I’m starting to think profit=evil but then there’s always 7th Generation . . .

Bayer

Rudy Giuliani

the stuff you won’t hear on the networks

How do you sleep at night, Mr. President?

Many things could keep you up and here is yet another one.

President vetoes in favor of autism.

Vegetables!

The next big thing after organic is local.  I am for local but the things I’ve read leave out some key components of the discussion.  First of all, local does not mean organic.  I look forward to the day when I go to the farmers’ market and several vendors have signs that they don’t use pesticides, herbicides, etc.  One guy told me he washes his stuff in bleach so any pesticide will come off.  Great, one poison for another.

Second, environmentalists are saying organic right now is bad for the environment because it comes from so far away that it’s adding to the pollution.  Right, but if we buy organic eventually US producers will be forced to go organic which is better for the land, etc. So in the short term more damage will be done but your dollars speak (not to mention health concerns) so I say buying organic is still preferable to other grocery produce.

The benefit to local (beside supporting small farmers vs big corporations) is that they pick things when they’re ripe so you get more nutrition than grocery produce which has to be picked long before it’s ripe.

Something else that is lacking in the discussion is winter.  Canning is difficult and not the best for preserving nutritional value, freezing doesn’t work on all produce, fermenting in vinegar or dairy may be possible . . . but I haven’t read anything suggesting these methods for those who buy local.  Surely we still require vegetables during the 6 months of the year the farmers’ market is closed.

. . . .

I just discovered something I was hoping existed:  community supported agriculture.  You pay a certain amount per year (like a stockholder) and get produce from a farm.  Ideally, you’d have some say in whether it was organic, which vegetables they plant, etc.  But I don’t think they all work like that.  There’s one about 45 min from me and several others in AR although I only know the location of two of them and they’re far away.  Anyway, the number of these places are growing so that’s exciting.  Mainly because I’m all for having my own garden but I have no green thumb and so when the economy collapses, I think we’d be doomed.  This may be the way out (although currently it requires income, maybe in dire straits working on the farm would pay for goods).

Quotes

Everything popular is wrong.

Oscar Wilde, The importance of Being Earnest

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

Mark Twain

I just read Thoreau’s civil disobedience and am now reading Walden. . . . . fascinating.

Kids’ Haircuts

Not to long ago was the second time my daughter got her hair cut. I did like I did the first time. I got mine cut while she watched (it needed it anyway and my husband came a long to keep an eye on her while the hairdresser worked on me) and then she was eager to be like mom so was not afraid of the chair, the hairdresser, gown, etc. However, while I was still in the chair two boys threw fits about getting theirs done. One mom didn’t push it, just decided it wasn’t going to happen that day. The other mom had the boy on her lap and held him through the whole thing. Of course, the hairdresser was using clippers which is fine except that it no doubt scared the kid to death. Anyway, he cried and screamed and then he would quiet down and then something would set him off again. It made me so mad (for one thing it was unnerving Elisa and also I felt like it’s not right to terrorize a kid like that–he was really scared not just mad). Why was I so mad? Because the situation could have been avoided or greatly minimized if these moms had done what I did. They could have had the boys’ fathers come in (or another male whom the boys know and like) and get their hair cut with clippers, etc. and the boys wouldn’t have minded sitting in the chair. Now, the sound and feel of the clippers may still have startled them but it’s amazing what you can get kids to do when they know it’s not a big deal because they saw someone else get it done. And you can say, oo doesn’t that sound funny, doesn’t it feel funny, etc but these moms (and the one hairdresser who did cut one of the boys hair) did nothing to help the situation along. They didn’t even promise the boy candy for enduring it even though they gave it to him afterward. That alone may have made him sit through it without crying if he knew a reward was coming.

Vaccines and autism in court

I am not in favor of suing necessarily but I do pray that the court would find in favor of the family.

The Sun is not the danger, it’s the lack of that gives you cancer

UPDATE:  Additional link:  here 

I have a hypothesis that as long as you don’t actually get sunburned, you can’t get skin cancer. Well, it’s actually far more complex. You need to eat right, exercise, etc. and I think you can probably still get ugly sun spots, etc. but I try to get out every day to get fresh air, vitamin D, etc and Elisa & I never wear sunscreen unless it’ll be longer than an hour or it’s next to water or it’s a new place we’re not used to (Florida sun is different than up north so if you’re not used to it . . . ).

It’s amazing. Our skin gets darker and darker but neither of us has been burned yet. It’s all about gradual adjustment. We started getting out when the weather was decent (you rarely get sunburned in April) and by the time we could have gotten sunburned our skin had adjusted.

In any case, don’t avoid the sun and don’t always cover up with sunscreens.

PS Babies under 6 months are still susceptible so the above does not apply.

Wal-Mart brings down American empire

Not that I’m pro empires. . . .

I still have not weaned myself completely of Wal-Mart.  I go probably once a month for things I can’t buy elsewhere locally.  And I’ve been thinking about that.  So many little towns whose closest retailer is Wal-Mart. . . . I don’t think it matters even if we get the word out because people have little alternatives for appliances, electronics, cosmetics, etc.  There’s no excuse for buying clothing and food at Wal-Mart, though (if I do it’s because I’m there for one of the other items) except maybe baby clothes because where else?

The Beast

Dear Lord, please make it stop!

Three-Girls-Died–Others-Hospitalized–After-HPV-Vaccine