ingredient
product they purchase.
The GE sugar beet is designed to withstand strong doses of Monsanto's
controversial broad spectrum Roundup herbicide. Studies indicate farmers
planting "Roundup Ready" corn and soy spray large amounts of the
herbicide, contaminating both soil and water. Farmers planting GE sugar
beets are told they may be able to apply the herbicide up to five times
per year. Sugar beets are grown on 1.4 million acres by 12,000 farmers in
the U.S. from Oregon to Minnesota.
Meanwhile candy companies like Hershey's are urging farmers not to plant
GE sugar beets, noting that consumer surveys suggest resistance to the
product. In addition the European Union has not approved GE sugar beets
for human consumption.
To take action, http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.
jsp?campaign_KEY=12700
... of course none of us should be eating sugar anyway, anyhow, but for
the millions who consume pounds of it monthly in their boxed cereals and
boxed everything, American families are once again the guinea pigs with
our children's health being assaulted from numerous sides. Thanks Cathy
for the heads-up!
Point to Ponder #2 - Ironman ... Ironmind by The
Health Science Institute http://www.hsibaltimore.
com/ealerts/ea200805/ea20080527a.html
Here's a curious quirk of nature that doesn't seem at all surprising once
you take it in.
When a pregnancy goes to full term, a mother's milk is ideal for her
newborn. But in the weeks before full term, mom's milk actually has
higher protein levels than full term milk. And that extra protein is exactly
what a preterm baby needs to build the body tissue that a full term baby
has already developed.
No doubt about it - mothers' milk is nature's perfect diet for an infant. So
you've really got to have some monumental gall to believe you can
improve on it. But that's what pediatricians, nutritionists, and formula
makers have done over the years, insisting that this perfect food is
deficient in some ways.
A new study reveals the consequences of such tinkering - and in the
process, shows adults the need to be careful about their own
supplements that contain iron, a mineral that's one of the key players in
cognitive health.
Messing with mother
At a meeting of Pediatric researchers earlier this month, researchers from
the University of Michigan reported the results of their testing of nearly
500 10-year-old children to assess cognitive and visual-motor skills.
The UM team found that children who had been fed iron-fortified formula
in their earliest years scored, on average, 11 points lower than children
who had been breastfed. The iron supplement kids also scored 12 points
lower in visual-motor skills, including spatial memory.
Now…how could this be? Iron supports cognitive function, so iron
supplementation would naturally do the same, right?
In previous e-Alerts, HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., has warned against
the use of inorganic iron supplements. When I asked for his thoughts on
this study, he wasn't surprised by the results.
Dr. Spreen: "Pediatricians loved to argue that mothers' breast milk was
lacking because it was remarkably low in iron during the infant's suckling
days. Huh! Funny how that fits right in with the results of this study!
"Iron is highly reactive when it's not insulated from the system by being
encased within a heme ring (hemoglobin). Free radical formation from free
iron is just too much of a threat. And apparently (as we've now seen)
infants just don't need iron until later when their appetites change and
they no longer feel like breast feeding.
"Seems like the more 'they' study, the more they find out that messing
with Mother Nature rarely offers any advantages."
Keeping cognition sharp
In 2005 I told you about a study from Penn State in which researchers
recruited more than 100 women aged 18 to 35. Blood samples were used
to separate the women into three categories: 30 were iron sufficient, 53
were iron deficient, and 30 were iron deficient anemic. Each subject took
a round of cognitive ability tests.
In the initial tests, women who were iron deficient (but not anemic)
scored significantly worse than women who were iron sufficient. Women
with anemia also scored worse, but took longer to complete the tests. In
general, the worse the anemia, the longer they took.
In the four months following the first tests, the women were randomly
selected to receive either a 60 mg iron supplement daily, or a placebo. At
the end of this period, the subjects took another round of tests. On
average, the women who took the supplements (regardless of their
previous iron status) scored just as well on the tests, and just as quickly,
as the women who were iron sufficient at the outset of the study.
Writing in the journal Cell, the authors of the study concluded, "iron
status is related to information processing in adult women."
But if researchers should follow up on those women in 2015, the results
of a decade of iron supplementation might prove to have taken a very
heavy toll. Better to keep it safe and get iron from dietary sources of
heme iron: red meat, fish, pork, and poultry, with beef liver and chicken
liver having the highest amounts of iron. An additional intake of vitamin C
can also help the body absorb iron.
... one of the best sources of available iron is liver from strictly pastured
animals. We use Carlson's Bison Liver caps as insurance, plus we eat
plenty of greens in blended/juiced form to both provide chlorophyll and
the phytonutrients to fully absorb all iron.
Point to Ponder #3 - The ADHD Scam and the Mass
Drugging of Schoolchildren by Mike Adams of Natural
News
Today I am bringing you news from the world of ADHD, because scientists
claim they have found a difference in the brains of children with ADHD
versus "normal" children. The brains of these children who have been
diagnosed with ADHD were scanned with an MRI machine. They compared
40,000 different points in their brains looking for signs of thickness in the
brain tissue.
They discovered that the brains of children diagnosed with ADHD were a
little behind schedule in growing. Yes, you heard that right. They said
they are about three years behind the brains of other children. Everything
else was normal. They said if they wait three years those children will
catch up and turn out just fine.
Now who is "they?" Dr. Phillip Shaw from the National Institute of Health,
which is probably the National Institute of Mental Health -- they are the
ones who did this research and this research has been making the rounds
in mainstream media. You hear stories about it all over the radio. I heard
one on national public radio today.
It just blew my mind. I will tell you why in a minute. Headlines in
newspapers and magazines, TV news, cable news networks all across the
country -- they have experts on there now claiming that ADHD is a
physical disease. There is something wrong with the brains of these
children. Apparently they forgot to look at the research that came out just
two days before. Do you know what that research shows?
The Drugs Don't Work
It was a team of American scientists researching what is called the "Multi-
Modal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD -- MTA for short. They
found that the drugs are useless over long-term. The drugs used to treat
ADHD such as Ritalin and Concerta are useless. They have no benefits
whatsoever after three years and even though they may show some short-
term benefits depending on who is watching, and depending on their
judgment of the child's behavior, the truth is there is no long-term benefit
whatsoever. But here's the most important part.
They found that these drugs stunt the growth of children. "They were not
growing as much as other children in terms of both their height and their
weight," said the report's co-author, Prof. William Pelham from the
University of Buffalo. "I think we exaggerated the beneficial impact of
medication in the first study," he added in reference to a study they did a
few years ago where they declared that these drugs were helping children.
"We had thought that children medicated longer would have better
outcomes. That did not happen to be the case. The children had a
substantial decrease in their growth rate," he continued. The second point
was that there were no benefits to children taking these drugs
whatsoever.
ADHD Drugs Stunt Brain Growth in Children
What they did not say in the results of this study is that the same drugs
also stunt the growth of the children's brains. Now this is my assessment
of the situation, having studied this issue for several years and knowing
that this drug is stunting the development of the children. It is very
reasonable to conclude that it also stunts the growth of their brains and
guess what? This new study actually proves it, because these MRI brain
scans of children's brains that found that these brains were three years
behind schedule in development.
80% of the children who were looked at with those MRI scans were on
ADHD medications. That's right. All that study did was prove that
medication stunts the growth of children's brains. Amazing is it not?
How lousy the science has become out there in the world of ADHD when
they are trying to push these drugs on to parents, children and school
administrators. They come up with anything. They actually take a bunch
of healthy children, they invent a fictitious disease, then they come up
with a chemical called "Speed" -- it used to be called speed when it was
sold on the street as a street drug. They give it to the children.
It harms the children, stunts their growth, and causes their brains to
develop more slowly. Then they stick these children under an MRI
machine, run some brain scans, and announce to the world that oh my
goodness ADHD children have smaller brains that are behind schedule.
How amazing is that? It doesn't take a genius to figure out what is really
going on here.
This science is so bad. I remember when I was taking a science course in
college one of the first lessons we had was how to interpret statistics and
how to watch out for correlations that might not be causations or how to
make sure that you do not have mistakes in reaching conclusions with
your data. This is a classic mistake.
These drugs are causing the slow brain development. All the MRI scans
are doing is proving that the drugs are harming the children. Notice they
did not take children who were not on the drugs, put them under an MRI
machine, and scan their brains. You know why? Because their brains
would be normal. They had to take children who were doped up on speed
and put them under the machines in order to get these results.
In addition, notice that they did not do this study before children started
being dosed with the drugs. They did not say 20 years ago: "Oh, wow!
Suddenly children are having this so-called disease 'ADHD.'" Let's stick
them under a machine and see if there is anything wrong with their
brains. They did not do that because if they had they would have found
there was no difference.
To read the rest of this excellent, very lengthy article: http://www.
naturalnews.com/023334.htm
Point to Ponder #4 - A Nation In Debt ... How we
killed thrift, enthroned loan sharks and undermined
American prosperity by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead,
columnist for The American Interest
Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life is the American Film
Institute’s pick for the most inspirational American movie of all time. Set
in the fictional New York town of Bedford Falls, the story’s grand narrative
is about the wondrous gift of human life, but its less lofty plotline is
hardly much less grand. It’s about the travails of George Bailey and Bailey
Brothers’ Building & Loan, an institution that is an inseparable part of a
stable, prosperous and above all virtuous community, as Capra makes
clear by contrast with the evil fat-cat banker, Mr. Potter. At the film’s
climax, George Bailey’s Bedford Falls neighbors and customers merge into
a single society, grateful, generous and all pulling together in the face of
adversity.
In an America just emerging from the cauldron of the Great Depression
and the Second World War, no one needed to point out to viewers what a
building and loan was or why it meant so much to many small and mid-
sized American communities. Everyone understood that thrift was socially
constructive, for through the accumulation of individual savings everyone
benefited from rising prosperity, better education and hope for a brighter
future. What war bonds had been for national security, thrift and home-
building institutions were for family security. The social capital created
through thrift institutions limited social polarization and marginalized the
depredations of greed, so the real small towns of America never decayed
into Pottervilles. This wasn’t just sentimental bunkum from Hollywood; in
1946, this was as real as a social fact could be.
It’s a Wonderful Life still makes for great entertainment, but a hint of
sadness pervades viewing the film today in a way it did not sixty, or even
thirty, years ago. That is because the American culture of thrift,
epitomized by no less beloved a Founder than Benjamin Franklin himself,
is at best on institutional life support. Somehow we as a society have
managed to undermine a precious social virtue and enthrone what
amounts to industrial-scale loan-sharking. In doing so we have
undermined a source of America’s real wealth and thus put its global
leadership at risk. What has happened to America’s thrift institutions?
How did it happen, and what can we do to recover before it is too late?
To read the rest of this article which either John or I could have
written as we live our Small is Beautiful, Less is More life: http://www.
the-american-interest.com/ai2/article.cfm?Id=458&MId=20
Point to Ponder #5 - Stop Right There! The Gardasil
HPV vaccine may be as dangerous as it is unnecessary
by Jenny Thompson of CSI
Your pediatrician is about to give your daughter a Gardasil vaccination -
designed to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV), one of the causes of
cervical cancer.
But before he does, he turns to you and says, "I should mention that
thousands of CDC adverse event reports, which include paralysis and
seizures, have been made in connection with this vaccine. Some of the
girls receiving the vaccine required hospitalization. At least seven young
women died suddenly shortly after receiving the vaccine, although in
some cases the exact cause of death hasn't been determined.
"So…should we go ahead with it?"
Many parents would stop it right there, while others would have no
qualms about going ahead with the shot.
But they might have second thoughts if their doctor kept up the
conversation…
Talkin' the talk
"So…should we go ahead with it?"
At this point a parent might say, "Well, it's mandated by the state, so we
have to."
(New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Virginia require the vaccine for all girls
entering the sixth grade. Similar legislation is pending in other states.)
Doctor: No, you can easily opt out. In this case "mandatory," isn't really
mandatory.
Parent: Right, but the state wouldn't…well, let's say, "strongly encourage"
the vaccine for all girls if it didn't prevent cervical cancer.
Doctor: Actually, the vaccine prevents HPV, which is just one of the
causes of cervical cancer. The best way to decrease your daughter's risk of
invasive cervical cancer is to teach her to be disciplined about getting
regular gynecological exams.
(According to the American Cancer Society, when pap tests detect early
cervical cancer, survival rate is more than 90 percent.)
Parent: So you're telling me that the state makes it SEEM like this
expensive vaccine is mandatory, and yet getting vaccinated doesn't
guarantee that my daughter will avoid cervical cancer?
Doctor: That's right.
Parent: And what are those adverse side effects again?
To read the rest of this article: http://www.hsibaltimore.
com/ealerts/ea200806/ea20080603a.html
Point to Ponder #6 - Organic Conservatism by Michael
Gerson, The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.
com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/12/AR2008061203359.html?
wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
TETBURY, England -- At Highgrove House, Prince Charles's country estate,
the wild minks are once again eating the large koi in the ornamental
pond. But the plentiful birds, often fed by the prince's own hand, are
keeping the snails on the hostas under control. These are among the
trials and triumphs of modern royalty.
The Highgrove gardens are a marvel of this very British art. In the gnarled
wildness of an area called the Stumpery, among the moss-clogged
foundations, amid cozy clearings and wildflower fields and tumbled walls
of discarded cathedral carvings, order is coaxed by craft, not imposed by
pesticides.
At the Prince of Wales's nearby organic farm, rare breeds of British cattle
graze on grass instead of the enriched feeds that would increase their
size and shorten their lives. The farm manager, greeted by the cows like
an old friend, explains his preference for homeopathic veterinary remedies
and warns about the overuse of antibiotics. Vegetable and grain fields are
renewed by crop rotation instead of nitrogen-based fertilizers, which
change the nature of the soil and reduce the immunities of some plants.
Few places on earth more distinctly bear the mark of a single personality
than this green and pleasant corner of the Cotswolds. When Prince
Charles began his organic experimentations two decades ago, he was
abused as a crank -- the battiest of the royals. Now the question arises:
Is such battiness the future of the world?
Charles, it turns out, was a pioneer in a field that now includes Whole
Foods and organic sections at every grocery store. (He sells his own brand
of organic products called Duchy Originals; the oat biscuits are particularly
tasty.) Many experts now argue that small-scale, sustainable agriculture,
not a chemical or genetic green revolution, is the key to food security in
developing countries. The surging price of oil and natural gas has raised
concerns about nitrogen fertilizers -- a fuel-intensive product that has
made the global food supply dependent on the energy industry.
I admit that some elements of the organic worldview make me
uncomfortable -- its occasionally pharisaical intensity, the endless lists of
symbolic and impractical "steps I can take to save the planet," the nearly
universal mania with bird watching (I refuse to get excited about all the
indistinguishable little brown ones).
But in the fidgety busyness of modern life, this intensity has a spiritual
cause. Indifference to nature is a kind of blindness and deadness and
poverty. And the rediscovery of the physical world leads us toward
harmonies beyond it. Wrote the poet Wendell Berry:
The organic worldview also has political consequences. Out of a justified
fear of the inherent irresponsibility of journalists, the prince's
conversation with me was not on the record. But it is safe to say that he
thoughtfully defends an older, small "c" conservatism: a suspicion of
unbounded technology, consumerism and agribusiness; a disdain for the
kind of cinder-block architecture that dehumanizes those it shelters. A
conservatism of place, of tradition, of the land, which honors the
awesome givenness of both nature and human nature.
There is a deep and neglected connection between conservation and
conservatism. It has often been a scientifically minded liberalism that has
proposed the planning of society and the manipulation of nature. "In
many important respects," observes the impossibly bright Yuval Levin,
"environmentalism is deeply conservative. . . . The movement seeks to
preserve a given balance which we did not create, are not capable of fully
understanding, and should not delude ourselves into imagining we can
much improve -- in other words, its attitude toward nature is much like
the attitude of conservatism toward society."
According to traditional conservatism, politicians should be like
Highgrove's British gardeners, clipping and pruning society to reveal inner
harmonies not always evident on the surface -- instead of uprooting and
replanting in, say, the severe order of a French formal garden. And there
is every reason to apply this same conservative philosophy to the physical
environment as well.
Depending on your view of climate science and agriculture, this organic
conservatism may be increasingly urgent. But there is little doubt it would
allow us to rest more easily in the grace of the world.
Menu of the Month ... A July 4th GrillFest Additions
Yes, yes ... I know grilling is now on the taboo list because of all the bad
things it's supposed to do. But the main thing is to simply sear the
exterior of the meat leaving the inside rare to medium rare at the most
See last months recipes for ideas. Along with your grilled meat/fish, toss
some sliced new potatoes, sliced mushrooms & sliced red onions with
EVOO or coconut oil, place in a veggie griller and put them along side
your meats. Serve with these other wonderful dishes for a wholesome,
toothsome holiday feast!
Basil Butter - this is a super condiment to use on, not only your grilled
steak or fish (see last month), but also on grilled corn or veggies!
Red, White & Blue Raw Salad - what a delicious, nutritious, fun salad
that's a delight for the eyes, too!
Colorful Pepper Slaw - instead of standard cabbage slaw, try this
colorful and yummy slaw using colorful bell peppers!
Quinoa Veggie Salad - if you haven't tried quinoa (keen wa) yet, maybe
this will be the dish to start you on your journey!
Brie with Blueberry Chutney & Strawberry Jam - great for either an
appetizer or a dessert! Make the chutney and jam the day before, and
serve in pretty bowls alongside the whole, room-temperature (day
temperature?) Brie for folks to grab what they want.
BLUEBERRY CHUTNEY -
Frozen Grapes - a favorite dessert for kids of all ages is frozen grapes.
Just pop whole grapes (the red and purple provide more anti-oxidant
value) into the freezer - delicious and fun both!
Words of Wisdom .... Bill Gates
Attributed to a Bill Gates high school commencement address, these are
great rules for all young people to take to heart regardless of their
authorship!
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will
expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You
won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it
opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine
about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they
are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your
clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were.
So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's
generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but
life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and
they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer.
This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off
and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do
that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have
to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
- ProCollar for Pets - Get rid of those awful, hard "Elizabethan" collars
for pets following illness, surgery, or whatever. Here is a much kinder
option! "The ProCollar is made of an inflatable plastic coated element
(high frequency welded PVC and a seven millimeter inflating valve and
also an anti-retour valve), placed in a highly resistant washable cover,
made of plastic coated material, with a zipper on the side, an
adjustable strap with velcro adhesive and three loops evenly placed on
the inner ring. It can be easily placed around the collar of the animal,
thus preventing him from biting an eczema wound, a bandage or a
stitching, while preserving the autonomy of a natural lifestyle for the
animal. It is therefore extremely well tolerated, in particular with cats,
who can continue their outside walks, as usual, without being in danger,
and who seem to forget its presence once wearing the ProCollar. The
animal's vision and feeding habits are not impaired by the ProCollar . It
also gives the animal a great resting position. The ProCollar acts as a
support for its head, just like a made-to-order cushion. Another great
advantage of the ProCollar is that it will not damage your furniture or
mark your walls as it was often the case with the traditional Elizabethan
collar." What's even better, the ProCollar is available at numerous
places including PetCo, JeffersPets, Dr Foster & Smith, and more. Just
google for more options.
- RetroRaw Recipe Books Available - Kieba (former raw body-building
champion Dawn Blacklidge) now has 4 - yes, four! - RetroRaw books on
sale. There are an incredible number of delicious, nutritious mostly raw
meals to gain optimum nutrition whether used for a short-term detox,
summer fun, or a life-time diet. The titles available are: RetroRaw
Recipes, RetroRaw for Kidz, RetroRaw for Sexual Vitality, and RetroRaw
Renegades ... and apparently at least 2 more to come! Learn more by
visiting her website at www.bodytemplebootcamp.com. Catch an intro to
some of her recipes right here on Kieba's page.
Testimonial
No founder! Hi Rowan - Have a good report to give you: Little Jack Pony
did not founder at all this year. Thanks to you and your black oil sunflower
seeds and Chromium GTF! Little Jack thanks you and so do I! Alice V., WI
Reader Participation ... Thank you, Cathy!
Bottled Water ... Just found this gem of a resource. Comprehensive info
about bottled water. Over 2900 brands from over 115 countries shown
with their contents. You too might be stunned by what's shown here!
"Mineral Waters of the World"-- sorted by Fluoride content: http://www.
pmgeiser.ch/mineral/index.php?
func=sortMinerals&parval=Fm&dir=DESC&start=0
Did You Know?... (from various sources)
- EPA & DHA good for the brain, heart, and more! - A new review found
good results from studies on the effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), omega-3 fatty acids, on psychiatric
and neurodegenerative, nerve cell loss, diseases such as Alzheimer's
disease, Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease. EPA is contained
in oily fish such as salmon, tuna, and herring while fish, liver, and egg
yolks are good sources of DHA. In addition, the body converts alpha-
linolenic acid, which is commonly found in nuts, seeds, and vegetable
oils, into both EPA and DHA.There is evidence from multiple large-scale
population (epidemiologic) studies and randomized controlled trials that
intake of recommended amounts of DHA and EPA in the form of dietary
fish, grass fed meats, or fish oil supplements lowers triglycerides,
reduces the risk of death, heart attack, dangerous abnormal heart
rhythms and stroke in people with known cardiovascular disease, slows
the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques ("hardening of the arteries") and
lowers blood pressure slightly.
- More on Omega's - Researchers from the University of Prince Edward
Island in Canada explained that decreased n-3 fatty acid levels have
been reported in patients with depression, schizophrenia or Alzheimer's
disease. The review reported that recently, EPA has been used to treat
several psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases due to its anti-
inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. A total of six out of seven
clinical trials have shown that EPA significantly improved symptoms of
depression when compared with the placebo-treated populations.
Several investigations have also reported that EPA could effectively
treat schizophrenia. A case report and a clinical trial have shown that
EPA was beneficial for the management of most symptoms of
Huntington's disease, while a more extensive clinical investigation has
demonstrated that EPA could only improve motor functions. The
American Heart Association (AHA) recommends including fish or grass
fed meats in the diet for all individuals, and fish oil supplements in
those with a history of cardiovascular disease.
- Bananas for stomachs AND cholesterol - Experts say that bananas
and plantains strengthen the surface cells of the stomach lining,
forming a sturdier barrier against noxious juices. Rats fed banana
powder had a visibly thicker stomach lining. Other rats were fed aspirin
and other chemicals to see what happened to the barrier in the
stomach. The lining decreased with aspirin (no surprise!) and even was
thinner with Tagamet. In the rats that were fed both banana powder
and aspirin, the banana counteracted the drug's erosive effects and the
lining was still increased by almost 20%. Bananas are also great for
helping to lower cholesterol because of their high pectin content. One
medium banana has as much pectin as a medium size apple.
- Locusts provide valuable clues to obesity - According to research by
Professor Stephen Simpson of the University of Sydney, locusts keep
eating until they take in enough protein. If locusts are fed a low-
protein, high-carbohydrate diet they will gorge themselves until they
reach their protein target. "The amount of protein we eat has remained
far more constant over time than the amount of fat and carbohydrate we
eat, which has increased in recent decades. This research suggests that
we should be focusing more on our intake of protein and that humans
may also have a protein target that, once achieved, will lead to feelings
of fullness. The next step is learning to recognise when we are
comfortably full to avoid overeating," said Professor Simpson who
advocates humans eat around 20% of total caloric intake from high
quality protein from grass-fed beef, chicken, eggs and wild fish.
- Traditional herbal medicine kills pancreatic cancer cells ... researchers
report that an herb used in traditional medicine by many Middle Eastern
countries may help in the fight against pancreatic cancer, one of the
most difficult cancers to treat. Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer at
Jefferson in Philadelphia have found that thymoquinone, an extract of
nigella sativa seed oil, blocked pancreatic cancer cell growth and killed
the cells by enhancing the process of programmed cell death.
- Rosehip 'better than painkillers' for arthritis - Rosehip could be more
effective than painkillers at easing the pain of arthritis sufferers,
scientists claim. The pain-relieving properties of rosehip, which has
previously been linked to reduced inflammation in osteoarthritis, have
been suggested for decades. Now scientists have found that powder
made from a wild variety of rosehip, Rosa canina, is better at reducing
pain in patients than paracetamol. [Interestingly, this was also shown
to be the case with all the early dog studies of Ester C, which Dynamite
uses exclusively in all its formulas including offering it in both capsule
and bulk form.]
- WARNING: Energy Drinks - The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
(BfR) analysed various human trials conducted over recent years that
noted cardiac dysrhythmia, seizures, kidney failure and fatalities
occurred after consuming energy drinks. "Warnings about the use of
energy drinks such as Red Bull with intensive physical activity or
alcoholic beverages should be mandatory."Denmark and Finland have
proposed banning energy drinks! [The best energy drink of all is some
fresh veggie juice! If an athlete during hot weather, add a pinch or 2 of
NTM Salt to a juice made up of celery, carrots & lemon, freeze in ice
cube trays and pop 1-2 into your water bottle.]
- Broken bones or bad heart? - Osteoporosis is one of the most over-
treated "conditions" ever foisted on an elderly population. And now a
recent study is showing that one of the popular "bone building" drugs,
Fosamax (Merck's third-best-selling drug, may cause heart trouble.
Findings showed that women who use Fosamax are almost twice as
likely to develop atrial fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat) than their
peers who don't take the drug. The risk of developing atrial fibrillation,
which is a major cause of both fainting (falling!) and stroke, was a
shocking 86 percent higher for women using this drug than for those
who've never taken it. What gets overlooked in fall-prevention is the
building up of muscle strength, which supports your bones as well as
helps you maintain your balance. [...and add greens, or Herbal Green, to
your diet!]
- Exercise & ghrelin - According to a study published in the International
Journal of Obesity: "Some research shows that exercising regularly can
trigger the release of ghrelin, an appetite-stimulating hormone meant to
protect the body from losing weight too quickly." To make matters
worse, appetite also appears to increase as you approach menopause
because of declining estrogen levels. Researchers suggest snacking
before you exercise, timing your exercise so your regular meal comes
afterward, and drink water regularly. Interestingly, those who drank
sufficient amounts of water, reduced calorie intake by 200 calories.
- Calcium pills beat fractures in new clinical trial - Daily supplements of
calcium may reduce the risk of fractures in a healthy population by 72
per cent, according to results of a randomised placebo-controlled trial.
Emphasising the importance of the supplements, researchers from
University Hospital Zurich and Dartmouth Medical School in New
Hampshire report that the benefits were no longer observed when
supplementation was stopped. The results are published in this month's
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. [The best supplement we've
found is Dynamite TriMins.]
- Ban GMOs Now - Dr. Mae-Wan Ho warns that further indulgence in
GMOs will severely damage our chances of surviving the food crisis and
global warming; organic agriculture and localised food systems are the
way forward. For more GMO info, click http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.
org/THE_FOUNDATION/News/2008/gmo_news/index.htm
- Emergency Pesticide Ban for Saving the Honeybee - Prof. Joe
Cummins' warning against neonicotinoid pesticides in the killing of
honeybees was dramatically confirmed, resulting in swift action on the
part of the German Government.The German Federal Office of Consumer
Protection and Food Safety (BVL) suspended the registration of eight
neonicotinoid pesticide seed treatment products used in oilseed rape
and sweetcorn a few weeks after honeybee keepers in the southern
state of Baden Württemberg reported a wave of honeybee deaths linked
to one of the pesticides, clothianidin. Produced by the pharmaceutical
and chemical giant Bayer, the incriminating evidence against
clothianidin was so convincing that a press release from the Julius
Kuehn Institute (JKI), the German federal agricultural research agency,
stated: "It can unequivocally be concluded that a poisoning of the bees
is due to the rub-off of the pesticide ingredient clothianidin from the
corn seeds."
- Niacin's cholesterol-lowering mechanism proposed - The cholesterol-
lowering effects of niacin may by located in the liver, suggests new
research that fills in the gaps in our understanding of the heart healthy
benefits of the B vitamin. The cell study indicates that niacin may
reduce the removal of HDL 'good' cholesterol by about 35 per cent,
according to findings published in the Journal of Lipid Research.
- Study links vitamin D, type 1 diabetes - Sun exposure and vitamin D
levels may play a strong role in risk of type 1 diabetes in children,
according to new findings by researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Department of Family
and Preventive Medicine. This association comes on the heels of similar
research findings by this same group regarding vitamin D levels and
several major cancers. In this new study, the researchers found that
populations living at or near the equator, where there is abundant
sunshine (and ultraviolet B irradiance) have low incidence rates of type
1 diabetes. Conversely, populations at higher latitudes, where available
sunlight is scarcer, have higher incidence rates. These findings add new
support to the concept of a role of vitamin D in reducing risk of this
disease.
- Long-term pesticide exposure may increase risk of diabetes -
Licensed pesticide applicators who used chlorinated pesticides on more
than 100 days in their lifetime were at greater risk of diabetes,
according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The associations between specific pesticides and incident diabetes
ranged from a 20 percent to a 200 percent increase in risk, said the
scientists with the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
- Mercury teeth fillings may harm some: U.S. FDA - WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Silver-colored metal dental fillings contain mercury that may
cause health problems in pregnant women, children and fetuses, the
Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday after settling a
related lawsuit. As part of the settlement with several consumer
advocacy groups, the FDA agreed to alert consumers about the potential
risks on its website and to issue a more specific rule next year for
fillings that contain mercury, FDA spokeswoman Peper Long said.
Millions of Americans have the fillings, or amalgams, to patch cavities in
their teeth. "Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have
neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and
fetuses," the FDA said in a notice on its Web site. Comment: After
decades of denials of the adverse health effects of dental amalgams
containing mercury, this admittance by the U.S. FDA of their neurotoxic
effects is clearly highly significant. Whilst it is expected that the FDA is
not yet likely to outright ban the fillings but will instead call for
restrictions upon their use, it would seem reasonable to presume that
an eventual outright ban is no longer a matter of "if" but a matter of
"when." [Ya think? As a former 23 yr veteran dental assistant, I can
vouch for both the very real and present dangers of silver fillings and
the very real and beneficial effects of home chelation therapy.]
Point to Ponder #1 -Genetically Engineered Sugar to
Hit US in 2008
Background Information: American Crystal, a large Wyoming-based sugar
company and several other leading U.S. sugar providers have announced
they will be sourcing their sugar from genetically engineered (GE) sugar
beets beginning this year and arriving in stores in 2008. Like GE corn and
GE soy, products containing GE sugar will not be labeled as such.
Since half of the granulated sugar in the U.S. comes from sugar beets, a
move towards biotech beets marks a dramatic alteration of the U.S. food
supply. These sugars, along with GE corn and soy, are found in many
conventional food products, so consumers will be exposed to genetically
engineered ingredients in just about every non-organic multiple-ingredient
product they purchase.
The GE sugar beet is designed to withstand strong doses of Monsanto's
controversial broad spectrum Roundup herbicide. Studies indicate farmers
planting "Roundup Ready" corn and soy spray large amounts of the
herbicide, contaminating both soil and water. Farmers planting GE sugar
beets are told they may be able to apply the herbicide up to five times
per year. Sugar beets are grown on 1.4 million acres by 12,000 farmers in
the U.S. from Oregon to Minnesota.
Meanwhile candy companies like Hershey's are urging farmers not to plant
GE sugar beets, noting that consumer surveys suggest resistance to the
product. In addition the European Union has not approved GE sugar beets
for human consumption.
To take action, http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.
jsp?campaign_KEY=12700
... of course none of us should be eating sugar anyway, anyhow, but for
the millions who consume pounds of it monthly in their boxed cereals and
boxed everything, American families are once again the guinea pigs with
our children's health being assaulted from numerous sides. Thanks Cathy
for the heads-up!
Point to Ponder #2 - Ironman ... Ironmind by The
Health Science Institute http://www.hsibaltimore.
com/ealerts/ea200805/ea20080527a.html
Here's a curious quirk of nature that doesn't seem at all surprising once
you take it in.
When a pregnancy goes to full term, a mother's milk is ideal for her
newborn. But in the weeks before full term, mom's milk actually has
higher protein levels than full term milk. And that extra protein is exactly
what a preterm baby needs to build the body tissue that a full term baby
has already developed.
No doubt about it - mothers' milk is nature's perfect diet for an infant. So
you've really got to have some monumental gall to believe you can
improve on it. But that's what pediatricians, nutritionists, and formula
makers have done over the years, insisting that this perfect food is
deficient in some ways.
A new study reveals the consequences of such tinkering - and in the
process, shows adults the need to be careful about their own
supplements that contain iron, a mineral that's one of the key players in
cognitive health.
Messing with mother
At a meeting of Pediatric researchers earlier this month, researchers from
the University of Michigan reported the results of their testing of nearly
500 10-year-old children to assess cognitive and visual-motor skills.
The UM team found that children who had been fed iron-fortified formula
in their earliest years scored, on average, 11 points lower than children
who had been breastfed. The iron supplement kids also scored 12 points
lower in visual-motor skills, including spatial memory.
Now…how could this be? Iron supports cognitive function, so iron
supplementation would naturally do the same, right?
In previous e-Alerts, HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., has warned against
the use of inorganic iron supplements. When I asked for his thoughts on
this study, he wasn't surprised by the results.
Dr. Spreen: "Pediatricians loved to argue that mothers' breast milk was
lacking because it was remarkably low in iron during the infant's suckling
days. Huh! Funny how that fits right in with the results of this study!
"Iron is highly reactive when it's not insulated from the system by being
encased within a heme ring (hemoglobin). Free radical formation from free
iron is just too much of a threat. And apparently (as we've now seen)
infants just don't need iron until later when their appetites change and
they no longer feel like breast feeding.
"Seems like the more 'they' study, the more they find out that messing
with Mother Nature rarely offers any advantages."
Keeping cognition sharp
In 2005 I told you about a study from Penn State in which researchers
recruited more than 100 women aged 18 to 35. Blood samples were used
to separate the women into three categories: 30 were iron sufficient, 53
were iron deficient, and 30 were iron deficient anemic. Each subject took
a round of cognitive ability tests.
In the initial tests, women who were iron deficient (but not anemic)
scored significantly worse than women who were iron sufficient. Women
with anemia also scored worse, but took longer to complete the tests. In
general, the worse the anemia, the longer they took.
In the four months following the first tests, the women were randomly
selected to receive either a 60 mg iron supplement daily, or a placebo. At
the end of this period, the subjects took another round of tests. On
average, the women who took the supplements (regardless of their
previous iron status) scored just as well on the tests, and just as quickly,
as the women who were iron sufficient at the outset of the study.
Writing in the journal Cell, the authors of the study concluded, "iron
status is related to information processing in adult women."
But if researchers should follow up on those women in 2015, the results
of a decade of iron supplementation might prove to have taken a very
heavy toll. Better to keep it safe and get iron from dietary sources of
heme iron: red meat, fish, pork, and poultry, with beef liver and chicken
liver having the highest amounts of iron. An additional intake of vitamin C
can also help the body absorb iron.
... one of the best sources of available iron is liver from strictly pastured
animals. We use Carlson's Bison Liver caps as insurance, plus we eat
plenty of greens in blended/juiced form to both provide chlorophyll and
the phytonutrients to fully absorb all iron.
Point to Ponder #3 - The ADHD Scam and the Mass
Drugging of Schoolchildren by Mike Adams of Natural
News
Today I am bringing you news from the world of ADHD, because scientists
claim they have found a difference in the brains of children with ADHD
versus "normal" children. The brains of these children who have been
diagnosed with ADHD were scanned with an MRI machine. They compared
40,000 different points in their brains looking for signs of thickness in the
brain tissue.
They discovered that the brains of children diagnosed with ADHD were a
little behind schedule in growing. Yes, you heard that right. They said
they are about three years behind the brains of other children. Everything
else was normal. They said if they wait three years those children will
catch up and turn out just fine.
Now who is "they?" Dr. Phillip Shaw from the National Institute of Health,
which is probably the National Institute of Mental Health -- they are the
ones who did this research and this research has been making the rounds
in mainstream media. You hear stories about it all over the radio. I heard
one on national public radio today.
It just blew my mind. I will tell you why in a minute. Headlines in
newspapers and magazines, TV news, cable news networks all across the
country -- they have experts on there now claiming that ADHD is a
physical disease. There is something wrong with the brains of these
children. Apparently they forgot to look at the research that came out just
two days before. Do you know what that research shows?
The Drugs Don't Work
It was a team of American scientists researching what is called the "Multi-
Modal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD -- MTA for short. They
found that the drugs are useless over long-term. The drugs used to treat
ADHD such as Ritalin and Concerta are useless. They have no benefits
whatsoever after three years and even though they may show some short-
term benefits depending on who is watching, and depending on their
judgment of the child's behavior, the truth is there is no long-term benefit
whatsoever. But here's the most important part.
They found that these drugs stunt the growth of children. "They were not
growing as much as other children in terms of both their height and their
weight," said the report's co-author, Prof. William Pelham from the
University of Buffalo. "I think we exaggerated the beneficial impact of
medication in the first study," he added in reference to a study they did a
few years ago where they declared that these drugs were helping children.
"We had thought that children medicated longer would have better
outcomes. That did not happen to be the case. The children had a
substantial decrease in their growth rate," he continued. The second point
was that there were no benefits to children taking these drugs
whatsoever.
ADHD Drugs Stunt Brain Growth in Children
What they did not say in the results of this study is that the same drugs
also stunt the growth of the children's brains. Now this is my assessment
of the situation, having studied this issue for several years and knowing
that this drug is stunting the development of the children. It is very
reasonable to conclude that it also stunts the growth of their brains and
guess what? This new study actually proves it, because these MRI brain
scans of children's brains that found that these brains were three years
behind schedule in development.
80% of the children who were looked at with those MRI scans were on
ADHD medications. That's right. All that study did was prove that
medication stunts the growth of children's brains. Amazing is it not?
How lousy the science has become out there in the world of ADHD when
they are trying to push these drugs on to parents, children and school
administrators. They come up with anything. They actually take a bunch
of healthy children, they invent a fictitious disease, then they come up
with a chemical called "Speed" -- it used to be called speed when it was
sold on the street as a street drug. They give it to the children.
It harms the children, stunts their growth, and causes their brains to
develop more slowly. Then they stick these children under an MRI
machine, run some brain scans, and announce to the world that oh my
goodness ADHD children have smaller brains that are behind schedule.
How amazing is that? It doesn't take a genius to figure out what is really
going on here.
This science is so bad. I remember when I was taking a science course in
college one of the first lessons we had was how to interpret statistics and
how to watch out for correlations that might not be causations or how to
make sure that you do not have mistakes in reaching conclusions with
your data. This is a classic mistake.
These drugs are causing the slow brain development. All the MRI scans
are doing is proving that the drugs are harming the children. Notice they
did not take children who were not on the drugs, put them under an MRI
machine, and scan their brains. You know why? Because their brains
would be normal. They had to take children who were doped up on speed
and put them under the machines in order to get these results.
In addition, notice that they did not do this study before children started
being dosed with the drugs. They did not say 20 years ago: "Oh, wow!
Suddenly children are having this so-called disease 'ADHD.'" Let's stick
them under a machine and see if there is anything wrong with their
brains. They did not do that because if they had they would have found
there was no difference.
To read the rest of this excellent, very lengthy article: http://www.
naturalnews.com/023334.htm
Point to Ponder #4 - A Nation In Debt ... How we
killed thrift, enthroned loan sharks and undermined
American prosperity by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead,
columnist for The American Interest
Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life is the American Film
Institute’s pick for the most inspirational American movie of all time. Set
in the fictional New York town of Bedford Falls, the story’s grand narrative
is about the wondrous gift of human life, but its less lofty plotline is
hardly much less grand. It’s about the travails of George Bailey and Bailey
Brothers’ Building & Loan, an institution that is an inseparable part of a
stable, prosperous and above all virtuous community, as Capra makes
clear by contrast with the evil fat-cat banker, Mr. Potter. At the film’s
climax, George Bailey’s Bedford Falls neighbors and customers merge into
a single society, grateful, generous and all pulling together in the face of
adversity.
In an America just emerging from the cauldron of the Great Depression
and the Second World War, no one needed to point out to viewers what a
building and loan was or why it meant so much to many small and mid-
sized American communities. Everyone understood that thrift was socially
constructive, for through the accumulation of individual savings everyone
benefited from rising prosperity, better education and hope for a brighter
future. What war bonds had been for national security, thrift and home-
building institutions were for family security. The social capital created
through thrift institutions limited social polarization and marginalized the
depredations of greed, so the real small towns of America never decayed
into Pottervilles. This wasn’t just sentimental bunkum from Hollywood; in
1946, this was as real as a social fact could be.
It’s a Wonderful Life still makes for great entertainment, but a hint of
sadness pervades viewing the film today in a way it did not sixty, or even
thirty, years ago. That is because the American culture of thrift,
epitomized by no less beloved a Founder than Benjamin Franklin himself,
is at best on institutional life support. Somehow we as a society have
managed to undermine a precious social virtue and enthrone what
amounts to industrial-scale loan-sharking. In doing so we have
undermined a source of America’s real wealth and thus put its global
leadership at risk. What has happened to America’s thrift institutions?
How did it happen, and what can we do to recover before it is too late?
To read the rest of this article which either John or I could have
written as we live our Small is Beautiful, Less is More life: http://www.
the-american-interest.com/ai2/article.cfm?Id=458&MId=20
Point to Ponder #5 - Stop Right There! The Gardasil
HPV vaccine may be as dangerous as it is unnecessary
by Jenny Thompson of CSI
Your pediatrician is about to give your daughter a Gardasil vaccination -
designed to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV), one of the causes of
cervical cancer.
But before he does, he turns to you and says, "I should mention that
thousands of CDC adverse event reports, which include paralysis and
seizures, have been made in connection with this vaccine. Some of the
girls receiving the vaccine required hospitalization. At least seven young
women died suddenly shortly after receiving the vaccine, although in
some cases the exact cause of death hasn't been determined.
"So…should we go ahead with it?"
Many parents would stop it right there, while others would have no
qualms about going ahead with the shot.
But they might have second thoughts if their doctor kept up the
conversation…
Talkin' the talk
"So…should we go ahead with it?"
At this point a parent might say, "Well, it's mandated by the state, so we
have to."
(New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Virginia require the vaccine for all girls
entering the sixth grade. Similar legislation is pending in other states.)
Doctor: No, you can easily opt out. In this case "mandatory," isn't really
mandatory.
Parent: Right, but the state wouldn't…well, let's say, "strongly encourage"
the vaccine for all girls if it didn't prevent cervical cancer.
Doctor: Actually, the vaccine prevents HPV, which is just one of the
causes of cervical cancer. The best way to decrease your daughter's risk of
invasive cervical cancer is to teach her to be disciplined about getting
regular gynecological exams.
(According to the American Cancer Society, when pap tests detect early
cervical cancer, survival rate is more than 90 percent.)
Parent: So you're telling me that the state makes it SEEM like this
expensive vaccine is mandatory, and yet getting vaccinated doesn't
guarantee that my daughter will avoid cervical cancer?
Doctor: That's right.
Parent: And what are those adverse side effects again?
To read the rest of this article: http://www.hsibaltimore.
com/ealerts/ea200806/ea20080603a.html
Point to Ponder #6 - Organic Conservatism by Michael
Gerson, The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.
com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/12/AR2008061203359.html?
wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
TETBURY, England -- At Highgrove House, Prince Charles's country estate,
the wild minks are once again eating the large koi in the ornamental
pond. But the plentiful birds, often fed by the prince's own hand, are
keeping the snails on the hostas under control. These are among the
trials and triumphs of modern royalty.
The Highgrove gardens are a marvel of this very British art. In the gnarled
wildness of an area called the Stumpery, among the moss-clogged
foundations, amid cozy clearings and wildflower fields and tumbled walls
of discarded cathedral carvings, order is coaxed by craft, not imposed by
pesticides.
At the Prince of Wales's nearby organic farm, rare breeds of British cattle
graze on grass instead of the enriched feeds that would increase their
size and shorten their lives. The farm manager, greeted by the cows like
an old friend, explains his preference for homeopathic veterinary remedies
and warns about the overuse of antibiotics. Vegetable and grain fields are
renewed by crop rotation instead of nitrogen-based fertilizers, which
change the nature of the soil and reduce the immunities of some plants.
Few places on earth more distinctly bear the mark of a single personality
than this green and pleasant corner of the Cotswolds. When Prince
Charles began his organic experimentations two decades ago, he was
abused as a crank -- the battiest of the royals. Now the question arises:
Is such battiness the future of the world?
Charles, it turns out, was a pioneer in a field that now includes Whole
Foods and organic sections at every grocery store. (He sells his own brand
of organic products called Duchy Originals; the oat biscuits are particularly
tasty.) Many experts now argue that small-scale, sustainable agriculture,
not a chemical or genetic green revolution, is the key to food security in
developing countries. The surging price of oil and natural gas has raised
concerns about nitrogen fertilizers -- a fuel-intensive product that has
made the global food supply dependent on the energy industry.
I admit that some elements of the organic worldview make me
uncomfortable -- its occasionally pharisaical intensity, the endless lists of
symbolic and impractical "steps I can take to save the planet," the nearly
universal mania with bird watching (I refuse to get excited about all the
indistinguishable little brown ones).
But in the fidgety busyness of modern life, this intensity has a spiritual
cause. Indifference to nature is a kind of blindness and deadness and
poverty. And the rediscovery of the physical world leads us toward
harmonies beyond it. Wrote the poet Wendell Berry:
- I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
The organic worldview also has political consequences. Out of a justified
fear of the inherent irresponsibility of journalists, the prince's
conversation with me was not on the record. But it is safe to say that he
thoughtfully defends an older, small "c" conservatism: a suspicion of
unbounded technology, consumerism and agribusiness; a disdain for the
kind of cinder-block architecture that dehumanizes those it shelters. A
conservatism of place, of tradition, of the land, which honors the
awesome givenness of both nature and human nature.
There is a deep and neglected connection between conservation and
conservatism. It has often been a scientifically minded liberalism that has
proposed the planning of society and the manipulation of nature. "In
many important respects," observes the impossibly bright Yuval Levin,
"environmentalism is deeply conservative. . . . The movement seeks to
preserve a given balance which we did not create, are not capable of fully
understanding, and should not delude ourselves into imagining we can
much improve -- in other words, its attitude toward nature is much like
the attitude of conservatism toward society."
According to traditional conservatism, politicians should be like
Highgrove's British gardeners, clipping and pruning society to reveal inner
harmonies not always evident on the surface -- instead of uprooting and
replanting in, say, the severe order of a French formal garden. And there
is every reason to apply this same conservative philosophy to the physical
environment as well.
Depending on your view of climate science and agriculture, this organic
conservatism may be increasingly urgent. But there is little doubt it would
allow us to rest more easily in the grace of the world.
Menu of the Month ... A July 4th GrillFest Additions
Yes, yes ... I know grilling is now on the taboo list because of all the bad
things it's supposed to do. But the main thing is to simply sear the
exterior of the meat leaving the inside rare to medium rare at the most
See last months recipes for ideas. Along with your grilled meat/fish, toss
some sliced new potatoes, sliced mushrooms & sliced red onions with
EVOO or coconut oil, place in a veggie griller and put them along side
your meats. Serve with these other wonderful dishes for a wholesome,
toothsome holiday feast!
Basil Butter - this is a super condiment to use on, not only your grilled
steak or fish (see last month), but also on grilled corn or veggies!
- Puree together until smooth: 1 cup fresh basil leaves, 1/2 cup
chopped pistachios or hazelnuts, 1 T fresh lemon juice, 2 cloves
garlic, minced, 1 stick softened REAL butter, 2T fresh grated
Parmesan, NTM salt/pepper to taste - Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Red, White & Blue Raw Salad - what a delicious, nutritious, fun salad
that's a delight for the eyes, too!
- Whisk in a bowl: 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 2T @ EVOO or walnut oil
& honey, 1/4 tsp NTM salt, pinch or two ground white pepper - Toss with: 3C cubed seeded watermelon, 2C fresh blueberries, 1C
julienned jicama - Refrigerate before serving on a bed of Romaine; sprinkle with raw
almonds or lightly toasted walnuts or pecans.
Colorful Pepper Slaw - instead of standard cabbage slaw, try this
colorful and yummy slaw using colorful bell peppers!
- Very thinly julienne 4 bell pepper using a knife, mandoline or food
processor - use 1 each red, yellow, purple & orange for the most color - Toss in 1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro
- Whisk together 2 T fresh lime juice, 1/2 tsp lime zest, 1T EVOO, 1
small minced clove garlic, 1/2 medium seeded/minced jalapeño chile,
NTM salt/pepper to taste - Toss all together & serve
Quinoa Veggie Salad - if you haven't tried quinoa (keen wa) yet, maybe
this will be the dish to start you on your journey!
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, saute 1 minced onion in 1T
butter until translucent. - Add 1 clove minced garlic, 2-3T smashed capers and 1 cup
soaked/rinsed (soak 1/2 hr, rinse 3-4 times in fine mesh strainer) red
quinoa for just a minute or two. - Pour in 2 cups stock (vegetable or chicken, your choice), cover and
cook on low until stock is absorbed - about 15-20 minutes - Take off heat and stir in 1/2 cup sliced black olives, 1 cup chopped
frozen/thawed artichoke hearts, 1 handful chopped fresh basil and a
whisked dressing made of 1/3C EVOO, 4T red wine vinegar, and 1T
Dijon mustard. - Once salad is cooled, adjust seasoning & gently fold in 1/2 cup feta
cheese.
Brie with Blueberry Chutney & Strawberry Jam - great for either an
appetizer or a dessert! Make the chutney and jam the day before, and
serve in pretty bowls alongside the whole, room-temperature (day
temperature?) Brie for folks to grab what they want.
BLUEBERRY CHUTNEY -
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat & cook for 1 minute: 1/2 cup
minced onion,1/2 C dried blueberries, 1T grated fresh ginger root, 1/3
cup apple cider vinegar, 1 cinnamon stick & dash salt; - Remove cinnamon stick, stir in 1/2 C honey and 1-2 cups fresh or
frozen/thawed blueberries. - Mix well and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
- Puree in a blender until smooth: 1 basket strawberries, 4T raw
honey, 2 tsp agave nectar, 2 tsp chia seed, 1C cashews or pine nuts - Refrigerate 3 hours.
Frozen Grapes - a favorite dessert for kids of all ages is frozen grapes.
Just pop whole grapes (the red and purple provide more anti-oxidant
value) into the freezer - delicious and fun both!
Words of Wisdom .... Bill Gates
Attributed to a Bill Gates high school commencement address, these are
great rules for all young people to take to heart regardless of their
authorship!
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will
expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You
won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it
opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine
about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they
are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your
clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were.
So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's
generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but
life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and
they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer.
This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off
and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do
that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have
to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
- Until August . . .
Rowan & John
| The information contained in this newsletter has not been evaluated by the FDA. This information in not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. All material provided is for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health program. |
