More on Nutrition

Nutritionally speaking, there are only 3 types of "food"—protein, fat and carbohydrate. (as three types of matter—animal, vegetable & mineral). Fat is a non entity it passes through the system without providing nourishment. Protein can be used by the body for whatever it needs (even energy). Carbohydrates are used to provide energy. Fruits and vegetables are both carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are sugar! It is the consumption of sugar which is causing obesity—not the consumption of fat. I heard a report the other day which actually recommended (as a healthy food for kids) fruit drizzled with honey. There are 3 kinds of sugar; sucrose (table sugar), fructose, (all fruit) and lactose (dairy products). What the fruit drizzled with honey was recommending was putting sucrose on top of fructose! And this is healthy? And we wonder why our kids are getting fat and developing diabetes? Our bodies store excess sugar (beyond what is needed for an energy spurt) as fat—to be used in lean times. We are consuming (on average) the equivalent of 2 cups of sugar per day per person! That is one pound of sugar per day per person! 30 pounds per month! 360 pounds per year each! And asking why obesity and diabetes are so prevalent! 

If you want more info on this, let me know. Otherwise I've said my piece, and topic closed. Hugs!

More Politics

I've been trying to put together a list of subjects for blogs, but I can't get my mind to stay on whatever subject I'm trying to pursue, and it's tough to write about something you can't concentrate on. My favorite topics (and the ones occupying my thoughts) are: 1.The economics in this country and all of the garbage (to use a mild word for what I was thinking) being fed to us about the true state of affairs; and 2. Nutrition and its misinformation being fed to us.

Economically speaking, we've been fed the same sort of garbage (being nice, again) that we've come to accept as fact. I've been fighting this one since I stumbled onto the truth in 1978. And I spoke before the Kansas state legislators trying to raise awareness back then. What I discovered was that the entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, etc.) were designed to benefit the wealthy (the wealthier employers pay at a much better rate than the little guy). These programs were initiated in Roosevelt's "New Deal" to pull us out of the first great depression. They did as they were designed to do, and reversed the trend that drove the economy to such despair. But the pendulum swung back in the other direction, and no one has done anything to stop it. I think everyone knows that today's workers cannot possibly provide income to everyone in the country who has ever worked. Social security was designed before antibiotics and birth control. People used to have lots of kids and many people of all ages died from illness and infection. The life expectancy was short—not because people did not live to be old, but because of averaging. If a person who died at 90 years of age was averaged with an infant that died at birth—the average life expectancy was 45 years.  At Social Security's onset, there were hundreds of contributors for each recipient. Today, I think the ratio is 3 workers to each recipient, and declining rapidly. Why should the guy who works hand over his check to the guy who doesn't? What's wrong with this program?

My appeal to vote for Obama is because he affords us better opportunities. No doubt, we are headed for tough times. What we need is a complete revamping of the "social" programs and of the tax structure. My hope is that with Obama at the helm, these needs would be recognized and addressed. I'm certain that no such reform could be realized under McCain.

Tomorrow my thoughts on nutrition.

Hugs!

*sniff*

The hummingbirds have gone. There may be a straggler or two, so I've still got one feeder out. But, I haven't seen a hummer since Saturday. I brought the other four feeders in, cleaned them up, and put them away until next year. I always expect to feel a bit of relief when they've gone—it gets a little frantic when they are going through about 15 cups of nectar per day. The relief lasts only a flash—I miss them already. The way time flits by, 6 months will pass quickly, and I'll be watching anxiously for my first visitor.

I have another "treatment" scheduled for October 17th. I have the urine collection, and lab work  done, and I have the antidote Rx on hand. The motel reservation is made, and I'll start the sodium bicarb "flood" on the 15th. I dread the time and expense of going to KC, but, my body is starting to tell me, "It's treatment time!" "Shooters" (my name for my neurogenic pain) had me up until 4 this morning. I'll "up" my oral Methotrexate on Wednesday—that (and Neurontin) should keep me comfortable  for the 3 weeks left until I get my "fix".

Hugs!

Cute kitties for Lois & Yo

I never come across a picture of cats without thinking of Lois and Yo. These kitties were in the jigsaw puzzle page, and I made an attempt at publishing them in here, but couldn't do what I wanted to, with it. I promptly forgot all about it, but stumbled upon the "draft" postings in Blogspot. There the picture still was! So, after bumbling around a bit more, I discovered how to publish it. 

Better late than never is a cute picture of a couple of kitties for you. Hugs!

MY opinion

I could hardly wait for "Meet The Press", today (written Sun., 21st) after Thursday's economic meltdown. I did a lot of viewing MSNBC, and trying to gather more information. I was hoping for some reassurance, but, unfortunately, as gloomy as my personal views were/are, it looks to be even worse than I'd feared. I have tried to stay non-partisan as far as the elections are concerned, with my friends here. But, based on what I've seen, I want to appeal to any reader here—please vote for Obama! McCain comes across as totally bewildered, and irrational. We are in for some rough times ahead, and nobody has the answers, but we really have to make the changes which only Obama seems to grasp. Not that he has all of the answers, but I've checked out his site, and the only potential comes from his corner.

There is talk of ways to make profits and get some advantage from this catastrophe. Buy houses, invest, blah blah. For ONLY  $300K you can.....Yeah, right! Come on.....98% of us don't have $300K! We barely make it to the next government issued check. We are relying on the diminishing workers in this country to hand over a growing percentage of their check to us! Yikes! Think about it! Who supports the 2%? 

"They" talk of saving the "middle class". What middle class? Those making between what 6 digit figure and what other 6 digit figure? The greedy politicians are striving to save their own butts. They are the (so called) middle class. "They" have wiped out what used to be the middle class and left only the very rich and the poor.  

There ARE some answers—Whoopie (on "The View")  recommended one of the best I've heard regarding the "bail-out"—bail out those who're losing their homes—forgive half the debt. Don't bail out the boobs who screwed up! I'd feel better about contributing my meager share of ¾Trillion to the struggling home buyers who'd still be paying property taxes, etc., than to the CEOs! Watch the debate tonight with these thoughts in mind—then vote Obama!  Hugs!

School Pictures

Mel came home from work with a packet of school pictures! I can't tell you how many years it's been since THAT happened. They took the pictures of all school staff for badges, as a security measure, and the packet came as a surprise. I'm tempted to order a jigsaw puzzle of his picture—the offer was on a web site provided in the packet. But, the offer is valid until December, and my frugal side is cautioning me to wait a bit to see how the economy begins to unfold. Looking pretty shaky out there! Huge hugs.

'Puter Desk

This is a picture of the computer desk that "grabbed me". I'd never even considered the purchase of a new computer desk, but we were shopping in Wall-mart a few weeks ago, and I felt a pull toward the furniture. This was on display for just under $100. I thought it looked quite rich for its price, and Mel urged me to go ahead with my impulse, and he's great with "some assembly".  The chair hides the keyboard hinged, pull-out drawer which totally conceals the keyboard and mouse behind a lovely panel w/decorative handle. 

I'm watching the economic crisis unfold, as we all are. Hoping and praying that the mistakes made leading up to this will not be repeated. Do you detect some optimism that this may actually lead to some "good" changes? 

Hugs!

*sigh*

I've filled a virtual trash can with virtual wads of paper trying to compose a blog, today. That was on the top of my "to do" list.  I completed the other items on my list, but my blogs were too full of gloom, agony, and despair to publish, so I abandoned them. Instead of ranting, I'll simply state that the state of the US & world economy has been heavy on my mind. I was anxious to see "Meet the Press", but that only raised more questions, and further enforced that answers are nowhere near, and that the "experts" don't have a clue what's going on. I seriously battled for changes in 1978, but my battle was futile, and 30 years later the changes I tried to promote are no longer doable. So, I guess I can only put a smile on my face, and send this bubbly post out.

I will go off topic and say that when our power failed last week, the air conditioner needs to be turned on, again—it doesn't come back on automatically. We never turned it on!!! We went an entire week without. Ahhhhhh! Love it!

Huge hugs! 

Yo—glad you found me, please join my followers. Lois—was so fun chatting with you. Judy—sorry my suggestions didn't help. 

I'm still learning my way around in here. But, I'm beginning to get the hang of things. I'm open to any ideas and/or suggestions. 

Huge hugs around.

We didn't like Ike

After "Ike" blew through, Mel & I went for a drive to see the damage. Two of several downed trees were totally blocking Cotton Rock Road (our only way in/out). There were 3 cars stopped at the first blockage, and 4 big guys with one nearly useless (dull chain) chain saw. Mel got out to offer assistance, but rather than going back home to get his newly sharpened saw, elected to wrestle the tree with the other guys. The results were mixed—the tree lost, but the men all got dumped into the ditch in the effort of breaking it. Mel came back to where I was waiting in the car (they had been out of my view—fortunately, it turned out), with his glasses in his hand, and his shirt-front muddied. 

I got out the glasses cleaner and towel we keep in the glove box, to clean his glasses. As he got close, I saw that his shirt was bloodied, too! Closer examination revealed that two spots on his scalp were bleeding, but not too serious injuries. One could probably have used a stitch or two, but would heal okay without—and the scar will never be seen unless he goes totally bald. The other would be okay with a cleaning and disinfectant.  The other guys returned to the second blockage after I assured them Mel would be alright. Mel said he'd go back home, clean up, and bring his "good" chain saw. Mel drove back home, applying pressure to the worse bleeder with the towel. I was plotting how to clean, disinfect and bandage without running water, (we're on a well—no power) and how to bandage a scalp wound.

Necessity being the mother of invention, I came up with a brilliant (if I do say so myself) plan. The spa hadn't heated since midnight, but the water was still pleasantly warm. I grabbed a pitcher full, and poured it slowly over Mel's head, (we were outside). Then we went in and I sprayed the wounds with hydrogen peroxide, covered each wound with a gauze pad, and was able to secure both pads with an elastic headband. 

Mel then got his saw, and we headed back down the road. The others were gone, and the road was cleared, by the time we got back, but we weren't disappointed at that!

On his bus route this morning he was amazed at the number of downed trees that had been cleared off the route. Ike, we won't forget you, or miss you! Who'd have thought Kansas, Missouri and Ohio would be so ravaged by a hurricane? We as a nation have much more empathy for those living in coastal hurricane prone areas.

I'll just add to this post that we are well prepared for a lengthy power/water outage. We have, on hand, 10 gallons of water for drinking, and cooking. We have the spa for toilet flushing and more water if essential. We have propane stove and heaters and an igniter for lighting things with electric ignition. We have battery powered lanterns. We have two refrigerators with ice bins, and coolers to keep food if needed. We have a percolator for Mel's essential coffee—but we'd suffer TV, computer, and spaaaah withdrawal!!  

Huge hugs!

Kitchen Remodel

I'm finally getting around to showing you the "before" and "after" of the work we did in the upstairs kitchen.  The before picture doesn't do the former kitchen enough Injustice. The old countertops were pink(ish), and textured! They were impossible to clean, and unusable for rolling out the tortillas I make for Mel—his momma taught me how. The cabinets were UGLY(!) The refrig was ancient, the window was a bay window stuck outside of a thick wall (brick over cement block) and was impossible to clean behind the sink (at least 2 feet behind the sink) It took a contortionist (which I am NOT). It was single pane, and would ice-up on the inside during winter. The Walls were UGLY striped paper on top of paneling, on top of (?) There is no drywall, so it's not a matter of stripping paper, and painting. The window shade and light fixtures were of ancient vintage. It had a stainless sink, but when we purchased the countertops, a new gorgeous built-in sink was included. So, about everything is new except for the floor—and that's next on the list.

Huge hugs!

P.S.  Does anyone know how I can delete one of my two "Katy's Korner" blog sites?  I'm not sure how I wound up with 2 or how to get rid of one.  More hugs!

Cholesterol stuff

I was going to do a lot of work picking out key paragraphs from different articles. But I finally decided that if you're truly interested, you can do the work yourselves. I will be reading "Life Without Bread". Other books I think might interest some: "Eat Fat And Grow Slim"; Sweet And Dangerous"; and "Your Fat Can Make You Thin". 

I have always suspected something wrong with the cholesterol theories—it's refreshing to find evidence backing my skepticism. I hope you can convince your doctor(s) to check out some of this info. 

http://trusted.md/blog/vreni_gurd/2007/04/13/high_cholesterol_does_not_cause_heart_disease

http://www.thegreatcholesterolcon.com/

Also check out some of the references at the bottom of the first article—interesting!   

♡ Huge Hugs!

Try, Try again!

I may have discovered why my blogs didn't appear! I had the address wrong! *blush*  So here goes attempt # three at sending this post that I published nearly a year ago on 360°. If it works, then I can do what I need to do in here! Fingers crossed! More Hugs!

Old blog:

I'm going to write a controversial peeve of mine, and give you something to think about. It's the theory that fat equals fat. Who came up with that idea, and why? I'm referring to the idea almost everyone holds that eating foods containing fat is what is making most people gain weight. Humankind has been metabolizing fat as long as he's been on earth, without being overweight. It wasn't until "they" came up with the weird idea to start removing fat from our food that man started gaining . Take milk, for instance. The next time you are in the grocery store, check out the "carbohydrate" (sugar) content of milk products. Yes—carbohydrates equal sugar! The lowest carbohydrate content is heavy cream (zero carbs) and the highest is non-fat milk! My CA sis (120 lbs.) has been an insulin dependent diabetic for 62 years!!!! If her blood sugar level drops, and she needs a big sugar hit, she drinks non-fat milk—not orange juice! Americans have steadily increased their body fat as "they" have removed "fat" from products. Check out "low fat" products vs. their counterparts {mayonnaise and salad dressing, for instance) all of the low fat products have a higher carbo content (more sugar)! What percent of the population was overweight before the margarine over butter/vegetable oil (carbos) over lard era? I maintain that animal fat is not harmful, and metabolizes without a problem. I agree that the manufactured saturated fats can be harmful, but not natural animal fats, Think about it! Sugar causes fat, not fat! how do we fatten animals for the market? Carbos (grass and grain) how does a hummingbird fatten up for migration? Carbos! 

I said it. I feel better. Thanks for the ear, and happy pondering! Huge hugs!

*sigh*

Thanks for your suggestion, Lois. I set up the account as shown, and sent 2 emails to the address I set up. But where those emails went beats me! I sure don't find them anywhere. This is a test to see if I'm notified that I posted a blog. More later. Hugs!

Suggestions?

I can't copy/paste into this blog window, and I can't seem to find how to attach a file. With my dang dial-up, I'm tying up my phone line if I have to stay on-line to type my blog. Is there a way that I can type into another program at my leisure and transfer it to this window? If I do paste something from my clipboard into here, it shows up below this window, and I don't know if it's visible to viewers. Can someone help? Hold on—I may have found it—let's see if a former 360° blog from last year (10/26/07) shows up. If so, I'll elaborate on it later. Nope—wouldn't go. Huge hugs!

Hello?

I'm working on setting this up--fingers crossed!

At least I finally got a picture to load! YAY!

And I've got posts to follow—I'm off to bed but made some progress.