Late Earth Day Post -- The Evil of GMOs

Here's a video I found recently, it's pretty long but I think what it says is important:

The Future of Food One comment that struck me was that Bt corn is itself classified as a pesticide. Would anyone want to knowingly ingest a pesticide? I DON'T THINK SO! And yet we do it all the time in the processed foods we eat, many of which contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Interesting article, but very scary IMO:

GM Soy linked to Sterility No more babies within three generations? Have you ever seen the movie Children of Men? If Monsanto gets their way that could be our future.

I don't have the link handy but I read another article recently that said there were tests done on fields in India that had grown GMO crops; the results showed that after three years of growing GMO crops the fields had lower than normal amounts of microorganims, the rate was 12-30% depending on what organisms were measured. The crops were killing the soil.

My take on this? GMOs are poison and should be banned. I found a printable guide online at http://nongmoshoppingguide.com that people can use to avoid companies that use these toxic products. There's also more info at www.centerforfoodsafety.org and www.healthiereating.org. Also if you garden you can get your seeds from sources that don't sell GMO seed, some good companies I've heard of are Johnny's Selected Seeds, Baker Creek, and Home Town Seeds.

Based on the first two links it looks to me like Monsanto and companies like them only want to beef up their profits and they don't care who they hurt. Let's show them that's the wrong way to go.

(Some of my recent posts have been downers, I know...I've got some creative stuff going on too, just have to get some pics done and I'll be posting them too. I'm turning 40 in a couple weeks, maybe that's where this "let's do something to save the world" impulse is coming from.)

Help End Hunger with The Dinner Garden

I found this website a few days ago, I think it's such a great idea. The Dinner Garden gives free seeds to anyone who wants to start a garden; according to their website $5 of seeds will feed a family of seven for an entire year! I've requested a seed pack myself and put through a donation to cover it. I think once I get more listings up on Etsy I'll do a sale with part of the proceeds going to TDG. The website says they have a pretty big backlog of requests, they have the seeds but they need donations to cover the postage. I read somewhere once that investing $50 in seeds grows over $1,000 worth of produce, with the economy the way it is every little bit helps.

It's all downhill from here.......

Yet again it's been ages since I've posted and yet again I've come up with something depressing to talk about. This time it's downright morbid. I've been following the work of Stuart Wilde for a long time, recently I've reread many of the articles posted on his website. Linked from one was a site that talked about the Peak Oil situation, it's been estimated that we could run out of oil in as little as two years! Stuart Wilde is predicting that airplanes and cars will stop running as early as next year. We'll be thrown back into the 18^th century...how will we manage? I think about Dan Radcliffe (yeah, I had to bring him up, didn't I?) and young people like him and I think, are they going to get through this OK? They've grown up so immersed in technology, I know my kids are practically addicted to their video games and internet and stuff. Or will they manage better than us “old folks” (I'm nearly 40) because they have an easier time learning new skills? It's hard to say. The magnitude of the coming catastrophe is so huge it's hard to wrap your brain around, know what I mean?

Many of the websites I've been reading on this subject are predicting oil wars and famine and all sorts of horrible things. It's going to be years of chaos, maybe decades. Stuart Wilde has predicted in several of his articles that billions of people are going to die, he says it's the planet's way of protecting itself from the way we've been overusing and abusing its resources.

I've been wanting to do so much, get into art and theater and stuff like that—is there even going to be a place for that in the new society? I don't know. It's hard to commit to any sort of plan when the future is so up in the air. Maybe I'd be better off spending my time figuring out how we're going to survive—most of the websites I've been reading say that most of being prepared is having the right attitude (I'm trying, but I've been a little freaked out about the whole thing), but there are things that need to be done. Skills to learn, equipment to collect, that sort of thing. I'm seriously contemplating trying to find a local survivalist group to join.

Very soon life is going to change, drastically. Are we ready for this?

PS Thanks for all the comments on the last few posts, it's nice to know people actually read my ramblings!

Ted Kennedy's Legacy Down the Toilet?

Scott Brown has defeated Martha Coakley in the bid for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat.

Many people in Massachusetts are not going to be happy about this. My father is a member of the Mass. Moderator's Association (was the town moderator where we live for many years) and I can tell you he looks pissed. Brown will do everything he can to undo Kennedy's work and thwart President Obama's attempts to fix the problems in the health care system and the economy.

Many of the pro-Scott Brown ads in the local media were paid for by out-of-state lobbying groups. I really think that should be illegal. There should be no influence on state elections from outside lobbying groups. If Martha Coakley returns to her position as the Attorney General it would be something she could look into, although Brown's supporters would probably call her a sore loser for it.

On the news they're calling this a historic day for Massachusetts. I think it's a sad day. Martha Coakley would have been a great Senator that Ted Kennedy would have been proud to have as a successor; I think with Scott Brown in the post he's probably rolling over in his grave.

My 2009 summed up in one word

It sucked. Well, OK, that's two! Hopefully 2010 will be better. I'm off to bed in a bit, tomorrow I'm planning to take some new pictures for my Etsy items. I'll be getting some new products listed and old listings revamped and relisted (several things have been relisted multiple times, I'm thinking about starting a Bargain Bin/Clearance section in my shop just to try to get them sold). I'm also taking an Art course, at some point I hope to add an Art section to my shop as well. The course is fun but it's a little intimidating in a way, the artists I've seen on Etsy are so good! I don't know if I'll be able to compete.

I've seen quite a few blogs with "goals for 2010" type posts, I'm thinking about writing a list of my own to post. I suppose publishing your goals to the world is one way to keep yourself accountable. Have you ever seen the movie The Bucket List? I haven't but I love the idea of it, keeping a list of things you want to do with your life.

What's on your Bucket List?

Happy Birthday Amy

For 17 years Amy was my best friend. She was kind and caring and always there for me when I needed someone to talk to, whether it was about stress I was having about my kids or their dad was being a pain in the butt or whatever. We always had a good time together when we went out to family dinners or the mall or whatever we did. Even though she had a lot of medical issues and problems of her own she never let that get in the way of her love for us.

Today would have been her birthday. She died a year ago this past May.

I miss you my friend.

Just had to post this......

I was intending to do a post about what's been going on here at home lately, but for now I think it's really important to make a standalone post for this:

http://youniquelychic.blogspot.com/2009/10/must-watch-for-everyone.html

I tried to embed the video but it's taking too long....definitely a must-watch for everyone concerned about the state of the US health care system. I've found it on a couple different blogs and I think it needs to be passed around as much as possible.