A Picture Says It All

Signs that the Apocalypse Is Upon Us

While looking for my local Costco's phone number on their web site, I noticed the retailer is taking survivalism mainstream. Now you, and anybody else with $800, can be the first in your neighborhood to be able to crawl out of your bunker after the big one hits -- as much as one year later. A full year's worth of food comes in 84 one-gallon cans -- full details on contents are available here. Must be good eats -- the 12 reviewers so far give it 4.5 stars. I guess that means they have less than a year's-worth left. What's the half-life of radiation, anyway?

Simple, Healthy Food Bar

See the recipe for a seriously simple, Omega-3 healthy food/energy bar from the Happy Healthy Long Life librarian on her blog. Link.

Four of a Kind

What do these four well-known personalities have in common?

•Former President Bill Clinton

•Las Vegas hotel magnate Steve Wynn

•Mega-grocery-store-chain founder John Mackey

•Former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson

They have all recognized the health advantages of a vegan, plant-based diet. For a brief sketch of the four and the changes they have embraced, go here.

(Hopefully) Coming to Your Neighborhood

A creative lady in Burlington, Vermont—home to the Intervale and all things organic—has come up with a twist on the summer ice cream truck: a rolling organic vegetable stand. With a guitar amp strapped to the front bumper playing disco music, she tools around in neighborhoods and sells organic produce to the crowd that quickly gathers. Read the whole article in The Atlantic here. (Thanks to TheAtlantic.com for use of the photo.)

Soup for Supper

This miso soup I made for supper tonight looked so nice I decided to post the picture. Made from two flavors of miso, buckwheat soba noodles, tempeh, green onions, mushrooms, kale, spinach, and seasoning (garlic powder, garam masala, etc.). Delicious.

Don't Like Your Job? Try This One

My stomach still hasn't settled down after watching this guy do his job:

A Nation of Peasants

Victor Davis Hanson explains why the current administration's policies of wealth redistribution are resulting in a nation of peasants: "A newly peasant-minded America is willing to become collectively poorer so that some will not become wealthier." It's our choice as to whether this continues or not. Read it here.

Woke up on the Wrong Side of the Nest

Seen outside my window this morning: This little guy (girl?) was definitely animated (agitated?) about something. Because I don't see the squirrels in this kind of mood often, it makes me realize that today was a unique day in h/er life. A normal day in my life, but something abnormal in h/ers. Reminds me that animals' lives are not robotic; that they're thinking different things at different times just like we are. Would love to speak squirrel so I could have inquired with more than my fake bark and English-only attempts. Not surprisingly, s/he wasn't impressed by my efforts:

President Clinton Goes (Mostly) Vegetarian

President Clinton has yielded to the evidence of science that a plant-based diet can heal coronary heart disease. He has switched to a (mostly) plant-based diet in hopes of extending his life. Short video interview here, and more information here. In this CNN interview, Wolf Blitzer looks like Clinton is speaking a foreign language: no meat? no dairy?

If You Use a Digital Camera . . .

Found a good guy, Bert Sirkin, who runs photobert.com, a resource site for digital photographers. I learned about him through one of his most popular products: a series of digital camera/photography "cheat sheets." Your 100-plus-page camera/flash user's manual (with emphasis on Nikon and Canon) is reduced to a laminated one-sheet written in plain English with only the most pertinent info. There is a separate web site for the "PhotoBert Cheat Sheets" -- check out both sites for the sheets and loads of info and accessories (only stuff Bert has used and found helpful) for digital cameras. If you email for info, you'll get a reply from Bert himself. Good guy and good products. (And from Bert's Twitter feed today: Now thru 10/20/2010 25% discount on PhotoBert CheatSheets; 15% on accessories & software!)

Think on These Things

From Ben Stein's Facebook page:

"Fathom the odd hypocrisy that Obama wants every citizen to prove they are insured, but people don't have to prove they are citizens."

From Newt Gingrich (no attribution available):

"As an American I am not so shocked that Obama was given the Nobel Peace prize without any accomplishments to his name, but that America gave him the White House based on the same credentials."

Today: Battle of Titans -- Alabama vs. Penn State

The Kind of Guy I'd Like to Have on My Side

Newest Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta -- one of the few who lives to receive the Medal in person. Read what he did to earn the Medal here. That we might all be this selfless -- rescuing the wounded and captive in the heat of battle, whether physical or spiritual.

I Like NJ Gov. Chris Christie (So Far)

Earlier this week, NJ Gov. Chris Christie responded point-blank to a complaining teacher in a town-hall type meeting. (Watch the woman's roll-the-eyes head diss when Gov. Christie begins answering her question, and the response it brings from him. Finally, a leader who will stand up to the NEA!)

Atkins Diet INCREASES All-cause Mortality

Dr. Dean Ornish, long-time advocate of nutritional protocols for preventing heart disease, reports in the Huffington Post on a long-term study released in Harvard's Annals of Internal Medicine on the mortality rates of those following Atkins-type diets and those following plant-based diets.

85,000 women were followed for 26 years and 45,000 men for 20 years. In both groups, all-cause mortality was higher among those following an Atkins-type diet (high in animal protein, low in carbohydrates). All-cause mortality rates were lower in those eating a plant-based diet.

Ornish's concluding sentence: "To the degree that you move in a whole foods, plant-based direction, the better you're likely to feel and the healthier you're likely to become."

Read the short article here.

Q & A with Wholefoods' John Mackey

Q: You've been a meat-eater, then a vegetarian, now a vegan. What can you cut out next?

A: I've cut out all oils. I dont eat olive oil or canola oil. I've reduced the salt I consume. We don't cook with salt at home. I've cut way back on concentrated sweeteners and sugar. And I feel great. I've lost 20 pounds. My vitality is higher, my cholesterol plummeted, and my blood pressure has dropped. I'm healthier today than I was 20 years ago.

Read the entire USA Today interview with Wholefoods founder John Mackey (more about the stores than about him) here.

What the Egg Industry Means

Yesterday, the egg industry ran a full page in several major national newspapers. It was simple: an egg and text on a white background, intended to mollify the American public over the recall of half a billion eggs due to Salmonella contamination.

Marion Nestle, professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, author if many books on food politics, and widely-respected spokeswoman for organic, sustainable, and safe food and food systems, has interpreted what the egg industry's words really mean. This is terrific. If you don't think the egg industry thinks you're an idiot, you will when you read what they really said in their expensive newspaper ads. Read Nestle's brief article in The Atlantic as she translates the egg industry's words into plain English, here.

KISS in Iraq

I confess to never having been a KISS fan -- or a Gene Simmons fan. But I like this video -- a KISS USO concert for U.S. troops in Iraq. What I love the most about it is the friendly competition and camaraderie between the four service branches as they belt out their particular songs and try to outsing their comrades. I don't know who wrote the four service hymns, but every one of them gives me goose bumps. I am a HUGE sucker for ceremony and protocol and love that part of military life. And the service hymns are a huge part of the esprit de corps. Regardless of how you feel about the military and its current involvements overseas, my hat's off to those who serve -- and to KISS for honoring them:

Chow Down Movie

The latest documentary extolling the virtues of a plant-based diet is Chow Down—the story of a man who followed Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's plant-based approach to reversing his heart disease (and shorter stories of two others). You can rent/stream ($2.99) the movie, or download a digital version ($9.99) or buy a hard copy -- all from Amazon. You can read an in-depth review of the movie and the medical story behind it here.

Here's the trailer -- it would have been nice if the two speakers were identified. The first is Dr. Esselstyn, the second is Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study.