Dog Food Recalls

 

“Two National Dog Food Suppliers Issue Recalls for Possible Salmonella Contamination”

This was the news for Feb 23, 2013 that makes dog owners crazy.

Infected pets can be carriers of the bacteria and infect other animals or humans, according to the FDA.

Dog Food Recalls are becoming all too common and the frequency is alarming.

·        On February 15, 2013, Nature's Variety announced it was recalling a single batch of one of its raw dog food products. Fragments of clear plastic may be present in some bags and could pose a potential choking risk to pets.

·        On February 21, 2013, The Honest Kitchen announced it was recalling five lots of its Verve, Zeal and Thrive dog foods because they may be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria.

·        On February 22, 2013, Hy-Vee Inc. announced it was recalling certain bags of its dry dog food products due to elevated levels of aflatoxin.

It used to be all we had to do as responsible dog owners was research a healthy food safe from fillers and carcinogenic and possibly get a second job to pay for it!

Now you have to pray you don’t accidently poison your beloved best friend.

And the high end foods are not excluded. Apparently, those expensive foods and treats are sometimes processed in the same mill the low end foods are and of course cross contamination can result.

 

Now that I have sufficiently alarmed you (and I am sorry for that but ignorance is NOT bliss)

please let me arm you with a wonderful link to keep you informed and hopefully one step ahead of

a possible trip to the vet.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall-alerts/

 



Chronic Pain

Watching a relative / loved one live with chronic pain can be very painful.

Most of us have had an injury that caused us to flinch or cry or become temporarily without normal movement.

A broken bone heals, a headache eventually goes away, a scrape or deeper wound may take some time but usually all of these can be soothed with medications and will mend in time. Pain that is brought about by a nerve disorder that is not affected by over the counter relievers and lasts for months, years, or even lifetimes becomes debilitating and is stressful on the recipient and those that love them.

The internet can offer some help and suggestions and even some ways to soothe both the bearer of the pain and those that plead for help. Mostly, a chronic pain sufferer needs to be acknowledged and assisted with sometimes simple tasks. Reaching for opioids to diffuse the symptoms that make you want to jump off a bridge is just a patch for the underlying causes. Quite often you will create an addict before finding what can truly help. Awareness is necessary when dealing with anyone who is ill or in pain and having outlets and resources is important for those of us that feel all they can do is sit and watch and cry with them.

"Carnival" Cruise?

 

A “Carnival” that is NOT so much fun.

“Feasting and merrymaking,” perhaps this cruise line should change its name.

An entire ship made up of a “poop deck!” All of the information is not in as of yet

and I am sure many will have much to say. The bottom line is that recession is taking its toll

across land and sea with major corporation’s side stepping and just plain neglecting to keep up with maintenance and overhauls of equipment.

As a former cruiser with many sails to my name, it seems to me that the cruising populace will probably tell themselves

the same thing that frequent flyers do; “well, it’s safer than driving a car.” I don’t know if this is soothing enough

to have me drop a few thousand dollars to propel my way to exotic destinations.

 

I think I would rather take my chance with an automobile and stick to the Americas for now.

Somehow, driving across state borders into Canada or Mexico seems like a safer proposition

than bobbing without control in the Atlantic with land nowhere in sight. I will most likely continue

to fly and even book another cruise or two, but for the near future I think I will keep my feet or at least my wheels on solid ground.

Who Is St Valentine?

Who is Saint Valentine?

February 14th is the day we celebrate Saint Valentine's Day. We give flowers, cards and candy to those we love. We do this in honor of Saint Valentine. But who is St. Valentine?

Legend has it that Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 270 AD.

The church was enduring great persecution at that time. His ministry was to help the Christians to escape this persecution, and to provide them the sacraments, such as marriage, which was outlawed by the Roman Empire at that time by Claudius II.

Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those that were married.

With this thought in mind he outlawed marriage for young men in hopes of building a stronger military base.

Supposedly, Valentine, decided this decree just wasn't fair and chose to marry young couples secretly.

When Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine's actions he had him put to death.

Another Valentine character is Cupid (in Latin it means "desire").

Cupid is the Roman God of Love and the son of Venus. He is a small, winged boy, blindfolded, carrying bow and arrows.

Cupid is often said to be a mischievous boy who goes around wounding both Gods and humans with his arrows, causing them to fall in love. He is also portrayed as a young man

 

with his beloved Psyche, with Venus or with a small group of winged infants. Some traditions say that he was born from a silver egg.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

 

It’s said, “laughter is the best medicine”. And there's lots of evidence that laughter does good things for us.

                                                                                                                                                                                  It reduces pain and allows us to tolerate discomfort. 

It reduces blood sugar levels, increasing glucose tolerance in diabetics and non-diabetics as well.

                                                                                         

It improves job performance, especially if your work depends on solving complex problems and/or creativity.

                                                                                         

Its role in relationships is vastly underestimated and it really is the glue of good marriages.

It synchronizes the brains of speaker and listener so that they are emotionally attuned.

Laughter establishes -- or restores -- a positive emotional climate and a sense of connection between two people.

In fact, some researchers believe that the major function of laughter is to bring people together.                                     

And all the health benefits of laughter may simply result from the social support that laughter stimulates.                     

Now comes new evidence that laughter helps your blood vessels function better acting on the inner lining of blood vessels causing vessels to relax and expand, increasing blood flow.                

So it's good for your heart and brain.

Dr. Michael Miller of the University of Maryland reported this year that in a study of 20 healthy people, provoking laughter did as much good for their arteries as aerobic activity. He doesn't recommend that you laugh and not exercise. That’s funny!

                                                              

But he does advise laughing on a regular basis. The endothelium, he explains, regulates blood flow and adjusts the propensity of blood to coagulate and clot and it secretes assorted chemicals in response to wounds, infection or irritation.

It also plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease.

"So given the results of our study, it is conceivable that laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease."

                                           

At the very least, Dr. Miller adds, "laughter offsets the impact of mental stress, which is harmful to the endothelium."

So laughter may not be the best medicine or the only medicine but I do believe it’s a part of a healthy existence.



Oasis

Huacachina Oasis in Peru

 

Who would ever think that a desert was ever anything more?  The process of nature and geology are in a continual motion of change.

The word desert originally meaning “an abandoned place”, now is most often used in reference to an area of low precipitation.  What a variety this planet offers because of its orbit around the sun, and the topography of the earth itself. Amazing how we can look at rocks and determine the moisture content that was once available, and the changes that have occurred with time.

Living in the shadow of mountains are areas that are deprived of moisture, and land that is too far away from ocean air is also subject to this deprivation.  Interestingly, although deserts have very little rain, the storms they do get are strong enough to actually change the landscape.  During the dry times the sand and silt is moved by the wind and the finer, lighter particles can be carried across oceans. 

 

 

A great awakening for all that what is airborne halfway around the world can affect other nations. The wind can actually blow away enough of the earth to expose the water table creating an oasis in the desert. What a marvel is this world! Prevent desertification; after the dust bowl disaster in the States, why do other countries make the same mistakes; and we all watch in horror as populations suffer and die. When will humanity take notice that balance is key?

 

The Cloisters



One of my favorite things to do is spend a day in New York City. Broadway is top on my list along with a fabulous meal.

If I don’t have tickets in hand, it will be a museum that calls me.

 I had always heard of “The Cloisters” but never really knew what it was about so I decided to experience it for myself.

A great decision on my part!

The Cloisters Museum and Gardens is a branch of the Metropolitan museum of art and is located on four acres atop a cliff on the Northern tip of Manhattan with a stunning view of the Hudson River. It felt so removed from the hustle bustle of the city.

The Museum was reconstructed between 1934 and 1938 from the architectural elements of five cloisters from medieval monsasteries, a Romanesque chapel and a 12th century Spanish apse (semicircular recess in a building) brought intact from Europe.

 The gardens around the Cloisters were landscaped according to horticultural information obtained

from medieval manuscripts (healing herbs, flowers, foods) and artifacts making the museum and its grounds and educational work of art.

The Cloisters is used to exhibit art and architecture from Medieval Europe and contains approximately five thousand European Medieval works of art with a particular emphasis on pieces dating from the 12th thru 15th centuries.

My overall impression when I am there is one of being transported back in time. the gardens provide a quiet space to contemplate the wonder that surrounds you. To stand in a sanctuary from medieval times is both very peaceful and oddly eerie to me, but the beauty of it all takes my breath away.

Separation of Power

The Constitution

Article II, Section II

Separation of Power

Although a presidential appointment to the Supreme Court justice does not require the approval of Congress, it does seek the approval of the Senate.  With the recent filibuster of judicial nominee Goodwin Liu, this appropriation of checks and balances in regards to the separation of power among the three branches of the national government seems to be a clear example of a misinterpreted constitutional article.  The constitution itself seems to consistently be in flux over the definition of certain declarations.  If the system of checks and balances was initially put into place so that no one branch had any more power than any other branch,  then why does it appear that the Senate has the final word on judicial nominees?  Isn’t this more indicative of a Parliamentary jurisdiction?

Watching the behavior of the human beings that wear the title of Senator, it is clear to me that not one of them makes decisions based solely on intellect.  Individual interpretation and emotion will always be a factor; the American English language is never succinct.

Perhaps a specified term for a Supreme Court judge would be more appropriate than the lifelong appointment.  The argument against the confirmation of Professor Liu seems to be against the interpretation of previous testimony and personal philosophy; albeit I have never met a human who did not change with age.  Have we become a nation so deeply imbedded in our labels of Republican vs. Democrat that we now will push aside our views of what is best for all in lieu of what is best for our particular party?

Alice in Wonderland

 

 

 Is Alice in Wonderland more reality based than fairy tale?

 A story that was invented for the real Alice and her sisters, the children of a friend, while on a boat trip was inspired by many people, places and things out of the environment of the author Charles Dodgson’s (the real name of Lewis Carroll).

The character of Alice was based on a real girl named Alice Pleasance Liddell.

Alice was born on May 4, 1852 and was the forth child and second daughter of the Dean from the Christ Church College in Oxford, Henry George Liddell & Lorina Liddell.

Alice

The White Rabbit may have been a reference to Alice’s father. The Dean was notorious for being late for services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheshire, England being a dairy county is well know for it’s cheese. A popular mold for the cheese was a Cheshire Cat.  The cheese was sliced from tail to head leaving the cat’s grin last before it disappeared.

                                                       

 

The Mad Hatter and phase “mad as a hatter” were common at that time.

The origin is in the fact that hat makers did often go mad due to mercury poisoning from the mercury curing process used to construct the hat.

It would not have been unusual for the hat makers to appear confused or disturbed.

 

 

 

The buildings in Oxford and at Christ Church and specifically the actual stairs in the back of the main hall in Christ Church symbolizing the “Rabbit Hole” certainly influenced the adventures in the book.

The Biotechnical Revolution

The biotechnical revolution has me wondering what are we really eating?

Chemicals and money drive the economy and we have become lab rats for major corporations.

GMO’s or genetically modified organisms are crops that scientists have altered for qualities making them easier to produce or more marketable. The crop appears heartier, are more resistant to pests, have a longer shelf life with greater temperature resistance, and higher crop yields with shorter growing cycles. If it looks like food and tastes like food it must be food. Right? Maybe not.

The ability to farm prolific amounts of grains with little care to environment has led us to a world that ingests food substances that are not natural born, but genetically altered.

Biotechnology is basically an invasion of cellular structures with the ability to produce a final product by gene splicing and forcing molecular structures to change by the introduction of viruses or bacteria.

With E-Coli slipping through into our mainstream foods, I would think that there would be much more of a halt or at the least a security process that must be met before the human population is exposed to this technology.

 

In 1998, Mexico banned the planting of GMO corn and since then, all 15 countries in the European Union have listened to their own populace and have required labels on all genetically modified foods; the United States has not. The 2001 recall of genetically modified corn products in the US due to possible allergic reactions caused the public to become aware of what potential hazards were on their grocery shelves. Still, downplayed throughout the media, this has long since been forgotten and although illness is rampant and people struggle with immunity problems no one questions a tie between the food products we ingest. No labeling means there is no way anyone can say, “It is the genetically modified foods” that have created new disease, more illness, and an overall weakness to our body.

 

How can we look the other way; how can we ignore what the biologists that have no monetary gains are telling us about genetic modifying and biodiversity?

There seems to be a trend in the last decade that indicates the majority population wants natural, clean food, local farmers markets and organically grown produce. I've got my fingers crossed.