Monthly Archives: March 2012

Freedom of the Press

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…all the freedom money can buy.

 

I agree with the first commenter that forcing them to put the $$$ online is a bandaid on the whole situation.  It would help, of course, but that’s not the heart of the matter–concentration of the media in a few hands and the destruction of the  Fairness Doctrine are the reasons Americans don’t know what is going on in their own country.

The article states that the WH is against this…um-hmmm, well, given past reversals of “strong stands” by President Obama, I’m not real sure about that.

The  previous actions regarding the FCC and the media aren’t real promising. Kiss any chance for Democracy good-bye, folks.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride

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It’s weird how some things come together at the same time…(or not! 🙂

I was doing research on gut health, and came upon Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s book Gut and Psychology Syndrome.  I am still finishing up The Inconvenient Hero by Vincent Harding and then I had another book to read, before I got to this, but I think I’m going to check this out after seeing the video posted by a member of the mercury support group.  I can’t get it to post, but here’s the URL:

 

In just the first ten minutes of this video, Dr. Campbell-McBride re-states that all health begins in the gut….and, this was quite shocking–that lab experiments showed that those with compromised gut health were unable to chelate mercury/heavy metals.  Wow.

Okay, I wanted to post this really quick because the video lasts an hour and that’s all the time I have in the library.  Off to view the rest…

More adventures in gluten free cooking

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Okay, folks, I’ve never claimed to be a whiz in the kitchen…my sister has the “cooking gene” in the family–she can go in a kitchen and make dirt taste good…

Having said that, I’m cautiously venturing into the unknown in the kitchen…flying by the seat of my pants without the comfort of recipes…

I checked out a book from the library on gluten free cooking.  I had read a booklet from a pharmacist whom also had gluten intolerance, and she highly recommended this cooking book.  The author has a PhD, I assume in home economics (or whatever they’re calling it these days), so I thought that she must have some pretty good recipes…

…really, the author *loves* sorghum flour and uses it as a basic flour combination in almost all of her recipes.

…um, this tastes like cardboard to me, but your mileage may vary…

I still like the basic recipe I included in the oatmeal cookie recipe.  (I’ve discovered that I react to oatmeal too. Pfft.  Hopefully, it’s just temporary–from what I’ve read, your system becomes a little more sensitive when you first start going gluten-free.  Kind of a hyper reaction to finally not having the irritation?)

That basic recipe is:  1 cup rice flour, 1/2 c. potato flour, and 1/2 c. tapioca flour.  I’m going to experiment more, because the tapioca flour does seem to make things a little dry, where I have to add a little more water or milk or shortening, according to what I’m baking.  And the biscuits I made last night were just a tad dry…but otherwise tasted good.

…on to more adventures…it’s kind of fun, actually…

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Here’s a pretty good gluten free Coconut Macaroon recipe.  I’m going by memory, because it’s over in my apartment–this was submitted by Coffee Bean on a gluten-free website, but I’ll be darn if I can find it on the web now:

Coconut Macaroons

2 cups coconut flakes

2 egg whites, room temperature

pinch of salt

1/3 c. sugar or you can use healthy honey — just use one-half of 1/3

1/2 tsp. almond extract (I prefer vanilla, and it gives it a wonderful taste…plus the apartment smells soooo good while they’re baking.)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

3 TBSP cornstarch (I didn’t have any cornstarch on hand, so I used tapioca flour, which has the same consistency of cornstarch, and it worked out fine.)

 

Line  a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place egg whites in small mixing bowl.  Sprinkle salt over them.  Beat with electric mixer until they form soft peaks (or if you want to be a doll, beat with hand beater–conserve electricity and work those arms, baby!).

Sprinkle sugar over egg whites.  Beat to stiff peaks.

Using wooden spoon, fold in one-half of coconut.

Add vanilla, mix gently in. Mix in nutmeg.

Mix in cornstarch.

Fold in remaining coconut.

Drop by large spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet.

Bake in 325 degree oven for about 12-20 minutes.  The tops should be lightly toasted. Enjoy!

 

Free (Hidden) Speech

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Protestors against the pipeline were hidden out of view while supporters of the pipeline were given a prime location to vocalize.

When asked about this inequity, the police said, “they were probably on private property and have been given permission to be there by the property owner.” That private property was a public sidewalk, and we all know who really owns the sidewalks at the “pipeline crossroads of the world.”

There’s a note in the comments that this story originated on the 350.org website (scroll down), but there’s no mention of that on common dreams. Hmm…getting a little sloppy there, folks…

Feeding which wolf?

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This is a story originating from the Native Americans with loads of wisdom.  It’s much easier to “feed” the dark wolf, because it takes effort to resist that temptation. “Feeding” the white wolf takes more effort, but the rewards are so much more.

I think one has to acknowledge that they have a dark side in order to recognize when one is in trouble and in danger of “feeding” that dark side…it keeps one humble….making it more difficult to be self-righteous (which I see a lot of with the “holier-than-thou” crowd now deep in politics.)

 

 

 

 

Go for the kiddies…

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…when your efforts fail to brainwash the adults. (hat tip to organicconsumers.org)  Good Grief.  The lies and misrepresentations throughout this piece of work are mindboggling–page 8, for instance, actually states that biotech is helping the environment, while completely ignoring the genetic drift between organic corn and GM corn, (and other crops) and that Monsanto deliberately engineered plants to accept even larger quantities of RoundUp.  Even more of a concern is the “unknown proteins” and their effects not only on animal health, but human health.

The thyroid-gut connection

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(I guess I should preface all discussions on health matters with the standard legal disclaimer that my support group uses, because, you know, it’s a crime to discuss health information unless you have “M.D.” after your name and you kowtow to the medical dictatorship:

Statements posted on this blog are for information only, and should NOT be taken as medical advice. If you need medical advice, you should seek it from those who are licensed to give medical advice. You are responsible for any decisions you make, or actions you take (or do not take).

Continuing with trying to understand the intricacy of the thyroid-gut connection, I discovered this page, which has a simplified discussion on the circle between the thyroid and gut.  I only wish he would have also mentioned the adrenal-thyroid connection, as well, because they, too, function better when the thyroid is functioning better.  I  sincerely believe that many people are misdiagnosed as having anxiety disorders when their adrenals are in distress.  Most doctors do not want to fool with the adrenals because they require time and attention to get the right balance.  If someone takes to high a dose of cortisol, they can put the adrenals to “sleep”, so most doctors ignore them, with the idea that even if they’re functioning at a lower level, then you’re fine.  Pffft.  Most of us with mercury poisoning require intervention with the adrenals.  Even when I was diagnosed with low thyroid, the doctors did not test my adrenal function nor did any of them mention the connection.

Here’s another good page on thyroid issues–specifically Hashimoto’s, common to mercury poisoned folk.  It mentions the thought that there is a connection between rubella, but I question that because of family member who has Hashimoto’s and did not get the disease, but had the vaccine.  I wonder about that and how much vaccines have created these other issues with autoimmune disorders…

I like that it mentions foods that also can have detrimental effects on the thyroid.  I knew about millet having some negative affect on the thyroid, but didn’t know about cabbage.  I had read that homemade sauerkraut was actually good on the gut, and therefore, by the circle path, it would be reasonable to think it would benefit the thyroid….I’ll have to do more exploring on that…

I’ve also explored Slippery Elm, which is supposed to coat the stomach and gut.  I found this page.

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As a side note, reading a note on a blog this morning, there was the sentiment of protecting oneself from the negative.  We’ve noticed on the support group, that people with mercury poisoning are picked on–a lot.  One member was lamenting this one day of how this had occurred–I don’t believe that it had happened to him before he got sick.  I replied back that yes, there are those that sense our vulnerability and will take advantage of it, but there are also those in the Light who also sense our vulnerability and DON’T take advantage of it.  As I typed that reply to him, it was as empowering to me to get it out of my brain and down in writing–making it more concrete.

It’s been a lesson to me to distance myself from those that are negative and want to take away any positive.  This is difficult at times because it’s not my nature.     It’s been a lesson that was hard to learn, but necessary.