Longhorn cowfish in peril

New Scientist is reporting that Longhorn cowfish are in serious trouble, and all the Dreamyfish I know are keeping their fins on the pulse of this situation which concerns the disappearance of meadows of the sea.

Now how poetic is that - 'meadows of the sea'?

This worsening ecological condition is affecting other species as well so please check out the NS article, if you will, and try to give a dam*, for if we run out of salmon for our dinners it will be way too late.

We must Save Our Oceans!

The Statue of Liberty Oct 28, 1886

Having just spent most of this afternoon researching and writing about The Statue of Liberty, The New Colossus which was dedicated on Oct 28, 1886, you may wish to check out the post since tomorrow is America's Independence Day 2009.

Yes, America herself was and is The New Colossus and the New Atlantis of the New World, all concepts which deserve to be born in mind today when we hear politicians touting their new-world or one-world economic themes. They may sound lofty with a common good flavor, yet they speak on a much more practical level than most people give them credit for, and by the time the masses are fully awake to the power elite's true aims, America may be no longer recognizable.

Reminds you of the final scenes in Planet of the Apes with Liberty's crown and torch sticking out of the sands of time, doesn't it?

No? Well, perhaps it should.

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Food additives + the Deadly Nightshades

Jimson Weed and Moss, drawing by jude cowell 2009++

Here is a good website with a well-organized list of food additives, who manufactures them, and which foods they're lurking in.

Yes, the most common two, sugar and salt, are included, as well as one of my main nemeses: high fructose corn syrup.

And are you sensitive to foods in the Deadly Nightshade family?

After a childhood of eating my Dad's delicious homegrown tomatoes (he was an excellent gardener, a Sun Taurus with Mercury in Taurus, too - and yes, a carpenter and stone mason!) I began to have skin rashes breaking out on my face, age 18. A dermatologist saw me and instantly said, "stop eating tomatoes and any foods to which they are added - and give up ketchup and spaghetti sauce."

This was my introduction to careful label reading in grocery stores where I discovered just how many processed foods in America have tomato products and flavorings added, even ones that don't taste tomatoey.

After two years of following his advice I was rash-free and now assume that the irritants had built up in my system, irritated my tummy lining, and become toxic to my inherited sensitivity. As you know, our skin is the body's last defense where toxins go when our systems can no longer deal with the build-up.

And as it turned out, my Dad had no sensitivity to tomatoes, but my Mother did.

Here's an article from Associated Content with more details about avoiding the Deadly Nightshade family in your diet.

To read, you must view a cameo from the night-blooming Jimson Weed drawing above in spite of all your finaglings.

~:~

Deadly Nightshades: tomatoes, white potatoes, various peppers, paprika, eggplants, and tobacco. Oh! and belladonna which is used in some medications including natural/alternative ones. I think that's the complete list of the irritating culprits, but please leave a comment here if you know of more!

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Two new links have been added in the sidebar under Food and Diet: scroll down for iherb products and for the Baar Company link, a site from which I have recently ordered and have been very satisfied with the products and with the quick service.