Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Choosing An Audience
I'm having issues deciding what kind of blog this should be.
I want it to reflect my budding interests in raw food nutrition, and the highest of all nutrition-health concepts. I want to talk about art and film and life and books. Religion and spirituality. About the planet, about the stories I hope to finish and the others I am about to start.
But it seems that these blogs are very much sequestered into a "kind" -- a topic to provide them a place to be, an audience to talk to... and with that, like everything else in my life when it comes to my interests, I can't ever pick just one. I am made up of too many passions and I feel tight and squeamish when I relinquish one to concentrate on the other.
It's like they are a vast organic machine of wooden cogs and moth wings, delicately balanced and, when caught in the right light -- they shimmer just a bit. A gossamer. A glamour and then poof! it's gone. The sun has set, the household is full of hunger and homework and I have to wait another day to do what it is that I am wanting to do.
Ok. I will not try to shove this round peg into a square hole. I just need to find a better fit. Until then, I will not try to wrestle in my place like when one wears an ill-fitted coat, catching you right under the arms... I will just let go and write and do whatever it is that I do best. A little bit of everything and let the rest sort itself out. Ah, good. I'm glad we had this talk. I feel much better now.
I want it to reflect my budding interests in raw food nutrition, and the highest of all nutrition-health concepts. I want to talk about art and film and life and books. Religion and spirituality. About the planet, about the stories I hope to finish and the others I am about to start.
But it seems that these blogs are very much sequestered into a "kind" -- a topic to provide them a place to be, an audience to talk to... and with that, like everything else in my life when it comes to my interests, I can't ever pick just one. I am made up of too many passions and I feel tight and squeamish when I relinquish one to concentrate on the other.
It's like they are a vast organic machine of wooden cogs and moth wings, delicately balanced and, when caught in the right light -- they shimmer just a bit. A gossamer. A glamour and then poof! it's gone. The sun has set, the household is full of hunger and homework and I have to wait another day to do what it is that I am wanting to do.
Ok. I will not try to shove this round peg into a square hole. I just need to find a better fit. Until then, I will not try to wrestle in my place like when one wears an ill-fitted coat, catching you right under the arms... I will just let go and write and do whatever it is that I do best. A little bit of everything and let the rest sort itself out. Ah, good. I'm glad we had this talk. I feel much better now.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Days 5 -6: Into the World
The most wonderful thing happened.
But before I tell you, I have to give some background. I have been struggling with my weight for almost six years. I have had bouts of apathy, depression, listlessness, anger, fatigue... which are hardly in the motivation column when it comes to exercise. Hearing raw foodists discuss the energy they experience made me skeptical but hopeful -- and now convinced. I will have come away from my juice (as of yesterday) 14 pounds lighter. But that's just the bonus!
What I wanted was to feel better and I feel great! Wonderful, energetic, alive! I have, in the past two days, been on hour long hikes, skipping and feeling exuberant in the cool Colorado air and not even been out of breath! It's amazing -- I feel like I can take on the world. Conquer mountains, learn how to play an instrument, be in nature more, find my place in this world. I know that diet alone does not change your body or your feeling of relationship with yourself or others, let alone the planet. Now I feel like I have the energy and vitality to make this next step. And I am so grateful for that! I feel heroic. Happy. I haven't been here in a long time. I had forgotten what I was missing!
So -- Go for a walk today! Have some juice, have a salad -- live your life, don't wait, don't wait!
Breakfast Juice --
1 head broccoli
1 lemon
1/2 fuji apple
1/2 cucumber
But before I tell you, I have to give some background. I have been struggling with my weight for almost six years. I have had bouts of apathy, depression, listlessness, anger, fatigue... which are hardly in the motivation column when it comes to exercise. Hearing raw foodists discuss the energy they experience made me skeptical but hopeful -- and now convinced. I will have come away from my juice (as of yesterday) 14 pounds lighter. But that's just the bonus!
What I wanted was to feel better and I feel great! Wonderful, energetic, alive! I have, in the past two days, been on hour long hikes, skipping and feeling exuberant in the cool Colorado air and not even been out of breath! It's amazing -- I feel like I can take on the world. Conquer mountains, learn how to play an instrument, be in nature more, find my place in this world. I know that diet alone does not change your body or your feeling of relationship with yourself or others, let alone the planet. Now I feel like I have the energy and vitality to make this next step. And I am so grateful for that! I feel heroic. Happy. I haven't been here in a long time. I had forgotten what I was missing!
So -- Go for a walk today! Have some juice, have a salad -- live your life, don't wait, don't wait!
Breakfast Juice --
1 head broccoli
1 lemon
1/2 fuji apple
1/2 cucumber
Friday, October 26, 2007
Juicing on Fridays
Today is day five. And last night was pretty -- I dunno. I can't tell if the bee pollen incident put me into "shock" or what, but I just didn't want juice last night. I had tea and water but no juice. I hope it was body's way of purging something.
A slight rash has developed in the areas of the lymph, so that's good, it may be easier to go through the skin. My tummy feels very empty this morning, but I will go make some juice.
One wonderful thing I have noticed is flexibility. Sometime yesterday I realized that I wasn't so stiff. I could bend, twist, reach further than usual. That was a nice surprise and no doubt, due to toxins leaving the system. Every detox is different.
For Breakfast, I'm having
head of romaine
2 c. grapes
5 stalks of kale
1/2 lemon
5 Stalks of celery
A slight rash has developed in the areas of the lymph, so that's good, it may be easier to go through the skin. My tummy feels very empty this morning, but I will go make some juice.
One wonderful thing I have noticed is flexibility. Sometime yesterday I realized that I wasn't so stiff. I could bend, twist, reach further than usual. That was a nice surprise and no doubt, due to toxins leaving the system. Every detox is different.
For Breakfast, I'm having
head of romaine
2 c. grapes
5 stalks of kale
1/2 lemon
5 Stalks of celery
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Learning the Hard Way
I found out today that I am allergic to bee pollen. What a bummer. It's so good for you on so many levels. It made my tongue go numb, itchy and tingly-- it made my tonsils swell up and it was difficult to breathe for 45 minutes. Anyone know a similar superfood that will give similar health results without a reaction?
To alleviate the stomach issues that arose promptly after ( and this really irritated me, I woke up today feeling so wonderful. I have been laying low, and feeling rather sleepy ever since) I drank 20 oz. of pineapple-celery juice with nutmeg. This calmed my tummy down.
Now I am enjoying a pear-carrot-celery-ginger mixture with more nutmeg and some cinnamon. Kind of like pie. Yum-o. But a tired yum-o. No energy for exclamation points.
To alleviate the stomach issues that arose promptly after ( and this really irritated me, I woke up today feeling so wonderful. I have been laying low, and feeling rather sleepy ever since) I drank 20 oz. of pineapple-celery juice with nutmeg. This calmed my tummy down.
Now I am enjoying a pear-carrot-celery-ginger mixture with more nutmeg and some cinnamon. Kind of like pie. Yum-o. But a tired yum-o. No energy for exclamation points.
Chocolateering
This is a wonderful blog about chocolate, find it at the Sunny Raw Kitchen; here's just a taste --
"Chocolate: Can It Really Be Good For You?
In a pamphlet prepared by my friend and Raw Chef Chantale, I just learned that aside from being the best known dietary source of magnesium, raw cacao is exceptionally high in sulphur (the 'beauty mineral'), rich in antioxidants, is an anti-depressant, AND an aphrodisiac! In fact, the cacao bean "contains over 300 identifiable chemical compounds, making it one of the most complex foods known to man."
Experiments have shown that the caffeine and the theobromine contained in chocolate are quite different when consumed raw rather than cooked. Still according to Chantale, "one experiment conducted with a decoction of roasted ground cacao beans in boiling water produced an excitement of the nervous system similar to that caused by black coffee, an excited state of circulation, and an accelerated pulse. Interestingly, when the same decoction was made with raw, unroasted beans, neither effect was noticeable, leading the experimenters to conclude that the physiological changes were caused by aromatic substances released during roasting."
Raw makes ALL the difference. This blog is nigh on filled with recipes: Don't miss Carmella's amazing chewy caramel turtles with Ganache topping! All raw of course!
Don't they look amazing?
"Chocolate: Can It Really Be Good For You?
In a pamphlet prepared by my friend and Raw Chef Chantale, I just learned that aside from being the best known dietary source of magnesium, raw cacao is exceptionally high in sulphur (the 'beauty mineral'), rich in antioxidants, is an anti-depressant, AND an aphrodisiac! In fact, the cacao bean "contains over 300 identifiable chemical compounds, making it one of the most complex foods known to man."
Experiments have shown that the caffeine and the theobromine contained in chocolate are quite different when consumed raw rather than cooked. Still according to Chantale, "one experiment conducted with a decoction of roasted ground cacao beans in boiling water produced an excitement of the nervous system similar to that caused by black coffee, an excited state of circulation, and an accelerated pulse. Interestingly, when the same decoction was made with raw, unroasted beans, neither effect was noticeable, leading the experimenters to conclude that the physiological changes were caused by aromatic substances released during roasting."
Raw makes ALL the difference. This blog is nigh on filled with recipes: Don't miss Carmella's amazing chewy caramel turtles with Ganache topping! All raw of course!
Don't they look amazing?
The Juicy Life # 4
Well, I have made it through day 3, the ominous day, I was told, as long as you could get through that, you were fine. And I am. Decidedly so. I had a bit of a headache and a little stuffiness yesterday, but will chalk that up to purifying. What’s been amazing and wonderful and surprising is : I haven’t had any cravings at all. I mean not for “so-called-real food” like pasta or rice or bread. I had that Bieler’s broth fantasy and acted on the fact that my body must have been wanting more greens. And so, I provided them. And all is well. I think it’s actually wonderful and amazing (my catchphrase today it seems) that when you provide your body the space to heal, it will tell you exactly what it needs. Since I am not having cravings, I interpret this to mean that I am actually being well-rounded enough that my body is actually getting what it needs to run properly. I have been doing Udo’s Omega 3-blend oil (EFA), and seaweed flake (iodine) and protein, iron, calcium, vitamins, minerals (leafy greens and spirulina) all the lovely stuff from fruit – its wonderful and amazing! As I said above: I think when we actually make time to listen to our bodies we will find out intuitively, exactly what the next step is.
In the evenings I have started adding some garlic into my juices for a more savory flavor, as I am still cooking for M. But I have juiced nearly nine cloves this week so far! And then I went and looked through this lovely book I have by Rebecca Wood called The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, which is full of wonderful info, and I often look up food lore there. I think I will put up a new interesting tidbit when I find them of value. For Example: did you know this about acorns? "If you've ever wondered why the wooden pulls to Venetian blinds are shaped like acorns? It's because of Thor. This Norse god ruled both thunder and oak trees. Therefore oaks were considered protected from lightning and hanging an acorn talisman at one's window prevented it from striking indoors." Okay, so I know that's not about eating food, but here's my point,
about the garlic: "Health Benefits: garlic has a pungent-sweet flavor, is warming in the thermal nature, is a stimulant, and tonifies the spleen-pancreas, stomach, kidney and lung meridians. {It} stimulates metabolism and is used for both chronic and acute disease. It's antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-parasitical. Helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. Promotes growth of healthy intestinal flora. It eliminates toxins from the body ranging from {get this} snake venom to heavy metals." How cool is that! Perfect for my needs while juicing!
Breakfast:
1 head of romaine
handful of grapes
1/2 fuji apple
4 stalks celery with leaves
1 tsp. Spirulina
turned into a lovely deeeeep jade color!
Juice #2
1 small bulb fennel
6 leaves dinosaur kale
1/2 lemon with pith
1/4 fuji apple
1/2 carrot
parsley stems
4 oz. purified (not Distilled!!) water
smells green but tastes great -- very refreshing.
In the evenings I have started adding some garlic into my juices for a more savory flavor, as I am still cooking for M. But I have juiced nearly nine cloves this week so far! And then I went and looked through this lovely book I have by Rebecca Wood called The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, which is full of wonderful info, and I often look up food lore there. I think I will put up a new interesting tidbit when I find them of value. For Example: did you know this about acorns? "If you've ever wondered why the wooden pulls to Venetian blinds are shaped like acorns? It's because of Thor. This Norse god ruled both thunder and oak trees. Therefore oaks were considered protected from lightning and hanging an acorn talisman at one's window prevented it from striking indoors." Okay, so I know that's not about eating food, but here's my point,
about the garlic: "Health Benefits: garlic has a pungent-sweet flavor, is warming in the thermal nature, is a stimulant, and tonifies the spleen-pancreas, stomach, kidney and lung meridians. {It} stimulates metabolism and is used for both chronic and acute disease. It's antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-parasitical. Helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. Promotes growth of healthy intestinal flora. It eliminates toxins from the body ranging from {get this} snake venom to heavy metals." How cool is that! Perfect for my needs while juicing!
Breakfast:
1 head of romaine
handful of grapes
1/2 fuji apple
4 stalks celery with leaves
1 tsp. Spirulina
turned into a lovely deeeeep jade color!
Juice #2
1 small bulb fennel
6 leaves dinosaur kale
1/2 lemon with pith
1/4 fuji apple
1/2 carrot
parsley stems
4 oz. purified (not Distilled!!) water
smells green but tastes great -- very refreshing.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Being Open to Your Mission: The Technology of Health
I don't think he needs much introduction. But --
Be Here, Be Now, Be Well!
and read his articles on the Three Age Defying Secrets of the Beauty Diet,
10 Secrets to Raise Your Vibration and Super Nutrition Comes of Age
Be Here, Be Now, Be Well!
and read his articles on the Three Age Defying Secrets of the Beauty Diet,
10 Secrets to Raise Your Vibration and Super Nutrition Comes of Age
 |
|
The Juicy Life: Day 3: More Greens Please
(Breakfast: 1 apple, 3 stalks celery, 1medium cucumber, and a bunch of parsley, radish sprouts --- they actually put out a lot (!) of juice. A small section of green onion.) Last night my tummy was a little grumbly and this morning, a little discomfort or odd or tenderness right around the pelvis. But nothing bad. A little bloated -- what does that mean again? Ah yes. Need More Greens. This is my Theme today.
Just as I was warned, after two days – this being day number 3 – I am beginning to want more savory juices and less sweet. I juiced garlic and ginger and chili peppers last night with seaweed flake. The one apple was almost too much for me. I am seeing visions of zucchini and parsley and … come to think of it, I’m craving Bieler’s broth. I wonder how that would taste raw… hmmm. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it consists of zucchini squash, green beans, celery, parsley, Extra virgin olive oil, & Clean, chemical-free water. Often blended into a liquid soup and flavored with garlic, onions, cayenne pepper, ginger, herbs, and seasoned with Nama Shoyu. It is meant to restore one's alkaline reserves and improve liver function.
I ordered an Omega 8005 juicer that was supposed to be here by tomorrow and now I find out, it’s been back-ordered!! That deserves a big ol' Charlie Brown: UGH. I have a near 20-yr old champion juicer (donated by my parents to me 2 yrs ago) which still works fine, but doesn’t get nearly enough liquid out of the pulp, and especially struggles to get the greens the way I’d like them, too. Bummer. I am doing as much as I can – but I find I am worried, having lived with hypoglycemia, and thyroid issues, (I have consciously avoided things like cabbage and broccoli, as they tend to be inhibitors, I think) I am wary of the fruit sugar as I’m sure, in addition to the pancreas, like most of the population, Candida is probably also an issue -- So how does one avoid overly sugaring the system? Green greens greens. Lettuces, radicchio, kale, celery, ginger, garlic, radish, cucumber, bell peppers, one would think carrot – but even David Wolfe warns us of trying to “sweet our way in” – so much sugar. I need to purchase a nut-milk bag and cheesecloth strainer. And maybe blend up my greens with some water and strain.
What’s amazing is that during this feast, all one’s food addictions come to point. The “little mind” is constantly going, c’mon, quit, stop. This is silly. Don’t you like food? Bread? Soup? And yes, I enjoy all those things, but I am more and more aware of how good the juices feel and taste and as I have been experimenting with 60% raw before this feast, including a juice a day before the beginning of this week – I was finding that my old emotionally driven favorite foods were losing their taste. I mean, I can still taste them – but they no longer taste how I remember them – and the fact that I still find myself fantasizing about them, that to me shows just how emotional eating is for me, and probably a majority of people, which is why David Rain talks about people saying, “O – I can’t live without _______” be it cheese, coffee, steak. What-have-you. And while the “little mind” complains – my larger soul-self keeps reminding me: It’s only food. Why are you losing your head over this. You feel fine .. no pain, no discomfort, you don’t feel hungry. It’s only ten days. Get over yourself. But in a kind, gentle, loving way of course. It is only ten days and I’ve done three with no real problem at all. So seven more to go? Bring it on. If any of you have suggestions for more savory juice combo’s I’m all ears. Send them along, please!
( What a bitter sulfur-y concoction! Whew!!
¼-Grapefruit, with pith
3 cloves garlic
1.5 inches ginger
kale
celery
baby chard greens
…. Had to add a little pineapple. Yikes!
Note to self -- never use grapefruit pith)
Just as I was warned, after two days – this being day number 3 – I am beginning to want more savory juices and less sweet. I juiced garlic and ginger and chili peppers last night with seaweed flake. The one apple was almost too much for me. I am seeing visions of zucchini and parsley and … come to think of it, I’m craving Bieler’s broth. I wonder how that would taste raw… hmmm. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it consists of zucchini squash, green beans, celery, parsley, Extra virgin olive oil, & Clean, chemical-free water. Often blended into a liquid soup and flavored with garlic, onions, cayenne pepper, ginger, herbs, and seasoned with Nama Shoyu. It is meant to restore one's alkaline reserves and improve liver function.
I ordered an Omega 8005 juicer that was supposed to be here by tomorrow and now I find out, it’s been back-ordered!! That deserves a big ol' Charlie Brown: UGH. I have a near 20-yr old champion juicer (donated by my parents to me 2 yrs ago) which still works fine, but doesn’t get nearly enough liquid out of the pulp, and especially struggles to get the greens the way I’d like them, too. Bummer. I am doing as much as I can – but I find I am worried, having lived with hypoglycemia, and thyroid issues, (I have consciously avoided things like cabbage and broccoli, as they tend to be inhibitors, I think) I am wary of the fruit sugar as I’m sure, in addition to the pancreas, like most of the population, Candida is probably also an issue -- So how does one avoid overly sugaring the system? Green greens greens. Lettuces, radicchio, kale, celery, ginger, garlic, radish, cucumber, bell peppers, one would think carrot – but even David Wolfe warns us of trying to “sweet our way in” – so much sugar. I need to purchase a nut-milk bag and cheesecloth strainer. And maybe blend up my greens with some water and strain.
What’s amazing is that during this feast, all one’s food addictions come to point. The “little mind” is constantly going, c’mon, quit, stop. This is silly. Don’t you like food? Bread? Soup? And yes, I enjoy all those things, but I am more and more aware of how good the juices feel and taste and as I have been experimenting with 60% raw before this feast, including a juice a day before the beginning of this week – I was finding that my old emotionally driven favorite foods were losing their taste. I mean, I can still taste them – but they no longer taste how I remember them – and the fact that I still find myself fantasizing about them, that to me shows just how emotional eating is for me, and probably a majority of people, which is why David Rain talks about people saying, “O – I can’t live without _______” be it cheese, coffee, steak. What-have-you. And while the “little mind” complains – my larger soul-self keeps reminding me: It’s only food. Why are you losing your head over this. You feel fine .. no pain, no discomfort, you don’t feel hungry. It’s only ten days. Get over yourself. But in a kind, gentle, loving way of course. It is only ten days and I’ve done three with no real problem at all. So seven more to go? Bring it on. If any of you have suggestions for more savory juice combo’s I’m all ears. Send them along, please!
( What a bitter sulfur-y concoction! Whew!!
¼-Grapefruit, with pith
3 cloves garlic
1.5 inches ginger
kale
celery
baby chard greens
…. Had to add a little pineapple. Yikes!
Note to self -- never use grapefruit pith)
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Eating as an Act of Love w/David Rainoshek
watching this -- I realize that I need more green juice. Vegetable juices, kale, lettuce, garlic, etc.
Let's Not Beet Around the Bush
Beets really do have a splendid garnet color. Now I know why certain colors are called “jewel tones” and as a former-would-be-trying-to-get-back-into-it artist, one would think I already knew these things, which I’m sure at one point, I did. But it’s been so long since I opened up a set of anything with Prismacolor on the box.
I only had to add 1 med. sized beet and my morning juice now, I am certain, could have easily dyed fabric back in 15th century Spain. And, without looking, right now, I know as I sit here drinking this, my lip is likewise emblazoned with a “jewel-toned” mustache. My beet is masking other shades of carrot orange, (5 of them) ½ of an English cucumber and 1 large knob of ginger. This is my breakfast on day 2 of my Juice feast. It’s actually going really well. I only felt “hungry” at about 10PM last night and settled in for tea, something warm always makes the tummy feel full. My last juice of the night was another watermelon-based concoction, also with ginger. Rightly called an Elixir, I got the idea out of Natalia Rose's book. -- And come to think of it, so is my breakfast. I think she calls this one: The Great Eliminator. Oh. goody. Well, what’s the use of doing a juice cleanse without cleansing, am I right?
I have these big farmhouse bar glasses. And I figured out that to get in my 3-4 quarts, i.e. shooting for 1Gallon of juice a day, I will have to drink 8 of what I just drank. But at least I have a handy eye-based measuring system. Now I don’t have to count ounces.
And I as I was scouring the internet last night looking for all the various Raw/Living/Vegan Food restaurants around the US, I am more than a little surprised that Hippie-Yuppie Boulder is without one. I think Karma Cuisine was alive and kicking for maybe 8 months, maybe a year? And got replaced by a Philly’s Cheese Steak Shop. Wow. Complete 180 there. To be fair, it was on an awkward section of Broadway before it hits Walnut and no real parking, the killer of many businesses in the Pearl Street District. But NJ has one, for crying out loud! Something should be done! Maybe as I get more into this raw lifestyle, I will find inspiration to open one, I did almost drop out of undergrad to go to culinary school... I admit, I have eyed the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center's program for a Masters Live/Vegan Nutrition... so who knows? What is amazing is how your body reacts, taste buds, response centers... the body knows what is useful and then I walk through the market and am amazed at how much non-food there is in there. Cardboard, death, nutrient-deprived. Wow. I am very happy with my juice so far. I feel good. I also just purchased Angela Stokes' Juice Feasting Handbook for $15 bucks as an e-book off her store-website. This is also coming in handy. A run down of do's and do nots and things to try.
In any case, one of my favorites from my search was Café Gratitude in Berkeley, CA. Each Menu Item is named after affirmations: I AM JOYFUL, I AM GRACEFUL, I AM WHOLE, I AM ACCEPTING. Really, very wonderful actually. If you live in the Bay area, lucky, lucky you!
For all the wind we had last night in Boulder, it is as still as death outside. Eerily sunny and blue skied but very still. Maybe it will make for a Productive reading day, I have 200 pages to get through. Or skim through, if the need arises. Ah, Grad School. At this point, I am kinda wishing I had bit the bullet and applied for an MFA. Maybe I will, next. One of those really well known low-residency ones, like Warren Wilson or Seattle Pacific, Goddard? I don't really know if I want to move again. I mean, out of city-state. New house? Sure. I am wondering what life would actually feel like without having to be in school, or working so I could go back to school, but actually being a participant in my own grown up life. It is exciting, and I'm pretty sure, this isn't just the juice talking, but what if it is? What if this is what cleansing is all about: clarity. Far seeing, far reaching... abundance, life, light, and a new sense of living this body-life, which cannot be separate, but whole, and warm.
Update:
Juice #2
½ yam
4 stalks celery
4 stalks rainbow chard
3 Leaves of Romaine
¾ c. Pineapple
became a lovely rich camo-hunter green. The pineapple takes the edge off the green taste, very nicely! And I’m starting to really like celery juice. So refreshing…
also downed Ashwaganda, charcoal tablets
Juice # 3
Piña-celery-colada!
Juice of one young Thai coconut
¾ c. pineapple
4 stalks celery
2-3 T coconut meat (came out like milk)
Yum!
Juice #4
1 clove garlic
1 inch piece ginger
2 carrots
handful of red grapes
1/8 Poblano pepper
1/4 English cucumber
bunch of cilantro
Hemp/Flaxseed oil
seaweed seasoning
nice and savory. Will make again. :)
I only had to add 1 med. sized beet and my morning juice now, I am certain, could have easily dyed fabric back in 15th century Spain. And, without looking, right now, I know as I sit here drinking this, my lip is likewise emblazoned with a “jewel-toned” mustache. My beet is masking other shades of carrot orange, (5 of them) ½ of an English cucumber and 1 large knob of ginger. This is my breakfast on day 2 of my Juice feast. It’s actually going really well. I only felt “hungry” at about 10PM last night and settled in for tea, something warm always makes the tummy feel full. My last juice of the night was another watermelon-based concoction, also with ginger. Rightly called an Elixir, I got the idea out of Natalia Rose's book. -- And come to think of it, so is my breakfast. I think she calls this one: The Great Eliminator. Oh. goody. Well, what’s the use of doing a juice cleanse without cleansing, am I right?
I have these big farmhouse bar glasses. And I figured out that to get in my 3-4 quarts, i.e. shooting for 1Gallon of juice a day, I will have to drink 8 of what I just drank. But at least I have a handy eye-based measuring system. Now I don’t have to count ounces.
And I as I was scouring the internet last night looking for all the various Raw/Living/Vegan Food restaurants around the US, I am more than a little surprised that Hippie-Yuppie Boulder is without one. I think Karma Cuisine was alive and kicking for maybe 8 months, maybe a year? And got replaced by a Philly’s Cheese Steak Shop. Wow. Complete 180 there. To be fair, it was on an awkward section of Broadway before it hits Walnut and no real parking, the killer of many businesses in the Pearl Street District. But NJ has one, for crying out loud! Something should be done! Maybe as I get more into this raw lifestyle, I will find inspiration to open one, I did almost drop out of undergrad to go to culinary school... I admit, I have eyed the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center's program for a Masters Live/Vegan Nutrition... so who knows? What is amazing is how your body reacts, taste buds, response centers... the body knows what is useful and then I walk through the market and am amazed at how much non-food there is in there. Cardboard, death, nutrient-deprived. Wow. I am very happy with my juice so far. I feel good. I also just purchased Angela Stokes' Juice Feasting Handbook for $15 bucks as an e-book off her store-website. This is also coming in handy. A run down of do's and do nots and things to try.
In any case, one of my favorites from my search was Café Gratitude in Berkeley, CA. Each Menu Item is named after affirmations: I AM JOYFUL, I AM GRACEFUL, I AM WHOLE, I AM ACCEPTING. Really, very wonderful actually. If you live in the Bay area, lucky, lucky you!
For all the wind we had last night in Boulder, it is as still as death outside. Eerily sunny and blue skied but very still. Maybe it will make for a Productive reading day, I have 200 pages to get through. Or skim through, if the need arises. Ah, Grad School. At this point, I am kinda wishing I had bit the bullet and applied for an MFA. Maybe I will, next. One of those really well known low-residency ones, like Warren Wilson or Seattle Pacific, Goddard? I don't really know if I want to move again. I mean, out of city-state. New house? Sure. I am wondering what life would actually feel like without having to be in school, or working so I could go back to school, but actually being a participant in my own grown up life. It is exciting, and I'm pretty sure, this isn't just the juice talking, but what if it is? What if this is what cleansing is all about: clarity. Far seeing, far reaching... abundance, life, light, and a new sense of living this body-life, which cannot be separate, but whole, and warm.
Update:
Juice #2
½ yam
4 stalks celery
4 stalks rainbow chard
3 Leaves of Romaine
¾ c. Pineapple
became a lovely rich camo-hunter green. The pineapple takes the edge off the green taste, very nicely! And I’m starting to really like celery juice. So refreshing…
also downed Ashwaganda, charcoal tablets
Juice # 3
Piña-celery-colada!
Juice of one young Thai coconut
¾ c. pineapple
4 stalks celery
2-3 T coconut meat (came out like milk)
Yum!
Juice #4
1 clove garlic
1 inch piece ginger
2 carrots
handful of red grapes
1/8 Poblano pepper
1/4 English cucumber
bunch of cilantro
Hemp/Flaxseed oil
seaweed seasoning
nice and savory. Will make again. :)
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Juicy Life
Today, as promised, is the first of a six-day Juice Feast! I'm telling you, I consider myself a pretty health savvy person, but I just never knew juice was so incredible! I have had the occasional carrot-apple or carrot-orange or any of those combinations as fresh juice in my past, but store bought OJ and Knudsens or Santa Cruz Organics were usually where I went for juice. What a waste of flavor! Fresh homemade, read: non pasteurized juicing is incredible, the flavor nuances alone: WOW!
Today since my hot water and lemon in the morning,
I had (juiced):
2 carrots, 1/2 bunch parsley, 2 inch piece ginger, and 1/2 pear
Citrus kombucha for good tummy bacteria
water
Yummy concoction of 6 celery stalks, 6-8 cubes of watermelon and 1 whole lime: outstanding! Super hydrating too!
Over the course of the next six days, I will be having to down approx. 3-4 quarts of juice each day to fulfill caloric needs, but water and loose, non-caffinated herbal tea will make an appearance too, of course.
The whole point is not necessarily to do a Huge Calorie Restriction, but instead provide abundant nutrients while allowing one's digestion to take a breather, so your body can spend less energy on digestion and more on cleansing. So I will be using this space to journal, track my progress, in addition to my usual randomness. A big thanks to Angela Stokes of RawReform for her help, inspiration and guidance.
Today since my hot water and lemon in the morning,
I had (juiced):
2 carrots, 1/2 bunch parsley, 2 inch piece ginger, and 1/2 pear
Citrus kombucha for good tummy bacteria
water
Yummy concoction of 6 celery stalks, 6-8 cubes of watermelon and 1 whole lime: outstanding! Super hydrating too!
Over the course of the next six days, I will be having to down approx. 3-4 quarts of juice each day to fulfill caloric needs, but water and loose, non-caffinated herbal tea will make an appearance too, of course.
The whole point is not necessarily to do a Huge Calorie Restriction, but instead provide abundant nutrients while allowing one's digestion to take a breather, so your body can spend less energy on digestion and more on cleansing. So I will be using this space to journal, track my progress, in addition to my usual randomness. A big thanks to Angela Stokes of RawReform for her help, inspiration and guidance.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The Ecologist
Life life life is more than
just my or your obtuse theories
about it. I think I would like to live
someday,
where I can see tides,
where I can learn movement.
Without obtuse angles to guide my eye.
To spin,
heavier at one end,
Rising in on my sandy toes,
my own emptiness, comes
and goes, my own silence;
fills with the voices of gulls,
I see a shining from within,
like the sun,
but red kelp, striped fish, and golden
lobsters, all cling to nets,
like a ribcage.
Walking about unnoticed,
by strangers, and pretending that
we do not matter.
I hear them tell me this is safer,
makes dark things grow,
stifles organs of perception.
The oil slick on the skin of seals,
the filled gills of fish
hardened matter molts
and scales, measures per ounce
the caw of organic seasons,
but so beloved by the clockmaker --
Time is of no consequence, it is a learning
mechanism. I get caught in the cogs,
I count the seconds passing.
We do not tinker with life life life
as we do gears,
when we try, the coil creaks,
we stare at white light and imagine
we hear ticking
which sets the rhythm of the heart center.
Remember our walking sticks,
and the mountain path,
we don't always recognize what’s missing,
We expire, crumble, exhale and
like rocks under moss,
underwater,
under wind,
polished by the breath that warms us,
in languages and meters forgotten,
too late for this life, life, life
we begin to dream again.
Wristwatches, upon second
and minute hands, count our day,
We wait for it to be over.
We do not sit and visit,
but shut up into towers, our own divisions
guard us, our own sentry.
Ignoring colors as impetus --
we map, in order to know.
We, so very sure of our choices, kill the explorer.
And suddenly see him far off,
slowly sinking. Slowly,
amongst where the red reeds and drowning Egyptians
are marching
between the space where hydrogen
and air made water.
Mistranslation! we cry.
Retry. Start again,
and where once we walked in river reeds,
lines are drawn now in red, stained by choices.
A monk’s hand,
a sailor, a story,
catches us in our spirit.
The Fisherman sails home.
I wonder what the fisherman sees
when nets rise up with silver slippery bodies
Glimmering fear, death
and like any light,
is snuffed out by darkness,
the lighthouse drowns.
Ships, vessels, filled with souls, save
one sole. It creak off the rocks.
Perceptions of land slighted,
by slant rhymes,
by sand bars they did not know
under low tides,
lay there sleeping.
O, yes we could measure lives in many ways
By time, by coffee spoons,
peaches or poems
composed
in open air.
By mountains conquered,
sunrises listened to. The number of
breaths you take as you fall
to the night, in sleeping.
Silences are so full of communication.
I am open to investigating pine trees,
scouting sycamores, surveying beaches,
inspecting the fashions of mist,
their long grey-blue dresses.
There is something,
in this ecosystem
that is I.
We know the storybooks,
printed with pictures.
We know when and
where there was a misstep. We can hear it.
We can feel the meter is off.
Yet, unaware of the tilt
of planetary balance,
the empty spaces, the vacancy of species,
upending, we see that finally,
we are falling.
Perhaps we have grown
accustomed to it:
Falling in love,
from grace,
out of favor,
into money,
into despair,
into depths of down, down, down.
This life, life, life is still
so mysterious,
and yet, this is not enough.
Like truths most high,
mystery is not to be trusted.
No room, no room --
those trees are blocking,
my view of the city.
It used to be a useless valley, the fisherman
remembers.
Look what we’ve done. he says.
We’ve made the space useful,
he says. To which the reply must be:
I thought being space,
was purpose enough.
But see the twinkling lights? He says.
Not breath, not spirit alone,
only now, but light too.
The microcosm exists,
no matter the times we trip,
not seeing the rock.
Blaming it on our feet,
we do not look up again.
This life, life, life, spins on
and here I sit, wishing
on tides and skipping stones:
I am not progressive,
No corner offices, please
but could I have them returned?
I want my mountains back,
I want them back
the way they were,
before you took them.
Still, with wild wilderness,
where wild creatures roamed
creating bumps in the nights,
and questions of whooooo in the winter.
The owls always asked too many questions,
you never said so, but I knew
it made you nervous.
There is a solution, but
then again, extinction
always had a cruel smile.
LRose Young March 2007
just my or your obtuse theories
about it. I think I would like to live
someday,
where I can see tides,
where I can learn movement.
Without obtuse angles to guide my eye.
To spin,
heavier at one end,
Rising in on my sandy toes,
my own emptiness, comes
and goes, my own silence;
fills with the voices of gulls,
I see a shining from within,
like the sun,
but red kelp, striped fish, and golden
lobsters, all cling to nets,
like a ribcage.
Walking about unnoticed,
by strangers, and pretending that
we do not matter.
I hear them tell me this is safer,
makes dark things grow,
stifles organs of perception.
The oil slick on the skin of seals,
the filled gills of fish
hardened matter molts
and scales, measures per ounce
the caw of organic seasons,
but so beloved by the clockmaker --
Time is of no consequence, it is a learning
mechanism. I get caught in the cogs,
I count the seconds passing.
We do not tinker with life life life
as we do gears,
when we try, the coil creaks,
we stare at white light and imagine
we hear ticking
which sets the rhythm of the heart center.
Remember our walking sticks,
and the mountain path,
we don't always recognize what’s missing,
We expire, crumble, exhale and
like rocks under moss,
underwater,
under wind,
polished by the breath that warms us,
in languages and meters forgotten,
too late for this life, life, life
we begin to dream again.
Wristwatches, upon second
and minute hands, count our day,
We wait for it to be over.
We do not sit and visit,
but shut up into towers, our own divisions
guard us, our own sentry.
Ignoring colors as impetus --
we map, in order to know.
We, so very sure of our choices, kill the explorer.
And suddenly see him far off,
slowly sinking. Slowly,
amongst where the red reeds and drowning Egyptians
are marching
between the space where hydrogen
and air made water.
Mistranslation! we cry.
Retry. Start again,
and where once we walked in river reeds,
lines are drawn now in red, stained by choices.
A monk’s hand,
a sailor, a story,
catches us in our spirit.
The Fisherman sails home.
I wonder what the fisherman sees
when nets rise up with silver slippery bodies
Glimmering fear, death
and like any light,
is snuffed out by darkness,
the lighthouse drowns.
Ships, vessels, filled with souls, save
one sole. It creak off the rocks.
Perceptions of land slighted,
by slant rhymes,
by sand bars they did not know
under low tides,
lay there sleeping.
O, yes we could measure lives in many ways
By time, by coffee spoons,
peaches or poems
composed
in open air.
By mountains conquered,
sunrises listened to. The number of
breaths you take as you fall
to the night, in sleeping.
Silences are so full of communication.
I am open to investigating pine trees,
scouting sycamores, surveying beaches,
inspecting the fashions of mist,
their long grey-blue dresses.
There is something,
in this ecosystem
that is I.
We know the storybooks,
printed with pictures.
We know when and
where there was a misstep. We can hear it.
We can feel the meter is off.
Yet, unaware of the tilt
of planetary balance,
the empty spaces, the vacancy of species,
upending, we see that finally,
we are falling.
Perhaps we have grown
accustomed to it:
Falling in love,
from grace,
out of favor,
into money,
into despair,
into depths of down, down, down.
This life, life, life is still
so mysterious,
and yet, this is not enough.
Like truths most high,
mystery is not to be trusted.
No room, no room --
those trees are blocking,
my view of the city.
It used to be a useless valley, the fisherman
remembers.
Look what we’ve done. he says.
We’ve made the space useful,
he says. To which the reply must be:
I thought being space,
was purpose enough.
But see the twinkling lights? He says.
Not breath, not spirit alone,
only now, but light too.
The microcosm exists,
no matter the times we trip,
not seeing the rock.
Blaming it on our feet,
we do not look up again.
This life, life, life, spins on
and here I sit, wishing
on tides and skipping stones:
I am not progressive,
No corner offices, please
but could I have them returned?
I want my mountains back,
I want them back
the way they were,
before you took them.
Still, with wild wilderness,
where wild creatures roamed
creating bumps in the nights,
and questions of whooooo in the winter.
The owls always asked too many questions,
you never said so, but I knew
it made you nervous.
There is a solution, but
then again, extinction
always had a cruel smile.
LRose Young March 2007
Neil Gaiman reads "Instructions"
and others...
... and if you have not seen this yet; please find a way to do so. If it is no longer playing in your hometown, add it to your must-see list, or NetFlix or Blockbuster... that is, if you are usually turned on and inspired by folklore, faerie tales and the mythic akin or if you cannot wait, start with the book that was the inspiration for his film.
if you're still wanting more check out this Neil Gaiman Interview on the nature of imagination.
My Friend, Cashew
I have recently discovered, through various culinary experiments, just how creamy a cashew is once its met up with a food processor (I have also become addicted to citrus flavored Synergy Kombucha, but that's another story). It has become my go-to nut, second maybe to pine nuts. It becomes the base for a creamy sandwich spread that I have not yet named but its addicting and so healthy. No added sugars, just the food as nature intended. But its so very yummy that I thought I would share.
Creamy Cashew Spread
(always use organic ingredients whenever possible.
They taste better and are much better for a healthy you
and the environment)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 of medium Anaheim pepper
chop finely in Cuisinart or other food processor.
add 1/2 small red bell pepper
small handful of fresh mint
1 handful of fresh parsley
combine again.
remove paste and set aside
add 1 cup of RAW cashew pieces and process until "meaty"
add 1/2 avocado, and while blending,
add 1.5 T of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 T rice vinegar
a good pinch of Celtic Sea salt. Blend until it begins to look smooth like a chunky pesto.
Stop and add in herb mixture. Pulse to combine smoothly. May take 30-45 sec.
Usually I spread this on homemade flax crackers or an Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain tortilla and top with sweet onion, sultana raisins, julienned sweet bell pepper, a thinly sliced mound of Napa cabbage and grated carrot. Yum! Enjoy!
Creamy Cashew Spread
(always use organic ingredients whenever possible.
They taste better and are much better for a healthy you
and the environment)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 of medium Anaheim pepper
chop finely in Cuisinart or other food processor.
add 1/2 small red bell pepper
small handful of fresh mint
1 handful of fresh parsley
combine again.
remove paste and set aside
add 1 cup of RAW cashew pieces and process until "meaty"
add 1/2 avocado, and while blending,
add 1.5 T of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 T rice vinegar
a good pinch of Celtic Sea salt. Blend until it begins to look smooth like a chunky pesto.
Stop and add in herb mixture. Pulse to combine smoothly. May take 30-45 sec.
Usually I spread this on homemade flax crackers or an Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain tortilla and top with sweet onion, sultana raisins, julienned sweet bell pepper, a thinly sliced mound of Napa cabbage and grated carrot. Yum! Enjoy!
Raw Ideas
by the end of the weekend, my dietary habit will have changed tremendously. I will be heading into a 60-80% raw food lifestyle. Preceded by 10 days of juice feasting. After that, I will owe much more of the structure I will actually be using to David Wolfe's Sunfood Diet Success System with a little help from Angela Stokes' Raw Food Reform Blog. The difference, I am also transitioning using Natalia Rose of Raw Food Life Force and Raw Food Detox fame, to include raw goat milk cheese in moderation to keep my vitamin B12 until I transition completely.
This morning, so far? I had:
12 oz. fresh juice consisting of carrot, kale, bok choy, apple, parsley and ginger
AND
2 Ezekiel Sprouted Grain tortillas filled with my own raw honey-fig "marmalade" with slivered raw almonds and rosemary, one thin slice of raw sheep's-milk Parmesan, a few leaves of romaine lettuce and 1/8 slices of roasted red bell peppers. SOooo good.
I think the time has come to stop thinking of our bodies as dumping grounds. Food isn't just about fuel, its about consciousness...
"The Miracle of Minerals"
"The Beauty of Food"
This morning, so far? I had:
12 oz. fresh juice consisting of carrot, kale, bok choy, apple, parsley and ginger
AND
2 Ezekiel Sprouted Grain tortillas filled with my own raw honey-fig "marmalade" with slivered raw almonds and rosemary, one thin slice of raw sheep's-milk Parmesan, a few leaves of romaine lettuce and 1/8 slices of roasted red bell peppers. SOooo good.
I think the time has come to stop thinking of our bodies as dumping grounds. Food isn't just about fuel, its about consciousness...
"The Miracle of Minerals"
"The Beauty of Food"
Friday, October 19, 2007
Novel Excerpts
even though I said I was going to finish it last November, I am no where near close -- just beginning to write again....
___________ "Selections" : from, THE ELECTRIC LIGHTHOUSE
Simon would come home smelling like small salty sardines and the vinegar of their solutions. The house smelled as if the drowned had walked out of the sea. He would stumble into the room below when dawn was gray over the water. The door banged open, and I would wake to whispers: "Elaine the fair, Elaine the loveable, Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat, high in her chamber up a tower to the east guarded the sacred shield of Lancelot."
Inchy would lie with eyes still closed and name the source of their father's quoting (she could not help herself), "Tennyson," she'd say.
And was once again, instantly, deep asleep. And once I could hear his gentle snoring, Elaine would get up to light a candle in the kitchen. Her soft singsong murmurings of liturgy prayers would float throughout the early morning house as she made teas to stave off the conception of children. You must not blame her for this. For, she had watched over the past fifteen years, how her two golden children were invisible to their father's eyes. She had no desire to bring more ghosts into a house already full of apparitions, and so, though she loved my father, she was unwilling to conceive another soul to go unnoticed.
Every morning she spent quietly and devotedly cleaning his clothes and scrubbing his boots with apples to take out the smell. Cooking with heavy spices to relieve our nose of the stale oceanic scent and fill it with meadowsweet and chickweed, the briny sweetness of oysters replaced the brunt affront of tin and packaging adhesive. One early morning as the door banged open and the smell of the sea filled the room I was surprised to see Inchy already awake. Her wide green eyes lit by a dreary fog floating in with the light on the water.
"Do you remember that summer, Lil, when Papa first became the Knight?" Inchy whispered into the pale dark. "All those stories, and only you and I were real."
"Yes," I say. "I remember it was the same summer that the twins were born. And he smiled at them, and cuddled them like the baby rabbits you rescued that spring, but he didn't know they were his, Inch…He couldn't see that." I could hear a stumble in her sister's voice, the cracking of a slow breath.
"What makes us real, Lilia?"
I sigh. "I don't know what makes us real, Inchy."
_________________________________________
Every spring, once the ice thaw had receded and the mud broke free from its hardness, my mother had taken Inchy and me down to the water and tried to teach us how to swim. I was only four and Inchy was six and while Inchy was much more enamored with the tide pools and the tiny blue crabs with their hard shells and speckled claws, I remember I was terrified of the sound the waves made when they crashed and sucked hard against the rocks. I was much more comfortable taking the long walk around the orchard to the sort of beach at the western part of the island which revealed, at low tide, a long slender bar of silvery sand and round shiny pebbles for almost a hundred yards. And so I would take my sister’s hand and lead her down to the very lip of the water, standing barely more than ankle deep and I’d point out the little clams and urchins clinging to rocks and make necklaces and crowns out of the sea grass and loop them with shells. And our mother would walk out to the water and swim as if she could breath the air out of the water. Her long dark hair (like my hair) dripping down nearly to the back of her knees like seaweed silk, like ink; like a fisherman’s net, it caught at angles and movement, it would clasp at arms and legs and she would rise from the wet with tiny bits of shell and sea caught in her hair. Her face would be so pink from the cold water and she seemed so very much alive when she swam. But then she would get this long cold blue look in her eye as she stood in the water with the surf rising up over her ankles and sucking back out again in little currents, pulling the tiny stones and sand from under her feet, and she would close her eyes and feel the pull. A small smile. The longing of the water is always deep and it tugs on your skin like the moon tugs on the tide itself. And then her dark eyes would open, liquid, wide, dull in the gray light reflected from the water in the late afternoon and she would see Inchy and I on the shore. She would catch my eye. Even at four, I could feel the weight of that glance. I refused each year to go into the water. I did not want to be like she was, haunted by it. It scared me. She weighed her options each day, until with great effort she pulled each foot, webbed just a little between each toe and step decidedly, at least for one more day onto the earth and we would walk back home another day together.
I remember climbing into her lap in the evenings. In her rocking chair in the sitting room facing the tall, tall windows overlooking the cliff where it just out over the sea. She sat there every night with one hand playing with the small webbed flesh between my toes or pulling the tangles softly from my hair. She would sing in my ear stories of whales and lobsters and pirates. And always, she looked pale indoors, and she was always quiet.
Nearly a year would pass before the sea finally won. I was five and Inchy almost seven and my mother walked into the sea and did not come back. It was not a swimming day. Inchy and I had not been invited. And we did not think anything of it, for she often took long walks in the morning after breakfast. Early that morning, a cup of coffee from town and thick cream for McEwen’s cows; we kissed mother on her cheek. Can you keep some supper warm, Lil? I had nodded. Supper would sit until breakfast. She would often bring back crab or berries or wild mushrooms in her pockets, bits of fishing twine and large round stones perfect for flinting the Light House. Simon always said she had a knack for finding them: those small pieces of earth that looked like nothing, and yet could start a fire bright enough to sail ships by. He would smile at her with such tenderness, it creased the corners of his mouth. As if she were the sun and the light of her on his face warmed him through to the very blood and bone. Getting ready by the door. Kissed me on the cheek. When will you be back Mummy? Said Inchy. No darlings, I’ll not be back any more.
____________ and much later in the story __________
I was coming around the far corner of the lighthouse from the coop, with the eggs that Elaine had asked for pocketed in my apron, when I heard Jack call after Clover: "Stop, please!" He said. And I stopped, not wanting to intrude. I stayed hidden against the shade of the house, waiting. I leaned in amongst the rose bushes that would climb the wall in those few warm months before the frost came again, for then they would wither and die leaving their strangled brown skeletons still reaching, they were nearly up to the window boxes. I could hear them speaking but could not make out each word, Jack's voice was stern, scolding. But there was this small waver, a small fear that welled up and broke in his inflections.
"You think I don't see how you look at him?" he asked.
"You think he's good enough for Lilia."
"You will never be her, you know. And I don't care, I mean, I love her, of course, but… I don't care where Lilia goes. You know that."
"I don't know what to say, Jack." And then a long moment.
"Promise me you won't leave," He said.
Silence again; then "Wait, Clover…" And she had come around the corner and stopped, caught in my hiding place, barely worthy of the title, I was seen. I stepped forward facing my youngest sister. And Jack following after, having seen Clover and me standing there with nowhere to go, stops.
All three standing with nothing to say to each other. I see Clover's lower lip tremble. She looked long and cool at me, and I saw the tension behind her eyes, knowing I had heard everything. I could see the set to her jaw, and knew she was grinding her teeth. Jack looked at me, pleadingly. But I shake my head, unable to help this time. Not I, the one she most wanted to be; how could I tell her not to go, even knowing what would happen?
But Jack's eyes were wide and for all his height, he appeared small and helpless. And in that moment, I remembered when we had been younger, how he had given us animal names, the way Simon used poetry and myth to mold us. I was Trout. Inchy had been Rabbit and Clover he named, Moth, and she had been offended. But then I don't think she ever realized the reverence of that: that he had always pictured her with wings. Not the white feathery ones belonging to angels, but with the dusty symmetry of moth wings, the breed more delicate and less immortal than those of heaven, the ones that always in the dark to the light, are drawn.
Now here she stood between us. Our golden girl, dressed in the palest fawn-colored silk dappled gray, like the speckled moths of early summer, her wrists trimmed in feathers, her lips an eerie poisonous red. Her face looked so severe, powdered white and white pearls clipped to her virgin ears. She stood before me, meeting my eye, a stranger. And then, decidedly, she walked past and headed towards the trail to the Orchard, to the lawn of the Whitney's, dressed in the clothes Spencer had bought her, eager to be loved; she did not look back, because of Jack, and because she could not promise.
___________ "Selections" : from, THE ELECTRIC LIGHTHOUSE
Simon would come home smelling like small salty sardines and the vinegar of their solutions. The house smelled as if the drowned had walked out of the sea. He would stumble into the room below when dawn was gray over the water. The door banged open, and I would wake to whispers: "Elaine the fair, Elaine the loveable, Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat, high in her chamber up a tower to the east guarded the sacred shield of Lancelot."
Inchy would lie with eyes still closed and name the source of their father's quoting (she could not help herself), "Tennyson," she'd say.
And was once again, instantly, deep asleep. And once I could hear his gentle snoring, Elaine would get up to light a candle in the kitchen. Her soft singsong murmurings of liturgy prayers would float throughout the early morning house as she made teas to stave off the conception of children. You must not blame her for this. For, she had watched over the past fifteen years, how her two golden children were invisible to their father's eyes. She had no desire to bring more ghosts into a house already full of apparitions, and so, though she loved my father, she was unwilling to conceive another soul to go unnoticed.
Every morning she spent quietly and devotedly cleaning his clothes and scrubbing his boots with apples to take out the smell. Cooking with heavy spices to relieve our nose of the stale oceanic scent and fill it with meadowsweet and chickweed, the briny sweetness of oysters replaced the brunt affront of tin and packaging adhesive. One early morning as the door banged open and the smell of the sea filled the room I was surprised to see Inchy already awake. Her wide green eyes lit by a dreary fog floating in with the light on the water.
"Do you remember that summer, Lil, when Papa first became the Knight?" Inchy whispered into the pale dark. "All those stories, and only you and I were real."
"Yes," I say. "I remember it was the same summer that the twins were born. And he smiled at them, and cuddled them like the baby rabbits you rescued that spring, but he didn't know they were his, Inch…He couldn't see that." I could hear a stumble in her sister's voice, the cracking of a slow breath.
"What makes us real, Lilia?"
I sigh. "I don't know what makes us real, Inchy."
_________________________________________
Every spring, once the ice thaw had receded and the mud broke free from its hardness, my mother had taken Inchy and me down to the water and tried to teach us how to swim. I was only four and Inchy was six and while Inchy was much more enamored with the tide pools and the tiny blue crabs with their hard shells and speckled claws, I remember I was terrified of the sound the waves made when they crashed and sucked hard against the rocks. I was much more comfortable taking the long walk around the orchard to the sort of beach at the western part of the island which revealed, at low tide, a long slender bar of silvery sand and round shiny pebbles for almost a hundred yards. And so I would take my sister’s hand and lead her down to the very lip of the water, standing barely more than ankle deep and I’d point out the little clams and urchins clinging to rocks and make necklaces and crowns out of the sea grass and loop them with shells. And our mother would walk out to the water and swim as if she could breath the air out of the water. Her long dark hair (like my hair) dripping down nearly to the back of her knees like seaweed silk, like ink; like a fisherman’s net, it caught at angles and movement, it would clasp at arms and legs and she would rise from the wet with tiny bits of shell and sea caught in her hair. Her face would be so pink from the cold water and she seemed so very much alive when she swam. But then she would get this long cold blue look in her eye as she stood in the water with the surf rising up over her ankles and sucking back out again in little currents, pulling the tiny stones and sand from under her feet, and she would close her eyes and feel the pull. A small smile. The longing of the water is always deep and it tugs on your skin like the moon tugs on the tide itself. And then her dark eyes would open, liquid, wide, dull in the gray light reflected from the water in the late afternoon and she would see Inchy and I on the shore. She would catch my eye. Even at four, I could feel the weight of that glance. I refused each year to go into the water. I did not want to be like she was, haunted by it. It scared me. She weighed her options each day, until with great effort she pulled each foot, webbed just a little between each toe and step decidedly, at least for one more day onto the earth and we would walk back home another day together.
I remember climbing into her lap in the evenings. In her rocking chair in the sitting room facing the tall, tall windows overlooking the cliff where it just out over the sea. She sat there every night with one hand playing with the small webbed flesh between my toes or pulling the tangles softly from my hair. She would sing in my ear stories of whales and lobsters and pirates. And always, she looked pale indoors, and she was always quiet.
Nearly a year would pass before the sea finally won. I was five and Inchy almost seven and my mother walked into the sea and did not come back. It was not a swimming day. Inchy and I had not been invited. And we did not think anything of it, for she often took long walks in the morning after breakfast. Early that morning, a cup of coffee from town and thick cream for McEwen’s cows; we kissed mother on her cheek. Can you keep some supper warm, Lil? I had nodded. Supper would sit until breakfast. She would often bring back crab or berries or wild mushrooms in her pockets, bits of fishing twine and large round stones perfect for flinting the Light House. Simon always said she had a knack for finding them: those small pieces of earth that looked like nothing, and yet could start a fire bright enough to sail ships by. He would smile at her with such tenderness, it creased the corners of his mouth. As if she were the sun and the light of her on his face warmed him through to the very blood and bone. Getting ready by the door. Kissed me on the cheek. When will you be back Mummy? Said Inchy. No darlings, I’ll not be back any more.
____________ and much later in the story __________
I was coming around the far corner of the lighthouse from the coop, with the eggs that Elaine had asked for pocketed in my apron, when I heard Jack call after Clover: "Stop, please!" He said. And I stopped, not wanting to intrude. I stayed hidden against the shade of the house, waiting. I leaned in amongst the rose bushes that would climb the wall in those few warm months before the frost came again, for then they would wither and die leaving their strangled brown skeletons still reaching, they were nearly up to the window boxes. I could hear them speaking but could not make out each word, Jack's voice was stern, scolding. But there was this small waver, a small fear that welled up and broke in his inflections.
"You think I don't see how you look at him?" he asked.
"You think he's good enough for Lilia."
"You will never be her, you know. And I don't care, I mean, I love her, of course, but… I don't care where Lilia goes. You know that."
"I don't know what to say, Jack." And then a long moment.
"Promise me you won't leave," He said.
Silence again; then "Wait, Clover…" And she had come around the corner and stopped, caught in my hiding place, barely worthy of the title, I was seen. I stepped forward facing my youngest sister. And Jack following after, having seen Clover and me standing there with nowhere to go, stops.
All three standing with nothing to say to each other. I see Clover's lower lip tremble. She looked long and cool at me, and I saw the tension behind her eyes, knowing I had heard everything. I could see the set to her jaw, and knew she was grinding her teeth. Jack looked at me, pleadingly. But I shake my head, unable to help this time. Not I, the one she most wanted to be; how could I tell her not to go, even knowing what would happen?
But Jack's eyes were wide and for all his height, he appeared small and helpless. And in that moment, I remembered when we had been younger, how he had given us animal names, the way Simon used poetry and myth to mold us. I was Trout. Inchy had been Rabbit and Clover he named, Moth, and she had been offended. But then I don't think she ever realized the reverence of that: that he had always pictured her with wings. Not the white feathery ones belonging to angels, but with the dusty symmetry of moth wings, the breed more delicate and less immortal than those of heaven, the ones that always in the dark to the light, are drawn.
Now here she stood between us. Our golden girl, dressed in the palest fawn-colored silk dappled gray, like the speckled moths of early summer, her wrists trimmed in feathers, her lips an eerie poisonous red. Her face looked so severe, powdered white and white pearls clipped to her virgin ears. She stood before me, meeting my eye, a stranger. And then, decidedly, she walked past and headed towards the trail to the Orchard, to the lawn of the Whitney's, dressed in the clothes Spencer had bought her, eager to be loved; she did not look back, because of Jack, and because she could not promise.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Reflecting on In The Wild
If you ever feel the need to question the validity of your place in the world, now there are two versions of the same method. "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer, his small memoir-biography-novel (of great acclaim) has now become a film due to director Sean Penn's attention and devotion to bringing this screenplay into fruition for several years. The story of Christopher McCandless is a true one and one that will have you questioning where you want to hang your hat in life. It has put me into a moodiness that I haven't been able to shake yet this evening. The film is wonderful, inspiring and saddening. It provides the viewer with a certain kind of insight reticent of John Muir and Thoreau, all apparent heroes of McCandless or his pseudo self: Alexander Supertramp. This movie affected me. It made me crave wilderness and space in a way that I don't think I really know how to do. I spent a week in Oregon in August on the Rogue River winding through the Siskiyou wilderness, sleeping out under the stars, wary of bears and poison oak, but I feel like I -- in my usual fashion, didn't let myself really experience it and this makes me sad when I see a film about a boy/man who desired nothing else than to be made up of his experiences. It makes me wonder what I am wasting, what I am waiting for and why do I do it in the first place. Don't get me wrong, there are moments when I catch myself really smelling the air, really feeling the heat of the sun on my face… and those are the moments that seem beyond all else, the most real. If nothing else this film made me want to find ways to slow life, and time in general, down to a much smaller pace. Can you believe that we are half way through October? That in 5 weeks it will be Thanksgiving? Another month will bring us into the Winter Holidays; Chuanukah and Christmas, and then 6 days after that the year will come to and end? It just makes me wonder what moments have I added to my life experience that are worth rememebering, and if looking back I find my coffer is feeling more empty than I would like, then, what must I seek out to make my heart and life swell and feel full of its own substance. Tonight, all I can say is, Thank You for the life you lived and those you touched and the journey you took, Christopher McCandless, wherever you are.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
"The Doors of Perception -- Why Americans Will Believe Almost Anything"
Why Americans Will
Believe Almost Anything
By Tim O'Shea
Aldous Huxley's inspired 1956 essay detailed the vivid, mind-expanding, multisensory insights of his mescaline adventures. By altering his brain chemistry with natural psychotropics, Huxley tapped into a rich and fluid world of shimmering, indescribable beauty and power. With his neurosensory input thus triggered, Huxley was able to enter that parallel universe described by every mystic and space captain in recorded history. Whether by hallucination or epiphany, Huxley sought to remove all controls, all filters, all cultural conditioning from his perceptions and to confront Nature or the World or Reality first-hand - in its unpasteurized, unedited, unretouched, infinite rawness.
Those bonds are much harder to break today, half a century later. We are the most conditioned, programmed beings the world has ever known. Not only are our thoughts and attitudes continually being shaped and molded; our very awareness of the whole design seems like it is being subtly and inexorably erased. The doors of our perception are carefully and precisely regulated. Who cares, right?
It is an exhausting and endless task to keep explaining to people how most issues of conventional wisdom are scientifically implanted in the public consciousness by a thousand media clips per day. In an effort to save time, I would like to provide just a little background on the handling of information in this country. Once the basic principles are illustrated about how our current system of media control arose historically, the reader might be more apt to question any given popular opinion.
If everybody believes something, it's probably wrong. We call that
Conventional Wisdom.
In America, conventional wisdom that has mass acceptance is usually contrived: somebody paid for it.
Examples:
* Pharmaceuticals restore health
* Vaccination brings immunity
* The cure for cancer is just around the corner
* Menopause is a disease condition
* When a child is sick, he needs immediate antibiotics
* When a child has a fever he needs Tylenol
* Hospitals are safe and clean.
* America has the best health care in the world.
* Americans have the best health in the world.
* Milk is a good source of calcium.
* You never outgrow your need for milk.
* Vitamin C is ascorbic acid.
* Aspirin prevents heart attacks.
* Heart drugs improve the heart.
* Back and neck pain are the only reasons for spinal adjustment.
* No child can get into school without being vaccinated.
* The FDA thoroughly tests all drugs before they go on the market.
* Back and neck pain are the only reason for spinal adjustment.
* Pregnancy is a serious medical condition
* Chemotherapy and radiation are effective cures for cancer
* When your child is diagnosed with an ear infection, antibiotics should be given
immediately 'just in case'
* Ear tubes are for the good of the child.
* Estrogen drugs prevent osteoporosis after menopause.
* Pediatricians are the most highly trained of al medical specialists.
* The purpose of the health care industry is health.
* HIV is the cause of AIDS.
* AZT is the cure.
* Without vaccines, infectious diseases will return
* Fluoride in the city water protects your teeth
* Flu shots prevent the flu.
* Vaccines are thoroughly tested before being placed on the Mandated Schedule.
* Doctors are certain that the benefits of vaccines far outweigh any possible risks.
* There is a power shortage in California.
* There is a meningitis epidemic in California.
* The NASDAQ is a natural market controlled only by supply and demand.
* Chronic pain is a natural consequence of aging.
* Soy is your healthiest source of protein.
* Insulin shots cure diabetes.
* After we take out your gall bladder you can eat anything you want
* Allergy medicine will cure allergies.
This is a list of illusions, that have cost billions and billions to conjure up. Did you ever wonder why you never see the President speaking publicly unless he is reading? Or why most people in this country think generally the same about most of the above issues?
to read more, go to : www.thedoctorwithin.com
What A JFK Might Say
'The New Vision: The speech I want the Democratic Nominee To Give" By Theodore C. Sorensen
On the 15th of July, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy accepted his party's presidential nomination at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. In his remarks, made at a moment of high tension in the cold war, Kennedy asserted that the United States was at "a turning point in history" and called on his listeners to be "pioneers" in a "New Frontier" of "uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus."
Collaborating with Kennedy on the speech was a thirty-two-year-old aide named Theodore C. Sorensen, to whom Kennedy was known to refer as his "intellectual blood bank." With Sorensen's help, Kennedy would earn a reputation as one of American history's great orators and provide a bold new vision for the nation. Today, we are at another moment of high tension, the result of a disastrous war abroad and division and drift at home.
Like Kennedy, the next Democratic nominee, whoever he or she might be, will have a similar opportunity to form a new vision for America and to reestablish its moral leadership in the world. To encourage such boldness of thinking, we, too, tapped Kennedy's intellectual blood bank. We called Theodore C. Sorensen and asked him to write the speech he would most want the next Democratic nominee to give at the party convention in Denver in August 2008. We requested that he proceed with no candidate in mind and that he give no consideration to expediency or tactics—in other words, that he write the speech of his dreams. Here is the speech he sent us:
"My fellow Democrats: With high resolve and deep gratitude, I accept your nomination. It has been a long campaign—too long, too expensive, with too much media attention on matters irrelevant to our nation's future. I salute each of my worthy opponents for conducting a clean fifty-state campaign focusing on the real issues facing our nation, including health care, the public debt burden, energy independence, and national security, a campaign testing not merely which of us could raise and spend the most money but who among us could best lead our country; a campaign not ignoring controversial issues like taxation, immigration, fuel conservation, and the Middle East, but conducting, in essence, a great debate—because our party, unlike our opposition, believes that a free country is strengthened by debate. There will be more debates this fall. I hereby notify my Republican opponent that I have purchased ninety minutes of national network television time for each of the six Sunday evenings preceding the presidential election, and here and now invite and challenge him to share that time with me to debate the most serious issues facing the country, under rules to be agreed upon by our respective designees meeting this week with a neutral jointly selected statesman.
Let me assure all those who may disagree with my positions that I shall hear and respect their views, not denounce them as unpatriotic as has so often happened in recent years. I will wage a campaign that relies not on the usual fear, smear, and greed but on the hopes and pride of all our citizens in a nationwide effort to restore comity, common sense, and competence to the White House. In this campaign, I will make no promises I cannot fulfill, pledge no spending we cannot afford, offer no posts to cronies you cannot trust, and propose no foreign commitment we should not keep. I will not shrink from opposing any party faction, any special interest group, or any major donor whose demands are contrary to the national interest. Nor will I shrink from calling myself a liberal, in the same sense that Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, John and Robert Kennedy, and Harry Truman were liberals—liberals who proved that government is not a necessary evil, but rather the best means of creating a healthier, more educated, and more prosperous America. They are the giants on whose shoulders I now stand, giants who made this a better, fairer, safer, stronger, more united America.
By making me your nominee, you have placed your trust in the American people to put aside irrelevant considerations and judge me solely on my qualifications to lead the nation. You have opened the stairway to what Teddy Roosevelt called the "bully pulpit." With the help of dedicated Americans from our party, every party, and no party at all, I intend to mount that stairway to preach peace for our nation and world. My campaign will be based on my search for the perfect political consensus, not the perfect political consultant. My chief political consultant will be my conscience. Thank you for your applause, but I need more than your applause and approval.
I need your prayers, your votes, your help, your heart, and your hand. The challenge is enormous, the obstacles are many. Our nation is emerging from eight years of misrule, a dark and difficult period in which our national honor and pride have been bruised and battered. But we are neither beaten nor broken. We are not helpless or afraid; because in this country the people rule, and the people want change. True, some of us have been sleeping for these eight long years, while our nation's values have been traduced, our liberties reduced, and our moral authority around the world trampled and shattered by a nightmare of ideological incompetence. But now we are awakening and taking our country back. Now people all across America are starting to believe in America again. We are coming back, back to the heights of greatness, back to America's proud role as a temple of justice and a champion of peace.
The American people are tired of politics as usual, and I intend to offer them, in this campaign, something unusual in recent American politics: the truth. Neither bureaucracies nor nations function well when their actions are hidden from public view and accountability. From now on, whatever mistakes I make, whatever dangers we face, the people shall know the truth—and the truth shall make them free. After eight years of secrecy and mendacity, here are some truths the people deserve to hear: We remain essentially a nation under siege. The threat of another terrorist attack upon our homeland has not been reduced by all the new layers of porous bureaucracy that proved their ineptitude in New Orleans; nor by all the needless, mindless curbs on our personal liberties and privacy; nor by expensive new weaponry that is utterly useless in stopping a fanatic willing to blow himself up for his cause. Indeed, our vulnerability to another attack has only been worsened in the years since the attacks of September 11th—worsened by our government convincing more than 1 billion Muslims that we are prejudiced against their faith, dismissive of international law, and indifferent to the deaths of their innocent children; worsened by our failure to understand their culture or to provide a safe haven for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees displaced by a war we started; worsened by our failure to continue our indispensable role in the Middle East peace process. We have adopted some of the most indefensible tactics of our enemies, including torture and indefinite detention. We have degraded our military.
We have treated our most serious adversaries, such as Iran and North Korea, in the most juvenile manner—by giving them the silent treatment. In so doing, we have weakened, not strengthened, our bargaining position and our leadership. At home, as health care costs have grown and coverage disappeared, we have done nothing but coddle the insurance, pharmaceutical, and health care industries that feed the problem. As global warming worsens, we have done nothing but deny the obvious and give regulatory favors to polluters. As growing economic inequality tarnishes our democracy, we have done nothing but carve out more tax breaks for the rich. During these last several years, our nation has been bitterly divided and deceived by illicit actions in high places, by violations of federal, constitutional, and international law.
I do not favor further widening the nation's wounds, now or next year, through continuous investigations, indictments, and impeachments. I am confident that history will hold these malefactors accountable for their deeds, and the country will move on. Instead, I shall seek a renewal of unity among all Americans, an unprecedented unity we will need for years to come in order to face unprecedented danger. We will be safer from terrorist attack only when we have earned the respect of all other nations instead of their fear, respect for our values and not merely our weapons. If I am elected president, my vow for this country can be summarized in one short, simple word: change. This November 2008 election—the first since 1952 in which neither the incumbent president's nor the incumbent vice president's name will appear on the national ballot, indeed the first since 1976 in which the name of neither Bill Clinton nor George Bush will appear on the national ballot—is destined to bring about the most profound change in the direction of this country since the election of 1932.
To meet the threats we face and restore our place of leadership in the free world, I pledge to do the following: First, working with a representative Iraqi parliament, I shall set a timetable for an orderly, systematic redeployment and withdrawal of all our troops in Iraq, including the recall of all members of the National Guard to their primary responsibility of guarding our nation and its individual states. Second, this redeployment shall be only the first step in a comprehensive regional economic and diplomatic stabilization plan for the entire Middle East, building a just and enduring peace between Israel and Palestine, halting the killing and maiming of innocent civilians on both sides, and establishing two independent sovereign states, each behind peacefully negotiated and mutually recognized borders. Third, I shall as soon as possible transfer all inmates out of the Guantanamo Bay prison and close down that hideous symbol of injustice.
Fourth, I shall fly to New York City to pledge in person to the United Nations, in the September 2009 General Assembly, that the United States is returning to its role as a leader in international law, as a supporter of international tribunals, and as a full-fledged member of the United Nations which will pay its dues in full, on time, and without conditions, renouncing any American empire; that we shall work more intensively with other countries to eliminate global scourges, including AIDS, malaria, and other contagious diseases, massive refugee flows, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and that we will support the early dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers to halt the atrocities in Darfur. I shall make it clear that we do not covet the land of other countries for our military bases or the control of their natural resources for our factories. I shall make it clear that our country is not bound by any policies or pronouncements of my predecessor that violate international law or threaten international peace.
Fifth, I shall personally sign the Kyoto Protocol, and seek its ratification by the United States Senate, in order to stop global warming before it endangers all species on earth, including our own; and I shall call upon the Congress to take action dramatically reducing our nation's reliance on the carbon fuels that are steadily contributing to the degradation of our environment. Sixth, I shall demonstrate sufficient confidence in the strength of our values and the wisdom and skill of our diplomats to favor communications, negotiations, and full relations with every country on earth, including Cuba, North Korea, Palestine, and Iran. Finally, I shall restore the constitutional right of habeas corpus, abolish the unconstitutional tapping of private phones, and once again show the world the traditional American values that distinguish us from those who attacked us on 9/11. We need not renounce the use of conventional force. We will be ready to repel any clear and present danger that poses a genuine threat to our national security and survival. But it will be as a last resort, never a first; in cooperation with our allies, never alone; out of necessity, never by choice; proportionate, never heedless of civilian lives or international law; as the best alternative considered, never the only. We will always apply the same principles of collective security, prudent caution, and superior weaponry that enabled us to peacefully prevail in the long cold war against the Soviet Union. Above all, we shall wage no more unilateral, ill-planned, ill-considered, and ill-prepared invasions of foreign countries that pose no actual threat to our security.
No more wars in which the American Congress is not told in advance and throughout their duration the true cost, consequences, and terms of commitment. No more wars waged by leaders blinded by ideology who have no legal basis to start them and no plan to end them. We shall oppose no peaceful religion or culture, insult or demonize no peace-minded foreign leader, and spare no effort in meeting those obligations of leadership and assistance that our comparative economic strength has thrust upon us. We shall listen, not lecture; learn, not threaten. We will enhance our safety by earning the respect of others and showing respect for them. In short, our foreign policy will rest on the traditional American values of restraint and empathy, not on military might. In the final analysis, our nation cannot be secure around the world unless our citizens are secure at home—secure not only from external attack, but secure as well from the rising tide of national debt, secure from the financial and physical ravages of uninsured disease, secure from discrimination in our schools and neighborhoods, secure from the bitter unrest generated by a widening gap between our richest and poorest citizens. They are not secure in a country lacking reasonable limitations on the sale of handguns to criminals, the mentally disturbed, and prospective terrorists. And our citizens are not secure when some of their fellow citizens, loyal Islamic Americans, are made to feel they are the targets of hysteria or bigotry.
I believe in an America in which the fruits of productivity and prosperity are shared by all, by workers as well as owners, by those at the bottom as well as those at the top; an America in which the sacrifices required by national security are shared by all, by profiteers in the back offices as well as volunteers on the front lines. In my administration, I shall restore balance and fairness to the national tax system. I shall level the playing field for organized labor. I shall end the unseemly favors to corporations that allow them to profit without competing, for it is through competition that we innovate, and it is through innovation that we raise the wages of our workers. It shames our nation that profits for corporations have soared even as wages for average Americans have fallen. It shames us still more that so many African American men must struggle to find jobs. We will make sure that no American citizen, from the youngest child to the oldest retiree, and especially no returning serviceman or military veteran, will be denied fully funded medical care of the highest quality. To pay for these domestic programs, my administration will make sure that subsidies and tax breaks go only to those who need them most, not those who need them least, and that we fund only those weapons systems we need to meet the threats of today and tomorrow, not those of yesterday. The purpose of public office is to do good, not harm; to change lives, help lives, and save lives, not destroy them. I look upon the presidency not as an opportunity to rule, but as an opportunity to serve. I intend to serve all the people, regardless of party, race, region, or religion. Let us all, here assembled in this hall, or watching at home, constitute ourselves, rededicate ourselves, as soldiers in a new army. Not an army of death and destruction, but a new army of voters and volunteers, in a new wave of workers for peace and justice at home and abroad, new missionaries for the moral rebirth of our country. I ask for every citizen's help, not merely those who live in the red states or those who live in the blue states, but every citizen in every state. Although we may be called fools and dreamers, although we will find the going uphill, in the words of the poet: "Say not the struggle naught availeth." We will change our country's direction, and hand to the generation that follows a nation that is safer, cleaner, less divided, and less fearful than the nation we will inherit next January. I'm told that John F. Kennedy was fond of quoting Archimedes, who explained the principle of the lever by declaring: "Give me a place to stand, and I can move the world."
My fellow Americans—here I stand. Come join me, and together we will move the world to a new era of a just and lasting peace. "
Theodore C. Sorensen worked with John F. Kennedy for eleven years, first as his senatorial assistant and then in the White House as his special counsel and adviser. He is now retired after more than forty years of practicing international law in New York City, and is presently working on his memoirs, to be published in 2008.
On the 15th of July, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy accepted his party's presidential nomination at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. In his remarks, made at a moment of high tension in the cold war, Kennedy asserted that the United States was at "a turning point in history" and called on his listeners to be "pioneers" in a "New Frontier" of "uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus."
Collaborating with Kennedy on the speech was a thirty-two-year-old aide named Theodore C. Sorensen, to whom Kennedy was known to refer as his "intellectual blood bank." With Sorensen's help, Kennedy would earn a reputation as one of American history's great orators and provide a bold new vision for the nation. Today, we are at another moment of high tension, the result of a disastrous war abroad and division and drift at home.
Like Kennedy, the next Democratic nominee, whoever he or she might be, will have a similar opportunity to form a new vision for America and to reestablish its moral leadership in the world. To encourage such boldness of thinking, we, too, tapped Kennedy's intellectual blood bank. We called Theodore C. Sorensen and asked him to write the speech he would most want the next Democratic nominee to give at the party convention in Denver in August 2008. We requested that he proceed with no candidate in mind and that he give no consideration to expediency or tactics—in other words, that he write the speech of his dreams. Here is the speech he sent us:
"My fellow Democrats: With high resolve and deep gratitude, I accept your nomination. It has been a long campaign—too long, too expensive, with too much media attention on matters irrelevant to our nation's future. I salute each of my worthy opponents for conducting a clean fifty-state campaign focusing on the real issues facing our nation, including health care, the public debt burden, energy independence, and national security, a campaign testing not merely which of us could raise and spend the most money but who among us could best lead our country; a campaign not ignoring controversial issues like taxation, immigration, fuel conservation, and the Middle East, but conducting, in essence, a great debate—because our party, unlike our opposition, believes that a free country is strengthened by debate. There will be more debates this fall. I hereby notify my Republican opponent that I have purchased ninety minutes of national network television time for each of the six Sunday evenings preceding the presidential election, and here and now invite and challenge him to share that time with me to debate the most serious issues facing the country, under rules to be agreed upon by our respective designees meeting this week with a neutral jointly selected statesman.
Let me assure all those who may disagree with my positions that I shall hear and respect their views, not denounce them as unpatriotic as has so often happened in recent years. I will wage a campaign that relies not on the usual fear, smear, and greed but on the hopes and pride of all our citizens in a nationwide effort to restore comity, common sense, and competence to the White House. In this campaign, I will make no promises I cannot fulfill, pledge no spending we cannot afford, offer no posts to cronies you cannot trust, and propose no foreign commitment we should not keep. I will not shrink from opposing any party faction, any special interest group, or any major donor whose demands are contrary to the national interest. Nor will I shrink from calling myself a liberal, in the same sense that Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, John and Robert Kennedy, and Harry Truman were liberals—liberals who proved that government is not a necessary evil, but rather the best means of creating a healthier, more educated, and more prosperous America. They are the giants on whose shoulders I now stand, giants who made this a better, fairer, safer, stronger, more united America.
By making me your nominee, you have placed your trust in the American people to put aside irrelevant considerations and judge me solely on my qualifications to lead the nation. You have opened the stairway to what Teddy Roosevelt called the "bully pulpit." With the help of dedicated Americans from our party, every party, and no party at all, I intend to mount that stairway to preach peace for our nation and world. My campaign will be based on my search for the perfect political consensus, not the perfect political consultant. My chief political consultant will be my conscience. Thank you for your applause, but I need more than your applause and approval.
I need your prayers, your votes, your help, your heart, and your hand. The challenge is enormous, the obstacles are many. Our nation is emerging from eight years of misrule, a dark and difficult period in which our national honor and pride have been bruised and battered. But we are neither beaten nor broken. We are not helpless or afraid; because in this country the people rule, and the people want change. True, some of us have been sleeping for these eight long years, while our nation's values have been traduced, our liberties reduced, and our moral authority around the world trampled and shattered by a nightmare of ideological incompetence. But now we are awakening and taking our country back. Now people all across America are starting to believe in America again. We are coming back, back to the heights of greatness, back to America's proud role as a temple of justice and a champion of peace.
The American people are tired of politics as usual, and I intend to offer them, in this campaign, something unusual in recent American politics: the truth. Neither bureaucracies nor nations function well when their actions are hidden from public view and accountability. From now on, whatever mistakes I make, whatever dangers we face, the people shall know the truth—and the truth shall make them free. After eight years of secrecy and mendacity, here are some truths the people deserve to hear: We remain essentially a nation under siege. The threat of another terrorist attack upon our homeland has not been reduced by all the new layers of porous bureaucracy that proved their ineptitude in New Orleans; nor by all the needless, mindless curbs on our personal liberties and privacy; nor by expensive new weaponry that is utterly useless in stopping a fanatic willing to blow himself up for his cause. Indeed, our vulnerability to another attack has only been worsened in the years since the attacks of September 11th—worsened by our government convincing more than 1 billion Muslims that we are prejudiced against their faith, dismissive of international law, and indifferent to the deaths of their innocent children; worsened by our failure to understand their culture or to provide a safe haven for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees displaced by a war we started; worsened by our failure to continue our indispensable role in the Middle East peace process. We have adopted some of the most indefensible tactics of our enemies, including torture and indefinite detention. We have degraded our military.
We have treated our most serious adversaries, such as Iran and North Korea, in the most juvenile manner—by giving them the silent treatment. In so doing, we have weakened, not strengthened, our bargaining position and our leadership. At home, as health care costs have grown and coverage disappeared, we have done nothing but coddle the insurance, pharmaceutical, and health care industries that feed the problem. As global warming worsens, we have done nothing but deny the obvious and give regulatory favors to polluters. As growing economic inequality tarnishes our democracy, we have done nothing but carve out more tax breaks for the rich. During these last several years, our nation has been bitterly divided and deceived by illicit actions in high places, by violations of federal, constitutional, and international law.
I do not favor further widening the nation's wounds, now or next year, through continuous investigations, indictments, and impeachments. I am confident that history will hold these malefactors accountable for their deeds, and the country will move on. Instead, I shall seek a renewal of unity among all Americans, an unprecedented unity we will need for years to come in order to face unprecedented danger. We will be safer from terrorist attack only when we have earned the respect of all other nations instead of their fear, respect for our values and not merely our weapons. If I am elected president, my vow for this country can be summarized in one short, simple word: change. This November 2008 election—the first since 1952 in which neither the incumbent president's nor the incumbent vice president's name will appear on the national ballot, indeed the first since 1976 in which the name of neither Bill Clinton nor George Bush will appear on the national ballot—is destined to bring about the most profound change in the direction of this country since the election of 1932.
To meet the threats we face and restore our place of leadership in the free world, I pledge to do the following: First, working with a representative Iraqi parliament, I shall set a timetable for an orderly, systematic redeployment and withdrawal of all our troops in Iraq, including the recall of all members of the National Guard to their primary responsibility of guarding our nation and its individual states. Second, this redeployment shall be only the first step in a comprehensive regional economic and diplomatic stabilization plan for the entire Middle East, building a just and enduring peace between Israel and Palestine, halting the killing and maiming of innocent civilians on both sides, and establishing two independent sovereign states, each behind peacefully negotiated and mutually recognized borders. Third, I shall as soon as possible transfer all inmates out of the Guantanamo Bay prison and close down that hideous symbol of injustice.
Fourth, I shall fly to New York City to pledge in person to the United Nations, in the September 2009 General Assembly, that the United States is returning to its role as a leader in international law, as a supporter of international tribunals, and as a full-fledged member of the United Nations which will pay its dues in full, on time, and without conditions, renouncing any American empire; that we shall work more intensively with other countries to eliminate global scourges, including AIDS, malaria, and other contagious diseases, massive refugee flows, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and that we will support the early dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers to halt the atrocities in Darfur. I shall make it clear that we do not covet the land of other countries for our military bases or the control of their natural resources for our factories. I shall make it clear that our country is not bound by any policies or pronouncements of my predecessor that violate international law or threaten international peace.
Fifth, I shall personally sign the Kyoto Protocol, and seek its ratification by the United States Senate, in order to stop global warming before it endangers all species on earth, including our own; and I shall call upon the Congress to take action dramatically reducing our nation's reliance on the carbon fuels that are steadily contributing to the degradation of our environment. Sixth, I shall demonstrate sufficient confidence in the strength of our values and the wisdom and skill of our diplomats to favor communications, negotiations, and full relations with every country on earth, including Cuba, North Korea, Palestine, and Iran. Finally, I shall restore the constitutional right of habeas corpus, abolish the unconstitutional tapping of private phones, and once again show the world the traditional American values that distinguish us from those who attacked us on 9/11. We need not renounce the use of conventional force. We will be ready to repel any clear and present danger that poses a genuine threat to our national security and survival. But it will be as a last resort, never a first; in cooperation with our allies, never alone; out of necessity, never by choice; proportionate, never heedless of civilian lives or international law; as the best alternative considered, never the only. We will always apply the same principles of collective security, prudent caution, and superior weaponry that enabled us to peacefully prevail in the long cold war against the Soviet Union. Above all, we shall wage no more unilateral, ill-planned, ill-considered, and ill-prepared invasions of foreign countries that pose no actual threat to our security.
No more wars in which the American Congress is not told in advance and throughout their duration the true cost, consequences, and terms of commitment. No more wars waged by leaders blinded by ideology who have no legal basis to start them and no plan to end them. We shall oppose no peaceful religion or culture, insult or demonize no peace-minded foreign leader, and spare no effort in meeting those obligations of leadership and assistance that our comparative economic strength has thrust upon us. We shall listen, not lecture; learn, not threaten. We will enhance our safety by earning the respect of others and showing respect for them. In short, our foreign policy will rest on the traditional American values of restraint and empathy, not on military might. In the final analysis, our nation cannot be secure around the world unless our citizens are secure at home—secure not only from external attack, but secure as well from the rising tide of national debt, secure from the financial and physical ravages of uninsured disease, secure from discrimination in our schools and neighborhoods, secure from the bitter unrest generated by a widening gap between our richest and poorest citizens. They are not secure in a country lacking reasonable limitations on the sale of handguns to criminals, the mentally disturbed, and prospective terrorists. And our citizens are not secure when some of their fellow citizens, loyal Islamic Americans, are made to feel they are the targets of hysteria or bigotry.
I believe in an America in which the fruits of productivity and prosperity are shared by all, by workers as well as owners, by those at the bottom as well as those at the top; an America in which the sacrifices required by national security are shared by all, by profiteers in the back offices as well as volunteers on the front lines. In my administration, I shall restore balance and fairness to the national tax system. I shall level the playing field for organized labor. I shall end the unseemly favors to corporations that allow them to profit without competing, for it is through competition that we innovate, and it is through innovation that we raise the wages of our workers. It shames our nation that profits for corporations have soared even as wages for average Americans have fallen. It shames us still more that so many African American men must struggle to find jobs. We will make sure that no American citizen, from the youngest child to the oldest retiree, and especially no returning serviceman or military veteran, will be denied fully funded medical care of the highest quality. To pay for these domestic programs, my administration will make sure that subsidies and tax breaks go only to those who need them most, not those who need them least, and that we fund only those weapons systems we need to meet the threats of today and tomorrow, not those of yesterday. The purpose of public office is to do good, not harm; to change lives, help lives, and save lives, not destroy them. I look upon the presidency not as an opportunity to rule, but as an opportunity to serve. I intend to serve all the people, regardless of party, race, region, or religion. Let us all, here assembled in this hall, or watching at home, constitute ourselves, rededicate ourselves, as soldiers in a new army. Not an army of death and destruction, but a new army of voters and volunteers, in a new wave of workers for peace and justice at home and abroad, new missionaries for the moral rebirth of our country. I ask for every citizen's help, not merely those who live in the red states or those who live in the blue states, but every citizen in every state. Although we may be called fools and dreamers, although we will find the going uphill, in the words of the poet: "Say not the struggle naught availeth." We will change our country's direction, and hand to the generation that follows a nation that is safer, cleaner, less divided, and less fearful than the nation we will inherit next January. I'm told that John F. Kennedy was fond of quoting Archimedes, who explained the principle of the lever by declaring: "Give me a place to stand, and I can move the world."
My fellow Americans—here I stand. Come join me, and together we will move the world to a new era of a just and lasting peace. "
Theodore C. Sorensen worked with John F. Kennedy for eleven years, first as his senatorial assistant and then in the White House as his special counsel and adviser. He is now retired after more than forty years of practicing international law in New York City, and is presently working on his memoirs, to be published in 2008.
I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts (deedle lee-dee)
I have been incorporating more raw into my diet, for psych-phys-spiritual transformational reasons -- and one way is the all encompassing smoothie in the morning: Fresh coconut water, cacao, goji, banana, blackberries, hemp-seed, and supergreens.... I can go-go-go for hours... and experience for the first time in my life what it's like to have the best day ever every day. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT! This is a NUMBER # 1 principle. As in Primordial.
Here's what I've found out about my new fave liquid/nut:
The coconut is one of the greatest gifts of this planet.
Coconuts are a prehistoric plant which can survive many months floating at sea.
The coconut is a natural water filter that takes almost 9 months to filter each liter of water. The water travels through many fibers being purified where it is stored away STERILE in the nut itself.
This coconut water is pure clear and is one of the highest sources of electrolytes known to man.
Coconut water is identical to human blood plasma which makes it the universal donor. Plasma makes up 55% of human blood. By drinking coconuts we give ourselves a instant blood transfusion.
Many peoples lives have been saved in 3rd world countries by the coconut IV.
Coconuts in their young stage of growth are the most health enhancing.
Drink at least one a day (I have started out drinking 2 or so).
Coconuts are a great blood purifier.
All About Coconuts as provided by here
For thousands of years, coconuts have been an integral part of the diet in tropical climates, providing the nourishment needed to sustain a healthy life. Coconut milk, derived from the meat of the coconut, is the main ingredient for their ubiquitous curry sauces and desserts. Water from young coconuts is most commonly taken to quench thirst. Coconut oil is used not only for cooking, but also to nourish the skin and hair, and for body massage.
In this region, where traditional Ayurvedic medicine has prevailed for centuries, the coconut is highly respected for its medicinal qualities. Yet, it also has the reputation as an aphrodisiac because of its ability to stimulate the production of hormones in both the male and female. When used as body oil and blended with stimulating spices such as cayenne pepper, it acts as a carrier to circulate the blood and to stimulate the organs, while its aromatic scent enhances the senses. The highly mineral-charged coconut water acts to detoxify the kidneys, which indirectly affects its neighbors, the reproductive organs. Healthy kidneys are believed to promote a vibrant, healthy attitude, which expresses itself through the normal, healthy desire for sexual and emotional fulfillment. In a greater sense, this cycle is the silent call of nature to preserve the species. The coconut also has a symbolic meaning. Its very shape, with its three holes and long protective fibers, is compared to the human head and face, representing its importance as a basic food for mankind. Moreover, these three openings form a triangle, which represent the yin yang symbol of ancient religions.
After years of research, western medicine has just recently confirmed the profound healing properties of coconut, dispelling decades of misleading information that has been fed to the public. According to the results of these findings, coconut's unique form of saturated fat actually helps prevent heart disease, stroke, and hardening of the arteries. Unlike other oils and fats, coconut oil contains a large amount of the fatty acid known as lauric acid, which is the predominant fatty acid found in mother's milk. The lauric acid makes breast milk easily digestible, it strengthens the immune system and protects against viral, bacterial and fungal infections. Studies have shown coconut oil's effectiveness with HIV, SARS, Crohn's Disease, as well as other chronic illnesses. It detoxifies the liver, helps to build lipoproteins, fats and hormones and bile, which is necessary for digestion. Coconut's amazing healing properties are also attributed to reducing the risk of other degenerative conditions such as cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes. The medium chain fatty acids help to create a healthy digestive tract, which in turn allows for better digestion and absorption of the nutrients in our foods. They also speed up metabolism providing an immediate source of energy while supplying fewer calories than other fats. It is the food of choice for those with hypothyroidism. Coconut oil helps protect against skin cancer and other blemishes and helps prevent premature aging and wrinkling. As a cooking oil, it is highly resistant to heat and spoilage. In fact, coconut oil has been called "the healthiest dietary oil on earth".
Most coconut oil sold in America is refined. The excessive heat, bleaching and chemical solvents used in the refining process creates a thick, yellowish-white product that is tasteless and odorless. Only the organic, extra virgin, expeller or hand pressed coconut oil retains its white color, light texture, and its mild taste and scent of fresh coconut.
Here's what I've found out about my new fave liquid/nut:
The coconut is one of the greatest gifts of this planet.
Coconuts are a prehistoric plant which can survive many months floating at sea.
The coconut is a natural water filter that takes almost 9 months to filter each liter of water. The water travels through many fibers being purified where it is stored away STERILE in the nut itself.
This coconut water is pure clear and is one of the highest sources of electrolytes known to man.
Coconut water is identical to human blood plasma which makes it the universal donor. Plasma makes up 55% of human blood. By drinking coconuts we give ourselves a instant blood transfusion.
Many peoples lives have been saved in 3rd world countries by the coconut IV.
Coconuts in their young stage of growth are the most health enhancing.
Drink at least one a day (I have started out drinking 2 or so).
Coconuts are a great blood purifier.
All About Coconuts as provided by here
For thousands of years, coconuts have been an integral part of the diet in tropical climates, providing the nourishment needed to sustain a healthy life. Coconut milk, derived from the meat of the coconut, is the main ingredient for their ubiquitous curry sauces and desserts. Water from young coconuts is most commonly taken to quench thirst. Coconut oil is used not only for cooking, but also to nourish the skin and hair, and for body massage.
In this region, where traditional Ayurvedic medicine has prevailed for centuries, the coconut is highly respected for its medicinal qualities. Yet, it also has the reputation as an aphrodisiac because of its ability to stimulate the production of hormones in both the male and female. When used as body oil and blended with stimulating spices such as cayenne pepper, it acts as a carrier to circulate the blood and to stimulate the organs, while its aromatic scent enhances the senses. The highly mineral-charged coconut water acts to detoxify the kidneys, which indirectly affects its neighbors, the reproductive organs. Healthy kidneys are believed to promote a vibrant, healthy attitude, which expresses itself through the normal, healthy desire for sexual and emotional fulfillment. In a greater sense, this cycle is the silent call of nature to preserve the species. The coconut also has a symbolic meaning. Its very shape, with its three holes and long protective fibers, is compared to the human head and face, representing its importance as a basic food for mankind. Moreover, these three openings form a triangle, which represent the yin yang symbol of ancient religions.
After years of research, western medicine has just recently confirmed the profound healing properties of coconut, dispelling decades of misleading information that has been fed to the public. According to the results of these findings, coconut's unique form of saturated fat actually helps prevent heart disease, stroke, and hardening of the arteries. Unlike other oils and fats, coconut oil contains a large amount of the fatty acid known as lauric acid, which is the predominant fatty acid found in mother's milk. The lauric acid makes breast milk easily digestible, it strengthens the immune system and protects against viral, bacterial and fungal infections. Studies have shown coconut oil's effectiveness with HIV, SARS, Crohn's Disease, as well as other chronic illnesses. It detoxifies the liver, helps to build lipoproteins, fats and hormones and bile, which is necessary for digestion. Coconut's amazing healing properties are also attributed to reducing the risk of other degenerative conditions such as cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes. The medium chain fatty acids help to create a healthy digestive tract, which in turn allows for better digestion and absorption of the nutrients in our foods. They also speed up metabolism providing an immediate source of energy while supplying fewer calories than other fats. It is the food of choice for those with hypothyroidism. Coconut oil helps protect against skin cancer and other blemishes and helps prevent premature aging and wrinkling. As a cooking oil, it is highly resistant to heat and spoilage. In fact, coconut oil has been called "the healthiest dietary oil on earth".
Most coconut oil sold in America is refined. The excessive heat, bleaching and chemical solvents used in the refining process creates a thick, yellowish-white product that is tasteless and odorless. Only the organic, extra virgin, expeller or hand pressed coconut oil retains its white color, light texture, and its mild taste and scent of fresh coconut.
Something Else Entirely
This is so scary, plus, it infuriates me. What right does the FDA have to do this? Well, the Senate subsidies this kind of law-fallacy. It sent me into research mode, trying to find out who would stop this; congress? No. White House (HAHAHAHA). no. New presidential candidates? Only Ron Paul. It also made me think of what David Wolfe says, (paraphrasing to follow) when it gets this bad, ridiculous, silly, prepostrous, impossible; it means that it's going to get better quick. It has to. It has to.
FDA Attempting to Regulate Juice, Herbs, and Supplements as "DRUGS"
this is a short excerpt from a much longer and more detailed article.
there is a link at the end for the full story
It is very clear that the FDA is intending to regulate and ultimately destroy the entire CAM industry (Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Based on the explanations in the FDA's own document, the following things are likely to occur:
* All vitamins, nutritional supplements and functional foods will be stripped of their structure & function claims, reducing them to empty labels where virtually nothing at all is allowed to be stated.
* Vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug. Raw juice retreats will be raided or shut down.
* Growing and selling common garden herbs will get you arrested as a drug dealer.
* Massage oils and handheld massagers will be regulated as "medical devices."
* Yoga props, pilates machines and weight machines will be regulated as "medical devices" and require FDA approval before being sold or used.
* Raw sprouts and other anti-cancer foods will be regulated as drugs.
* Bottled water that "treats" dehydration will be regulated as a drug.
* Massage therapists who use hot rocks as part of their therapy will have the ROCKS regulated as medical devices! (It's true. The FDA will actually look at a pile of rocks and declare, "Those are medical devices!")
* Functional foods, supplements, vitamins and homeopathic remedies will disappear from store shelves, pending FDA "review." (The only things remaining will be processed junk foods and pharmaceuticals, which is exactly what Big Business wants.)
* Therapeutic tea products, such as green tea, will be outlawed and confiscated.
* Vitamin store owners will be arrested and prosecuted for "practicing medicine without a license."
* Citizens owning personal inventories of "unapproved drugs" (vitamins and herbs) may have their homes raided at gunpoint and their inventories confiscated by armed law enforcement agents.
* The importation of herbs and functional foods from all countries may be banned.
check out the whole story Here
FDA Attempting to Regulate Juice, Herbs, and Supplements as "DRUGS"
this is a short excerpt from a much longer and more detailed article.
there is a link at the end for the full story
It is very clear that the FDA is intending to regulate and ultimately destroy the entire CAM industry (Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Based on the explanations in the FDA's own document, the following things are likely to occur:
* All vitamins, nutritional supplements and functional foods will be stripped of their structure & function claims, reducing them to empty labels where virtually nothing at all is allowed to be stated.
* Vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug. Raw juice retreats will be raided or shut down.
* Growing and selling common garden herbs will get you arrested as a drug dealer.
* Massage oils and handheld massagers will be regulated as "medical devices."
* Yoga props, pilates machines and weight machines will be regulated as "medical devices" and require FDA approval before being sold or used.
* Raw sprouts and other anti-cancer foods will be regulated as drugs.
* Bottled water that "treats" dehydration will be regulated as a drug.
* Massage therapists who use hot rocks as part of their therapy will have the ROCKS regulated as medical devices! (It's true. The FDA will actually look at a pile of rocks and declare, "Those are medical devices!")
* Functional foods, supplements, vitamins and homeopathic remedies will disappear from store shelves, pending FDA "review." (The only things remaining will be processed junk foods and pharmaceuticals, which is exactly what Big Business wants.)
* Therapeutic tea products, such as green tea, will be outlawed and confiscated.
* Vitamin store owners will be arrested and prosecuted for "practicing medicine without a license."
* Citizens owning personal inventories of "unapproved drugs" (vitamins and herbs) may have their homes raided at gunpoint and their inventories confiscated by armed law enforcement agents.
* The importation of herbs and functional foods from all countries may be banned.
check out the whole story Here
Just "Once", Give it a try
Do yourself a favor -- go and see ONCE, starring singer-songwriters: Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová it's a small little film with wonderful music. I have known about them as musicians for about 3-4 months before I knew about their Dublin spotted little movie. It will have you singing along before the movie is over: a "real" musical -- not what you will expect, and absolutely lovely.
The Expanding Universe
This is amazing -- Everyone should watch this. Everyone. Here: Neal Adam's Amazing Expanding Earth is the link to the actual website, but below are some examples to spark your interest.
Debunking Pangea:
Shrinking/Expanding Earth:
Debunking Pangea:
Shrinking/Expanding Earth:
Myth of Pasteurization
For the full article, click: Pasteurization Myth
Fight the Pasteurization Myth
by author Sally Fallon and Thomas Cowan, MD
We have been taught that pasteurization is a method of protecting ourselves against infectious diseases, but closer examination reveals that its merits have been highly exaggerated. The modern milking machine and stainless steel tank, along with efficient packaging and distribution, make pasteurization totally unnecessary for the purposes of sanitation. And pasteurization is no guarantee of cleanliness.
All outbreaks of salmonella from contaminated milk in recent decades–and there have been many–have occurred in pasteurized milk. This includes a 1985 outbreak in Illinois that struck 14,316 people, causing at least one death. The salmonella strain in that batch of pasteurized milk was found to be genetically resistant to both penicillin and tetracycline. Raw milk contains lactic-acid-producing bacteria that protect against pathogens. Pasteurization destroys these helpful organisms, leaving the finished product devoid of any protective mechanism should undesirable bacteria inadvertently contaminate the supply. Raw milk in time turns pleasantly sour while pasteurized milk, lacking beneficial bacteria, will putrefy.
Can't Take the Heat?
But that's not all that pasteurization does to milk. Heat alters milk's amino acids lysine and tyrosine, making the whole complex of proteins less available; it promotes rancidity of unsaturated fatty acids and destruction of vitamins. Vitamin C loss in pasteurization usually exceeds 50 percent; loss of other water-soluble vitamins can run as high as 80 percent; the Wulzen or anti-stiffness factor is totally destroyed. Pasteurization alters milk's mineral components such as calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulphur as well as many trace minerals, making them less available. There is some evidence that pasteurization alters lactose, making it more readily absorbable.
This, and the fact that pasteurized milk puts an unnecessary strain on the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes, may explain why milk consumption in civilized societies has been linked with diabetes.
Last but not least, pasteurization destroys all the enzymes in milk–in fact, the test for successful pasteurization is absence of enzymes.
These enzymes help the body assimilate all bodybuilding factors, including calcium. That is why those who drink pasteurized milk may suffer, nevertheless, from osteoporosis. Lipase in raw milk helps the body digest and utilize butterfat. After pasteurization, chemicals may be added to suppress odor and restore taste. Synthetic vitamin D2 or D3 is added–the former is toxic and has been linked to heart disease while the latter is difficult to absorb. The final indignity is homogenization, which has also been linked to heart disease.
Powdered skim milk is added to the most popular varieties of commercial milk–one-percent and two-percent milk. Commercial dehydration methods oxidize cholesterol in powdered milk, rendering it harmful to the arteries. High temperature drying also creates large quantities of nitrate compounds, which are potent carcinogens.
Modern pasteurized milk, devoid of its enzyme content, puts an enormous strain on the body's digestive mechanism. In the elderly, and those with milk intolerance or inherited weaknesses of digestion, this milk passes through not fully digested. These large particles can clog the tiny villi of the small intestine, preventing the absorption of vital nutrients and promoting the uptake of toxic substances. The result is allergies, chronic fatigue and a host of degenerative diseases.
Hunt for the Source
All the healthy milk-drinking populations studied by Dr Weston Price subsisted on raw milk, raw cultured milk or raw cheese from normal animals eating fresh grass or fodder. It is very difficult to find this kind of milk in America. In California and Georgia, raw milk was formerly available in health food stores. Intense harassment by state sanitation authorities has all but driven raw milk from the market in these states, in spite of the fact that it is technically legal. Even when available, this milk suffers from the same drawbacks as most supermarket milk–it comes from freak-pituitary cows, often raised in crowded barns on inappropriate feed. [Editor's note: all milk sold or given away in Canada must be pasteurized.]
In some states you can buy raw milk at the farm. If you can find a farmer who will sell you raw milk from old fashioned Jersey or Guernsey cows, allowed to feed on fresh pasturage, then by all means avail yourself of this source. Some stores now carry pasteurized, but not homogenized, milk from cows raised on natural feed. This milk may be used to make cultured milk products such as kefir, yoghurt, cultured buttermilk and cultured cream. Traditionally cultured buttermilk, which is low in casein but high in lactic acid, is often well tolerated by those with milk allergies, and gives excellent results when used to soak whole grain flours for baking. If you cannot find good quality raw milk, you should limit your consumption of milk products to cultured milk, cultured buttermilk, whole milk yoghurt, butter, cream and raw cheeses. Raw cheese ia available in all states. Much imported cheese is raw–look for the words "milk" or "fresh milk" on the label–and of very high quality.
Source: Reprinted from Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, available from NewTrends Publishing.
Milk Medicine
Butterfat has a cortisone-like factor which is destroyed by heat that prevents stiffness in the joints. Raw milk contains beneficial bacteria as well as lactic acids that allow these beneficial bacteria to implant in the intestines. All of these qualities are lost during pasteurization. Once heated, milk becomes rotten with precipitated minerals that can't be absorbed (hence osteoporosis), sugars that can't be digested (hence allergies), and fats that are toxic.
Raw milk has been used as a therapy in folk medicine–and even in the Mayo Clinic for centuries. It has been used in the pre-insulin days to treat diabetes (I've tried it–it works), as well as eczema, intestinal worms, allergies and arthritis, all for reasons which can be understood when we realize just what milk is.
Source: alive 217, November 2000
Fight the Pasteurization Myth
by author Sally Fallon and Thomas Cowan, MD
We have been taught that pasteurization is a method of protecting ourselves against infectious diseases, but closer examination reveals that its merits have been highly exaggerated. The modern milking machine and stainless steel tank, along with efficient packaging and distribution, make pasteurization totally unnecessary for the purposes of sanitation. And pasteurization is no guarantee of cleanliness.
All outbreaks of salmonella from contaminated milk in recent decades–and there have been many–have occurred in pasteurized milk. This includes a 1985 outbreak in Illinois that struck 14,316 people, causing at least one death. The salmonella strain in that batch of pasteurized milk was found to be genetically resistant to both penicillin and tetracycline. Raw milk contains lactic-acid-producing bacteria that protect against pathogens. Pasteurization destroys these helpful organisms, leaving the finished product devoid of any protective mechanism should undesirable bacteria inadvertently contaminate the supply. Raw milk in time turns pleasantly sour while pasteurized milk, lacking beneficial bacteria, will putrefy.
Can't Take the Heat?
But that's not all that pasteurization does to milk. Heat alters milk's amino acids lysine and tyrosine, making the whole complex of proteins less available; it promotes rancidity of unsaturated fatty acids and destruction of vitamins. Vitamin C loss in pasteurization usually exceeds 50 percent; loss of other water-soluble vitamins can run as high as 80 percent; the Wulzen or anti-stiffness factor is totally destroyed. Pasteurization alters milk's mineral components such as calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulphur as well as many trace minerals, making them less available. There is some evidence that pasteurization alters lactose, making it more readily absorbable.
This, and the fact that pasteurized milk puts an unnecessary strain on the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes, may explain why milk consumption in civilized societies has been linked with diabetes.
Last but not least, pasteurization destroys all the enzymes in milk–in fact, the test for successful pasteurization is absence of enzymes.
These enzymes help the body assimilate all bodybuilding factors, including calcium. That is why those who drink pasteurized milk may suffer, nevertheless, from osteoporosis. Lipase in raw milk helps the body digest and utilize butterfat. After pasteurization, chemicals may be added to suppress odor and restore taste. Synthetic vitamin D2 or D3 is added–the former is toxic and has been linked to heart disease while the latter is difficult to absorb. The final indignity is homogenization, which has also been linked to heart disease.
Powdered skim milk is added to the most popular varieties of commercial milk–one-percent and two-percent milk. Commercial dehydration methods oxidize cholesterol in powdered milk, rendering it harmful to the arteries. High temperature drying also creates large quantities of nitrate compounds, which are potent carcinogens.
Modern pasteurized milk, devoid of its enzyme content, puts an enormous strain on the body's digestive mechanism. In the elderly, and those with milk intolerance or inherited weaknesses of digestion, this milk passes through not fully digested. These large particles can clog the tiny villi of the small intestine, preventing the absorption of vital nutrients and promoting the uptake of toxic substances. The result is allergies, chronic fatigue and a host of degenerative diseases.
Hunt for the Source
All the healthy milk-drinking populations studied by Dr Weston Price subsisted on raw milk, raw cultured milk or raw cheese from normal animals eating fresh grass or fodder. It is very difficult to find this kind of milk in America. In California and Georgia, raw milk was formerly available in health food stores. Intense harassment by state sanitation authorities has all but driven raw milk from the market in these states, in spite of the fact that it is technically legal. Even when available, this milk suffers from the same drawbacks as most supermarket milk–it comes from freak-pituitary cows, often raised in crowded barns on inappropriate feed. [Editor's note: all milk sold or given away in Canada must be pasteurized.]
In some states you can buy raw milk at the farm. If you can find a farmer who will sell you raw milk from old fashioned Jersey or Guernsey cows, allowed to feed on fresh pasturage, then by all means avail yourself of this source. Some stores now carry pasteurized, but not homogenized, milk from cows raised on natural feed. This milk may be used to make cultured milk products such as kefir, yoghurt, cultured buttermilk and cultured cream. Traditionally cultured buttermilk, which is low in casein but high in lactic acid, is often well tolerated by those with milk allergies, and gives excellent results when used to soak whole grain flours for baking. If you cannot find good quality raw milk, you should limit your consumption of milk products to cultured milk, cultured buttermilk, whole milk yoghurt, butter, cream and raw cheeses. Raw cheese ia available in all states. Much imported cheese is raw–look for the words "milk" or "fresh milk" on the label–and of very high quality.
Source: Reprinted from Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, available from NewTrends Publishing.
Milk Medicine
Butterfat has a cortisone-like factor which is destroyed by heat that prevents stiffness in the joints. Raw milk contains beneficial bacteria as well as lactic acids that allow these beneficial bacteria to implant in the intestines. All of these qualities are lost during pasteurization. Once heated, milk becomes rotten with precipitated minerals that can't be absorbed (hence osteoporosis), sugars that can't be digested (hence allergies), and fats that are toxic.
Raw milk has been used as a therapy in folk medicine–and even in the Mayo Clinic for centuries. It has been used in the pre-insulin days to treat diabetes (I've tried it–it works), as well as eczema, intestinal worms, allergies and arthritis, all for reasons which can be understood when we realize just what milk is.
Source: alive 217, November 2000
The Evolving Universe
What does this look like to you??
It looks like brain synapses right? Well, behold: this is the "dark matter" of the universe -- ever heard the phrase, "as above, so below" ? or Microcosm, which seems to be a catch phrase now. It is important to consider that As humanity spirals into an expanded future in consciousness as has been predicted - whether you believe in the Apocalypse (the unveiling), 2012, GC states of consciousness, the end of the world, 1000 years of peace, whatever: it seems the universe is evolving too.
___________________
Astronomers from the University of Nottingham, UK, and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (Spain), have found the first observational evidence that galaxies are not randomly oriented. Instead, they are aligned following a characteristic pattern dictated by the large-scale structure of the invisible dark matter that surrounds them.This discovery confirms one of the fundamental aspects of galaxy formation theory and implies a direct link between the global properties of the Universe and the individual properties of galaxies.
Galaxy formation theories predicted such an effect, but its empirical verification has remained elusive until now. The results of this work were published the 1 April issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Nowadays, matter is not distributed uniformly throughout space but is instead arranged in an intricate "cosmic web" of filaments and walls surrounding bubble-like voids. Regions with high galaxy concentrations are known as galaxy clusters whereas low density regions are termed voids.
This inhomogeneous distribution of matter is called the "Large-scale distribution of the Universe." When the Universe is considered as whole, this distribution has a similar appearance to a spider's web or the neural network of the brain. But it was not always like this.
After the Big Bang, when the Universe was much younger, matter was distributed homogeneously. As the Universe was evolving, gravitational pulls began to compress the matter in certain regions of space, forming the large-scale structure that we currently observe.
According to these models and theories a direct consequence of this process is that galaxies should be preferentially oriented perpendicularly to the direction of the linear filaments.
Several observational studies have looked for a preferential spatial orientation (or alignment) of galaxy rotation axes with respect to their surrounding large-scale structures. However, none of them have been successful, due to the difficulties associated with trying to characterise the filaments.
The research conducted by the astrophysical group formed by Ignacio Trujillo (University of Nottingham, UK), Conrado Carretero and Santiago G. Patiri, (both from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain) has been able to measure this effect, confirming theoretical predictions.
To achieve this goal, they used a new technique based on the analysis of the huge voids that are found in the large-scale structure of the Universe. These voids have been detected by searching for large regions of space depleted of bright galaxies.
In addition, they took advantage of information provided by the two largest sky surveys yet undertaken: the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Two Degree Field Survey. These surveys contain positional information for more than half a million galaxies located within a distance of one billion light-years of the Earth.
Other parameters provided by the surveys, such as the position angle and the ellipticity of the objects, were used to estimate the orientation of the disk galaxies.
"We found that there is an excess of disk galaxies that are highly inclined relative to the plane defined by the large-scale structure surrounding them," explained Dr. Trujillo. "Their rotation axes are mainly oriented in the direction of the filaments.
"Our work provides important confirmation of the tidal torque theory which explains how galaxies have acquired their current spin," said Trujillo.
"The spin of the galaxies is believed to be intrinsically linked to their morphological shapes. So, this work is a step forward on our understanding of how galaxies have reached their current shapes."
Source: Royal Astronomical Society
It looks like brain synapses right? Well, behold: this is the "dark matter" of the universe -- ever heard the phrase, "as above, so below" ? or Microcosm, which seems to be a catch phrase now. It is important to consider that As humanity spirals into an expanded future in consciousness as has been predicted - whether you believe in the Apocalypse (the unveiling), 2012, GC states of consciousness, the end of the world, 1000 years of peace, whatever: it seems the universe is evolving too.
___________________
Astronomers from the University of Nottingham, UK, and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (Spain), have found the first observational evidence that galaxies are not randomly oriented. Instead, they are aligned following a characteristic pattern dictated by the large-scale structure of the invisible dark matter that surrounds them.This discovery confirms one of the fundamental aspects of galaxy formation theory and implies a direct link between the global properties of the Universe and the individual properties of galaxies.
Galaxy formation theories predicted such an effect, but its empirical verification has remained elusive until now. The results of this work were published the 1 April issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Nowadays, matter is not distributed uniformly throughout space but is instead arranged in an intricate "cosmic web" of filaments and walls surrounding bubble-like voids. Regions with high galaxy concentrations are known as galaxy clusters whereas low density regions are termed voids.
This inhomogeneous distribution of matter is called the "Large-scale distribution of the Universe." When the Universe is considered as whole, this distribution has a similar appearance to a spider's web or the neural network of the brain. But it was not always like this.
After the Big Bang, when the Universe was much younger, matter was distributed homogeneously. As the Universe was evolving, gravitational pulls began to compress the matter in certain regions of space, forming the large-scale structure that we currently observe.
According to these models and theories a direct consequence of this process is that galaxies should be preferentially oriented perpendicularly to the direction of the linear filaments.
Several observational studies have looked for a preferential spatial orientation (or alignment) of galaxy rotation axes with respect to their surrounding large-scale structures. However, none of them have been successful, due to the difficulties associated with trying to characterise the filaments.
The research conducted by the astrophysical group formed by Ignacio Trujillo (University of Nottingham, UK), Conrado Carretero and Santiago G. Patiri, (both from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain) has been able to measure this effect, confirming theoretical predictions.
To achieve this goal, they used a new technique based on the analysis of the huge voids that are found in the large-scale structure of the Universe. These voids have been detected by searching for large regions of space depleted of bright galaxies.
In addition, they took advantage of information provided by the two largest sky surveys yet undertaken: the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Two Degree Field Survey. These surveys contain positional information for more than half a million galaxies located within a distance of one billion light-years of the Earth.
Other parameters provided by the surveys, such as the position angle and the ellipticity of the objects, were used to estimate the orientation of the disk galaxies.
"We found that there is an excess of disk galaxies that are highly inclined relative to the plane defined by the large-scale structure surrounding them," explained Dr. Trujillo. "Their rotation axes are mainly oriented in the direction of the filaments.
"Our work provides important confirmation of the tidal torque theory which explains how galaxies have acquired their current spin," said Trujillo.
"The spin of the galaxies is believed to be intrinsically linked to their morphological shapes. So, this work is a step forward on our understanding of how galaxies have reached their current shapes."
Source: Royal Astronomical Society
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