Archive for the ‘News’ Category

FDA – The Food & Drug Abomination

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Genetically Modified Food

Genetically Modified Food

I just can’t keep my mouth shut any longer. I don’t have the clout to go meet with Michelle or Ms. Hamburg regarding the state of our FDA (just yet), but I do have a voice and if you eat food, have children that eat food or grow food to eat, I hope you’ll find an outlet for your voice too.
The FDA is not protecting us. Ajinomoto’s newly branded “Aminosweet” (read: aspartame) just sparked my fire once again with regards to how poor of a job this nation is doing with nutrition. And the FDA is allowing it. From artificial chemicals to genetically modified foods, sweetners that destroy our health (Mercola’s site for a good read), we are becoming chemically filled zombies, with a rate of disease and obesity that is our of control. The substances that the FDA allows in our “food” is atrocious. To make it worse, we’re not only feeding our children this crap, we encourage it because these unidentifiable scientific substances comes in pretty, shiny boxes with lots of colors. (ModernSage) Obviously, our trusted and well-paid staff of THE FDA is not doing a damn thing about it, so it’s left into the hands of us. It requires two things: 1 – we use our God-given smarts and 2 – we make choices accordingly.
Yes, we are a people easily influenced, BUT, we are influencial people. If enough stop buying that garbage they call food, they will pay attention. Someday. We’ve already seen a drastic movement to organic lifestyle in the mainstream, and the FDA trying to get there hands in the “alternative supplement” world. Why? There’s a lot of money in that industry.
Let’s not take it any longer. Do your own research. Just because the FDA “approves” something doesn’t mean it’s safe. More than likely, there’s a lot of money behind that decision and it’s not money that’s going toward the health of you or your family.
This subject is a passion of mine, and should be yours. This is a large topic, and there will be more to come. In the meantime, if you’re at work and want to do a bit of research, grab a box of whatchamacallit and see for yourself – just type in one of the 50 ingredients and see what you think.
Help me stop the madness. Eat real food

Breath ALERT!

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

This guy’s breath. It was motivation enough to write about it right here, right now on my new website. It’s a glorious Winter Solstice, in the midst of holiday cheer, but his breath…it took me down. Knocked me over. The kind of odor that permeates the air within 2 square feet. And then it moves along as if it had a lifeforce of its own .
Being that I was on one of the trains so full it made switching cars impossible, I had to endure, or die. Besides being repulsed to the point of near puke-ation, it made me realize that some people need to get their halitosis under control. It’s a health issue, folks. And should be addressed unless you want to be the ‘last one standing.’
Unlike many believe, bad breath doesn’t really come from the stomach. It may seem like that due to its intensity – I mean, where else could such a putrid odor percolate? The fact is, most all of the time the odor comes from the back of the mouth and tongue. And what causes it? Mostly sugar and dairy. Put them together and you’ve got a funk-fest that could last for days. Dairy and sugar create a situation in the back of your mouth that helps breed bacteria, and that, my friend, is what you are smelling.
How do you get rid of it and keep your friends, make new ones or heaven for bid, kiss someone? First thing I’d do is limit or eliminate the sugar. The stuff is just bad for you all the way around. Whole foods like fruits that have natural sugars, ok. The other, junky sugar-foods? Use as a rare treat and find some healthy, natural alternatives. Second – if you don’t want to eliminate all dairy, try replacing a few dairy foods with alternatives, especially if you are going to consume with a sweet treat. Rice milk with cookies, cheese as a solo, almond milk with cereals, etc. And lastly, there are some cheap and effective tongue cleaners that are easy to use and improve this situation a lot. If all of that fails, chew on some mint, like, for the rest of your life.
Happy holidays, btw! I’ll be over here doing a nasal flush system trying to rid my senses of that smell.

Poop on My New Book

Sunday, November 29th, 2009
Leah's first Book!

Leah's first Book!

After a 2000-mile holiday road trip, I returned home with hope of starting the new year with a refreshed perspective. I just needed a few minutes to “unwind.” I brought 1 suitcase and a bag of gifts up the stairs and within seconds my Nicaraguan neighbor said, “Leah, we have some water problems in the basement, you may want to check on your stuff.” Well, my stuff includes the typical storage stuff…furniture, off-season clothes, tools, etc. But as any self-published author can attest, most of the “stuff” in my basement is boxes of books. Immediately I went to the basement and saw inches of water, and white shredded paper. It looked like tissue. Jim came down, looked around. Then there was a flush and a gurgle. Before our very eyes, our neighbor’s toilet emptied into the basement. This was not pretty. A stranger’s turd lying next to your golf clubs is an unthinkable anomaly. I felt like I was living in a 3rd world country. But then again, would I have golf clubs there? 

Anyway, most of the boxes of books were stacked on top of one another, but indeed, many of the bottom boxes were in the line of fire. With road weary legs and back, we began plodding through the poop to save the books. We had to move all of the boxes, one by one, unload &  wipe the books (no pun intended) re-pack and re-locate. Most were saved (yes, it’s safe to order one!) some were soiled and then trashed, along with my boots and socks.

After a few hours and all was safe, I laughed. It was too late to cry. I wondered why my books got pooped on? I found some humor in thinking that maybe it was the world’s way of inviting me to treat my books (and work) with the greatest respect and raise it to higher ground – physically and figuratively.  With the books now on safe territory, they’ll never be pooped on again.

My fortune for: May all that you respect in your life be kept in high regard and on high ground. When you follow this advice, your precious gifts will not get pooped on!