Actress Bea Arthur Silent at Last

I note with sadness the passing of actress and comedy star, Bea Arthur, at age 86. 

Ms Arthur came from the stage (Tony Award Winner) to television in a comedy role in All in the Family opposite Archie Bunker (Caroll O’Connor).

She reprised her character in the spin-off series, Maude, from 1972 to 1978, winning a Best Actress Emmy. 

She returned with her husky voice and acerbic wit in The Golden Girls, another hit series  from 1985 through 1992 in which Arthur and her costars all won Emmy Awards. 

As the years go by, I have noticed my own aging by the loss of comedy legends who have died along the way after providing me with generations of entertainment and laughs.  In this world we live in, I can use all the smiles and laughter I can get.  I enjoyed Bea Arthur on camera for her characters’ sarcasm and her heart.  I will miss her. 

Those of you who recognize her work will remember the comedy – so I will present a brief clip of her performing a musical number as many of you may not realize she was also a Tony winning stage performer.

My source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhSIKdfxbSs&feature=related

 

 

Florida Growth has Slowed

The Lakeland Ledger newspaper reports that for the first time since World War II, more people moved out of Florida than moved into the state from the domestic US for the twelve months from July 2007 to July 2008. 

Population continued slow growth as foreign immigrants added 77,000 to the inbound figures during the time period. 

The article talks about 9.5% unemployment in Florida and how the national housing slump has stopped folks up North from selling their homes so they could move to Florida. 

But the article does not address – nor is the state addressing – what I believe to be more serious problems.  In addition to the fall in home values in Florida and the high foreclosure rates, there are two other issues which I believe contribute to the population drain:  home insurance costs and real property taxes.

Four major hurricanes hit Florida in 2004 (including 3 that hit my home area of Central Florida).  Several major insurance companies were hurt, but that appears to be the result of inadequate re-insurance planning by the companies.  In any case the insurance rates in Florida for homeowners has gone up and has become a burden for Florida residents.

Second, although Florida has no state income tax, the real property taxes which support the state and local governments and such services as education have increased.  As usual the politicians at state and local levels have not been willing to give up any tax revenues.  In fairness to the politicians – the voters want lower taxes but do not want to give up any services.

The economy will recover.  Florida still offers a climate and lifestyle that many find attractive.  The housing markets will recover.  But the insurance and property tax issues will need to be solved, or we will not return to the previous growth rates. 

 

Tennessee Ernie Ford Classic song revisited

I have heard the audio – but here is the video.  Much too good to pass up.  From the conservative point of view, this is where we are going. 

Enjoy (about two minutes)

 

Take a Break - Britains Got Talent

I have yet to connect with American Idol – although I understand they showcase some remarkable talents. But I have enjoyed a similar program from the UK called Britains’ got Talent.

Several years ago (you know how time flies when you are having fun) I was overwhelmed with Welsh mobile phone salesman, Paul Potts, with his vocal skills with Opera.

This year my fav is 47 year old Susan Boyle. This clip (just over 7 minutes) is a remarkable performance for a lady with no training or professional experience. The Song is I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables. Even Simon likes it.

My source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY&feature=related

I note they may have disabled embedding on this clip - so you may need to click on the source link to view on You-Tube.com

Seesmic Desktop - The future is here

The folks who bring you Twhirl for Twitter are at it again.  The new Seesmic Desktop brings new tools to your Twitter world.

First the program utilizes the Adobe Air environment (like Twhirl). 

The multi-column (multi-flexible) will at some point permit you to display different social networking feeds in a single application – in side by side columns.  The first release (called the preview by Seesmic) only supports Twitter (but will work with multiple Twitter accounts if you have that) but additional capability is coming soon.

What attracted me is the ability to create user lists and view their traffic in a filtered column.

Additional information and download program here (free)

Josh Lowensohn’s excellent article for CNet’s Webware is <here>

Seesmic’s You-Tube video introduction will display the power of this new Twitter tool (and much more)

Enjoy

 

Where is Thomas Jefferson when we need Him

I have heard spotty coverage of the hostage drama being acted out in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa over the last few days.  In summary, pirates based out of Somalia have attempted to hijack a US Flag cargo vessel operating approximately three hundred miles from the African coast.  The crew resisted the attempt and the final result appears to have left the Captain of the vessel being taken by four pirates from the vessel in a lifeboat from the vessel, the Maersk Alabama.  The US licensed maritime captain apparently voluntarily accompanied the pirates to prevent any violent injury to his crew. 

Although there have been any number of high profile cases of piracy in this area (six in the last week), this is the first incident in my memory of a US Flag freighter being seized by sea-going bandits in about two hundred years.  The situation is complicated by the lack of an effective central government in Somalia to control the lawless activities of the privateers operating from Somalia ports. 

There is some irony in the presence on scene of the USS Bainbridge (destroyer class vessel on the scene for the Navy).  It was the victories of Commodores William Bainbridge and Stephen Decatur against Algiers in 1815 that stopped the activities of the Barbary Pirates in the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastal areas of Northwest Africa.  It was Thomas Jafferson who first intervened in the area with Naval power more than a decade earlier.  It is significant that Jefferson - who had opposed the build up of US Naval forces under Adams – did not hesitate to use the Navy to enforce US interests in the area when he was President. 

We can only hope that there is an historian at the White House to advise the President these days.  The news coverage has not been specific.  But there are indications that President Obama is not meeting this challenge with decisive action.  He must recognize that any attempt to pay these pirates or to fail to intervene with military power may result in countless new crimes on the high seas and will endanger additional US interests and citizens in the future.

There has been a tendency of Democrat Presidents to view the acts of terrorism in the world as a law enforcement problem.  President Bush has created some controversy by viewing international terror as a military problem – and the military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan are the result. 

We all share the concern for the safety of Richard Phillips, Captain of the Maersk Alabama.  But the delay in responding to the situation may complicate his situation.  Four ships, currently in the hands of the pirate groups and loaded with hostages are responding to the very busy piece of ocean where they hope to act as a humanitarian screen to recover the pirates and their hostage from the lifeboat and bring them to the relative safety of Somalia until a ransom for the Captain can be negotiated. 

 The tactical situation is not easy.  The lifeboat with the four pirates and the hostage (Captain Phillips) is approximately 28 feet in length and is equipped with food and water for 34 people for 10 days.  The lifeboat has a weather cover obscuring the occupants from view and making sniper fire difficult.   

The legal jurisdiction is also fuzzy as the incident is taking place in international waters without the convenient proximity of US Courts to officiate.

I expect that the arrival of bandit reinforcements with additional hostages as a defensive screen will complicate the situation and may leave the President wishing he had concluded this operation while he had the chance.  Captain Phillips is still at risk and now other attacks on US flag carriers will be likely. 

Where is Thomas Jefferson when we need Him.

 

 

 

You're not Sick - You're Thirsty

Dr Fereydoon Batmanghelidj (we will just call him Dr Batman, OK?) was born in Iran. He practiced medicine in Iran, England and the United States and died in Virginia in November of 2004.

He has achieved some level of prominence with his sometimes controversial views on the medical value of water. He has written books to include Your Body’s Many Cries for Water (translated into 15 languages and sold around the world). Dr Batman’s startling discoveries and treatments deal with chronic unintentional dehydration and its effects on the human body. He demonstrates that a dry mouth is not the only symptom of dehydration. The body signals its water shortage by producing pain from inflammation. His premise is that dehydration actually produces pain and many degenerative diseases including asthma, arthritis, hypertension, angina, adult onset diabetes, lupus and multiple sclerosis.

Again, I provide my disclaimer that I am a distributor for the Enagic water processing machines that provide electrolized and filtered water for the health of your family. But that is not my topic today . Although Dr Batman talks about electrolized water in later years, his primary research speaks to the benefits of ordinary tap water.

The epiphany for Dr Batman occurred under unusual circumstances. After medical school and practice in the United Kingdom, he returned to Iran as a physician and was caught up in the Iranian revolution in 1979. He spent more than two years in Evin Prison in Iran as a political prisoner. He tried to treat a fellow prisoner with severe pep tic ulcer pain with no medications available. He gave the patient two glasses of water and within eight minutes the pain went away. WIth two glasses of water every three hours, the patient experienced no more pain for the four months until he was released from the prison. During the remainder of his confinement, Dr Batman conducted organized research concerning the power of water and its effects on many other chronic degenerative diseases among 3,000 prisoners that he treated.

Dr Batman states, “My research revealed that unintentional dehydration produces stress, chronic pains and many degenerative diseases. …When I use the word water cure, I am referring to curing dehydration with water”

Dr Batman’s writing avoids the current legal entanglements that would come with claiming that his water cure “cures” specific diseases. No studies will be undertaken on this specific point when there is no commercial product to be tested. There are many studies that show that persons that drink specified quantities of water are more healthy than those who don’t but that is not proof. Despite the fact that thousands of anecdotal reports exist that suggest that water cured this or that person with this or that disease – that is also not proof.

I do not believe that there is any study that proves that smoking causes cancer or anything else other than statistics. There appears to be a connection between those who smoke and incidence of lung cancer. But that is not proof of causation. You can draw inferences, but it is not possible to have the type of control on a long term study that would eliminate other variables. Our society will not endorse a research protocol which condemns our control group to suffer or die from a disease just to prove an hypothesis. Also these studies tend to be paid for by the drug company (or tobacco company) and with no commercial product or profit motive – complete testing of water cures is unlikely.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not permit unproven claims of disease cures in advertising. Which is why we have a market for nutritional products which is relatively free from regulation but products which cross the line are soon investigated by the heavy hand of the government.

We read in Dr Batman’s books and in many testimonial messages that water did cure some conditions. Dr Batman, now deceased, would say that water cured the dehydration which may have been causing the other health problem.

Mike Adams, writing for NaturalNews.com wrote of a lengthy interview with Dr Batman. I recommend you read the article in its entirety. It may change your view of holistic and alternative medicine. It is a must read for those who feel that the control of healthcare by big Pharma is only a little preferred to control by government – neither alternative is acceptable to me.

The Water Cure: An interview with Dr. Batmanghelidj

Bottled Water may not be the Answer

And that assumes that we understand the question.

The bottled water industry is under frequent fire from environmental groups for creating a mountain of plastic bottles which are not biodegradable and literally last forever as toxic waste. Many of us have seen the television commercials which show a plastic water or sports drink bottle with the caption “An hour at <insert your favorite exercise activity here>, a lifetime in the landfill”

I have enjoyed the website www.naturalnews.com as a collection of a wide variety of health and lifestyle news articles. Interested readers may register for the NaturalNews.com Email Newsletter at no cost. There is no cost and the benefits could change your life. The existing database of more than 25,000 articles is growing every day with current information on health, environment, toxic chemicals in the food chain and other important lifestyle information.

This past Sunday (April 5, 2009) found an article by David Gutierrez discussing recent lab reports that “bottled water across the country contains a wide variety of toxic substances, according to laboratory tests conducted by the Environmental Working Group.”

“Researchers conducted comprehensive tests at the renowned University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory on 10 leading bottled water brands, purchased from retailers in nine states and the District of Columbia (D.C.). A total of 38 toxic pollutants were detected altogether, with each brand containing an average of eight. Chemicals detected included fluoride, byproducts of chlorine-based disinfection, caffeine, pharmaceutical drugs, fertilizer residue, plasticizers, solvents, fuel propellants, arsenic, other minerals and heavy metals, and radioactive isotopes. Four brands also contained bacteria.”

The article in its entirety is available <here>.

My Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/025993.html

<link> to other articles about bottled water in the Natural News database including admissions that both Coke’s Desani and Pepsi’s Aquafina are sourced from tap water.

The pH Level of the Body

There is a growing body of literature concerning the pH level of the body and the health benefits that may be associated with a diet that tends to move us to an alkaline state.  The pH level refers to the balance of acid and alkaline in the body.  The scale runs from 0 to 14 with lower numbers representing an acidic level and higher numbers representing an alkaline condition – 7 being neutral or balanced. 

As a disclaimer, I am a distributor for the Enagic Water processing machines which offer, among other benefits, a flow of highly alkaline water through a process of electrolysis.  But that is not my topic for today (stay tuned).

I am attracted to what I perceive as a significant difference between Eastern (Oriental) and Western medicine.  We seem to believe that as we age, we dehydrate and accumulate acidic waste deposits in our cells.  The more Eastern approach seems to say that as we dehydrate and develop acidic waste deposits in our cells, we age.  There is a tremendous difference in those two statements and I prefer the approach that suggests that aging is a condition with a natural cause – and therefore a natural treatment.  I am also strongly opposed to Western medicines method of treating every condition with a chemical.  I consider it unnatural and contrary to our health interests in the long run. We will talk further about these concepts in future posts. 

But for today, I would like to begin to look at the concept of examining acid-alkaline food content as part of your choices.

There are an abundance of books preaching the benefits of an alkaline diet to combat the acidic buildup in the cells.  The premise of these books is that the modern diet (Standard American Diet – which is an unfortunate acronym) tilts the body’s pH level toward the acid range – which can be bad for your health.

I will admit that a knowledge of chemistry was somehow omitted from my extensive and expensive education, so the science here is elusive to me.  I know that there are short term swings in the pH level of parts of the body.  For example, when food is present in the stomach, acid is generated to aid the digestive process.  But the blood level pH is one of the most regulated levels in the body (at 7.365 pH).  So are the scientists telling me that anything that I can eat will change this number ?  But what does make sense to me is that the body’s regulatory systems – particularly the kidneys – will have to work harder to regulate the acids we consume and that the alkaline substances in the body may be consumed in a constant battle to neutralize acids.  Over time this could result in imbalances in the alkaline stores in the body.  So I accept the argument that consuming alkaline foods may be beneficial.  But since I am not ready to adopt a vegetarian plan, I continue to feed the problem, so to speak. 

Dr Susan Brown and Larry Trivieri have written a book called The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide.  (available from Amazon.com) Dr Phil Domenico interviews the authors in a lengthy article for NaturalNews.com  <link here> that is very interesting to gain a perspective on this issue.

Quoting from Dr Domenico’s article, “Their major premise is that the modern diet tilts the body’s pH toward the acid range, which has negative health consequences. The kidneys, lungs and skin must work overtime to balance body pH toward the alkaline. They do so by borrowing alkaline minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium) from bone and tissue. Muscle is also broken down to obtain alkalizing amino acids (i.e., glutamine). Over the long haul, bones weaken and muscles waste away to compensate, and aging is accelerated. Osteoporosis, muscle loss, kidney stone formation, joint and back problems are among the conditions associated with even a slightly acidic state. The authors also describe many other problems and chronic conditions that could result from what they term chronic, low-grade acidosis.”

The article is an extended discussion which you should click on to read in its entirety.  The book also contains comprehensive food tables to inform you of the acid-alkaline impacts of the foods we eat or drink. 

Let me be clear.  The authors state that the consumption of acidic foods contribute to the rise of chronic degenerative diseases in this country.  I appreciate that the authors do not demand a vegan lifestyle to be healthy – but they do recommend that proteins and carbs be consumed in moderation and in some balance with alkaline foods to facilitate the neutralizing process in our bodies.

I consider age management and the emphasis of this discussion group to be a long process from an early age to maximize our health with strategies for health and anti-aging through natural programs beginning as early as possible.  Articles about exercise, hydration, anti-oxidation and nutrition should be of interest and importance to us - and will be the focus of this group. 

My source: http://www.naturalnews.com/023694.html