Bailout: A Bad Idea

There is no shortage of talking heads out there opining about the current market crisis. I'm posting this one because of who the head belongs to: Jim Rogers, one of the most respected and successful international investors for the last several decades. He believes the American government's bailout plan, and now that of the G7 nations who are convening in Washington, is being ignored by the markets—and says why. Watch the video here.

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More Reasons to Move to Asheville

There is a new movement in Asheville, NC, to promote the local food scene. Growers, chefs, markets, restaurants, and community are all gathered under the banner of FoodTopianSociety.com. Asheville keeps creating more good reasons to live there or nearby. The Appaliachian Sustainable Agriculture Project was the first of these "umbrella" movements supporting sustainable food production, and the FoodTopian Society is following in that same vein.
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Meat, the Prostate, and Big Pharma

A new Oxford University study has found that a diet containing meat and dairy may lead to increased likelihood of prostate cancer in men.

Because the connection between animal fat and prostate cancer has been established before, I've thought about it every time I've seen a current commercial running on TV. It's for Flomax (get it? MAXimum FLOW of urine, not constricted by an enlarged prostate?), one of the popular drugs to reduce the symptoms of BPH (swelling of the prostate). It pictures these guys who are all happy now that they can get in and out of the bathroom quickly -- and they're all standing around a grill at a cookout!

Imagine -- a drug company that sells a prostate-shrinking drug showing men at a cookout preparing to consume the very foodstuffs that are bad for the prostate. It's part of the do-whatever-you-want-and-then-take-a-pill mentality that Big Pharma has sold the American consumer.

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Hide Your Private Stuff

Check out the clarity of this first picture taken by the new Google-sponsored satellite that is now circling the earth, snapping pix of the globe. These pictures will, in due course, begin replacing the images now seen on Google maps, etc. This is a picture of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, taken from 423 miles above the earth:

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What Goes Around . . .

Very interesting article written by Dean Reynolds, veteran CBS News correspondent who has spent the last 12 months on the road covering both the Obama and McCain campaigns. His article is about the differences between how the two campaigns operate and how they treat the press: one of the campaigns is friendly toward reporters, one is not; one of the principals is friendly to the reporters, the other is not; one of the campaigns is extremely organized when it comes to letting reporters know about schedules, travel, etc., the other is not; one of the campaign's plane is cramped and smelly, the other is clean and accomodating.

Reynold's final paragraph is insightful:

"Maybe none of this means much. Maybe a [campaign] that is focused solely on victory doesn't have the time to do the mundane things like print up schedules or attend to the needs of reporters.

"But in politics, everything that goes around comes around."

Banks Down, Brewers Up

From Agora Financial's 5 Minute Forecast:

Just out of curiosity this morning, we sought out the best and worst performing sectors over the last 12 months:

Worst: Dow Jones U.S. Mortgage Finance Index, down 95%.
Best: Dow Jones U.S. Brewers Index, up 17%.

That pretty much sums it up, eh?

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Right or Responsibility?

In the presidential debate last night, one question illustrated the clear difference between Obama and McCain. If I didn't have any other reason NOT to vote for Obama, his answer to this one question would have been enough:

Brokaw Question: "Is health care a right, a privilege, or a responsibility?"

Obama Answer: "A right."
McCain Answer: "A responsibility."

Obama's answer is the same answer that created the sub-prime mortgage mess: Every American has a RIGHT to own a home whether s/he can afford it or not. That belief was engineered by Democrats and translated through Fannie and Freddie and we are reaping the results. Separating rights from responsibilities (and privileges -- such as home ownership) is fundamental.

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Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture

This past August, a group of well-known activists for healthy food and sustainable agriculture (Wendell Berry, Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, et al) released a draft Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture -- a 12-point statement intended to influence the next iteration of the always-lamentable federal Farm Bill. Several hundred thousand people already have signified their support by endorsing the statement at the Declaration's web site. I would encourage you to go to the site, read the (brief) declaration, and add your endorsement.

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Avocado Transplants

Here are the six avocado trees I transplanted from the flower beds into the side yard. The row of four borders my neighbor's property line but he was fine with having them there; the two on the left could be problems being so close to the driveway. The jury is out on whether any of them will make it -- one of the six looks a little pale this morning. We'll see.

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Figs and Books

Went to Home Depot this morning to get potting/planting mix for transplanting the avocado trees (pix tomorrow -- too dark when I finished) and spied a great Brown Turkish Fig tree -- actually, the one I got has two trunks growing out of the same pot, even better. I bought some Brown Turkish Figs at the store the other day -- $.79 each. The price wasn't marked and the checkout person thought they were $.79 for the bag instead of $.79 each. Needless to say I haven't bought any more at that price, but a bag for $.79 was nice. And they were delicious -- as big as golf balls. So when I saw the fig trees at Home Depot I grabbed this one. The card that came on the tree says they can get 40-50 feet wide and tall, so I put it on the open space on the side yard.

Digging this hole was like chipping concrete:



All tucked in with a mix of mushroom compost, composted cow manure, potting soil, and organic fertilizer:





These look just like the ones I bought at the store -- huge:





On the way to Home Depot I stopped in the Matthews Public Library book sale that began today and runs all this week. A nice stack of hardbacks for four bucks:

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TED

TED (stands for Technology, Education, Design) is an annual, invitation-only conference of the best and brightest thinkers in technology, education, and design. I have a DVD of the TED conference from 2006 -- mind-boggling to watch these speakers, using their 18 minutes to tell the other attendees what they are working on. Cash prizes to further that research are awarded to the best.

This was one of the presentations on creativity in children (many more of the 18-minute videos, on a variety of subjects, at the TED website):



This one is a Swedish researcher who uses an amazing presentation of data on child mortality around the world. The audience was blown away by his presentation:

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Your Bank's Stability

Go here to get a rating on your bank's financial condition. Very detailed information.

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What About Cancer-Preventing Foods?

Tour de France legend and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, as part of his Livestrong war on cancer, has challenged McCain and Obama to list three things they would do to lessen the impact of cancer if elected to the presidency. Their answers are brief and pointed, but focus mainly on doing more of what's been done in the past: more money, more research, more accessible healthcare, etc. McCain makes a brief reference to "healthy living" which is commendable. (Yet see the previous post below on what McCain keeps in the 'fridge on his tour bus, and his overall eating habits. His idea of "healthy living" is not that healthy.) But it's clear these two have no more creative ideas than trying to improve what has been done in the past. 

The new DVD, Healing Cancer from Inside Out, makes it clear that in spite of billions of dollars spent over recent decades, cancer still has the upper hand. There was definitely not "one American death per minute" (as Armstrong notes) in 1900 as there is today. From that perspective, we are in worse condition now than before the billions were spent. As books like Dr. Colin Campbell's The China Study point out, the first line of defense against cancer, and the most potent weapon against reversing it, is an immune system made strong by the cancer-fighting properties of plants. 

From the national level, regardless of which of the two is elected, we're in for more of the same:

UPDATE: I removed the embedded video because of the IRRITATING fact that it plays automatically every time you log onto my blog. To watch the video you can click on the title line of this post above.

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The Health of the Candidates

In his latest Newsletter, Dr. John McDougall does a thorough, detailed analysis of the current diet and health status of the two presidential candidates. One is in good shape and the other is not.

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Weight Loss on Raw Food

Nice story on CNN.com of a 300-pound young woman who lost 160 pounds over two years by switching to a raw vegan diet. Has kept the weight off for four years and authored several books on switching to a vegan, raw-food lifestyle.

Food Storage Jars

One of Jen's friends posted on her blog the story of the pesky little moths that get into food products (mainly grains, in my experience) in the pantry. They lay eggs in the food, etc. -- resulting in having to throw out everything and start over. Sealed storage containers are the solution, as Anna said, showing the Ball jars which are so good for many uses. A couple of years ago I made the same switch and finally found online a source for one-quart and one-gallon glass jars (with screw-on lids) to store dry foods in (rice, beans, oatmeal, cereal, seeds, pasta, flour, etc.). They are sold by the case (12-count) and were just $2-$3 each when buying that many.

The reason I like the one-quart jars is because they are straight-sided, meaning the openings are wide at the top for sticking measuring spoons or other utensils in. The large jars on the bottom shelf (below) are great -- 128 oz/one-gallon size -- for storing large quantities of dry bulk foods.

I had a VERY DIFFICULT time finding these jars online. Very strange to me that something this common would be so hard to find. When I went back this week to try to find my original source to send to Jen's friend, I couldn't find it. Don't know if it's still out there or not, but this is a market niche that seems to be waiting to be filled. If anyone finds a good source for these LARGE size glass jars, please post it in the comments:

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Fall Colors

Snagged this "fall" bouquet at Harris Teeter this morning. Don't do flowers very often, but want to do more. They bring such color and "good cheer" to a room:





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Top 10 Blogs for Writers

Michael Stelzner (the leading writer of corporate white papers) has released the results of the "Top 10 Blogs for Writers, 2008/2009" contest.

There's something here for everyone: Moms, see #9. Here are his descriptions of each:

1. Copyblogger: As the undefeated champ, this blog has held the number-one spot for three straight years! The baby of Brian Clark, this blog keeps winning because of its excellent and educational articles.
2. Men With Pens: James Chartrand and Harry McLeod are the dynamic duo who continue to deliver rich content and community discussion.
3. Freelance Writing Jobs: Founded by Deb Ng, this site is the first stop for freelance writers seeking new work and great articles (and it remains a top winner since this contest began).
4. Write to Done: This blog delivers a steady stream of excellent articles for all writers and is the product of top blogger Leo Babauta.
5. Confident Writing: Looking for encouragement? Joanna Young will help you take your writing to the next level.
6. The Renegade Writer: Linda Formichelli and Dianna Burell, authors of a book by the same name, help freelance journalists find inspiration.
7. Remarkable Communication: One part writing, one part marketing and one part selling, this excellent blog by Sonia Simone will help any writer succeed.
8. Writing Journey: Looking for a great stop on your writing journey? Bob Younce’s blog will refresh and energize you.
9. Freelance Parent: Two moms, Lorna Doone Brewer and Tamara Berry, provide excellent perspective on writing while balancing time with little ones.
10. Urban Muse: Susan Johnson covers a wide range of excellent topics that all writers will enjoy.

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Augustine's Pears

Whenever I look out my back window to the heavily-laden pear tree in my neighbor's yard, I think of the role pears played in St. Augustine's conversion. From chapter four, book two, of his Confessions:

There was a pear tree close to our own vineyard, heavily laden with fruit, which was not tempting either for its color or for its flavor. Late one night--having prolonged our games in the streets until then, as our bad habit was--a group of young scoundrels, and I among them, went to shake and rob this tree. We carried off a huge load of pears, not to eat ourselves, but to dump out to the hogs, after barely tasting some of them ourselves. Doing this pleased us all the more because it was forbidden. Such was my heart, O God, such was my heart--which thou didst pity even in that bottomless pit. Behold, now let my heart confess to thee what it was seeking there, when I was being gratuitously wanton, having no inducement to evil but the evil itself. It was foul, and I loved it. I loved my own undoing. I loved my error--not that for which I erred but the error itself. A depraved soul, falling away from security in thee to destruction in itself, seeking nothing from the shameful deed but shame itself.

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"3" "7" or "PC"

The evidence seems to be mounting about the danger of some plastic bottles. The dangerous ingredient in the plastic goes by the name "BPA," and a report I read said that 90-95% of Americans have BPA in their bodies already (according to an AMA study). One BPA research study summarizing 218 other studies on BPA found that 189 of the studies found harmful effects of BPA -- an 87% agreement rate. BPA has been linked to a number of diseases, but the American Medical Association.

The FDA, however, is on the other side of the evidence and said this on September 18:

Based on our ongoing review, we believe there is a large body of evidence that indicates that FDA-regulated products containing BPA currently on the market are safe and that exposure levels to BPA from food contact materials, including for infants and children, are below those that may cause health effects.

The easiest way to tell the "bad" plastic bottles (including water bottles, baby bottles, energy drink bottles, food storage containers, etc.) is to look on the bottom. You'll find a triangle with a single digit number in it. The "bad" bottles have a "3" or a "7" in the triangle, or the letters "PC" stamped on the bottom. Some of my two- and five-gallon buckets that I use for dry bulk food storage have a fork/spoon icon stamped on the bottom signifying "food grade."

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