The High Price Of Low Prices

A common complaint about organic and local grown food is that they’re more expensive than “conventional” foods. Do you ever wonder why you can buy peaches in the middle of January? That’s just one example but it applies to all conventional food. All of it comes from thousands of miles away, much of it from other countries. Anything grown in this country and its industrial farms is subsidized by your tax dollars. Tax dollars subsidize the petroleum used in growing, and shipping these products.

We also pay direct subsidies to the large-scale, chemical-dependent brand of farming. And the kicker is we’re being forced each year to pay the environmental and health costs of that method of food production.

Direct Farm Bill subsidies cover agricultural fuel, treatment of food-related illnesses, agricultural cleanup, collateral costs of pesticide use, and the costs of nutrients lost to erosion. This is all documented and at minimum it’s at least $80 billion, or about $725 per household each year. That, plus the sticker price at the supermarket buys our “inexpensive” conventional food.

Organic practices build rather than deplete the soil, using manure and cover crops. They eliminate pesticides and herbicides, instead using biological pest controls and some weeding with a hoe. Keep in mind, this was done for hundreds of years on many farms that grew many varieties of crops, not the monster soy, corn, or canola farms.

The organic farm maintains and applies the knowledge of many different crops. All this requires extra time and labor. Smaller farms also bear some higher costs for packaging, marketing, and distribution.

The good news is demand for sustainable farming and organic food is exploding. People are beginning to realize organic was here first. It isn’t a new invention like microwave meals. It’s simply food grown in clean earth using technology hundreds of years old. It’s different types of livestock on the same farm able to feed naturally and roam a pasture. Antibiotics are used only on sick animals, not mixed with feed.

You can find farmer’s markets easily in your area and there are quite a few of them just outside of metropolitan areas. 

Good luck with the good food. 

http://www.gillfinn.mionegroup.com

Our Incredible Shrinking Food

My Tomatoes have blossoms on them now. Butter clover crowds their stand but it can be turned with a tined rake and provides a good feed for the soil. The basil is about ten-to twelve inches tall and getting bushy. Yellow squash has monstrous yellow-orange blossoms, and the zucchini is not far behind. The young tomato plants have a distinctive scent to them as all tomato plants do. It's a very musky pleasurable odor that I look forward to every spring and summer.
The other day I was reading a passage from a great book by Barbara Kingsolver called: "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"
I highly recommend it.
There was a part that was very interesting and at the same time, depressing.

In her book, according to a crop ecologist, in our history humans have eaten some 80,000 plant species. After recent precipitous changes, three quarters of all human food now comes from just eight species. The field so to speak, is quickly narrowing to genetically modified (GM) corn, soy, and canola.
We're losing them as fast as the rain forests. In 1970, the Plant Variety Protection Act was written into law. Anything owned by humans, of course, can be taken away from others. The removal of crop control from farmers to agribusiness has been powerful and swift.

Six companies--Monsanto, Syngenta, Dupont, Mitsui, Aventis, and Dow--now control 98 percent of the WORLD'S seed sales.
These companies invest heavily in research whose purpose is to increase food production capacity only in ways that can be strictly controlled.
The most common genetic modification now contained in most U.S. corn , soy, cotton and Canola do one of two things.
(1) Put a bacterial gene into the plant that kills caterpillars, or (2) alter the crops physiology so it withstands the herbicide Roundup, so chemicals can be sprayed over the crop. (the crop stays alive, the weeds die) You guessed it, Monsanto controls sales of the resistant seed, and the Roundup.
With little or no variation in crops, it's kind of like having all your eggs in one basket. Something completely natural could conceivably wipeout something unnatural i.e. g.m. crops.

I'm happy I'll be able to eat real heirloom tomatoes all summer long, but I feel sorry many people don't even know they're out there. Some people have never even eaten vegetables grown in their backyard or harvested from a local farm. The difference in taste is amazing. Get to your local farmer's market and skip the supermarket once in a while.

http://www.gillfinn.mionegroup.com

Antioxidants 101

Here’s some great info on antioxidants.

What are Antioxidants? Benefits of Antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances or nutrients in our foods which can prevent or slow the oxidative damage to our body. When our body cells use oxygen, they naturally produce free radicals (by-products) which can cause damage. Antioxidants act as "free radical scavengers" and hence prevent and repair damage done by these free radicals.  Health problems such as heart disease, macular degeneration, diabetes, cancer etc are all contributed by oxidative damage. Indeed, a recent study conducted by researchers from London found that 5 servings of fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of stroke by 25 percent. Antioxidants may also enhance immune defense and therefore lower the risk of cancer and infection.

Most Commonly Known Antioxidants

 

Vitamin A and Carotenoids

Carrots, squash, broccoli, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, kale, collards, cantaloupe, peaches and apricots (bright-colored fruits and vegetables!)

 

Vitamin C

Citrus fruits like oranges and lime etc, green peppers, broccoli, green leafy vegetables, strawberries and tomatoes

 

Vitamin E

Nuts & seeds, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, vegetable oil and liver oil

 

Selenium

Fish & shellfish, red meat, grains, eggs, chicken and garlic

Other Common Antioxidants

Some common phytochemicals

• Flavonoids / polyphenols

• soy

• red wine

• purple grapes or Concord grapes

• pomegranate

• cranberries

• tea

• Lycopene

• Tomato and tomato products

• pink grapefruit

• watermelon

• Lutein

• dark green vegetables such as kale, broccoli, kiwi, brussels sprout and spinach

• Lignan

• flax seed

• oatmeal

• barley

• rye

Vitamin-like Antioxidants:

• Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

• Glutathione

Antioxidant enzymes made by the body:

• superoxide dismutase (SOD)

• catalase

• glutathione peroxidase

Message: Antioxidants are found abundant in beans, grain products, fruits and vegetables. Look for fruits with bright color - lutein in some of the yellow pigments found in corn; orange in cantaloupe, butternut squash and mango; red from lycopene in tomatoes and watermelon, and purple and blue in berries. So enjoy eating a variety of these products. It is best to obtain these antioxidants from foods instead of supplements. In addition, minimize the exposure of oxidative stress such as smoking and sunburn.

World’s Best Antioxidant Berry Radical

Weaning From Your Cleaning

Here’s a great article on the dangers of household cleaning products we use everyday. It’s easier, cheaper, and healthier to mix your own or purchase organic cleaners that work better anyway. There is an organic cleaner with vanilla extract and sea salt as the main ingredients. It’s loaded with living probiotic bacteria that keeps things amazingly cleaner, longer. You could even drink this stuff because it’s 100% non-toxic. Try that with amonia or chlorine bleach.

This is interesting.

Most consumers don't realize what potentially dangerous chemical compounds everyday cleaning products can contain, said Lisa Arkin, Oregon Toxics Alliance executive director. Basic household cleaning chemicals can become dangerous if not handled properly.

"Even simple things like toilet bowl cleaners contain chemicals that caused cancer in lab animals," she said. "Also, the use of bleach is not a great thing - it's chlorine and that's poison. People end up mixing it with ammonia and then they're dead from the fumes."

Environmental Studies graduate student Jason Schreiner said even if chemicals don't pose an immediate threat, they often cause bodily damage over time, something consumers rarely consider when they use a product.

"It affects their body. It goes into the air and they inhale it, or it goes onto their skin and they absorb it, and their liver has to work hard to process that," he said. "In the long term (chemicals) can get lodged in fat cells and slowly leech into the body, compromising the immune system."

Environmental Protection Agency studies indicate human exposure to indoor air pollutants and volatile organic gasses, often produced by cleaning supplies, can be two to five times higher than outdoor levels. Although not much is known about the effects of organic gasses usually found in homes, according to the EPA's Web site, many organic compounds are known to potentially cause cancer in both humans and animals among other lesser problems.

As a substitute, Oregon Toxics Alliance suggests both time-tested natural cleaners and modern, environmentally safe and nontoxic cleaners. One mineral compound with low toxicity, borax, can be used as an all-purpose cleaner, Arkin said.

"Borax is so great - so is lemon juice and baking soda," she said. "Fred Meyer now has an entire aisle for alternative cleaners that are safer."

Schreiner said consumers should check commercially available cleaning products for labels specifying they are both nontoxic and biodegradable.

For homemade solutions, Arkin suggested using a paste of borax and lemon juice or vinegar to clean toilet bowls, bathtubs and counters. For dirty windows, a quarter cup of vinegar diluted with a quart of water will leave a streak-free shine, she said.

The organization's Web site, www.oregontoxics.org, also recommended using oxygen bleaches instead of traditional chlorine bleach and provides alternatives to most type of cleaning products.

Essential oils, such as lavender or tea tree oil, can also be added to homemade cleaning solutions to provide naturally anti-bacterial and antiseptic properties and pleasant scents, Schreiner said, and when chemical cleansers are the only available choice he advises consumers to take necessary precautions.

"Wear gloves, those rubber yellow ones. Use a face mask, even a little dust mask is better than nothing, and open windows for ventilation," he said.

He also said consumers should be careful disposing of used cleaning supplies. In many cases, Schreiner said, household chemicals have also been known to impact amphibian populations and contaminatewater systems because of improper disposal.

"Most people using these chemicals will dump them down the drain or flush them in their toilet or wash them down the bathtub," he said. "Try to catch that in a bucket and not let it go down the drain."

Cleaning alternatives.

http://www.gillfinn.mionegroup.com 

WHF (Worlds Healthiest Foods)

WHF (Worlds Healthiest Foods)

http://www.gillfinn.mionegroup.com

Radical Berries

Radical Berries Hey, This is a great article written by Ben Miles about the importance of organic antioxidants. IMPORTANT NOTE - Coffee has antioxidants?  Hidden Truths, Hidden Lies Recently Nestle and Nescafe have launched a marketing campaign that states coffee is packed full of antioxidants. This is completely untrue! The process coffee beans go through to become a beverage destroys these nutrients. The coffee BERRY contains the antioxidants. The whole coffee fruit also contains many healthy poly-, oligo- (and five of the eight essential mono-)saccharides. Polysaccharides, such as mannans and aribinogalactans, make up nearly 50% of the coffee berry. Conventional roasting destroys these nutrients, so they're not found in traditional coffee. This is yet another example of the lengths marketing morons will go to to sell their product to unsuspecting consumers. Upon enquiring about where they got their facts from, Nestle were unable, or unwilling, to provide scientific evidence to show that they had found their coffee products to contain antioxidants. Reducing, or better still - removing, coffee from your diet is highly important. Your liver has to work incredibly hard to combat the side effects produced from drinking coffee, which include hyper activity, lack of concentration, heart palpitations, dizziness, the shakes, headaches (caused by dehydration) and more. Caffeine is also a diuretic - basically, it makes you pee. A lot of people report the same symptoms when ingesting Guarana or Ginseng but this is not cooked. It is better to buy your supplements cold processed. This way they have not been heated and will retain all their nutrients and beneficial properties. Some key antioxidant superfoods  Cacao (Raw chocolate); pronounced "kay-cow" The Berry family, including Blueberries, Cranberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, etc. Goji berries; pronounced: "GOH-shee" Coffee berries Black currants & Red currants Pomegranate Bee Pollen Maca Acai; pronounced "ah-sa-ee" Spirulina, Dunaliella Salina and other blue-green algae Why might you need to take an antioxidant?  · You eat less than 10 servings of fruit and vegetables a day (5 cups). · You are affected by pollution or cigarette smoke. · You are concerned about free radical damage and aging. · You are under stress or have poor energy. · You have a chronic disease such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic fatigue syndrome or rheumatoid arthritis. · You wish to assist with the prevention of chronic disease. What are the questions you should ask before buying an antioxidant formula?  1/ Does it have a high ORAC score? ORAC = Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. This is the standardised measurement of the total antioxidant power of a substance. Nutritionists recommend 5000 ORAC units per day to mop up the damage caused by free radicals in the body. * 30ml of Tahitian Noni Juice has an ORAC score of 165 per serve * 630ml of Himalayan Goji Juice has an ORAC score of 380 per serve * 30ml of Xango Mangosteen Juice has an ORAC score of 530 per serve * 30ml of YL Berry Young has an ORAC score of 1130 per serve MiVitality Berry Radical contains 4000 ORAC per 5g serve. 2/ Is it certified organic? A $27 million, four year European funded project to be published this year has found that certified organic food is more nutritious than ordinary produce. Organic fruit and vegetables have been found to contain 20 - 40% more antioxidants than conventional fruit and veg. By buying a certified organic antioxidant you can be sure of the quality of the product. Many antioxidants contain ingredients that are commonly sourced from conventionally farmed produce. A certified organic antioxidant, like any certified organic product, is free from pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and the chemical cocktail used on conventional produce which have been shown to have a detrimental effect on the body. MiVitality Berry Radical is the only certified organic antioxidant superfood in the world. Certified by the ACO, Australia's largest certifying body. 3/ Is it portion controlled? As soon as an antioxidant is exposed to the air it starts its work; so an open bottle of liquid or container of powder will lose its potency as time goes on. MiVitality Berry Radical comes in 5g powder sachets so the minimal loss of free radical fighting ability can occur. 4/ Is it raw? Raw means unheated to about 48°C (118°F). Above this temperature, enzymes are destroyed, amino acids are denatured and vitamins are reduced. MiVitality Berry Radical is not exposed to such temperatures providing all the available nutrients from their natural state. 5/ Is it cost effective? The following figures are how much you would have to spend to get the equivalent ORAC units to one box of MiVitality Berry Radical. * 6 bottles of YL Berry Young costing US$325 * 12 bottles of Xango Mangosteen Juice costing US$480 * 17 bottles of Himalayan Goji Juice costing US$893 * 41 bottles of Tahitian Noni juice costing US$1727 ONE BOX of MiVitality Berry Radical contains 217,200 ORAC units! Each box contains 30x 5g sachets 6/ Is it free of dilution and preservatives? Liquid antioxidant formulas, such as Tahitian Noni Juice, Himalayan Goji Juice, Xango Mangosteen Juice and YL Berry Young, are diluted from concentrate with water. Subsequently they may require a preservative which is usually sodium, potassium benzoate or potassium sorbate. MiVitality Berry Radical is a potent freeze dried powder that is free of preservatives. http://www.gillfinn.mionegroup.com

Who Killed The Electric Car?

The auto makers and you have conflict of interests. They sure can produce cars which will last longer than you want, require no expensive service and no gasoline. You want such a car, but the manufacturers want to make sure they keep getting steady income from far more profitable SUV sales, car maintenance, and the oil companies - income from the fuel sales, be it gasoline or hydrogen. EVs are so good that require none of that so you'd pay very little to nothing for your car maintenance and your personal "gas station" is as far as the nearest electrical outlet. So what do you think auto makers will sell you - what's good for you or what's good for them?

They afraid of EVs, they try very hard (and unfortunately succeeding) to convince you that no one wants electric cars. They can make EVs if forced by law but at first opportunity they destroy perfectly normal EVs (sad GM's EV1 story). Hard to believe? Yes, this is unfortunate but well documented fact. Despite long waiting lists, they try to convince you there was no demand. EV1's of course were never advertised. Simple truth is, they never offered EV1's for sale to the general public precisely because they knew there was demand. If they would offer EV1's, the public would demand more, GM would be pressured to work against their business interest, so they simply decided to only lease the vehicles putting such lease conditions that very few would qualify, which is "proof" no one wanted EV1's.

Can you buy EV1 or RAV4? How about Ford's Think City or Ranger? No. GM scrapped its EV program, and despite long waiting lists, kept telling "there is no demand" while never allowing anyone to buy a single EV1 vehicle and destroying them at the end of lease. If you want to know more about it get "who killed the electric car" movie.

Today (2008) they GM changed the tune and promises Chevy "Volt". We’ll see. But I'm afraid based on the past history of promises and deliveries, you will die waiting for Detroit.

EV technology exist today. Far less complex, electric cars would cost less than gas ones if produced in the same quantities. You can compare the costs of ownership of ICE vs. EV.

A word about fuel cell (FC) vehicles, namely ones using hydrogen as an energy source. Don't hold your breath to see them any time soon if ever. A FC vehicle is no doubt a step in right direction in a sense that inefficient internal combustion engine is replaced with an electric motor. The only difference between pure battery EV (BEV) and FCEV car is the energy source; the drive systems and control electronics are almost identical. However, instead of just a plain rechargeable battery, FCEV has to carry a very complex hydrogen reformer using exotic expensive materials, full of pumps, blowers, hoses, and a tank of liquefied or compressed hydrogen you need to keep putting in. Fuel cell manufacturers claim that they are quiet since contain no moving parts. Did you have a chance to stay next to a working fuel cell vehicle? I did. A FC itself is sure quiet, but all necessary supporting equipment (blowers and pumps) make far more noise than modern ICE engine. Here is an example of "quiet" FC for a city bus demonstrated at Michelin challenge Bibendum event in California in 2003. A FC car will have scaled down version of all these components. When it runs, you can't keep a conversation unless you move 50 feet away.

For the record, the serious work on FC started in the 60's and GM back then announced that practical FC car for masses is "around the corner". Well, today, 50 years later, we're still wondering about location of that corner...and still waiting.  Why? Well, sorry, regardless of your opinion on this subject, it's because of the cold and unpopular in PR fact of reality:

MONEY.

Auto makers say fuel cell cars are clean an environmentally friendly. But so are EVs, which are even cleaner, considering charging from solar, hydro or wind sources. Auto makers sure are pro environment, but as long as you keep buying fuel and keep servicing overly complex vehicles. Doesn't matter what type of fuel, as long as they are in control of your pocket, they're happy. Are you happy too? Not to mention who exactly gets the money for all that imported oil...

Have you questioned anyone how much energy is needed to produce a hydrogen you're going to pay for? You need electricity to run the equipment reforming hydrogen to the useable for FC form. And then, the hydrogen is going to be used to get back electricity to run a vehicle propulsion motor. What's wrong with this picture? Isn't it simpler, cheaper, more efficient and just plain makes more sense to just store initial electricity directly in a car's battery in the first place?

Hydrogen is an extremely clever scam. When you step back and ask, "Where will the hydrogen come from?" the house of cards falls apart. You will get hydrogen from fossil fuels. The most economic way to get hydrogen is to catalyze natural gas. When you do this, you throw away 50% of the fuel value. If you were to put that hydrogen into a fuel-cell car, it would only go 50% the distance (at best) that a hybrid car would, if fueled from the natural gas directly. The oil company loves it. They get to sell twice as much per mile driven. It is also twice as much CO2 per mile driven. (G.W. = Global Warming)

If you choose to make hydrogen for your fuel cell car from electricity, an EV using that electricity directly will go at least twice as far.

Many of the foaming advocates of hydrogen say, "But we can figure out a way to make hydrogen more efficiently if we hurl big research dollars at the problem." Unfortunately, there are only so many hydrogen atoms in each methane molecule. Also, until we unlock the secret of photosynthesis, there will be no efficient way to make hydrogen. Batteries will always be more efficient at storing electricity than hydrogen gas.

Think of all the money we have spent on fusion power and it will give you just a peek of how much we would have to spend on electrolysis to make it more efficient. There are many many other areas in alternative fuels that will reap greater rewards on a faster timetable for far less money. (Like biodiesel) Of course, the oil companies really wouldn't like that, would they.

Can an EV run far? Well, if an EV could run more than 340 miles on a single charge 10 years ago, you'd think that today technology can be only better, especially if part of the money going into FC research would be spent advancing EV batteries. Can it run fast? Is about 300 mph fast enough for you? Can it be quick? How does 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds sound? Can you own an electric car for every day use? Yes! If you're fed up with Big three, motivated enough and have a handy man skills or can get help, you can convert a conventional vehicle to an EV yourself. Or you can buy a conversion made by other EVers. Thousands have done it. You too can make a difference. 

http://www.gillfinn.mionegroup.com

Sweet Poison

DONALD RUMSFELD AND ASPARTAME
This is a great article I found on the dangers of Aspartame and many other artificial sweetners (nutrasweet, Splenda) among others. Stay away from them. Their negative symptoms and side affects are extremely numerous. I was chewing gum about three months ago and noticed it was sweetened with Aspartame. I threw it all out. It’s in a lot of things, read the labels. Wait until you get down to the article about using aspartame as an ant killer. The kicker is it was originally developed as a pesticide! Anyway, read on and learn.

Aspartame is an additive found in diet soft drinks and over 5,000 foods, drugs and medicine. It was approved in 1983 for use in carbonated beverages. However, there may be more sour than sweet when it comes to aspartame.
In reality, aspartame is a drug, not an additive in the sense many people associate with that word. It interacts with other drugs, has a synergistic and additive effect with MSG, and is a chemical hyper-sensitization agent. Dr. John Olney, who founded the field of neuoscience called excitotoxicity, attempted to stop the approval of aspartame with Attorney James Turner back in 1996. The FDA's own toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross told Congress that without a shadow of a doubt, aspartame can cause brain tumors and brain cancer and violated the Delaney Amendment which forbids putting anything in food that is known to cause Cancer. Detailed information on this can be found in the Bressler Report (FDA report on Searle).
Dr. Olney isn't alone in attempting to reach out to the medical community and warn the American people about this drug. Dr. Ralph Walton, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine has written of the behavioral and psychiatric problems triggered by aspartame-caused depletion of serotonin.
According to the top doctors and researchers on this issue, aspartame causes headache, memory loss, seizures, vision loss, coma and cancer. It worsens or mimics the symptoms of such diseases and conditions as fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, ADD, diabetes, Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue and depression. Further dangers highlighted is that aspartame liberates free methyl alcohol. The resulting chronic methanol poisoning affects the dopamine system of the brain causing addiction. Methanol, or wood alcohol, constitutes one third of the aspartame molecule and is classified as a severe metabolic poison and narcotic.
Dr. Woodrow Monte in the peer reviewed journal, Aspartame: Methanol and the Public Health, wrote: "When diet sodas and soft drinks, sweetened with aspartame, are used to replace fluid loss during exercise and physical exertion in hot climates, the intake of methanol can exceed 250 mg/day or 32 times the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit of consumption for this cumulative poison."
Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD, author of "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills," wrote about the relationship between aspartame and macular degeneration, diabetic blindness and glaucoma (all known to result from excitotoxin accumulation in the retina).
The medical text, Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, by Dr. H. J. Roberts is 1038 pages of symptoms and diseases triggered by this neurotoxin. The claim is made that aspartame has even caused the epidemic of obesity because it makes you crave carbohydrates so you gain weight, and the formaldehyde accumulates in the adipose tissue (fat cells) according to the Trocho Study. Further accusations are that aspartame is also responsible for the epidemic of diabetes as it not only can precipitate diabetes but simulates and aggravates diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy, can cause diabetics to go into convulsions and interacts with insulin.
The effects of aspartame are documented by the FDA's own data. In 1995 the agency was forced, under the Freedom of Information Act, to release a list of ninety-two aspartame symptoms reported by thousands of victims. It appears this is only the tip of the iceberg. H. J. Roberts, MD, published the medical text "Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic" -- 1,000 pages of symptoms and diseases triggered by this neurotoxin including the sordid history of its approval. [See Video "Sweet Misery, a Poisoned World"]
Since its discovery in 1965, controversy has raged over the health risks associated with the sugar substitute. From laboratory testing of the chemical on rats, researchers have discovered that the drug induces brain tumors. On Sept 30, 1980 the Board of Inquiry of the FDA concurred and denied the petition for approval.
In 1981, the newly appointed FDA Commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, ignored the negative ruling and approved aspartame for dry goods. As recorded in the Congressional Record of 1985, then CEO of Searle Laboratories Donald Rumsfeld said that he would "call in his markers" to get aspartame approved. Rumsfeld was on President Reagan's transition team and a day after taking office appointed Hayes. No FDA Commissioner in the previous sixteen years had allowed aspartame on the market.
Dr. Betty Martini has worked in the medical field for 22 years. She is the founder of Mission Possible International, working with doctors around the world in an effort to remove aspartame from food, drinks and medicine. According to Dr. Martini, aspartame has brought more complaints to the American Food and Drug Administration than any other additive and is responsible for 75% of such complaints to that agency. From 10,000 consumer complaints FDA compiled a list of 92 symptoms, including death.
The history of aspartame and its approval has a political history as well as a scientific one. According to Dr. Martini,
"When Donald Rumsfeld was CEO of Searle, that conglomerate manufactured aspartame. For 16 years the FDA refused to approve it, not only because its not safe but because they wanted the company indicted for fraud. Both U.S. Prosecutors hired on with the defense team and the statute of limitations expired. They were Sam Skinner and William Conlon. Skinner went on to become Secretary of Transportation squelching the cries of the pilots who were now having seizures on this seizure triggering drug, aspartame, and then Chief of Staff under President Bush's father. Some of these people reach high places. Even Supreme Justice Clarence Thomas is a former Monsanto attorney. (Monsanto bought Searle in 1985, and sold it a few years ago). When Ashcroft became Attorney General, Thompson from King and Spalding Attorneys (another former Monsanto attorney) became deputy under Ashcroft. (Attorneys for NutraSweet and Coke).
"However, the FDA still refused to allow NutraSweet on the market. It is a deadly neurotoxic drug masquerading as an additive. It interacts with all antidepressants, L-dopa, Coumadin, hormones, insulin, all cardiac medication, and many others. It also is a chemical hyper sensitization drug so that it interacts with vaccines, other toxins, other unsafe sweeteners like Splenda which has a chlorinated base like DDT and can cause auto immune disease. It has a synergistic and additive effect with MSG. Both being excitotoxins, the aspartic acid in aspartame, and MSG, the glutamate people were found using aspartame as the placebo for MSG studies, even before it was approved. The FDA has known this for a quarter of a century and done nothing even though its against the law. Searle went on to build a NutraSweet factory and had $9 million worth of inventory.
"Donald Rumsfeld was on President Reagan's transition team and the day after he took office he appointed an FDA Commissioner who would approve aspartame. The FDA set up a Board of Inquiry of the best scientists they had to offer who said aspartame is not safe and causes brain tumors, and the petition for approval is hereby revoked. The new FDA Commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, over-ruled that Board of Inquiry and then went to work for the PR Agency of the manufacturer, Burson-Marstellar, rumored at $1000.00 a day, and has refused to talk to the press ever since.
"There were three congressional hearings because of the outcry of the people being poisoned. Senator Orrin Hatch refused to allow hearings for a long time. The first hearing was in 1985, and Senator Hatch and others were paid by Monsanto. So the bill by Senator Metzenbaum never got out of committee. This bill would have put a moratorium on aspartame, and had the NIH do independent studies on the problems being seen in the population, interaction with drugs, seizures, what it does to the fetus and even behavioral problems in children. This is due to the depletion of serotonin caused by the phenylalanine in aspartame."

According to a press release put out by the National Justice League on April 26, 2004, lawsuits were filed in three separate California courts against twelve companies who either produce or use the artificial sweetener aspartame as a sugar substitute in their products: Defendants in the lawsuits include Coca-cola, PepsiCo, Bayer Corp., the Dannon Company, William Wrigley Jr. Company, Walmart, ConAgra Foods, Wyeth, Inc., The NutraSweet Company, and Altria Corp. (parent company of Kraft Foods and Philip Morris).

The suits allege that the food companies committed fraud and breach of warranty by marketing products to the public such as diet Coke, diet Pepsi, sugar free gum, Flintstone's vitamins, yogurt (including Yoplait) and children's aspirin with the full knowledge that aspartame, the sweetener in them, is neurotoxic.
Dr. Martini recommends that consumers read all labels on any food, medicine or drinks they intend to consume.

Aspartame - The World’s Best Ant Poison

contributed by Jan Jensen of WELLthy Choices
We live in the woods and carpenter ants are a huge problem. We have spent thousands of dollars with Orkin and on ant poisons trying to keep them under control but nothing has helped.
So when I read somewhere that aspartame (Nutrasweet) was actually developed as an ant poison and only changed to being considered non-poisonous after it was realized that a lot more money could be made on it as a sweetener than as an ant poison, I decided to give it a try.
I opened two packets of aspartame sweetener, and dumped one in a corner of each of our bathrooms. That was about 2 years ago and I have not seen any carpenter ants for about 9 to 12 months. It works better than the most deadly poisons I have tried. Any time they show up again, I simply dump another package of Nutrasweet in a corner, and they will be gone for a year or so again.
Since posting this information I have had many people tell me of their success solving ant problems with this substance, when nothing else worked.
We found later that small black ants would not eat the aspartame. It was determined that if you mixed it with apple juice, they would quickly take it back to the nest, and all would be dead within 24 hours, usually. I have found that sometimes it will kill them, and sometimes it does not. Not sure why, may be slightly different species of ants or something.
Fire Ants: We got our first fire ant hill about 2 weeks ago. Poison did not work. We tried aspartame and the ants ignored it until we got a light rain. It was just a sprinkle, enough to moisten the Nutrasweet and ground, but not enough to wash it away. They went crazy, hundreds of them grabbing it and taking it back into the mound. When I checked the mound 2 days later, there was no sign of the fire ants. I even dug the mound up some, and still saw none of them.
How does it Work: Aspartame is a neuropoison. It most likely kills the ants by interfering with their nervous system. It could be direct, like stopping their heart, or something more subtle like killing their sense of taste so they can’t figure out what is eatable, or smell, so they can’t follow their trails, or mis-identify their colonies members, so they start fighting each other. Not sure what causes them to end up dying, just know that for many species of ants it will kill them quickly and effectively.
As with any poison I recommend wearing gloves and washing any skin areas that come in contact with this poison, and avoid getting it in your mouth, despite anything the labeling may indicate.
I suspect it will work for other insects such as yellow jackets as well, but have not tested that yet.

http://www.gillfinn.mionegroup.com

Fantasy?

Fantasy?

THE_GENE_REVOLUTION

Meet your Meat

This is a brutal look at where we've arrived.

A Farm

This past Sunday my girlfriend and I jumped into the truck and drove out to Bridgewater, New Jersey. It was a perfect day, sunny with huge white clouds floating high in the sky, like an upside-down river. I had located a farm online that sells beef, produce, chicken, and fresh eggs at their little farm store. We passed by the big Herefords grazing in the tall green grass. They stood by the road under the shade of a monstrous Sycamore, and I couldn't help thinking this used to be a typical scene all over this country. Dirt roads, farms, fields, and horses pulling carriages through small towns where everyone knew one another. We pulled into the dirt drive near the farm store, a kitten sat near an upturned wheelbarrow. We got out of the truck and the first thing I noticed was the quiet. There were birds chirping and I thought twice before shutting the door and ruining this moment. An older woman ambled toward us from the farm house, the kitten stood and stretched. It began to dawn on us then that this was now the exception to what was normal. The huge expanse of asphalt for grocery store parking was replaced by dirt and grass. The air smelled of clover and damp soil. We watched the woman approach and lean against the opposite side of a battered split rail fence. After explaining to her we had just wanted to locate the farm for future reference, she invited us into the store. The interior was musty smelling, it reminded me of the way our summer cottage smelled when it was first opened after a long winter. I bought two dozen eggs for five dollars and I felt I'd have paid double just for this experience. The cash register was literally a cigar box. The floor was unstable. The planks were wide and dirty; there was some dry straw near the base of the refrigerator. Prices for different cuts of beef were scrolled across cardboard in black marker. I didn't want to leave and I tried to think of ways to stay. There was a certain tonic to this place. I held the eggs as the woman explained what would available in a month or so. Tomatoes, yellow squash, and zucchini were in the ground, corn would be ready in late July or August. We thanked her and stepped out into the bright sun. The kitten was gone and a bee was bothering my girlfriend. I sat in the truck and pulled the door closed. I realized all that was missing. There were no aisles, no music; the eggs were in a paper bag. There was no polished linoleum and air conditioning. On a gut level, everything was as close to magic as it could be. But the most amazing thing was just plain reality, the dirt, the air, the simplicity of a farm, and escape to what used to be. At some point under the guise of progress we ceded all of this. To a certain percentage of the population, this experience might seem surreal. I think also, there is a sentiment evolving concerning health and wellness. A lot of people I talk to understand personal wellbeing has got to be their own responsibility. They read, research, and don't listen to everything they hear on TV or the radio. My girlfriend and I talked about this on the way back home, and it felt good to think about the future. If you get the chance, try to visit a farm sometime this summer and I guarantee you'll fall under the spell of what used to be. To your health. Graham http://www.gillfinn.mionegroup.com