What is a GMO?

Here is a good and brief overview of genetic modification (GM), also known as genetic engineering (GE) and why it’s not such a good idea when it comes to the foods we consume. I found this very interesting:

What combinations have been tried?

It is now possible for plants to be engineered with genes taken from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans. Scientists have worked on some interesting combinations:

• Spider genes were inserted into goat DNA, in hopes that the goat milk would contain spider web protein for use in bulletproof vests.
• Cow genes turned pigskins into cowhides.
• Jellyfish genes lit up pigs’ noses in the dark.
• Arctic fish genes gave tomatoes and strawberries tolerance to frost.

Field trials have included:

• Corn engineered with human genes (Dow)
• Sugarcane engineered with human genes (Hawaii Agriculture Research Center)
• Corn engineered with jellyfish genes (Stanford University)
• Tobacco engineered with lettuce genes (University of Hawaii)
• Rice engineered with human genes (Applied Phytologics)
• Corn engineered with hepatitis virus genes (Prodigene)
• Potatoes that glowed in the dark when they needed watering.
• Human genes were inserted into corn to produce spermicide.

Here is the full article:  http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-basics/the-ge-process

Do as I Say, Not as I Do

Your government does not respect you. This much is clear just at passing glance:

• They want you to eat toxic GMO foods, but it’s Organic for them.
• They do not trust you. They want to take away your firearms, but they’ll keep their own stash as well as enjoy heavily armed and trained escorts, thank you.
• You might have to stop building your family home because a rare toad or something was found on your property.  But millions of pre-born and hundreds of partially born Americans are slaughtered routinely in the name of convenience and at the encouragement of our “Christian” President.
• Perhaps you’ve wondered about the proliferation of vaccinations that are no longer optional, have little or no value, yet are far more dangerous than ever, including the new Anthrax vaccine that KILLS yet is being sought for approval for use on innocent children. Perhaps your own child was vaccinated without your consent.
• Maybe you’ve heard of local farmers who are being forced out of their family businesses by state and federal agencies at the behest of industrial farm or dairy industries, or job-creating businesses on the verge of closing because of imposed immoral laws. Or maybe you’re being treated like a criminal simply for planting an edible garden.
• If you’ve been really diligent you might even be aware of the religious and free speech liberties being stripped from businesses, Pastors and individuals alike, but only selectively (read: Christian).
• Or possibly the only thing you’ve noticed is that the government continues to spend like there’s no tomorrow while siphoning off an ever greater portion of your paycheck. Their performance is dismal, yet they receive a raise.

I could go on. (Harold Estes said it best. Worth the read.)

So, what’s the answer? For many of us it is concerted prayer. We need to keep that up–it could take a miracle to turn this country around. But we need to do more. We are on the road to a crisis and it doesn’t do us good to sit on our backsides or stick our heads in the sand. I recently read an older piece by retired journalist, Charlie Reece, in his final column in the Orlando Sentinel. Here it is:

545 vs. 300,000,000 People

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private,central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it’s because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan …

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees…

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Amen.

Good Pigs, Bad Government

Do you know how bad big industry pork is for you (and the pig)?

If not, view this:  Food, Inc.

Do you know how hard it is to find free-range pork? 

If not, read this:  Is it Safe to Eat Bacon?

Did you know the government is illegally squeezing out local pig farmers?

If not, go here:  Baker’s Green Acres Farm (I could barely believe this is actually happening within our borders!)

Do you realize how unsustainable concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are? 

Then check this out:  CAFO – The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories

We can say the same for cows and chickens. More and more, unconstitutional government action is forcing everyday Americans from their livelihoods, their rights, their convictions. And all the while Americans are getting fatter and sicker.

Big Pharm, Industrial Food, Big Government.

I see a day coming when the millions stand up against the few making the “new rules” and stomping on our constitution.

Pray.

What else can we do now? Here are a few things:

1. Support local farms and farmers.
2. Grow our own food.
3. Buy a few chickens for the back yard.
4. Boycott big industry food products.
5. Do yourself a favor: Eat organic vegetables and fruits, grass-fed meats and lots of purified (non-bottled!) water.
6. Take our collective head out of the sand and be mindful of ever-increasing government encroachment.
7. Be prepared.

Here’s to your health.

What Is Kwanzaa and Why Should You Care?

If you were like me, you’ve heard of Kwanzaa (also spelled, Kwaanza), may have friends who celebrate it, but don’t know much about it. If you’re in that boat, here is a primer:

• It is a non-religious week-long holiday generally celebrated only in the U.S. but also somewhat in Canada.
• It is a celebration that honors African heritage in the African-American culture.
• It’s observed from December 26 to January 1 and culminates in a feast and gift-giving.
• Kwanzaa has seven core principles called Nguzo Saba: Unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
• It was created by Maulana Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett) in 1966, founder of United Slaves, a violent nationalist rival to the Black Panthers.

Not many people celebrate this “new” holiday these days, but many of those who are still celebrating are likely not aware of the history of its founder.

Can you separate the holiday from its founder?

The founder, Ronald Everett (AKA Maulana Ron Karenga, AKA Maulana Karenga) has a long criminal record. In 1971, for instance, Everett served time in jail for assault. (By then Everett had changed his name to Maulana Ron Karenga and began to affect a pseudo African costume and act the part of a native African — even though he had been born in the USA.) This wasn’t mere assault: It was the sexual assault and even torture that he perpetrated against some of his own female followers. At the time, The L.A. Times reported that he placed a hot soldering iron in one woman’s mouth and used a vise to crush another’s toe. Nine years after he invented Kwaanza, Karenga became a Marxist.

As writer Lynn Woolley wrote of Professor Karenga:

And so this is Kwanzaa. The militant past of the creator is now ignored in favor of the so-called seven principles of Nguza Saba, principles such as unity, family and self-determination that could have come from Bill Bennett’s Book of Virtues. The word “Kwanzaa” is Swahili, meaning something like “fresh fruits of harvest.”

No one remembers the part about “re-Africanization” or the sevenfold path of blackness that Dr. Karenga once espoused. Hardly anyone remembers the shootings, the beatings, the tortures and the prison terms that were once the center of his life. It’s just not PC to bring that sort of stuff up now that Kwanzaa is commercialized and making big bucks.

Ann Coulter does not entirely agree:

The seven principles of Kwanzaa are the very same seven principles of the Symbionese Liberation Army, another charming legacy of the Worst Generation. In 1974, Patricia Hearst, kidnap victim-cum-SLA revolutionary, posed next to the banner of her alleged captors, a seven-headed cobra. Each snake head stood for one of the SLA’s revolutionary principles: Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba and Imani — the exact same seven “principles” of Kwanzaa.

Kwanzaa emerged not from Africa, but from the FBI’s COINTELPRO. It is a holiday celebrated exclusively by idiot white liberals. Black people celebrate Christmas.

Regardless of what pundits pose, most of Karenga’s crimes were committed against Black people, but today he is simply touted as the African-American academic who created a holiday for “cultural unity.”

Food for thought as you consider what to celebrate this season.

Resources:

You can pretty much link to all of them from here.

 

It Just Gets Better

Several years ago I posted a little blog on coffee. This afternoon I was doing my annual Life Screening appointment and they had this recording repeating on a TV in the waiting area. One bit was on a recent study on coffee, citing data that showed that up to three cups a day staves off Alzheimer’s and other mental illnesses as well as increasing alertness and (or, at least decreasing ‘foggy brain’). Since I suffer from fog of the brain, I tuned in. As much as possible.

Later, I did a search online and found reports of this study on Science Daily and Psyche Central and WebMD among a plethora of others. Check it out for yourself.

SO, for my coffee-scoffing friends: Talk to the hand. I will continue to praise the Creator of the coffee bean and enjoy the creativity of His people and what they do with it. Also: How it prepares me for my day in a decreasing-fog-brain kinda way.

Don’t judge me.  ;-D

Cinnamon and Honey. Miracle stuff?

OK, a friend posted this on FaceBook today and when I went to what I thought was the source, I could not find this text.  SO — here is the post, unedited: Would love feedback on the accuracy of the statements. In the meantime, I’ll be doing some research.

Facts on Honey and Cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and Cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a ‘Ram Ban’ (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without side effects for any kind of diseases.

Today’s science says that even though honey is sweet, when it is taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm even diabetic patients. Researched by western scientists:

HEART DISEASES: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply it on bread instead of jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, when they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as one ages the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and the veins.

ARTHRITIS: Arthritis patients may take daily (morning and night) one cup of hot water with two tablespoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. When taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week (out of the 200 people so treated) practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain — and within a month, most all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis now started walking without pain.

BLADDER INFECTIONS: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

CHOLESTEROL: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water given to a cholesterol patient was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, when taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS: Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and, clear the sinuses.

UPSET STOMACH: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from its root.
GAS: According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that when Honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacterial and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles (where DNA is contained) to fight bacterial and viral diseases.

INDIGESTION: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food is eaten relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals

INFLUENZA: A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ‘Ingredient’ which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY: Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Use four teaspoons of honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of boiling water to make a tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans increase and even a 100 year old will start performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

RASPY OR SORE THROAT: When throat has a tickle or is raspy, take one tablespoon of honey and sip until gone. Repeat every three hours until throat is without symptoms.

PIMPLES: Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it off the next morning with warm water. When done daily for two weeks, it removes all pimples from the root.

SKIN INFECTIONS: Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin Infections.

WEIGHT LOSS: Daily in the morning one half hour before
breakfast and on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. When taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER: Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder three times a day for one month.

FATIGUE: Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, even when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, when taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M., the vitality of the body increases within a week.

BAD BREATH: People of South America, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water first thing in the morning so their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

HEARING LOSS: Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restores hearing. Remember when we were kids? We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it!

Please weigh in. What have you experienced using honey and/or cinnamon? Do you have good sources to verify the above?

Gun Control Out of Control

“Guns don’t kill people and spoons don’t make people fat.” Gun owners don’t advocate violence. Spoon collectors don’t advocate obesity. Perhaps those slogans are tired and a bit trite, but they are not untrue. If guns truly killed people there would be a lot of dead people on rifle ranges and corn fields during pheasant hunting season. You can extend that statement to say if lawful citizens with guns killed people there would be a lot more dead people…

Responsible gun ownership (e.g. you purchased it legally and you know how to use—and not use—it) has been proven over and over and over again to REDUCE violent crime. Abolishing the 2^nd amendment of the United States Constitution would do nothing, absolutely NOTHING to stem the tide of criminal procurement of arms, ammo and the use of both. Implementing even crazier gun control laws does NOTHING to stop the crazier James Holmes’s of the world.

My heartfelt prayers and sympathy is extended to families and friends of senseless tragedies like the Aurora theater shooting. But the answer is not taking guns away from me and people like me. How difficult is this to understand? Lawful people possessing firearms do lawful things with them (hunt, shoot targets, and if necessary protect their families from criminals). Lawless people possessing firearms do lawless things with them (threaten, rob, and kill people, mostly those who are unarmed). Now read this slowly: Lawless people do not care about the law. It’s not a difficult statement to understand. Gun control laws and the unconstitutional tweaking of the 2^nd amendment only impacts lawful citizens. The only ones left with the arms are the government and the criminals. Do you really want the rest of the country in the cross fire (or crosshairs!) of those two?? Surely not!

Here is another simple statement: Guns are valuable in many self-defense situations. The point is especially important because no one, even those in favor of gun control, oppose the right of people to defend themselves or their families. Fact: During the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, every major news network carried footage of armed Korean store owners sitting on the roofs of their establishments. Those were the stores that were not torched, and those were the people that were not dragged into the street and beaten by rioters.

Fact: In 2007, the city of Kennesaw, Georgia was selected by Family Circle magazine as one of the nation’s “10 best towns for families.” The city is perhaps best known nationally for its mandatory gun-possession law. In 1982 the city passed an ordinance [Sec 34-21]:

    (a) In order to provide for the emergency management of the city, and further in order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants, every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm, together with ammunition therefore.

(b)Exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who suffer a physical or mental disability which would prohibit them from using such a firearm. Further exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who are paupers or who conscientiously oppose maintaining firearms as a result of beliefs or religious doctrine, or persons convicted of a felony.

There is evidence that this gun law has reduced the incident rate of home burglaries. In the first year, home burglaries dropped from 65 before the ordinance, down to 26 in 1983, and to 11 in 1984. Another report observed a noticeable reduction in burglary from 1981, the year before the ordinance was passed, to 1999. Overall crime rate had decreased by more than 50% between 1982 and 2005. The city’s website claims the city has the lowest crime rate in the county. As of this writing, there have been but four murders since 1982 and three of those happened in the ‘safe school zone’ in which no weapons at all are allowed. Again, murderers do not care about laws, including safe school zones…

Do not believe the rhetoric of those who want to take away legal firearms from lawful people like me. If you want to do something about gun-related crime, do something about the criminal. Educate him before he becomes one (and while you’re at it, educate his parents), train him for a good job in his teens before he has too much time on his hands in his 20’s, try another crime deterrent approach instead of locking him up with other like-minded criminals so he leaves prison better equipped in his skills than before he went in, best of all: share with him the saving love, grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ. But for goodness sake, don’t let the Government take away the right of the rest of us to protect ourselves from those who couldn’t care less about gun laws.

Two of my babies: Reva and Junior.