"The only test of the utility of Knowledge, is its promoting the happiness of mankind." — Dr. STARK on Diet, p. 90.
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jim's blog
Overfeeding a child is child abuse
Thu, 10/16/2008 - 11:02 — jimIf it hurts the child in obvious fashion, how is overfeeding not child abuse? If 30 percent of children are obese and have a six-fold increase in lifetime mortality, then that is clear harm. Since parents today have no idea what food is or how to eat, it may be unreasonable to expect that they can feed a dependent let alone themselves. In this case, a little bit of extreme response may be needed to correct the overall problem of poor food education and poor diet.
Got cancer?
Tue, 10/07/2008 - 20:51 — jimTurns out real men do eat meat, they just can't get it up because their prostate is shot. The 'association' of meat and dairy products with increased risk of prostate cancer has long been noted and is now the subject of a British study. When the Dairy Board is squealing about soy milk having 'phytoestrogens' in it, they really trying to distract you from the genuine animal hormone IGF-1 present in meat and milk.
The whole problem with the meat diet is that what you eat is too close to what you are, and your body responds to the food as if it is internal. So you pick up hormone effects and immune responses where none would even be suspected.
Mad cow may be the tip of the iceberg in prion disease
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 02:20 — jimA new study by the University of Texas indicates that prion mutations, and cross-species transmission, may be easier and more widespread than ever before. For the first time, rapid-onset spongiform encephalopathy diseases have been created in the laboratory. Claudio Soto, a research scientist, has created totally new strains of wasting diseases.
This raises the specter that any natural reservoir of prion disease - in cattle, sheep, deer, moose, elk and other hoofed ungulates - can serve to infect a wider population in another species. The time is long past to consider that any form of brain wasting disease - not just the feared CJD - but other diseases, such as the current epidemic of dementia, as possible prion infection. Onset of symptoms may take decades, and by that time, the realization that a mad cow (or mad-moose) epidemic is taking place will come as a sudden wave of the utmost human tragedy.
Intelligence is learning applied to adaptation
Thu, 07/29/2010 - 14:19 — jimAnimals can, and must, learn to cope with their environment. Those with higher degrees of learning can persist this knowledge - saving it across time and even generations. That is precisely what humans are doing now, in the most direct fashion, with genetic engineering.
The pig is a peasant but the cow is a capitalist
Mon, 06/28/2010 - 04:01 — jimPigs were once the most common livestock in America. This was because they were part of the household economy, recycling kitchen scraps into ready meat. Now the household economy has been monetized, and cows raised in an industrial setting have taken the market lead.
Rain at last
Sun, 06/27/2010 - 04:58 — jimAfter what seemed like weeks of dry weather, we finally got a good, soaking rain today. It is such a relief not having to run around like a maniac watering for at least the next few days.
New Jerk Dictionary: Antidisintermeditationism
Wed, 12/16/2009 - 13:37 — jimThe New Jerk dictionary defines antidisintermeditationism (adverb) as taking a stand against removing the middleman and brokers who add value and expertise to the supply chain. While fdirect service delivery is often noted for being cheaper and more "efficient" by supply-side fops, disintermediation is most often a cover for hiding producer weakness and allowing the shifting of sub-standard goods.
Garden goings-on
Mon, 11/23/2009 - 02:33 — jimIt was a busy day in the garden, despite a morning devoted to Thanksgiving potluck for church. When we were coming out of Fern's house after dropping off her meal, Diana circled the large Nopale bush in the front yard of the complex. A pad had fallen off, and before we could scoop it up, the owner came out and offered up the berries and some pads. So we ended up with a loose pad, a branch, and a whole stem with a single root dangling down.
The nopale pads we planted along the driveway, filling in a gap between the fig tree and the horseradish. It was a dream fulfilled for Diana, who loved the large plant and drooled over it every time we went past it.
The fruit I am planning to singe with a Sterno campsite burner we bought after the big ice storm. I am pretty sure you need the prickles off before you stick it in your mouth.
Originally we had planned to dig some holes for the coming shipment from Starks, so I set out to dig another hole for an Sharpblue blueberry on the southwest side of the house. This is a boggy spot where the other blueberries grow the best.
Then after that I drilled out a good size (4 gallons maybe) hole behind the the propane tank where a Issai hardy kiwi will go. What I am thinking as the kiwi grows out I can clear the hedgerow for a trellis, running east to west. I expect the plant, if it survives our strange winter weather, to range maybe 20-30 feet.
I started clearing out a good-sized spot behind the tank, and whacked out a good bit of forsythia and honeysuckle, the twin demons of American gardens gone wild. Machetes and mattocks were the order of the day. I also moved a stake from a failed red raspberry planting to where one had come up again after getting squished under the falling pine tree.
Maxims for populist survival
Sat, 10/17/2009 - 02:09 — jimHow to Survive Popular Wisdom
If it is a "Movement," then it is probably wrong. Movements should be limited to plate tectonics and bowels.
If it is something that most people view as crazy and impractical, then it is probably right. Most folks see the right thing as unpleasant and tiresome.
If it is something radically new and different, then it is probably not a good idea. Finding the value of new ideas takes time, and like asbestos and bloodletting, may take longer than you have to discover the drawbacks.
It is always easier to make better the good than remedy the evil. Let natural selection be your judge.
Dear Secretary
Thu, 10/15/2009 - 02:41 — jimDear Secretary Vilsak:
As a member of a rural farm community, please support the small farmers. We need more fresh fruits and vegetables, not more cattle ranches. Please push for parity for the fresh market with animal agriculture.
Respectfully,
Jim Wiegand
