 | "There's Justice In The Universe" |
| Posted 6/16/2011 11:59 PM CDT For years, I'd been battling with the houseflies which would hang around our back door on the downwind side of our house and then buzz in at the slightest opportunity. Now, however, since I hung a disposable flytrap up 50'+ from the door -- "Sterling NFT-D Disposable Fly Control Trap With Attractant" -- there's rarely a fly to be found trying to get in. They're mostly dead or dying in the trap. For the rare fly that does make it in, there's "Catchmaster Bug & Fly Clear Window Traps" (clear flypaper-like small sheets adhered to the glass) discretely waiting to nail them behind the drawn curtain in their favorite 'go to' window in the kitchen. Result: I haven't used a flyswatter in a long time. I just replace the fly strip occasionally. Note: If you are swatting them, aim a couple of inches behind them. I nail 9-out-of-10 doing this. They prepare a fancy back-flip as they assess where the danger's coming from. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otqcVG-nJGI |
| Posted 6/16/2011 3:18 PM CDT With the advent of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, 'maggot therapy' is increasingly a tool in modern medical care for the treatment of wounds. Maggot Therapy Video (3:01)- http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/30575-one-step-beyond-maggot-therapy-video.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggot_therapy#Biology_of_flies_and_maggots_used_in_maggot_therapy http://curezone.com/art/read.asp?ID=103&db=5&C0=1 |
| Posted 6/16/2011 12:10 AM CDT 41% of adolescents aged 12-15 now have some form of 'dental fluorosis', an outwardly visible sign of fluoride over-exposure and toxicity (skeletal fluorosis is a different topic). Those that are disproportionately impacted by fluoride are those who consume significantly more plain tap water, and thus receive more fluoride from drinking water (e.g., in infant formulas). Additionally, regarding fluorosis in infants in those groupings of people that are less likely to breastfeed, note that breast milk contains very low levels of fluoride -- babies fed formula made with fluoridated water could receive up to 200 times more fluoride than a breast-fed baby. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/05/poor-and-minority-americans-disproportionately-harmed-by-fluoride.aspx Solution? Discard use of fluoride obtained from industrial waste processes & only add proper fluoride to municipal water in areas where it is naturally deficient (which is a rarity). |
| Posted 6/14/2011 10:22 AM CDT Drug resistant bacteria is lurking. Staphylococcus aureus, the bacteria that causes most staph infections, was present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates... nearly half of the meat and poultry samples were contaminated... and half of those were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics. {1/4 of commercially produced meat in USA carries drug-resistant bacteria.] The Week; May 6, 2011 For the study, researchers looked at 136 samples involving 80 brands of beef, chicken, pork and turkey from 26 grocery stores. According to the findings, industrial farms, where food animals are steadily fed doses of antibiotics, ‘are ideal breeding grounds for drug-resistant bacteria that move from animals to humans'. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/food-resistant-staph/ http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/04/14/cid.cir181.full.pdf Can You Get Staph Infections From Meat? Staph bacteria are killed with cooking; but, if you eat your meat very rare, you run the risk of being infected. Likewise, it's possible to be infected with Staph while handling contaminated meat, or through cross-contamination in your kitchen. Do You Know Who Uses the Most Antibiotics in the United States? Farmers that run 'Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations'. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that industrial farms used a whopping 29 million pounds of antibiotics in 2009 alone. As much as 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are bought by farmers to feed to chickens, cattle and hogs -- not to treat disease but to make them grow faster. This increases profit margins for livestock producers, but it puts YOUR health at risk. http://www.bodyecology.com/articles/bacteria-meat-supply.php http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/05/07/nearly-half-of-us-meat-tainted-with-drugresistant-bacteria.aspx http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/animalcare/amr/facts/saylers.htm#antibiotic Related facts: Staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1960 - 13%. Staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1987 - 91%. Primary cause - overuse of antibiotics. Effect of antibiotics on viruses - none -- /> Number of antibiotic prescriptions written by U.S. doctors for cold viruses annually - 4 million. Total purchases of antibiotics by U.S. hospitals in 1962 - $94 million. Total purchases of antibiotics by U.S. hospitals in 1995 - $8.7 billion. Number of Americans who die each year from infections they pick up in a hospital - more than twice the number who die in automobile accidents (doesn't count those left disabled). http://www.foodrevolution.org/roh_facts_print.htm My Comment: If we don't correct the situation regarding overuse and abuse of antibiotics, suffering will increase incrementally. One of my neighbors is restricted to a wheelchair because of a hospital borne infection that antibiotics couldn't stop. |
| Posted 6/13/2011 5:21 PM CDT "Millions of pounds of Roundup are used every year on U.S. gardens, lawns and farms. It works by inhibiting an enzyme called EPSP synthase, which is necessary for plants to grow. Without it, plants are unable to produce essential proteins so they slowly yellow and die. "Ordinarily, if you were to spray Roundup on crops, it would kill them . So Monsanto created 'genetically modified organisms' (GMOs) Roundup Ready crops, which is not affected by Roundup. This allows farmers to liberally spray Roundup directly onto their Roundup Ready crops, killing only weeds and leaving the crops to grow unharmed. [Note: All the plants in the field, including crops, absorb the glyphosates, just as they do fertilizers / and then you and our livestock get to eat it along with the genetically modified plant that was engineered to tolerate absorbing this poison. A 'double whammy'.] "Evidence shows that Roundup's active ingredient glyphosate is devastating crops and human and animal health around the world.... more than 75 percent of soybeans, 65 percent of cotton, and 10 percent of corn grown in the United States contain the GM Roundup Ready gene -- and all of these crops receive numerous applications of Roundup each and every year." It behooves us, therefore, to be aware of some of the dangers of GMOs. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/us-monsanto-roundup-idUSTRE71N4XN20110224 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/08/us-glyphosate-epa-idUSTRE7374WX20110408 http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/roundup080805.cfm Take Action: "Tell the FDA to Regulate, Not Cheerlead for Genetically Engineered Foods" https://ssl.capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=15248881 Stop USDA's Plan for Monsanto and the Biotech Industry to Police Itself! http://organicconsumers.org/bytes/ob274.htm Related blog: Epigenetics: Double Edged Sword http://tinyurl.com/5w7dy3t |
| Posted 6/13/2011 12:05 AM CDT "Researchers at the world-renowned University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center published a groundbreaking scientific review of their favorite anti-cancer nutrient -- curcumin. Curcumin, along with several other nutrients, is remarkable in that it can actually tell the difference between a healthy cell and a cancer cell: "Curcumin is one of the most powerful and promising chemo-preventive and anticancer agents ... How curcumin exerts its powerful anticancer activities has been thoroughly investigated, and several mechanisms of action have been discovered ... curcumin exerts its biological activities through epigenetic modulation. "In other words, curcumin changes the regulation of DNA to help kill cancer. In fact, curcumin not only influences epigenetic settings, it also manages the downstream consequences, helping to guide multiple steps in the way gene orders are implemented." http://www.wellnessresources.com/health/articles/curcumin_helps_change_gene_function_to_combat_cancer/ http://www.accelerating.org/articles/curcumin.html |
| Posted 6/11/2011 2:51 PM CDT Each year, there are 19+ million new cases of STDs 'reported' in the USA, including 56,000 of HIV. Sexually active singles use condoms only 1/3 of the time. Also, the United States has the unfortunate distinction among industrialized nations of being the one with the highest rate of unintended pregnancies aka 'unplanned parenthood'. Banned Condom Commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5mp2sU9TU4&feature=related Note that the above was a 'banned commercial'. When I was teaching secondary school, I completely stayed away from this general topic. Sex education in any form is a no-no in almost all schools. Even the science teachers who teach a two week sex ed segment necessarily avoid any real depth (if they want to keep their 'tail out of the wringer'). As close as I could get was using labor department statistics to show how not graduating from high school (for whatever reason; e.g., pregnancy) cost 'X' amount of dollars in reduced earnings over a lifetime. It made an impression [especially on the boys, when I coached it in the number of new cars they'd not be able to buy by 'dropping out' aka 'not graduating'. I was tickled to see this same tactic used in the video]. |
| Posted 6/11/2011 4:34 AM CDT I recently visited an elderly family friend. During the visit, I remembered that twenty years ago, she'd been knocking on death's door because of an internal fungal infection that the doctors couldn't halt -- so, I suggested she try a homeopathic remedy (since she had nothing to lose and it couldn't hurt her): Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water and drank as you would lemonade. She did, and it worked almost immediately. Did she tell her doctors what she did? No. Why not? Because she didn't want to piss them off. [I wonder if this would help others?] http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/survivors-of-joplin-tornado-develop-rare-infection-1531330.html Did her not informing her doctors sound strange to me? Yes. But not anymore. I'm now at an age when I attend more funerals than weddings -- and the rigid mind set of some doctors has become staggeringly apparent. Plus, the legal shackles we put on the rest is stupefying. No doctor can do without medical liability coverage and they are forced to stay 'religiously' between the established lines [Remember Galileo? Remember Dr. Barry Marshall and Dr. Robin Warren?]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Marshall It's not hard to see the symbiotic financial interconnections between the AMA and big business [there's not enough room to list them all herein]. Example: The following is a story of the FDA and a doctor in Texas- http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/11/burzynski-the-movie.aspx The producers of this film are allowing a full and FREE preview through June 13th. https://www.burzynskimovie.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110 Burzynski, the movie, is the story of a medical doctor and Ph.D biochemist named Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski who won the largest, and possibly the most convoluted and intriguing legal battle against the Food and Drug Administration in American history. p.s., The only reason I'm doubling up on blogs today is that the film video is only available for free today and tomorrow. Note: While I don't know if Burzynski's treatments are as effective as claimed, I do think the FDA and AMA need to proceed with caution and not kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. |
| Posted 6/8/2011 12:18 PM CDT The old expression "Use it or lose it" can be applied to a wide variety of issues, including your cognitive abilities. The odds of developing dementia (or Alzheimer's disease)... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia#Medications http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease ...are decreased simply by getting out of the house. Those who consistently participate in social activities are much 'less' likely to experience significant brain deterioration (cognitive decline). Conversely, allowing yourself to be a 'stay-at-home' person is linked to 'increased' dementia symptoms. People must leave their comfort zones in order to engage in the kind of mental exercise that keeps the brain fit. The Week; May 13, 2011 http://www.livescience.com/13872-brains-party.html http://www.livescience.com/13358-widowhood-raise-dementia-risk.html http://www.livescience.com/9977-depression-increase-chances-alzheimer.html http://www.livescience.com/581-mental-exercise-halves-risk-dementia.html ALSO: Mediterranean diet lower risk of Alzheimer's: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers-disease/AN02036 Gluten-free Diet: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gluten-free-diet/my01140 [Note: I'm not saying your typical person needs a gluten free diet. I'm saying your typical person's diet is laden with too much gluten, carbohydrates and sugars / thus, adjustments need to be made.] |
Posted 6/7/2011 1:19 PM CDT
Eating healthier is actually far easier than most people think.
Several tips:
Focus on raw, fresh foods, and avoid as many processed foods as possible. Remember, if it comes in a can, bottle, or package, and has a list of ingredients, it's processed.
Avoid foods that contain high fructose corn syrup and limit ALL sources of fructose to less than 25 grams per day, and that includes fruit.
Limit grain carbohydrates (includes fermented grains aka booze) and starches (includes vodka) -- and remember that "the whiter the bread, the sooner your dead". Increase the amount of vegetables you eat (especially the more colorful ones).
Replace sodas and other sweet tasting beverages with clean, pure water.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/05/29/mcdonalds-and-pepsi-help-write-uk-health-policy.aspx
If you find yourself compelled to eat certain foods that are creating problems for you:
http://tinyurl.com/yacbcvw
[Be aware that this can also mean saving money at the grocery store. Eggs, apples, bananas, beans, nuts, legumes and other staples are not as expensive as processed foods. And increased healthiness means increased long term earning power and overall productivity.]
Note: When I go out to eat, I especially like Burrito Bowls at Chipotle and the Beef Fajita plate at Kerby Lane (with corn tortillas). In both places, I have them substitute beans for rice.
Several tips:
Focus on raw, fresh foods, and avoid as many processed foods as possible. Remember, if it comes in a can, bottle, or package, and has a list of ingredients, it's processed.
Avoid foods that contain high fructose corn syrup and limit ALL sources of fructose to less than 25 grams per day, and that includes fruit.
Limit grain carbohydrates (includes fermented grains aka booze) and starches (includes vodka) -- and remember that "the whiter the bread, the sooner your dead". Increase the amount of vegetables you eat (especially the more colorful ones).
Replace sodas and other sweet tasting beverages with clean, pure water.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/05/29/mcdonalds-and-pepsi-help-write-uk-health-policy.aspx
If you find yourself compelled to eat certain foods that are creating problems for you:
http://tinyurl.com/yacbcvw
[Be aware that this can also mean saving money at the grocery store. Eggs, apples, bananas, beans, nuts, legumes and other staples are not as expensive as processed foods. And increased healthiness means increased long term earning power and overall productivity.]
Note: When I go out to eat, I especially like Burrito Bowls at Chipotle and the Beef Fajita plate at Kerby Lane (with corn tortillas). In both places, I have them substitute beans for rice.
