For those of you who haven't witnessed yet an assasination of a U.S. Government official or in this case two Government officials (three if you count her aide that died) of Two branches of Government, the Judicial and the Legislative have either been assassinated or had an assassination attempt on their lives.
This might be a sea change of how our government operates even greater than the response to 9-11. When President Kennedy was assassinated it was like the Sun went out for Americans for about 15 years. We didn't really come out of the shock of losing JFK, Bobby Kennedy or Martin Luther King until the Viet Nam war ended about 1974 and 75.
This is a very big deal the attempt on two branches of government is much more serious (in its own way) than the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, and even Desert Storm Put together, because it threatens not only our form of government but our entire way of life even more than terrorists did or do unless they start nuking our cities.
Since the Judge (Judge Roll) was the highest ranking Federal Judge in Arizona who was killed and possibly he might have been the real target here (or both) expect extreme ramifications for not only Arizona but all states in regard to U.S. representatives and all Federal Judges. This situation is in its own way more serious than 9-11 in the long term effects on our government and nation. Having lived through the hellish aftermath of the JFK assassination I can tell you for sure the ramifications of this event will be felt on hundreds of levels for the next 20 years and likely more.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Texas has 25 Billion dollar deficit similar to California
Paul Krugman: The Texas Omen
To read Krugman's Piece from the Nytimes.com click "The Texas Omen" above. begin quote below.
Wait — Texas? Wasn’t Texas supposed to be thriving even as the rest of America suffered? Didn’t its governor declare, during his re-election campaign, that “we have billions in surplus”? Yes, it was, and yes, he did. But reality has now intruded, in the form of a deficit expected to run as high as $25 billion over the next two years.
And that reality has implications for the nation as a whole. For Texas is where the modern conservative theory of budgeting — the belief that you should never raise taxes under any circumstances, that you can always balance the budget by cutting wasteful spending — has been implemented most completely. If the theory can’t make it there, it can’t make it anywhere.
How bad is the Texas deficit? Comparing budget crises among states is tricky, for technical reasons. Still, data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggest that the Texas budget gap is worse than New York’s, about as bad as California’s, but not quite up to New Jersey levels. end quote.
Y'know? Truth really is stranger than fiction.
To read Krugman's Piece from the Nytimes.com click "The Texas Omen" above. begin quote below.
Wait — Texas? Wasn’t Texas supposed to be thriving even as the rest of America suffered? Didn’t its governor declare, during his re-election campaign, that “we have billions in surplus”? Yes, it was, and yes, he did. But reality has now intruded, in the form of a deficit expected to run as high as $25 billion over the next two years.
And that reality has implications for the nation as a whole. For Texas is where the modern conservative theory of budgeting — the belief that you should never raise taxes under any circumstances, that you can always balance the budget by cutting wasteful spending — has been implemented most completely. If the theory can’t make it there, it can’t make it anywhere.
How bad is the Texas deficit? Comparing budget crises among states is tricky, for technical reasons. Still, data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggest that the Texas budget gap is worse than New York’s, about as bad as California’s, but not quite up to New Jersey levels. end quote.
Y'know? Truth really is stranger than fiction.
Earth's Electric Motor
Magnetic pole shift shuts down runways
begin quote.
Earth's magnetic field, which still flummoxes those who study it, "is thought to be generated deep inside the planet," LiveScience writer Jeanna Bryner explains. "An inner core of solid iron is surrounded by an outer core of molten iron. They rotate at different rates, and the interaction between the regions creates what scientists call a 'hydromagnetic dynamo.' It's something like an electric motor, and it generates a magnetic field akin to a giant bar magnet." end quote.
I was pretty surprised by what one could call "Earth's Electric Motor" described above. However, since the way the sun's plasma streams work in relation to the Magnetosphere of earth in relation to the molten and solid core of Iron within the earth, I guess the description of a "Hydrodynamic dynamo" or even of "Earth's Electric Motor" makes sense.
Also, within the last year I asked the head of the Physics department of a large university in California about where the electricity that humans use on earth comes from. The way he was answering my question I felt he might not fully understand what I was asking. Because his answer was that "Electricity comes from the generating stations from the breaking of the magnetic fields". But that wasn't my question. My question was "Where are all the electrons that compose the electricity we use coming from?" This is a different question that I don't think has been properly researched. One of my concerns was that the magnetospheres of Mars and Venus have been depleted. My idea was "What if their depleted magnetospheres is from previous humanoids living on those planets which degraded the planets ecosphere to where humanoid life couldn't easily live there anymore?"
If the above assumption is correct then we are depleting our magnetosphere right now and this could be one of the many reasons magnetic north is speeding up from 25 miles of movement to 40 miles of movement per year just since 2005. I think this is something that needs to be researched because it might not just be the weather we are changing but also by depleting electricity through electrons depleting the magnetosphere. Just because this hasn't been researched doesn't mean it doesn't need to be researched if humans want to have the planet earth to still live on in the future.
Also, if my assumption is correct, the only safe way to generate electricity would be through solar cells, because this is the only way that the magnetosphere would not be depleted. When one generates electricity through the breaking of the magnetic fields of magnets with for example a copper coil, this might also cause a depletion of our magnetosphere. Earlier on, this might not have mattered, but likely it does matter now that everyone on earth is doing this and possibly draining our magnetosphere. It's just like a well with water. If only one person is putting a bucket down the well the well can replenish itself. But if millions or billions of people sink their own wells how long can the water last? The same might be true of electricity generated on a planet from breaking the magnetic fields of a magnet.
Magnetic north moving shuts down runways
Magnetic pole shift shuts down runways
To read news article from Yahoo.com click on "Magnetic Pole Shift" above.
Since I had written about this issue in two previous articles I thought you might want to read this article from yahoo.com above.
Extreme Change
Magnetic North Moving at greater speed
This present article that I call "Extreme Change" was partly inspired by research I did for the above article I wrote based upon scientific quotes above called "Magnetic North Moving at greater speed" . If you want to read that as a reference point please do.
I was thinking this morning about a variety of things I studied yesterday as well as my whole life's experience. There was a man who came on a TV program about Nostradamus who said something like, "It is likely that with the extreme changes coming to our planet that many will just die because of too much change."
This took me back to when I was 10 years old and my cousin and I were hunting jack rabbits in the desert. My cousin took a 100 yard shot at two ears that stood above a large rock and took a careful shot. At the time we both laughed because the ears disappeared as we knew they would. But 100 yards later when we came upon the spot both of us couldn't believe our eyes because just the bullet which had just grazed the top of one ear of the rabbit had caused the rabbit to die of shock.
So, with all these things like Magnetic North moving now at 40 miles a year, instead of the average which is 4.56+ miles per year for the last 150 years.
In the last 150 years, the (North Magnetic) pole has wandered a total of about 685 miles (1102 kilometers). The magnetic South Pole moves in a similar fashion. So if you divide 685 miles by 150 years you get 4.56+ years average per year for those 150 years. So 40 miles in one year is around 10 times the 4.56+ average. So we are definitely in quite different territory now to the point where the Tampa Airport had to change it's co-ordinate definition because it is now several miles off because of the quicker movement of magnetic north.
Then I thought of all the extreme weather and thought about a some of the very strange storms that we have seen this year in the Eastern U.S. that reminded me a lot of storms in "The Day After Tomorrow" the movie. Couple this with melting tundra and northern homes falling into the sea or sinking into the melted tundra, islands in the Pacific being inundated by water, and really crazy weather like the present flooding of Australia, and before that a drought so bad in Australia that farmers were killing themselves because they had no hope of financial recovery a few years ago. So, all these extremes and paradoxes are just a part of the extreme change we are all witnessing.
Growing up in a Christian Country like the United States, people often have talked about the rapture. I'm beginning to wonder if the rapture is just people dying of fright from just too many changes. I have noticed that there are adventurous people like myself who ride motorcycles, fly planes and gliders and travel all over the world and have amazing experiences that we barely survive. And then there are people who are much more afraid all the time like that jackrabbit story I told. And sometimes people who are this afraid are suddenly gone because of just one more thing than they can cope with. So, maybe for them the rapture is just too much change to cope with to keep their hearts beating.
This present article that I call "Extreme Change" was partly inspired by research I did for the above article I wrote based upon scientific quotes above called "Magnetic North Moving at greater speed" . If you want to read that as a reference point please do.
I was thinking this morning about a variety of things I studied yesterday as well as my whole life's experience. There was a man who came on a TV program about Nostradamus who said something like, "It is likely that with the extreme changes coming to our planet that many will just die because of too much change."
This took me back to when I was 10 years old and my cousin and I were hunting jack rabbits in the desert. My cousin took a 100 yard shot at two ears that stood above a large rock and took a careful shot. At the time we both laughed because the ears disappeared as we knew they would. But 100 yards later when we came upon the spot both of us couldn't believe our eyes because just the bullet which had just grazed the top of one ear of the rabbit had caused the rabbit to die of shock.
So, with all these things like Magnetic North moving now at 40 miles a year, instead of the average which is 4.56+ miles per year for the last 150 years.
In the last 150 years, the (North Magnetic) pole has wandered a total of about 685 miles (1102 kilometers). The magnetic South Pole moves in a similar fashion. So if you divide 685 miles by 150 years you get 4.56+ years average per year for those 150 years. So 40 miles in one year is around 10 times the 4.56+ average. So we are definitely in quite different territory now to the point where the Tampa Airport had to change it's co-ordinate definition because it is now several miles off because of the quicker movement of magnetic north.
Then I thought of all the extreme weather and thought about a some of the very strange storms that we have seen this year in the Eastern U.S. that reminded me a lot of storms in "The Day After Tomorrow" the movie. Couple this with melting tundra and northern homes falling into the sea or sinking into the melted tundra, islands in the Pacific being inundated by water, and really crazy weather like the present flooding of Australia, and before that a drought so bad in Australia that farmers were killing themselves because they had no hope of financial recovery a few years ago. So, all these extremes and paradoxes are just a part of the extreme change we are all witnessing.
Growing up in a Christian Country like the United States, people often have talked about the rapture. I'm beginning to wonder if the rapture is just people dying of fright from just too many changes. I have noticed that there are adventurous people like myself who ride motorcycles, fly planes and gliders and travel all over the world and have amazing experiences that we barely survive. And then there are people who are much more afraid all the time like that jackrabbit story I told. And sometimes people who are this afraid are suddenly gone because of just one more thing than they can cope with. So, maybe for them the rapture is just too much change to cope with to keep their hearts beating.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Magnetic North Moving at greater speed
I was listening to Brian Williams on NBC News tonight and he was talking about how the magnetic north is now moving in the direction of Russia. It has already moved so much that Airports all over the U.S. are having to move their co-ordinate signs and change the designations because they now might be several miles off of where they were.
When I was a child my parents would often talk to me about a polar shift. At that time I visualized that the planet would suddenly turn upside down. But scientists now say that that isn't how a polar shift works. They say that where magnetic north is now or where it will be when it shifts will somehow become magnetic south.
Now I know this sounds kind of nuts and depending upon how and when this actually happens(if it happens) will tend to indicate whether all electrical devices on earth continue to work when that happens or if they have to be modified or redesigned for them to work. For example, GPS navigation might have originally been based upon Magnetic North and Magnetic South but now I believe maybe it is based upon major landmarks as a calibrating factor worldwide. So, since the GPS satellites that allow planes, boats and ships and hikers in the wilderness use to figure out where they are exactly on earth might not (at least at this stage of development technologically) be affected by magnetic north moving now towards Russia at 40 miles per year at this point.
This might be one of the reasons thousands of birds are dying all over because it is likely that birds navigate long distances using magnetic north as their primary reference. With magnetic north moving so fast it could cause them to run into things because their previous stationary magnetic north is moving so all their instinctual navigational biological equipment is no longer completely functional like it was for thousands of years. Until enough birds that migrate learn to adapt to all these changes it is likely we will see many more large die-offs of birds if this is one of the causes.
So, it is possible that the birds dying just can't adapt to all the changes in their environment fast enough to survive.
I know, for example, that all humans have a bone in their nose that is magnetic which allows us to navigate using magnetic north. This is how humans navigated through dense forests or fog in ancient times. I know this sounds funny but doctors and scientists have discovered this. It is likely that birds also use a magnetic bone sensitive to magnetic north in their forward skull to navigate as well.
I found this next quote that shows how much the magnetic north moves. It says here that the magnetic south pole moves similarly to the north magnetic pole.
begin quote from above article.
Image courtesy Kenai National Wildlife
The Earth's magnetic poles move. The magnetic North Pole moves in loops of up to 50 miles (80 km) per day. But its actual location, an average of all these loops, is also moving at around 25 miles a year [ref]. In the last 150 years, the pole has wandered a total of about 685 miles (1102 kilometers). The magnetic South Pole moves in a similar fashion.end quote.
However, this last year it didn't just move 25 miles forward in one year it moved 40. So, if we average the amount of distance the magnetic north moves per year it is about 4.56+ miles per year. So, given this average the amount of distance magnetic north is moving per year appears to be increasing significantly.
When I was a child my parents would often talk to me about a polar shift. At that time I visualized that the planet would suddenly turn upside down. But scientists now say that that isn't how a polar shift works. They say that where magnetic north is now or where it will be when it shifts will somehow become magnetic south.
Now I know this sounds kind of nuts and depending upon how and when this actually happens(if it happens) will tend to indicate whether all electrical devices on earth continue to work when that happens or if they have to be modified or redesigned for them to work. For example, GPS navigation might have originally been based upon Magnetic North and Magnetic South but now I believe maybe it is based upon major landmarks as a calibrating factor worldwide. So, since the GPS satellites that allow planes, boats and ships and hikers in the wilderness use to figure out where they are exactly on earth might not (at least at this stage of development technologically) be affected by magnetic north moving now towards Russia at 40 miles per year at this point.
North Magnetic Pole Moving Due to Core Flux
To read full national geographic news article click "North Magnetic Pole Moving" above.
begin quote from above website: Blue lines show Earth's northern magnetic field and the magnetic north pole in an artist's rendering.
Picture courtesy Stefan Maus, NOAA NGDC
for National Geographic News
December 24, 2009
Earth's north magnetic pole is racing toward Russia at almost 40 miles (64 kilometers) a year due to magnetic changes in the planet's core, new research says. end quote.This might be one of the reasons thousands of birds are dying all over because it is likely that birds navigate long distances using magnetic north as their primary reference. With magnetic north moving so fast it could cause them to run into things because their previous stationary magnetic north is moving so all their instinctual navigational biological equipment is no longer completely functional like it was for thousands of years. Until enough birds that migrate learn to adapt to all these changes it is likely we will see many more large die-offs of birds if this is one of the causes.
So, it is possible that the birds dying just can't adapt to all the changes in their environment fast enough to survive.
I know, for example, that all humans have a bone in their nose that is magnetic which allows us to navigate using magnetic north. This is how humans navigated through dense forests or fog in ancient times. I know this sounds funny but doctors and scientists have discovered this. It is likely that birds also use a magnetic bone sensitive to magnetic north in their forward skull to navigate as well.
I found this next quote that shows how much the magnetic north moves. It says here that the magnetic south pole moves similarly to the north magnetic pole.
HowStuffWorks "Why does the North Pole move?"
To read above article click on "Why does the North Pole move?" above.
begin quote from above article.
Image courtesy Kenai National Wildlife
The Earth's magnetic poles move. The magnetic North Pole moves in loops of up to 50 miles (80 km) per day. But its actual location, an average of all these loops, is also moving at around 25 miles a year [ref]. In the last 150 years, the pole has wandered a total of about 685 miles (1102 kilometers). The magnetic South Pole moves in a similar fashion.end quote.
However, this last year it didn't just move 25 miles forward in one year it moved 40. So, if we average the amount of distance the magnetic north moves per year it is about 4.56+ miles per year. So, given this average the amount of distance magnetic north is moving per year appears to be increasing significantly.
A Celtic Point of View
It is said in the traditional ancient Celtic tradition that "enchanters" like Merlin had Green eyes. However, the most "Psychic" People often are blue eyed I notice as an intuitive. Since I am mostly Swiss, Half Scottish Celtic and German, English and French I tend to understand the Nordic ways of blue and green eyed people the best. There are many different cultural styles of being intuitive or "Psychic" around the world and the most helpful useful ways I find are balanced by a spiritual or religious point of view where one dedicates their gifts to all life around them as God would or might wish them to. I find there isn't negative feedback when one is helping and benefiting all life around one all the time. In fact, helpful intuitive people who are also usually quite intelligent both intellectually and intuitively are often healthy and wealthy and wise wherever they live on earth.
Pakistanis Mourn the death of Tolerance in their nation
Pakistanis mourn a once tolerant, relaxed nation
To read news article click on "Pakistanis mourn a once tolerant, relaxed naion" above quote below. begin quote.
Pakistanis mourn a once tolerant, relaxed nation
AP – Pakistani university students wearing scarves use their mobile phones to record video of a protest condemning … 
Once, when a teacher suggested no book can be perfect, the boy asked if that included Islam's holy book, the Quran. That sparked a candid class discussion about religion. But in today's Pakistan, Muqtida Mansoor said he would never dare to ask the question in public.
After all, "anyone could shoot you."
Days after the assassination of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, one of the few politicians openly challenging the onslaught of religious extremism, Pakistani moderates are facing a new and troubling reality: Pakistan is a country where fundamentalism is becoming mainstream, leaving even less room for dissent, difference and many once-prevalent leisures such as public music, dance parties or other social contact between the sexes.
More liberal-minded Pakistanis have been left with a profound sense of loss, alienation and fear for the future. One rights activist forecast that at the rate Islamist groups are rising, a religious party could be ruling the country in 10 to 15 years. end quote.
Whether it is because of the entire history of Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Iran and other nations in the area or whether it is a sign of the times, human or religious tolerance doesn't exist anymore in Pakistan. It is not that people who are tolerant don't exist in large number there. It is just like in the U.S where polarity of views has become so extreme that those on the right and who are fundamentalist are so afraid that they will kill anyone with a different point of view. This appears to be happening worldwide. I, personally think this has more to do with overpopulation worldwide combined with Global extreme climate change, which for religious fundamentalists might be viewed as the apocalypse to them. So for apocalyptic minded terrified people this makes them kill in defense of their beliefs whether they be Muslim, Christian or whatever apocalyptic belief system they might have.
ESP
Journal's Paper on ESP Expected to Prompt Outrage
To read article Scientific Study of ESP click "Journal's Paper on ESP" above.
As I life long intuitive I can say to you in all truth and fairness "I would have died thousands of times already if I wasn't as intuitive as I am and have been all my life."
If you are honest with yourself you might also say, "If I hadn't followed my hunches I wouldn't be alive today either". When we call ourselves "Intuitives" like I do or whether we just "Follow our hunches" or we just consider ourselves "Lucky", any way you want to look at it, "Divine providence" for example, anyone who is doing well in their lives right now knows that either they "By Grace" have been given gifts or are very lucky or something is wrong with their description of the universe.
If one analyzes carefully what science wants to do to ESP it is to put scientists on top of the heap and God and your intuitive abilities at the bottom, so you always turn only to scientists to solve all your problems. So, at this point what is the difference between scientists and ancient priests who wanted your money and your loyalty? In some ways not much.
So, in the end, if we can't trust our senses we are completely useless to ourselves and to our families. If you can't see what I'm talking about you likely haven't grown up fully yet no matter what your age is.
To read article Scientific Study of ESP click "Journal's Paper on ESP" above.
As I life long intuitive I can say to you in all truth and fairness "I would have died thousands of times already if I wasn't as intuitive as I am and have been all my life."
If you are honest with yourself you might also say, "If I hadn't followed my hunches I wouldn't be alive today either". When we call ourselves "Intuitives" like I do or whether we just "Follow our hunches" or we just consider ourselves "Lucky", any way you want to look at it, "Divine providence" for example, anyone who is doing well in their lives right now knows that either they "By Grace" have been given gifts or are very lucky or something is wrong with their description of the universe.
If one analyzes carefully what science wants to do to ESP it is to put scientists on top of the heap and God and your intuitive abilities at the bottom, so you always turn only to scientists to solve all your problems. So, at this point what is the difference between scientists and ancient priests who wanted your money and your loyalty? In some ways not much.
So, in the end, if we can't trust our senses we are completely useless to ourselves and to our families. If you can't see what I'm talking about you likely haven't grown up fully yet no matter what your age is.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tears send Pheromonal messages to opposite sex
Tears may send a sexual message in addition to an emotional one, study finds
To read news article click "Tears may send" above.
It appears there is more than just an emotional message in tears. Women's tears pheromonally signal a man's arousal to calm which was unexpected by researchers. Since the researchers were so surprised by this they next intend to study the effect of men's tears on women.
To read news article click "Tears may send" above.
It appears there is more than just an emotional message in tears. Women's tears pheromonally signal a man's arousal to calm which was unexpected by researchers. Since the researchers were so surprised by this they next intend to study the effect of men's tears on women.
Schools Embrace the IPad
Math That Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad
To read news article "Embrace the iPad" above. quote below.
As part of a pilot program, Roslyn High School on Long Island handed out 47 iPads on Dec. 20 to the students and teachers in two humanities classes. The school district hopes to provide iPads eventually to all 1,100 of its students.
The iPads cost $750 apiece, and they are to be used in class and at home during the school year to replace textbooks, allow students to correspond with teachers and turn in papers and homework assignments, and preserve a record of student work in digital portfolios.end quote.
To read news article "Embrace the iPad" above. quote below.
As part of a pilot program, Roslyn High School on Long Island handed out 47 iPads on Dec. 20 to the students and teachers in two humanities classes. The school district hopes to provide iPads eventually to all 1,100 of its students.
The iPads cost $750 apiece, and they are to be used in class and at home during the school year to replace textbooks, allow students to correspond with teachers and turn in papers and homework assignments, and preserve a record of student work in digital portfolios.end quote.
Children's Play regains momentum Among Children and parents
Effort to Restore Children’s Play Gains Momentum
To read this news article click "Restore Children's Play" above.
Things like Playing develop a child's brain, help him or her to learn to better interact with adults later by interacting with the children he or she is playing with. In addition, learning to sing and play a musical instrument develops special parts of the brain, especially in children up to 12 years of age and beyond. Art of almost any kind also helps in brain and conceptual development.
Studies have shown playing helps people be better adjusted and better able to deal with all kinds of situations better as adults, especially interpersonal relationships at work, play, and in personal relationships with friends and spouses.
Begin quote:
The experts define play as a game or activity initiated and directed by children.
So video games don’t count, they say, except perhaps ones that involve creating something, and neither, really, do the many educational toys that do things like sing the A B C’s with the push of a button. end quote.
To read this news article click "Restore Children's Play" above.
Things like Playing develop a child's brain, help him or her to learn to better interact with adults later by interacting with the children he or she is playing with. In addition, learning to sing and play a musical instrument develops special parts of the brain, especially in children up to 12 years of age and beyond. Art of almost any kind also helps in brain and conceptual development.
Studies have shown playing helps people be better adjusted and better able to deal with all kinds of situations better as adults, especially interpersonal relationships at work, play, and in personal relationships with friends and spouses.
Begin quote:
The experts define play as a game or activity initiated and directed by children.
So video games don’t count, they say, except perhaps ones that involve creating something, and neither, really, do the many educational toys that do things like sing the A B C’s with the push of a button. end quote.
Vegan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010503153.html
To read full article paste above address from Washington Post. begin quote below
Wednesday, January 5, 2011; 2:47 PM
To read full article paste above address from Washington Post. begin quote below
Vegan Diets becoming more popular, more mainstream
SLIDESHOW
FILE- This Aug. 22, 2007 file photo shows Isa Chandra Moskowitz as she prepares her Vegan chocolate pie recipe at her apartment in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Moskowitz says it's easier being a vegan now because there is more local produce available and more interesting ways of cooking. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff, FILE) (Diane Bondareff - AP)
FILE- This file book cover released by Rodale Books shows "The Kind Diet" by actress Alicia Silverstone. Actress Alicia Silverstone added a dose of star power to the vegan cause recently with "The Kind Diet," a No. 1 best-seller. (AP Photo/Rodale Books) NO SALES (Anonymous - AP)
This book cover image courtesy of Running Press shows the cover of "Skinny Bitch," by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. The "Skinny Bitch" diet books provide vegan lifestyle tips in a blunt, girlfriend-on-the-phone style. (AP Photo/Running Press) NO SALES (AP)
This book cover image courtesy of Da Capo Press shows the cover of "Appetite for Reduction," by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Moskowitz says it's easier being a vegan now because there is more local produce available and more interesting ways of cooking. (AP Photo/Da Capo Press) NO SALES (AP)
By MICHAEL HILL
The Associated Press Wednesday, January 5, 2011; 2:47 PM
-- You've come a long way, vegan.
Once mocked as a fringe diet for sandal-wearing health food store workers, veganism is moving from marginal to mainstream in the United States.
The vegan "Skinny Bitch" diet books are best-sellers, vegan staples like tempeh and tofu can be purchased at just about any supermarket, and some chain restaurants eagerly promote their plant-only menu items. Today's vegans are urban hipsters, suburban moms, college students, even professional athletes.
"It's definitely more diverse. It's not what you would picture 20 years ago, which is kind of hippie, crunchy," said Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of vegan cookbooks like the new "Appetite for Reduction." She says it's easier being a vegan now because there is more local produce available and more interesting ways of cooking.
"It's not just steamed vegetables anymore and brown rice and lentils," she said.
Veganism is essentially hard-core vegetarianism. While a vegetarian might butter her bagel or eat a cake made with eggs, vegans shun all animal products: No meat, no cheese, no eggs, no honey, no mayonnaise. Ethical vegans have a moral aversion to harming animals for human consumption, be it for a flank steak or leather shoes, though the term often is used to describe people who follow the diet, not the larger philosophy.end quote from above online article. end quote.
Though I have known many successful Vegans (no animal products even milk and eggs or fish or bird) and many unsuccessful fruitarians as in eventually dead or ill especially in the 1960s and 1970s, when I tried it myself it didn't work for me. I had been raised a Lacto Ovo(milk and eggs) vegetarian from birth on. However, when I tried to eliminate milk and milk products from my diet I really noticed that I felt sort of mentally and emotionally unbalanced from the new diet at that time in the 1970s. So I went back to being a Lacto Ovo vegetarian which I had grown used to since birth.
When I started learning from Tibetan Lamas in the early 1980s in California, Oregon, India and Nepal I started to eat a little meat as they couldn't imagine at that time anyone being a vegetarian that lived above 8000 feet in altitude. So, now in my life I am still about 95% a lacto Ovo Vegetarian. And it is true being a vegan is more useful if you live in a more tropical or semitropical place like Hawaii, Florida or California where the temperatures stay mostly above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and if you live around sea level. Though I meet people who are vegans who live almost anywhere now because of forced air heating and air conditioning one can maintain body heat better even on this diet (at least in the more developed countries more easily now. However, if you are going to be out in the cold (below 40 degrees Fahrenheit) or high altitude (above 2000 to 3000 feet) a lot being a Vegan might be counterproductive to keeping enough body heat during the cold in your body. However, being a vegan when it is warmer during the spring, summer and fall might still work.
However, being a vegan can eliminate unwanted fat quite easily from one's body as long as one watches how one feels during the transition and monitors psychological changes during the transition from one diet (meat) or (Lacto Ovo) to the new diet. Emotional, psychological changes coupled with physical changes one should monitor so one doesn't (go over the edge physically and psychologically into dangerous territory for that individual). Like anything in life when one makes extreme changes one has to gradually adjust to the changes to make sure it will work for them on all levels.
However, once a successful transition is acheived likely a longer healthier life can be obtained. The only danger I have found in friends once they achieved balance was some couldn't return to being meat eaters or (lacto ovo vegetarians) after they were vegans because their bodies couldn't handle the other diets anymore. And sometimes, also people get unhealthily thin as well. It seems to depend upon each persons genetics and metabolism and therefore one must be vigilant in watching the changes as one adapts to the new diet to achieve a desirable outcome long term.
The vegan "Skinny Bitch" diet books are best-sellers, vegan staples like tempeh and tofu can be purchased at just about any supermarket, and some chain restaurants eagerly promote their plant-only menu items. Today's vegans are urban hipsters, suburban moms, college students, even professional athletes.
"It's definitely more diverse. It's not what you would picture 20 years ago, which is kind of hippie, crunchy," said Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of vegan cookbooks like the new "Appetite for Reduction." She says it's easier being a vegan now because there is more local produce available and more interesting ways of cooking.
"It's not just steamed vegetables anymore and brown rice and lentils," she said.
Veganism is essentially hard-core vegetarianism. While a vegetarian might butter her bagel or eat a cake made with eggs, vegans shun all animal products: No meat, no cheese, no eggs, no honey, no mayonnaise. Ethical vegans have a moral aversion to harming animals for human consumption, be it for a flank steak or leather shoes, though the term often is used to describe people who follow the diet, not the larger philosophy.end quote from above online article. end quote.
Though I have known many successful Vegans (no animal products even milk and eggs or fish or bird) and many unsuccessful fruitarians as in eventually dead or ill especially in the 1960s and 1970s, when I tried it myself it didn't work for me. I had been raised a Lacto Ovo(milk and eggs) vegetarian from birth on. However, when I tried to eliminate milk and milk products from my diet I really noticed that I felt sort of mentally and emotionally unbalanced from the new diet at that time in the 1970s. So I went back to being a Lacto Ovo vegetarian which I had grown used to since birth.
When I started learning from Tibetan Lamas in the early 1980s in California, Oregon, India and Nepal I started to eat a little meat as they couldn't imagine at that time anyone being a vegetarian that lived above 8000 feet in altitude. So, now in my life I am still about 95% a lacto Ovo Vegetarian. And it is true being a vegan is more useful if you live in a more tropical or semitropical place like Hawaii, Florida or California where the temperatures stay mostly above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and if you live around sea level. Though I meet people who are vegans who live almost anywhere now because of forced air heating and air conditioning one can maintain body heat better even on this diet (at least in the more developed countries more easily now. However, if you are going to be out in the cold (below 40 degrees Fahrenheit) or high altitude (above 2000 to 3000 feet) a lot being a Vegan might be counterproductive to keeping enough body heat during the cold in your body. However, being a vegan when it is warmer during the spring, summer and fall might still work.
However, being a vegan can eliminate unwanted fat quite easily from one's body as long as one watches how one feels during the transition and monitors psychological changes during the transition from one diet (meat) or (Lacto Ovo) to the new diet. Emotional, psychological changes coupled with physical changes one should monitor so one doesn't (go over the edge physically and psychologically into dangerous territory for that individual). Like anything in life when one makes extreme changes one has to gradually adjust to the changes to make sure it will work for them on all levels.
However, once a successful transition is acheived likely a longer healthier life can be obtained. The only danger I have found in friends once they achieved balance was some couldn't return to being meat eaters or (lacto ovo vegetarians) after they were vegans because their bodies couldn't handle the other diets anymore. And sometimes, also people get unhealthily thin as well. It seems to depend upon each persons genetics and metabolism and therefore one must be vigilant in watching the changes as one adapts to the new diet to achieve a desirable outcome long term.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Go Write, Fred
From September 1998 until May 1999 both my doctors and I weren't sure I would survive the heart virus I had (mostly because they couldn't even diagnose what was wrong until I got over it) It turns out that in 1999 the only way to diagnose a heart virus was after a person had survived it or by an autopsy. So, when I couldn't breathe because of it I had to retire early at age 50 in 1998. When I couldn't breathe (with a heart virus the heart is not beating fast or strong enough to fully oxygenate one's blood. So no matter how fast one breathes one is still going to pass out from lack of oxygen. However, if one panics from passing out one dies immediately, gone.
Luckily, I had survived whooping cough at age 2 where one has to give in to the coughing to not die from exhaustion like many children do. Also, I had been taught a disconnection meditation by the Tibetan Lamas I had studied with in the U.S. and India and Nepal. So the "Let Go and Let God" attitude that allowed me to survive whooping cough at age 2 combined with the refusal to panic through a conscious meditation no matter what allowed me to survive. Besides, I had a two year old new daughter and I couldn't die or she wouldn't have a father. So, I just refused to die. Once I realized in May 1999 that I was going to live I started to hear about all the people who had died that year of heart viruses and I realized just how lucky I had been to survive this illness. I guess God really wanted me to write. He had to almost kill me to get me to start publishing what I had been writing most of my life.
While I was in Stanford Medical near Stanford University in Northern California I was in a hospital pre-operation room along with all the people on guerneys who were awaiting heart operations from an angiogram to full on heart operations where one's chest is opened and valves or more are replaced. There was a feeling of resignation and fear in the room and I prayed to God and I said, "God. If I survive all this I'm going to start a Website and tell all the amazing experiences that I have had with you all my life, God". I had realized that my fear of publishing all my experiences was pretty stupid of me in the end. I realized that "What a Loss if all the suffering and amazing experiences I have had to get to know God and Angels Better in my life died with me." I realized that if I lived it was because God was saying, "Fred. Most people don't have experiences like you have had with me. Tell them about it so that they can take heart and not suffer so much." And so I started my first website in 1999 in late May and have been writing there and since 2007 here and a little more recently at my archive site at:
Luckily, I had survived whooping cough at age 2 where one has to give in to the coughing to not die from exhaustion like many children do. Also, I had been taught a disconnection meditation by the Tibetan Lamas I had studied with in the U.S. and India and Nepal. So the "Let Go and Let God" attitude that allowed me to survive whooping cough at age 2 combined with the refusal to panic through a conscious meditation no matter what allowed me to survive. Besides, I had a two year old new daughter and I couldn't die or she wouldn't have a father. So, I just refused to die. Once I realized in May 1999 that I was going to live I started to hear about all the people who had died that year of heart viruses and I realized just how lucky I had been to survive this illness. I guess God really wanted me to write. He had to almost kill me to get me to start publishing what I had been writing most of my life.
While I was in Stanford Medical near Stanford University in Northern California I was in a hospital pre-operation room along with all the people on guerneys who were awaiting heart operations from an angiogram to full on heart operations where one's chest is opened and valves or more are replaced. There was a feeling of resignation and fear in the room and I prayed to God and I said, "God. If I survive all this I'm going to start a Website and tell all the amazing experiences that I have had with you all my life, God". I had realized that my fear of publishing all my experiences was pretty stupid of me in the end. I realized that "What a Loss if all the suffering and amazing experiences I have had to get to know God and Angels Better in my life died with me." I realized that if I lived it was because God was saying, "Fred. Most people don't have experiences like you have had with me. Tell them about it so that they can take heart and not suffer so much." And so I started my first website in 1999 in late May and have been writing there and since 2007 here and a little more recently at my archive site at:
dragonofcompassion - Home
To go there click "dragonofcompassion-Home" above.
My first "Free" site is no longer, and became about a $10 a month site sponsored by Yahoo in 2007 which is the "dragonofcompassion" site. About 50% to 75% of what I had in my first site it there in the new one. And as I write blogs and short stories I put the longest ones there for safe keeping so they are easier to find over the coming years by those interested in reading them or looking at them.
The Man with the Golden Voice
A 52 year old man originally from Brooklyn, New York was videotaped in Columbus, Ohio. The video was put online and it went Viral. Today, the man with the Golden voice who has been homeless for 10 years was given a job. Though I had already seen this (I think at yahoo.com with the news there), this when I saw him get a job and because I was watching it alone with my family out for the evening made a tear come to my eye. It took me back to 1989 when my grants and loans for UC in California didn't come through in September on time and I had to live with my family in a van in below freezing weather camped out for a couple of months until we could afford to rent a house again and move our furniture and stuff out of storage. My middle daughter was only about 15 months old living in the freezing temperatures at night so cold that wash water pan froze solid every night while we slept in our window van.
Though it is now at least 21 or more years later I haven't forgotten that time when I wasn't sure how we would make it through to the other side for a few months. Though life has been very good to me and even though I almost died for 8 months in 1998 and 1999, financially life never has been better for me than now. But I still remember how bad it can get when just one thing goes wrong in life for a single person or in my case for my whole family in 1998 and 9 and of just how hard it is to fix things and go on and try to go on living when just one thing goes wrong. So, when you see people struggling just know, "There but for the Grace of God go us all."
Though it is now at least 21 or more years later I haven't forgotten that time when I wasn't sure how we would make it through to the other side for a few months. Though life has been very good to me and even though I almost died for 8 months in 1998 and 1999, financially life never has been better for me than now. But I still remember how bad it can get when just one thing goes wrong in life for a single person or in my case for my whole family in 1998 and 9 and of just how hard it is to fix things and go on and try to go on living when just one thing goes wrong. So, when you see people struggling just know, "There but for the Grace of God go us all."
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