Harper's article - quote

"we should require the banks we bail out to cancel an appropriate amount of consumer debt—especially in instances where people would have paid back the principal by now had the interest rate been more reasonable. My retired schoolteacher [an example from earlier in article], the one with the husband who is deep into Alzheimer’s and who has already paid $3,000 on a $1,700 loan, should be let off the hook. The banks we have bailed out should follow the Golden Rule: just as their own debts have been written down or paid off, so they in turn should do unto others."

- Thomas Geoghegan

Read:

The Omnivore's Dilemma

TED Talk:
Michael Pollan: The omnivore's next dilemma


YouTube Video (fast forward until 3:50 or so )

Quotes

"Everybody takes the same dirt nap, Rocky used to say. What's the big deal? It's only rock 'n' roll."
- James Lee Burke

"What's the world's greatest lie? It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate."
- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

Orthomolecular Nutrition

This branch of medicine deals with the effects of our diets. Orthomolecular means to 'straighten the molecules' or something like that. The argument goes simply that the human body's nutritional needs haven't changed in 50,000 years. Yet in the last 100 years our diet has changed immensely. Mostly moving in the direction of processed, nutrient/mineral deficient foods.

The result of these changes can be subtle effects like altered energy levels and moods, or profoundly obvious effects - cancer, alzheimer's schizophrenia, learning disabilities, depression, bi-polar disorder, etc.

These afflictions are not solely caused by diet, obviously two people can eat the exact same foods yet be affected differently. Some people are genetically prone to certain ailments. The idea that there is a Daily Value for nutrients and minerals is flawed - some people need large or small amounts of different things.

The bottom line is this: Orthomolecular doctors have had success treating people for all kinds of illnesses both mental and physical. Obviously using nutritional therapy is much cheaper that buying drugs/paying for psychiatric treatment.

Here is a link to a great book on the topic. Check out pages 6-8 to see how our diets have changed.
Putting it all together: The new orthomolecular nutrition, Abram Hoffer and Morgan Walker

Bill C-10

House of Commons Video re: Bill C-10 (budget/stimulus bill)
4h38min: pay equity amendment
5h45min: navigable waters protection act and other "contraband" hidden in stimulus bill C-10

We are all addicted to something, almost everyone and everywhere. Isn’t true freedom being addicted to nothing and being without burden of duty? Even the pleasures of life dull when they are experienced too often.

TED Talk: The Future

Juan Enriquez 2009