Quercus Florida

STOP GROVE BAY

2013-10-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

First my Apologies. This is a LONG Letter.

Sometimes a story cannot be told in few words. Please read this entire letter to fully understand the issue of "Boss Sarnoff"- Influence Peddling and the Three Campaign Checks. After you have read this Please forward it on to as many people as possible

.Thank you, Charles Corda

NOTE: If you would like to see the picture of the three checks Please email me directly CRCorda@bellsouth.net I cannot attach the images of the checks here but I will be very happy to email them to you.

Three months ago I stumbled upon a presentation by the developers of the proposed Grove Harbor Project. I came away from that presentation with a very uncomfortable feeling. I assumed, incorrectly, that I would spend a few hours researching the project and once satisfied that nothing was amiss, my life would continue down the gently undulating road I usually travel. In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined how twisted, and tortuous that road was about to become. Like most people I assumed our elected officials had our best interests at heart. As such, I went about my business paying scant attention to the workings of City Hall.

Yet, as I delved deeper into the Grove Harbor project I began to discover one unsettling fact after another. The more time I spent on it, the more skewed it began to appear. I studied the various codes and master plans that concerned themselves with the Bay front. It appeared to me that this project was in violation of each and every one. I spent countless hours pouring over the Miami Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan, the 2007 Parks and Waterfront Master Plan, The Zoning Code - Miami 21, and of course the Sasaki Plan.

I read and re-read and re-read them all. Then I read them again.

I was certain I must have been missing something.

How could a project that appeared to violate every applicable plan and code be proposed for this site?

How could District 2 Commissioner , Marc Sarnoff, be so zealous about promoting this intensive development in light of what I now knew? Commissioner Sarnoff had loudly proclaimed "this development complies with the Sasaki Plan!". I went back to the Sasaki Plan again. I reread it, studied it, put sticky notes on it, yellow lined it, red lined it, , memorized portions of it, absorbed it into my very being.Yet... I could not find anything that seemed to allow or encourage the intensive development that is proposed for this site. Commissioner Sarnoff said the Parking Garage..a mammoth structure more than 350 feet long, was no more than three stories tall.

I am a licensed Architect.I have practiced Architecture for 38 years. I did some very basic calculations. It was physically impossible for this building to be three stories as Sarnoff proclaimed.I checked my numbers again...and again... and again.The result was always the same....6 to 7 stories minimum. A building twice the size of what was being presented.

A building twice the size of what Commissioner Sarnoff was publicly saying it was. How could Commissioner Sarnoff not know what I knew?How could Art Noriega of the MPA not know what I knew?How could the Developer not know what I knew ? How could Architectonica, a renown architectural firm, not know what I knew?

They could all run numbers at least as well as I could.

Something was very wrong here.Literally... the numbers weren't adding up.

It became obvious. It appeared to me that no one involved in and promoting this project wanted the actual size of this building known. I was perplexed...truly and deeply perplexed by this epiphany.I did not want to believe for a minute that our esteemed Commissioner might be lying to us.I tried to find alternative explanations. None would suffice. As incredible as it sounds, the conclusion that we were being deliberately mislead and lied to, became unavoidable.

What has followed since is even more incredible and as such, equally unavoidable..Once the realization sank in that the Commissioner and his cohorts were deliberately misleading the public about this project I decided it was time for me to act. I started the "Petition to Stop Grove Harbor". That's when things really started to get interesting. As people became aware of the proposed development and signed the "Petition" , Letters and notes began pouring in about the perceived misdeeds of our elected officials - Commissioner Sarnoff in particular.

Letters about Virginia Key. Letters about Watson Island. Letters about The Brickell Trees. Letters about the West Grove Trolley Garage Letters about the Port Tunnel. Letters about Toxic Contamination, "Old Smokey", Blanche Park and Astroturf. Letters about Walmart in Midtown and of course a great many Letters about Grove Harbor.

Each and every letter laid the issues and misdeeds at the doorstep of Commissioner Sarnoff. It became clear in a very short time that a great many people mistrusted the Commissioner and felt that this Grove Harbor Project was just another scam emanating from his office. It also became clear that this ill-conceived development and Commissioner Sarnoff where inseparable. He is the most visible and ardent promoter of this project.This project is his "baby" It would become impossible to speak of this project without speaking of Commissioner Sarnoff at the same time.

I began to talk to people around town.. "Yes they opposed the project.".." No they would not speak up in opposition"

"Why?" I asked.

The answer invariably whispered in my ear ...

"Commissioner Sarnoff"

People feel threatened by Sarnoff's power.They believe he could make their lives very difficult...believe he could ruin their businesses. Few people I spoke to had any doubts he would do so if provoked. His name was spoken in hushed tones. The fear of Commissioner Sarnoff is palpable. As our group began to grow, we tried to find a meeting space where we could gather to discuss the Grove Harbor Project. We were denied the use of a number of locations around the Grove commonly used for civic gatherings. We were denied support from the various groups and organizations around town. The reason, once again whispered in hush tones...

"Commissioner Sarnoff"

People were, and remain, afraid of Commissioner Sarnoff...

For weeks we had no place for our group to meet, until we were finally offered an open corner in the Bookstore in the Grove. We tried to get support from the Grove BID.. no chance..controlled by SarnoffThe Sailing Club...Sorry..we can't jeopardize our lease. Shake-A -Leg " Sorry Sarnoff will kill our pending grant..the developer has offered us $30,000 we don't want to lose it. The Grove Chamber..No reaction what so ever from the people who would suffer the most if the Grove Harbor project came to fruition.

The Grove Merchants..Again in whispers ....We don't want Sarnoff to send Code Enforcement.Center Grove Neighbors Association.. No Chance.. "Sue McConnell Works for Sarnoff"The Village Council...Firmly under Sarnoff's control through Michelle Niemeyer and Jessica Lewis who steadfastly denied my request for equal time following Art Noriega's and Enrique Torre's pro Grove Horror presentation.

Even Scotty denied our request to meet at his restaurant. I am told he was threatened with immediate eviction if he worked with us.

Something obviously was happening here...Pretty much everywhere we turned we encountered the same obstacle.FEAR of REPRISAL by Commissioner Sarnoff. FEAR of Commissioner Sarnoff.It was beginning to appear to me that Sarnoff was doing everything possible to bully those who oppose him and thereby suppress their right of free speech and freedom of political choice. His political power is growing by the use of threats, fear and subjugation. It became painfully obvious to me we now had our very own "Boss Sarnoff" If you can't suppress opposition to your schemes with simple bullying you have to at least attempt to buy people off .Take the case of Dr. Robert Malone.

Dr. Malone is currently running for the Fifth District Commission Seat about to be vacated by Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones.Spence-Jones is promoting Keon Hardemon.Sarnoff is actively campaigning and raising money for Richard Dunn.Sarnoff has stated he believes Dunn is the frontrunner. He believes Dunn's antique medical tool selection will give him a guaranteed second vote on the City Commission, further consolidating his control of the City of Miami.

So why on earth Did Sarnoff attempt to "gift" Dr. Malone $1500 for his campaign?

Was it intended as an inducement for Dr. Malone to leave the race?Was it a paltry bribe to Dr. Malone for his cooperation in some form?What was Sarnoff attempting to buy with this unsolicited "donation"?We may never know what purpose this "gift" was intended to serve.We do know Sarnoff made a BIG mistake when he sent those checks to Dr. Malone.Dr. Malone, a truly honest and very capable person, rightly refused to accept the money from Sarnoff.Dr. Malone has stated he has never done business with, does not know the principles personally, and has no particular reason to be associated with the companies who wrote these checks.Dr. Malone immediately returned the three checks to Sarnoff, and duly noted same on his report to the Elections Department.Finally someone has stood up to Sarnoff.

It was a bold and brave move on the part of Dr. Malone.

Dr. Malone made it known he would accept no gifts from Sarnoff.Sarnoff would not forgive or forget. He is now quite vocal, persistent and insulting in his attacks on Dr. Malone.Of those 3 checks refused by Dr. Malone, the one I find most interesting is from the architectural firm Architectonica, the firm responsible for the design of the Grove Harbor project, of which Sarnoff is the primary promoter. Architectonica is also the firm that has prepared the design and drawings Sarnoff is currently using to promote Regatta Park, on the site of the existing convention center.

NO RFP has been issued for the Regatta Park design.

NO PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT was made for the selection of consultants for the Regatta Park Design.

NO COMPETITIVE BIDS of any kind have been solicited by the City. Sarnoff has simply asked Architectonica for a design.

They have obliged him.Every Citizen of Miami should be enraged over this subversion of the consultant selection process and this doling out of favors. Every Professional Consultant in this City should be livid that such a prestigious commission has been simply handed to someone by Sarnoff. Power and collusion have their rewards.Regatta Park is a very important and significant project. To simply be handed the project by Commissioner Sarnoff tends to suggest that Sarnoff and Architectonica have a very close relationship. So close in fact that Sarnoff can solicit $500 from Architectonica that then goes to seed Sarnoff's influence peddling schemes.

Why would three checks be offered to Dr. Malone by Commissioner Sarnoff?

Three checks , from three companies, that have no relationship what so ever with Dr. Malone? Why would Architectonica write Dr. Malone a check for $500 , immediately following Dr. Malone's meeting with Sarnoff? Perhaps Sarnoff ordered them to do it?

Given the circumstances and the origin of all the checks, it seems pretty likely.This is how influence peddling works.

Sarnoff promotes, Architectonica designs the Grove Harbor Project. They are working together.Sarnoff literally then hands the Regatta Park commission to Architectonica. Architectonica then writes a check to someone they don't know and Sarnoff gives it to that person.No mystery here..Quid pro quo. The only problem in Sarnoff's scheme..Dr. Malone rejects the money.Sarnoff is apparently doling out projects and favors in return for cash contributions while the people of Miami are lied to and abused in the process.

This is how power grows:

Bring your friends to the public trough.
Let them imbibe as much as they can.
When the time comes, they owe you allegiance...and some money for you to spread around town when you ask for it.

The end result of all of this... Unbeknownst to most of us:

We, the People of Miami,

are living in:

Legal and public processes' are being subvertedOur Right of Free Speech and the right to assembly are being suppressed .An able candidate for office is under siege for his honesty and integrity.Back room deals are not a thing of the pastRampant abuse of power rules the day.Commissioner Marc Sarnoff is at the center of it all.It is time to take control of our City away from "Boss" Sarnoff!Stop him right now from taking our Bay front and giving it to his friends, the Grove Bay Investment Group, LLC

STOP BOSS SARNOFF

STOP GROVE BAY!

This is our fight.
Grassroots Politics!

Vote NO on Ballot Measure # 401

Charles Corda

Proof, by Dick Francis

2013-04-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Proof by Dick Francis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love Dick Francis' novels. He was the Queen Mother's jockey & became a novelist after he retired. His books all have horses in them in some way or another, but each is set in a different industry, which is well researched. This one is set in the wine industry, which I used to work in myself, so of course it is particularly appealing.

The funny thing is, though, as different as he tries to make his heroes, in the end they all turn out to be the same quiet, unassuming, smart, capable guy who can stand immense amounts of pain. Gee, I wonder why?

I last read it so long ago, I couldn't even begin to say when.

View all my reviews

2012-10-20T09:08:00.001-07:00

This is just a photo I couldn't get any other way because it had to be embedded.

This photo of Harmandir Sahib is courtesy of TripAdvisor

You Made a Difference. THANK YOU!

2012-01-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

I Beg You, America Begs You: STEAL THIS VIDEO

2012-01-19T09:07:00.003-08:00

The two websites mentioned in this video,

the sites you could go to to get it if they take it off of YouTube,
are MIA (Missing in Action)

2012-01-19T08:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays Everybody!

2011-12-23T16:40:00.000-08:00

Whether it's Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa or however you celebrate,
have a wonderful time, be safe and be happy!

Build Your Own Snowflake - wonderfl build flash online

For my Friends and Fellow-Traders in the Stock Market

2011-08-13T00:01:00.001-07:00

Is it just me? I can't be the only one that can see this whole horrifying debt-ceiling brouhaha, stock market insanity is totally artificially induced? Actually, there probably are lots of people talking about it on "them conspiracy-nut" shows. But just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean no one is after you, as they say. I apologize about the length of this rant. Bear with me, I've provide appropriate music for you to listen to while you read.

Today I feel like ranting about the stock market, gold, fiat currency, central banks, international conspiracies, The Creature From Jekyll Island, Unequal Protection, and other such delightful topics that could keep a thousand monkeys busy for a thousand years. I have been reading, when I could, over the last couple of weeks, as I've fought to make my daily pittance from the stock market. What used to be interesting, fun, and not terribly time-consuming has turned into an eighteen-hour-a-day nightmare with no end in sight. The guys on the shows on TV have stopped even bothering to put on a coat and tie. It's pushed-up sleeves, 5 o'clock shadows, and open admissions of utter exhaustion.

Every day I watch, read, listen to the pundits expound on such subjects as: Gold is bound to drop terribly. From one such pundit: What good is it, anyway? You can't spend it; after all, it's not money!

They can't be this ignorant right? Nobody could be this ignorant. Gold has been the universal currency that has bought the same number of loaves of bread (or sheep, or cattle) for the same amount of gold since Roman times. And probably long before that. Utah just made it (and silver) legal tender. With numerous other states following suit. Who paid, pressured, brainwashed this fool into saying such a thing? I think it was on CNBC. (Figures) I would give anything to be able to provide the link...searched my history, even. Needle in a haystack.

And check out this from Donald Trump.

I watch people expound, hold forth, give theories, analyze fundamentals, examine technicals--my thing--as I'm a visual person, although I do my "fundamental" homework too. It's all so much Bull/Bear [take your pick] manure. There is nothing wrong with most of the companies whose stop is falling and rising so precipitously. Their fundamentals, in the most part are fine, as were those of the stock exchange-traded companies in 1929. Terror. It's terror, folks, pure and simple. Well, okay, a huge dollop of greed too.

Lord knows there has been plenty in the past weeks (as our legislators and president have aired our dirty laundry for the world to see) to cause the stock market to plunge despite the excellent health of the companies involved. But, and here is real, acid test kicker as far as I am concerned. As far as my manipulation theory goes: Can anyone tell me even one single thing that caused things to pick up suddenly at lunchtime Wednesday? Because for the life of me I sure can't. Not one single positive thing happening in the entire, totally beleaguered, beat-to-death world. Not one. No manna fell from heaven, no one discovered that the holes in the ozone were fixed, or that a no side effects cure had been discovered for cancer. Don't even get me started on that. Or, if you're interested read my article about Essiac--it's a real eye-opener our Big Pharma friends don't want spread around.

Is it some kind of conspiracy of silence that everybody seems to be ignoring this blatantly apparent phenomenon except me? Has the emperor lost his clothes? Am I truly Cassandra, as I've believed all my life? WTF is UP, everybody? Are they/you serious? Or more to the point: Are you blind? Are you living in LaLa Land? Did the stocks just start flying off of the shelves midday on the 10th because Glinda the Good came and waved her magic wand over the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave? Or did the Powers That Be finally (hello, hello, wake up) realize that they had let it go too far and we were for real this time, not a civil-liberty-theft drill, about to tank? Do they think, do you think that because this is the good old US of A it can't happen here? Well, guess what, we're about two paychecks away from it. We're spoiled. And we've got our heads buried in the sand.

It can happen here the first day the trucks don't show up at the supermarkets. Did you know they only keep one day's worth of food on hand? One day's worth of water? This is due to a phenomenon known as "on-demand" shipping. I know a fair amount about this because in the Nineties I was the publisher of a trade journal called The International Journal of Logistics Management that the management of every Multinational Corp in the wold subscribed to. Did you know that even the main branches of most banks have less than $10,000 in cash on hand? According to the manager at my Wachovia main branch, anything much more than that "takes them up to a week to get" It can happen here if half a dozen people, in half a dozen towns decide to go down to a half a dozen banks and draw out their money. It's utterly terrifying to know that's all it could take. FDIC? LMAO

Scenario starting to sound familiar? Well, maybe if you're a student of history or finance. They keep us peons pretty ignorant nowadays. Did you know that we are becoming a Third World country at about the same rate that India is becoming a Middle Class one? WAKE UP PEONS! Oops, I mean PEOPLE. It can happen here. It has happened here before on a grand scale, and ever more often, recently, on a relatively small scale: Earthquakes, Katrina, Andrew and Tsunamis in Hawaii. And as the population pressures increase exponentially, what was a "fun" hurricane party when I was a child is an epic disaster-film subject now. Just insert Bruce Willis. Think about throwing in Global Warming (if your news-provider/church/political affiliation allows you to believe in it.)

I've let myself digress into the physical. Lets get ethereal. Let's talk about the cloud. Do you know where your money is tonight? Assuming you even have any, in this, the wealthiest nation on earth. Or are you living that fat-cat, it-can't-happen-here, head-wherever, existence I've mentioned? On credit cards and mortgages, perhaps? (Slap, Stop digressing Q) Your money isn't even in a "computer," per se, anymore, much less the bank, and that was scary enough. Now it's somewhere in what I used to call the ether and is now referred to as the cloud. Everything is there. Our whole lives are there, or soon will be. Unless you have large tax debts or a criminal record, you'd better pray the power doesn't go off. But to get back to our money, (no your money--I've already taken care of mine) my God, we can't simply consume and consume and consume, and print more and more and more money and make and export nothing (oops, I was forgetting weapons and young healthy Americans), The main thing we export is debt that is going to allow the people, whom we so ridiculously fear might take us over militarily, simply to collect on their debts and "buy" us. Actually, they're already well on they're way.

So yes, if you're a trader, for God's sake, by all means, trade each day as though it may be your last, because it may. Personally, I'm currently terrified because I got trapped into holding something over the weekend. Quelle horreur! Even if you're not a trader, get you head out of "wherever."

Before the Great Depression my grandfather got a bad feeling and took all of his money out of the bank and hid it in the engine of his car (and several other creative places). Damned good thing. My family had money when everybody else was starving. As you know, the Great Depression was caused by nothing more than panic, no crops failed, no industries were destroyed overnight. And here and now: Pay attention, this is important! A powerful group of "somebodies" has stepped up in the last couple of days to try to stem the panic. Pray that they are successful. I don't like that they exist in the first place, but thank God for them in this moment. I include this famous video of Jim Cramer "fessing up" to point out how easy it is for even one person to affect the movement of the stock market.

Jim Cramer on How Hedge Funds Manipulate the Stock Market Vidéo Enfin-Libre---- sélectionnée dans Actualité

But what you need to do:

Make a plan, do your research. What might you need for how long? Will you need to protect yourself? Have a problem with supplies of food? energy? fuel? Have you become part of the urban-gardening or sustainable-living movement? Who do you think is going to feed you like some baby bird with it's beak open if the trucks stop delivering the food to the grocery stores?

And bury a jar of gold under a rosebush in your backyard. I don't care what that Central Bank/fiat currency mouthpiece was trying to say about how worthless it is. If the world goes to hell in a handbasket, you'll be surprised how far the universal currency will get you.

And speaking of the universal currency, I just got through watching an interview with one of my favorite young technical traders. He's the Chief Strategic Officer of an analysis website called T3Live.com. Rumpled, sweaty, unshaven, as promised. And he's an Iron Man Triathlete. Think how the rest of us must feel.

A Nice Brain Entrainment Piece

2011-04-01T23:55:00.001-07:00

I have been using brain entrainment CDs since the 90s. Often with light glasses that intensify the effect on your brain by delivering not only the tones to your ears, but sending a message through your optic nerves as well. Brainwave Entrainment can be a very powerful form of meditation, and can actually form new neural pathways in your brain and help to synchronize the two hemispheres of your brain.

In 2005 or 2006 (I really can't remember) I began making brain entrainment recordings to use with my clients in my alternative medicine practice. This little piece not one of mine, and is on a wavelength that makes it good for reading or studying or just relaxing, as it doesn't put your brain in a very deep state (Delta or even lower), but rather a theta state that is good for the purposes I mentioned, reading, studying--which it enhances, or just relaxing.

Brain wave entrainment is a very old technology. In fact some forms of it existed long before technology, in shamanic drumming and other meditational and hypnotic practices. Perhaps at some point I will delve more deeply into the history of it and how it works, but for now, this is just for your enjoyment. You can click on the link for a wiki that goes into great detail on how it works and it's history. It is absolutely critical to listen to it with the best possible head phones available to you, as the two tones must go separately into each ear to be effective. Enjoy!

Just a Quickie

2011-03-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

To say that I discovered some comments on long-ago posts that I never knew were there, and have now rigged-up, and tested a system of getting them more reliably (as I don't monitor them, but let people post at will). So to anyone who left a comment a year ago, thank you. :) I was particularly appreciative of the comment by the seviceman on my article "Gratitude, or a Quick Thanks."

Balancing Life and Work

2011-02-26T11:35:00.000-08:00

In the meantime, while we're working to tame the savage Corpocracy, it's only realistic to try to find ways to make our lives more joyful while living with it. To that end, if you haven't already, meet Nigel Marsh. This is just a short video, although he has written a book as well, called Fat, Forty and Fired.

Power To the People, Uh Huh!

2011-01-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.

- Louis Brandeis

Corpocracy is a term that I thought up about 10 years ago, when I started dictating a book about the evils of the Corporation as an entity, while I was driving across the United States, accompanied by my cat. (But that's a story for another day.) Anyway, no sooner did I get to LA than I went to a launch party for Thom Hartman's Book Unequal Protection, and I just quietly slipped mine into the circular file.

It's here now. We don't have any civil liberties anymore; but what we do have is the power of the people. I don't just mean only on a grass-roots level, but as Dr. Laibow says, on a level made possible by some of the very Corporate Giants who now run our country.

Ironic.

Because what they've done, with the Internet, and Social Media Marketing, and 24-hour-a-day connectedness that is getting to be the norm because of the wonders of cell phones and other portable devices, is create, truly and really, for the first time, a Global Village. The Global Village that has been predicted since Marshall McLuhan first used the phrase in the late 1960s.

Think of it! They've undone themselves with their greed and lack of morality. I can sit here in my bedroom and help a political prisoner in some country I've barely heard of because, if I choose, I can get daily updates on who to harass with emails and phone calls to make it stop.

Less than ten years ago, a large numbers of people, working together, from every part of the United States, through an activist organization, each signed up for an exact time that they were to call their Senator and/or Congressman. The intention was to overwhelm the government with a particular political message (I don't even remember what it was) but the effect--as the little dots with peoples names started popping on and off all over the map of the US on my computer screen, was totally unexpected.

It completely jammed the phones systems on Capitol Hill and the surrounding areas. No calls in, and no calls out. I never got to make my scheduled call. It was a result they had never considered.

Think of it! It was never on the news, of course, but, nevertheless, don't be deluded into thinking that we're powerless; as they would have us believe. We're definitely not. And we don't even have to do anything dangerous, illegal, or even strenuous. We don't have to go out and picket, putting ourselves in jeopardy of being maced and clubbed by police force or National Guard, or militia.

At that time, there wasn't any such thing as Facebook (released to the public in 2005), or Twitter (2006) and those people were able to have that much impact; just with the telephone. Google was founded in the late 90s, and Gmail was only released to the public in 2004. The explosion in the technology, has had an unexpected and even unconsidered effect of turning the marketing and brainwashing, the government by fear, the censorship back on them.

We can act together as one to stop a particular act of Corpocracy, or of any other abuser of the earth or of the people of the Earth simply by our sheer numbers. On the Internet, which has an amazing jargon that is practically a new language, the effect is known as "going viral." Marketers think it is a wonderful thing. And it is, but not just for them, as was intended, but for the people, the People as well. We can do it. We can do anything.

The Internet, the cell phone, the various portable devices are our friends. Yes they can track them. Yes, they kidnap and torture a few activists, but they've always done that. Even tracking, recording, putting people on lists won't stop it once people realize what we are capable of by our sheer numbers. "It's a new dawn, it's a new day", and we're just starting to realize the power that we've been given. Look at the dates I talked about above. It's been just a few years, but we're learning fast. We'd be learning even faster if it weren't for the suppression of the news of the kind of event like the one on Capitol Hill that I talked about.

Censorship: They're trying hard. And they're doing a pretty good job, And there are still a lot of people who blindly believe what they see on the evening news, or hear on the radio. But it's slipping through their fingers, and they can't pin it down and hold it still or stop it, any more that we could capture little globs of mercury that my generation played with as children--because, the Powers That Be who had known for millennia, that it was toxic, suppressed the information because it was "just so useful"

If you want to know about what's going on in your country, watch the news about it as reported in some other country. In the United States, for example, New Zealand might be a good choice. You might actually see some of the events both public and secret that never make it into the news here.

"It is a new dawn and a new day" and new year and a new century. The one in which the people, despite the grim news in the media about the disappearance of the middle class--the news they try to terrify us with--the century that the people are going to take the power. Not take it back, take it for the first time, ever.

Motiphe

2011-01-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

Eaters of the Worl Unite

2011-01-20T15:28:00.000-08:00

This is something I have been watching happen since I became a nutritionist in the 70s. It's getting worse, and quickly, now that we live in a Corpocracy rather than a Democracy.

Essiac

2011-01-11T22:31:00.000-08:00

Essiac Tea is a blend of herbs used to make a tea that is believed by some to have cancer-treating properties. Originally used by Native American tribal medicine men, the recipe was rediscovered by a Canadian nurse, Rene Caisse, R.N. in 1922, as she was attending to a woman who had previously cured her breast cancer with an herbal remedy given to her by a North American Indian shaman in the 1890s.

Known as "Nurse Caisse" or "Miss Caisse", Rene named her version of the recipe—her last name spelled backwards. She continued to help people suffering with cancer up until she died in 1978. In 1959, Caisse was working with Fawcett Publishing editor, Ralph Daigh and a major Boston hospital to conduct major testing on Essiac's effectiveness. These efforts led to her involvement with John F. Kennedy's personal physician, Dr. Charles A. Brusch, MD, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1989, Dr. Brusch revealed that he had cured his own cancer using Essiac daily since his own cancer was discovered in 1984. Dr. Brusch continued Caisse's Essiac work after her death.

The origin of the Essiac formula is believed to have its roots in native Canadian Ojibwa (Midewiwin) medicine. The basic Essiac formula contains greater burdock root (Arctium lappa), slippery elm inner bark (Ulmus rubra, formerly known as Ulmus fulva), sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella), and Indian or Turkish rhubarb root (Rheum officinale).

Beautiful But Sad

2011-01-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

Titanya, at home at her ranch in California

I have been studying Poi Balls since I took my Donna Eden class at the Omega Institute, and did some classes with one of her daughters, Titanya. This spin is lovely, but made me want to cry. It's about spinning fire, which, needless to say takes the ultimate in skill.

How To Make a Doctor's Head Mirror

2011-01-02T14:10:00.000-08:00

I was fool enough to write this for a service (not the one I actually work for) before I realized that what they were looking for was a paragraph or two, and a picture for one of those About.com type sites. Odd that the one that's wherever it is (I've already forgotten) reads a lot like parts of mine. You couldn't find a reference to the term head mirror on the net before I wrote this. Now there are dozens of them. Gee, what a surprise. Think it could be because I was doing all that research?

Anyway, here's the little article I wrote:

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The Head Mirror, sometimes know as a temple mirror was invented by French accoucheur named Levert, who used it to study the human larynx. He did it using a form of bent glass. Since ancient times, physicians and others have used various methods to increase ambient light. Some of these included candles and lamps placed in front of a mirror to increase the brightness.

The head mirror could have been formed by the method of bending or curving glass and then mirroring the back, or by hammering metal into a slightly concave mold and then polishing it to a bright "mirror" finish.
With the arrival of industrialization, It could have been done all in one step with die-making equipment, the enormous pressure of the stamp, making stainless or chrome steel mirror bright.

This mirror then had a hole drilled in the center and was attached to a leather strap worn around the physician's head with a swivel attachment that allowed him to swing it down to cover one eye or the other and be able to have binocular vision, sometime somewhat magnified, and at the same time, turn the head mirror to direct light wherever he wanted, usually into one bodily orifice or another.

For many of us the head mirror, and usually a stethoscope hung around the neck or hanging out of the pocket made up our iconic image of the healer; sometimes accompanied by the equally iconic black satchel or white coat.

But is the head mirror a thing of the past? Is is a memory known only those of us that are old enough to remember those doctors who actually made house calls and sometimes got paid in chickens or sausage? Is it an icon that will pass away with those of us who formed an image of heroes who got by on virtually no sleep, and knew the names of everyone in the family?
Apparently not. Most doctors nowadays use pen lights. They're easy and work well. But some medical schools still teach the use of head mirrors. And some doctors still use them, primarily ENTs (Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists).

Like a good, old-fashioned stethoscope, they are easy to tuck in a pocket, and you don't have to worry about not having the right battery when you need it.

2011-01-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

The Digital Story of the Nativity

2010-12-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

I came across this a little late, but I thought it was so hysterical that I decided to post it anyway.Even if it's not Christmas, it's worth watching.

2010-12-21T09:41:00.000-08:00

The Bloody Eclipse of the Moon

2010-12-21T05:22:00.000-08:00

Tonight just after midnight Pacific time a total lunar eclipse occurs on the Winter Solstice (December 21.) What this means for Earth's inhabitants is a focused showering of light from the Sun with added blessings bursting forth from the Sun's reflected light coming to us via the full moon/blue moon eclipse.

The Moon was dipped in the deep coppery hues caused by atmospheric refraction. When the Moon enters the Earth’s shadow completely, the refracted sunlight is still able to reach the Moon and light it a little. This light passes through the deep layers of the Earth’s atmosphere, which filters the blue end of the spectrum more, and so the remaining light is deep brown, red, orange or yellow. "They" say it's one of the signs in Revelation, but we seem to be nearly submersed in "signs" from Revelation. Hmmm.

Something interesting to note about this particular Winter Solstice and all the extra high vibrational activating energy available to us is this. When you add up the numbers of the month day and year, 12-21-2010 is actually a 9 in sacred numerology. (12=3, 21=3, 2010=3/3+3+3=9) 9 came into the universe as energizing endings and beginnings, exhales and inhales.

The Global War on Drugs

2010-12-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

International Drug Policy: Animated Report 2009

In a way, given the facts of the global meltdown that seems to be going on in many areas: finance, war, religion, nutrition, etc. ad nauseum, this one seems almost insignificant. But it's earning billions of dollars each year for the players. So much money wasted by those who need it for other things, including medical treatment and so much of our nations' wealth filtered into the secret bank accounts of the greedy relative few.. How much money can you spend before you die? Is it true that whoever dies with the most toys wins? What ever happened to "you can't take it with you," and "It is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven?"

My Southern Thanksgiving

2010-12-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

The Secret to Perfect Collards

I have always been a big city girl, and when my brother and I were growing up in Coconut Grove (a suburb--now--of Miami) my mother was back in school after running a successful and exclusive high-fashion clothing store for many years. Her alteration department had eight women working in it full time; Cuban women, and boy could they sew. And lined all the seams and hems with lace...the whole nine yards.

And my mother was the best. She could design, cut a pattern and whip up a little something with bound button-holes in the twinkling of an eye. In order to take a job teaching mens' tailoring at the high-rise technical school in Downtown Miami, she had to get a Master's in Home Ec. I guess that's what they called it, anyway. In her case they waived almost all of the course requirements due to her vast experience.

My mother was also one of those people who was also an excellent public speaker, and on one particular occasion she was giving a presentation at a seminar of some sort having to with her classes or degree, and brought the house down by sharing with the audience the easiest way to wash spinach, which in those days was invariably covered with mud if not worse.

She told them to remove the leaves from the bundle and rinse then spin them for a few minutes in the washing machine. After howling with laughter, a lot of people didn't believe her until they had tried it, but I have washed spinach that way my whole life. No muss, no fuss. Proceed directly to stem-removal.

A few years ago I made a move to the Very-Deep South. I had many cultural shocks in store. Stories, maybe for another day.

This Thanksgiving, my daughter was here visiting from Boston, and she and I were invited to a neighbor's for dinner. After discussing it, we decided to call and tell her to choose whatever dish she least wanted to fix, and we would make it. She confessed to a craving for collards, but just really didn't think she would have the time to mess with them.

Me and my big mouth. I had very little idea what a collard looked like, much less how they are prepared or what they are supposed to taste like. To me they had always been something nasty that came in a little side-dish in Southern restaurants that could be made semi-palatable by drowning them in Pepper Sauce--another term many of you non-Southerners might not be familiar with. I demurred, she insisted I could cook anything. Guess who won?

The next day, after reading the instructions on a soul-food recipe site, I set out to acquire the requisite five bunches of collards, ham hocks, and the stuff (I'm still not sure what it was, and not sure I wanted to know) that the gentleman in the meat department assured me I had to include for the "soul" to be fully present. I cleverly slid them (it?) under a package of something else when he wasn't looking. I thought of the lunch lady in Beauty Shop.

Now five bunches of collards is somewhat more that a bushel, I think, so my daughter and I decided to use the old tried-and-true family method of washing spinach. There was just one little problem. We couldn't get the washing machine to stop. While I was tearing my hair out and we were both envisioning days of scooping collard mush out of the washer, followed by an almost certainly expensive visit from a repairman, we finally manage to halt the beast after spinning out the water, and took a cautious peek. Oh yeah, about what I had envisioned.

We started scooping. A faint ray of hope began to break through the despair. The collards had turned themselves into 2-3 inch pieces, and the thrashing had removed the stems. Ye gods and little fishes. I had gone my Who's Who of Commerce and Industry mother one better. Washing, drying and de-stemming all in one easy 10 minute step. The only thing we had to do, was pick the huge chunks of stem out of each handful.

Which I cooked, according to recipe, minus that one little bit of "soul," and everybody raved about them. Were they being polite or did they taste like they were supposed to? I haven't got a clue. I won't believe I know what a collard is supposed to taste like until I've had some prepared by an acknowledged Southern born and raised collard expert.

Each photo is a link back to the blog or website where it was found.

Garfield on the Oil Crisis

2010-09-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

A lot of folks can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in our country.
Well, there's a very simple answer. Nobody bothered to check the oil. We just didn't know we were getting low.

The reason for that is purely geographical. ~~~ Our OIL is located in: ~~~ ALASKA ~~~ California ~~~ Coastal Florida ~~~ Coastal Louisiana ~~~ North Dakota ~~~ Wyoming ~~~ Colorado ~~~ Kansas ~~~ Oklahoma ~~~ Pennsylvania And Texas ~~~

Our dipsticks are located in DC Any Questions? NO? Didn't think So.

Ridiculous Issue To Argue Over!

2010-08-22T17:12:00.000-07:00