Here’s a nice little tidbit for all you Clutter Bugs out there who are feeling overwhelmed with all the piles of stuff everywhere. I’m going to keep it short and simple as pac-rats tend to be anything but.
Help! I’m buried under a plethora of paper!
The concept of Decluttering is based on the theory that clutter drains both physical and mental energy.
Decluttering involves two components:
This can be accomplished by one, being present in the now and not daydreaming while surmising your environment, and two, by enlisting the help of a friend or family member in cleaning out.
For serious cases, there are even professionals who you can hire to get your space cleared out. Your sanity will thank you and your productivity and creativity will expand.
This is a good illustration of one reason why health insurance is so screwed up.
Ok, I don’t need a string of comments telling me the obvious, WHAT IF? CATASTROPHE Stuck and I had some serious medical bills.
But this goes along with one reason why I went for some 15+ years without paying for health insurance. Youth and health on my side coupled with healthy lifestyle choices kept me out of the doctors offices and hospitals for all those years.
Like I pointed out in a previous post, it should be called Disease Management and Potential Catastophe Insurance and not Health Insurance. The lifestyle choices I make are more aptly named insurance than any silly policy I can pay for.
Now here’s my rant.
I received my year in review report from blue cross today and i had a total of $1700 in bills for health care for 2009
BCBS only paid $500 and I had to pay $250 out of pocket. This doesn’t include the $2600 I paid in premiums.
So, if I could convince the labs and doctors to let me pay the same negotiated amounts that they get if it went thru insurance then I would have only been out $750 dollars last year.
And even if I had to pay the full amount, I would’ve paid $1700
Instead, because I have health insurance, I had to pay out of pocket, $2850. . .
or about $1150 more than if I had none even possibly $2100 in savings if I could pay only what they get from insurance/co-pay.
Tell me again WHY I have health insurance????
I am going to look into catastrophic health insurance as an alternative and switch to that if it is cost effective.
Yo, Step away from the Ding-Dong!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-fourths of health care spending now goes to treat “preventable chronic diseases.” Not all of these diseases are linked to diet — there’s smoking, for instance — but many of them are.
We spend $147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes, and hundreds of billions more treating cardiovascular disease and the many types of cancer that have been linked to the so-called Western diet.
Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There’s gobs of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry.
Take for example the market for prescription drugs and medical devices to manage Type 2 diabetes, which the Centers for Disease Control estimates will afflict one in three Americans born after 2000.
So you might be thinking, what about the insurance companies? Where’s the incentive for them to encourage prevention over disease management?
As for the insurers, you would think preventing chronic diseases would be good business, but, at least under the current rules, it’s much better business simply to keep patients at risk for chronic disease out of your pool of customers, whether through lifetime caps on coverage or rules against pre-existing conditions or by figuring out ways to toss patients overboard when they become ill.
Maybe if they made it so you can’t deny pre-existing conditions for new customers and not charge exorbitantly higher fees, then the insurance companies might be enthusiastic fans of healthy lifestyle choices.
The status quo is slow to change and to entertain the idea of expulsion of those currently running the show is a bit ridiculous and likely to cause too much mayhem and chaos in the process.
True education and the desire to own and rediscover each of our divine personal power and use our waning ability to think and question for ourselves is a much more long term solution to this epidemic.
The secret to saving the world (assuming that it even needs to be saved) is to start with yourself first and don’t worry about what the other person next to you is doing. Get your own house in order. If these words are heeded by a majority, then we’ll be in pretty good shape.
and Hey! Put that Twinkie down!
Vertical Farming, or more definitive, Vertical Hydroponic Organic Urban Farming is coming to a town near you. Or it should be, in my opinion. Yes, I know I’ve been on a farming bender lately with my blog, but hey, after air and water, food is pretty important to staying alive.
Even though I currently reside in a condo and don’t currently fancy myself possessing a green thumb unless it’s from paint, thanks to my mother and grandfather et al, I’ve got farmer’s blood in me. And it is true that I’ve always been into quality food, health and nutrition.
Before I get into the cool pics and advantages of Vertical Farming, I need to bring up something else about our relationship with . . .
Now of course, this ties in directly to the elephant in the room many people try to avoid confronting. And that is the horrendously unhealthy typical American diet and its catastrophic effect on the out-of-control health care in this country. Wait, we’re still calling this Health Care? More like Disease Management.
It’s the quality of food we eat – mostly processed and devoid of enzymes and basic nutrients in adequate levels. It’s the quantity too – most of us eat way too much food, much of it garbage.
It’s also when we eat. Too many people skip breakfast or think a cup of joe is a sufficient breakfast. This is followed by eating the biggest meal of the day at dinnertime – often much too late in the evening.
Finally, lack of quality fresh food, effective, bio-available nutritional supplements, and eating while under time stress and other stresses creates the inability to absorb and digest what we DO end up shoving in our mouths.
There are a myriad of ‘pie in the sky’ artist conceptions and designs.
Perhaps a smaller model would be more easily created in a shorter amount of time.
Here’s a few interesting ideas:
As the world’s population has already surpassed 6 billion and billions more on the way, before we know it the traditional soil-based farming model developed over the last 12,000 years will no longer be a sustainable option.
Irrigation of crops uses 70 percent of the fresh water that we use. The excess agricultural runoff, contaminated with silt, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, is unfit for reuse.
VF food production will take advantage of hydroponic and aeroponic technologies. Both methods are soil-free. Hydroponics allows us to grow plants in a water-and-nutrient solution, while aeroponics grows them in a nutrient-laden mist. These methods use far less water than conventional cultivation techniques, in some cases as much as 90 percent less.
For every indoor acre farmed, some 10 to 20 outdoor acres of farmland can return to their original ecological state (mostly hardwood forest).
A vertical farm will behave like a functional ecosystem, in which waste is recycled and the water used in hydroponics and aeroponics is recaptured by dehumidification and used over and over again. The technologies needed to create a vertical farm are currently being used in controlled-environment agriculture facilities but have not been integrated into a seamless source of food production in urban high-rise buildings.
High rises aren’t the only structures that could house vertical farms. Farms of various sizes and crop yields could be built into a variety of urban settings — from schools, restaurants and hospitals to the upper floors of apartment complexes. By supplying a continuous quantity of fresh vegetables and fruits to city dwellers, these farms will help combat health problems, like Type II diabetes and obesity.
Vertical farming can finally put an end to agricultural runoff, a major source of water pollution.
City dwellers will also be able to breathe easier – literally. Vertical farms will bring a great concentration of plants into cities. These plants will absorb carbon dioxide produced by automobile emissions and give off oxygen in return
One estimate for proof of concept: constructing a five-story farm, taking up one-eighth of a square city block, will cost $20 million to $30 million.
An actual indoor farm developed at Cornell University growing hydroponic lettuce was able to produce as many as 68 heads per square foot per year. At a retail price in New York of up to $2.50 a head for hydroponic lettuce, you can see how profitable this and other similar crops can be.
Learn more about Vertical Farming @ http://www.verticalfarm.com/
my friend’s mama always said, and I paraphrase,
Soap is cheap. No excuse for not being clean
But most soaps and traditional shampoos are actually quite harsh for the skin and hair.
That’s why I love to use Wen hair conditioner products. They are amazing.
A former girlfriend of mine introduced me to this fantastic product.
Wen Fig 32oz
There are several types – not to be used based on your nose’s preference but rather the type of hair you have.
For fine and medium hair the proper choices are Lavender, Cucumber Aloe, or Sweet Almond Mint.
If you have medium coarse or ethnic hair then Fig, Lavender or Tea Tree are your best bets.
She gave me the Fig conditioner to try and I have to say, I didn’t think I’d like the scent, but after using it I find I do. Plus it feels great working it into your scalp. That’s the key to using hair products I found out. To get rid of dirt and balance the scalp’s oils, you need to work your fingers down in there. And when it comes to conditioning the hair, the ends need it the most.
I really like that Wen is a very natural product that has no sodium laurel sulfate which is pretty much in most all shampoos and body soaps on the market today. Sure, they get you clean but they are WAY to harsh on the skin and hair.
What the company says:
WEN is designed to eliminate shampoo and its harsh and damaging effects, without sacrificing the integrity and beauty of your hair. WEN is the only cleanser/conditioner you will need to use in your daily routine, and can be used as often as necessary.
Fig Cleansing Conditioner is a universal cleanser which, due to its rich, dense consistency, works exceptionally well to moisturize, hydrate and replenish dry, heat-damaged, color-treated, or dehydrated hair. This cleansing conditioner is free of sodium laurel sulfates and detergents, and cleanses without lathering or stripping the scalp or hair of natural moisture.
Due to the harsh detergents and sodium laurel/laureth sulfates found in most all shampoos, they would experience color fading/stripping, dull, lifeless, frizzy, dry hair, dry scalps, oily scalps, scalp disorders, hair loss, etc., damaging their scalp, hair, health and environment. That was when I started to implement my new concept in cleansing, eliminating the detergents and harsh chemicals that lather and strip your scalp and hair, and introduced the WEN product line to the world.
Learn more about the specifics
http://www.chazdean.com/t-aboutwen.aspx
I would love to see Monsanto be destroyed by it’s own corruption and greed – and any other company with equally diabolical plans and schemes such as theirs. Patenting life and trying to own and control the world’s food supply. The way they conduct their business makes me extremely distrustful of anything they say as being accurate or truthful.
With that bit of zing, I want to share with you an article I was sent today by a friend.
02-04-2010
When we consider the rogue’s gallery of devilish, over-sized, greedy and disproportionately powerful corporations, we generally come up with outfits like Microsoft, Bechtel, AIG, Halliburton, Goldman-Sachs, Exxon-Mobil and the United States Senate. Yet somehow, Monsanto, arguably the most devilish, over-sized, greedy and disproportionately powerful corporation in the world has been able to more or less skulk between the raindrops — only a household name in households where documentaries like Food Inc. are regarded as light Friday evening entertainment. My house, for example. But for the most part, if you were to ask an average American for their list of sinister corporations, Monsanto probably wouldn’t make the cut.
It should.
Founded by Missouri pharmacist John Francis Queeny in 1901, Monsanto is literally everywhere. Just about every non-organic food product available to consumers has some sort of connection with Monsanto. Anyone who can read a label knows that corn, soy and cotton can be found in just about every American food product. Upwards of 90% of all corn, soybeans and cotton are grown from genetically engineered seeds, also known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). These genetically enhanced products appear in around 70% of all American processed food products. And Monsanto controls 90% of all genetically engineered seeds. In other words, Monsanto controls — and owns patents on — most of the American food supply.
When you consider, as Walletpop originally reported, that one-in-four food labels is inaccurate, that the F.D.A.’s testing is weak at best, then how can we trust one corporation to have so much control over our produce? The answer is, we can’t. Recently, a study by the International Journal of Biological Sciences revealed that Monsanto’s Mon 863, Mon 810, and Roundup herbicide-absorbing NK 603 in corn caused kidney and liver damage in laboratory rats. Scientists also discovered damage to the heart, spleen, adrenal glands and even the blood of rats that consumed the mutant corn. A “state of hepatorenal toxicity” the study concluded.
This hasn’t slowed down Monsanto’s profit machine. In 2008, Monsanto cleared over $2 billion in net profits on $11 billion in revenues. And its 2009 is looking equally as excellent.
Author and food safety advocate Robyn O’Brien told me, “Monsanto is expecting gross margins in Q2 2010 of 62%, its corn and soy price mix to be up 8-10% and its glyphosate revenue to expand to an estimated $1 billion in gross profit by 2012, enabling Monsanto to further drive R&D into seeds and to price those seeds at a premium – further driving price increases on the farm and in the grocery stores.”
This, O’Brien says, in the same year when farm income declined by around 34%.
Because Monsanto claims that its GMOs create higher yields and therefore comparatively higher revenues per acre for struggling American farmers, they’re certainly a tempting option. On the surface, that is. Monsanto controls its seeds with an iron fist, so even if you happen to own a farm next to another farm upon which Monsanto seeds are used, and if those seeds migrate onto your land, Monsanto can sue you for royalties.
Additionally, if you use seeds from crops grown from Monsanto seeds, a process known as “seed cleaning,” you also have to pay royalties to Monsanto or it will sue you. All told, Monsanto has recovered $15 million in royalties by suing farmers, with individual settlements ranging from five figures to millions of dollars each.
Back in 2004, farmer Kem Ralph served eight months in jail and was fined $1.3 million for lying about Monsanto cotton seeds he was hiding in his barn as a favor to a friend. They weren’t even his seeds (yeah, that’s what they all say!). By way of comparison, the fine in Ralph’s home state of Tennessee for, say, cocaine possession, is $2,500.
In keeping with the Orwellian nature of modern marketing, one of the first phrases you see on the front page of the Monsanto website is “we help farmers.” Funny. In a cruelly ironical way, that is.
In fairness, the argument in support of Monsanto is generally “it makes more food for lower prices.” Of course this is a red herring. Basic economics proves that choice and competition create lower prices. Not monopolies. This applies not only to American grocery stores, but also in terms of feeding developing nations where food is scarcer.
Moreover, stronger Monsanto herbicides, compatible with herbicide resistant seeds, are giving rise to mutant Wolverine-ish super weeds that have adapted and are rapidly spreading through the air to farms that don’t use Monsanto GMOs, destroying obviously vulnerable crops. Say nothing of the inevitable mutant bugs that will adapt to the pesticides that are implanted into the Monsanto Mon 810 genetic code. And if further studies indicate similar organ damage in humans, the externalized costs to health care systems will begin to seriously out-weigh the benefits of cheaper food.
Ultimately, there are better, healthier ways to make cheaper food. Until then the best thing we can do is to demand further investigations and buy organic products whenever practical.
And if you can’t afford to buy organic, O’Brien recommends, “A great first step, given how pervasive these ingredients are in processed foods that often use these ingredients to extend shelf life, is to reduce your exposure to processed foods and stick with pronounceable ingredients and foods that your grandmother would have served her kids.”
Meanwhile, let’s endeavor to make Monsanto a household name. But not in a good way.
On January 15, the Obama Justice Department launched an anti-trust investigation against the corporate behemoth over its next generation of genetically modified “Roundup Ready” soybean seeds. The very next day, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms, which challenges the safety of genetically modified agricultural products — the centerpiece of the Monsanto empire. If the investigation fails, farmers will have to switch over to the next generation of Roundup Ready seeds in 2014. And the cycle of corporate abuse and monopolization will continue.
that was a funny movie….
yes, it’s blog pee time again, even though we just went… and I’m not sure if it’s still groundhog day or not… each tomorrow seems the same as yesterday’s spilt milk.
COFFEE – TEA – SODA POP – PEE
The caffeine found in tea leaves is not the same as the caffeine in coffee beans.
For one, tea is much lower in general, rich in anti-oxidants and balanced verses the highs and lows caused by coffee.
Coffee caffeine perpetuates the physiological symptoms as seen in anxiety and stress – racing heartbeat, insomnia, sweating, nervousness, agitation and palpations. This is all associated with one’s Sympathetic Nervous System or the fight or flight instinct.
Tea on the other hand stimulates the Parasympathetic Nervous System, or the “rest and digest” response.
So the message is, drink coffee and freak out. Drink tea and feel relaxed, happy and healthy. It encourages a clear mind, improves concentration and helps digest food properly.
****808****
Things that were better when my parents were growing up.
No microwaves.
The ground soil that we grow our food in wasn’t so depleted.
GMO foods didn’t exist.
Fast food was a rarity.
Feel sorry for the Chinese youth…. ignorance may seem blissful but to me they seem like brainwashed little sheeple who don’t know or apparently care about freedom. What they don’t know does hurt them. They don’t even know they’re being subjected to excessive censorship.
They think they have choices, but like cable tv, there’s 57 channels of crap. sure there’s different flavors to ‘choose’ from, but it’s all crap in the end.
Clueless Ignorant Chinese
upon watching slobama’s 2010 SofU address… what comes to mind is this:
joining dar cast of idiots, morons & baffoons >> joe biden dar bobblehead und nancy palosi clap happy jack in dar box clown
I love reading comments on youtube – it confirms that one can be an ignorant douchebag but still be just smart enough to use a computer and surf the internet.
A comeback for when someone calls you crazy:
_
Crazy? There are many who will dub me a ‘nut’ for what I have written and spoken.
My reply is this: Today’s mighty oak is just yesterday’s nut that held its ground.
This sounds good so long as you don’t step on something sharp and rusty.
Western runners, of whom 90 per cent suffer injuries every year, would be better off leaving their sneakers at home, and running barefoot. Science and sceptical runners are catching up with something the Tarahumara Indians have known for ever: your naked feet are fine on their own. According to a growing body of clinical research, those expensive running shoes you’ve been relying on may be worse than useless: they could be causing the very injuries they’re supposed to prevent. Out here in the non-Tarahumara world, where we have access to the best in sports medicine, training innovations and footwear, up to 90 per cent of all marathoners are injured every year. The Tarahumara, by contrast, remain spry and healthy deep into old age. I saw numerous men and women in their seventies loping up steep, cliffside switchbacks on their way to villages 30 miles away. Back in 1994, a Tarahumara man ventured out of the canyons to compete against an elite field of runners at the Leadville Trail Ultramarathon, a 100-mile race through the Rocky Mountains. He wore homemade sandals. He was 55 years old. He won. So how do the Tarahumara protect their legs from all that pounding? Simple – they don’t. They don’t protect and, most critically, they don’t pound. When the Tarahumara aren’t barefoot, they wear nothing more cushioned than thin, hard sandals fashioned from discarded tire treads and leather thongs. In place of artificial shock absorption, they rely on an ancient running technique that creates a naturally gentle landing. Unlike the vast majority of modern runners, who come down heavily on their foam-covered heels and roll forward off their toes, the Tarahumara land lightly on their forefeet and bend their knees, as you would if you jumped from a chair. This ingenious, easy-to-learn style could have a profound effect on runners, not to mention the multi-billion dollar running-shoe industry.
Western runners, of whom 90 per cent suffer injuries every year, would be better off leaving their sneakers at home, and running barefoot. Science and sceptical runners are catching up with something the Tarahumara Indians have known for ever: your naked feet are fine on their own.
According to a growing body of clinical research, those expensive running shoes you’ve been relying on may be worse than useless: they could be causing the very injuries they’re supposed to prevent.
Out here in the non-Tarahumara world, where we have access to the best in sports medicine, training innovations and footwear, up to 90 per cent of all marathoners are injured every year. The Tarahumara, by contrast, remain spry and healthy deep into old age.
I saw numerous men and women in their seventies loping up steep, cliffside switchbacks on their way to villages 30 miles away. Back in 1994, a Tarahumara man ventured out of the canyons to compete against an elite field of runners at the Leadville Trail Ultramarathon, a 100-mile race through the Rocky Mountains. He wore homemade sandals. He was 55 years old. He won.
So how do the Tarahumara protect their legs from all that pounding? Simple – they don’t. They don’t protect and, most critically, they don’t pound. When the Tarahumara aren’t barefoot, they wear nothing more cushioned than thin, hard sandals fashioned from discarded tire treads and leather thongs. In place of artificial shock absorption, they rely on an ancient running technique that creates a naturally gentle landing.
Unlike the vast majority of modern runners, who come down heavily on their foam-covered heels and roll forward off their toes, the Tarahumara land lightly on their forefeet and bend their knees, as you would if you jumped from a chair. This ingenious, easy-to-learn style could have a profound effect on runners, not to mention the multi-billion dollar running-shoe industry.
Personally, my feet feel constricted when I have to put shoes on. That’s why you’ll find me in a nice pair of sandals most of the time.
Maybe it’s living in a warm climate here in Florida or the fact that I feel more grounded when barefoot. Sure, there’s risks of stubbing toes, cutting feet on things that a shoe would avoid, not to mention keeping them clean. But I’m not saying walk around on hot asphalt in your bare feet either.
I’ve instinctively tried this method of running and found it to be easy on the feet and fast.
Maybe save your money on those expensive running shoes, eh? Oh, and move to the music at 180 beats per minute
You know, after reading this article, it reminds me of a book on tantric breathing I read years ago. Proper breathing technique goes hand in hand with your running technique if you want to go the extra mile(s). The tantric book talked about monks that could run from one village to another non stop – often 50 to 100 miles away and get there in the same day – in part because of the way they breathed.
READ FULL ARTICLE SOURCE
Today’s Pick: Shaklee’s Performance Sports Drink
My Favorite - The Big Can - 70+ servings
When it comes to staying hydrated and rehydrating, nothing else comes close. As a personal observation, an added benefit seems to be quick available energy that keeps you going long after you think you’d be spent.*
I like to buy it in the Performance Team Pack size to save a few bucks, plus it lasts for quite a while. Lately I’ve been sticking with the Lemon-Lime flavor, but I like to mix it up and switch to the Orange now and then. I tried mixing the two together half and half but found it didn’t really taste as good as each on their own.
A few years ago, I just bought a Trikke 8 and finally figured out how to make it go. So being the over achiever I am, I decided I would conquer the entire Pinellas Trail - 34+ miles from end to end running the length of Pinellas County with the addition of a few extensions which of course I had to do. [Note to self: share embarrassing story of Trikke 8 experiences]
I mixed up a double dose in a 20 oz water bottle, grabbed a few granola bars and set out on the Pinellas Trail for the first leg of what would be several different sessions to finish it.
Mind you, I had not been doing much cardio at all prior to taking this on. Sipping on the Performance, I managed to go almost 5 hours and wasn’t even tired or sore. Not even the next day. I couldn’t believe I went that long and far without paying for it later.
I really like the fact that Shaklee doesn’t put crap [chemicals, artificial colors/sweeteners/additives] in any of their products, so you know you are getting the best there is. Chalk up another glowing testimonial to the power of Shaklee, lol! I tell you, this stuff works!
The smaller can of Performance makes 19 servings @ 100 calories per.
*Independent peer reviewed and accepted published research has proves this to be true.
With the United States Congress pushing to pass questionable ‘health care’ bill thru the House and Senate, it is crystal clear that the government is clueless and unwilling to go after real POSITIVE CHANGE…
Sure, the president built his whole campaign on the concept of CHANGE… but I never heard it phrased as Change for the BETTER.
For far too long we have had a system of disease management. Waiting for people to get sick and THEN try to make them well again… Health Care as it is today is mislabeled… IT should be called, Disease Management. Most of the money spent on health care is spent AFTER people are sick.
What we need is to switch to PREVENTION and Proactive healthy lifestyle living. If we don’t, the aging Baby Boomer population will bankrupt our nation. We need to shift from “wait till you get sick and then try to make you healthy” to “keeping you healthy so you don’t get sick.” This is where Billions of new dollars are going to be spent.
Shaklee’s clinically proven, patented natural products are how you and I can live this new paradigm.
It’s also a phenomenal way to earn a great living and help the world be a better place at the same time.
YOU don’t have to feel excluded from the American Dream… watch this video from Shaklee’s CEO, Roger Barnett and then click on the link to see how You can Take part.
Roger Barnett Shaklee 2010 Highlight
Learn more about how you can be a part of the Shaklee Family.
