GM + Soybeans = Not Good For You
Posted by Michelle Moquin on March 8th, 2011
Good morning!
I have a good friend who was raised on a Macrobiotic diet. Soy was the main part of many of her meals. It wasn’t until she was in her late 30′s that she realized just how badly Soy had messed with her body, and her health. It has taken her years to get her health back to where she was feeling good, and strong again.
Dr. Mercola tells us why Soy, specifically GM Soy, is not healthy. Unfortunately 90- 95% of Soybeans grown in the U.S. are Genetically Modified (GM). Not good when surprisingly Soy is found in so many foods, and disguised under some names that you need to be aware of. So…learn them and remember to check your food labels.
Doctor Warns: Eat This and You’ll Look 5 Years Older
In the early 1990′s, soy and soy products exploded onto the supermarket scene with promises of bountiful health benefits. This “new miracle food,” soy, was supposed to lower cholesterol, take the heat out of hot flashes, protect against breast and prostate cancer and offer a filling alternative to earth-loving vegetarians.
The problem with these claims?
Sadly, most of what you have been led to believe by the media about soy is simply untrue. The sudden upsurge in the recommendation of soy as a health food has been nothing more than a clever marketing gimmick to further reduce the cost and nutritional content of your food.
For you vegetarians out there staring at the screen in open-mouthed shock, fear not. There are plenty of other healthy vegetarian alternatives, which I will discuss later in this article. What was once considered a minor industrial crop back in 1913 now covers over 72 million acres of farmland. But first, let’s examine the dangers and side effects of soy protein isolate and GMO foods.
Soy Protein Isolate — What is It, and How is it Getting in My Food?
The Soyfoods Association of America has a soy protein “fact sheet” defining soy protein isolate as the following:
“Soy protein isolate is a dry powder food ingredient that has been separated or isolated from the other components of the soybean, making it 90 to 95 percent protein and nearly carbohydrate and fat-free.”
Soy protein isolate can be found in protein bars, meal replacement shakes, bottled fruit drinks, soups and sauces, meat analogs, baked goods, breakfast cereals and some dietary supplements.
Bodybuilders beware: because many weight gainer powders, bars and shakes contain this dangerous ingredient and it can cause troubling side effects such as diminished libido and erectile dysfunction — and this is just the start. You’ll find out more about these disturbing health effects later on in this article.
Even if you are not a vegetarian and do not use soymilk or tofu, it is important to become a label reader. There are so many different names for soy additives, you could be bringing home a genetically modified soy-based product without even realizing it. Dr. Daniel offers a free Special Report, “Where the Soys Are,” on her Web site. It lists the many “aliases” that soy might be hiding under in ingredient lists — words like “boullion,” “natural flavor” and “textured plant protein.”
Here are a few other names soy tends to hide under:
- Mono-diglyceride
- Soya, Soja or Yuba
- TSF (textured soy flour) or TSP (textured soy protein)
- TVP (textured vegetable protein)
- Lecithin
- MSG (monosodium glutamate)
Not all textured vegetable protein is made from soy, but a great deal of it is. Lecithin can be made from soy, eggs, sunflower or corn. Be sure to contact the manufacturer to find out which is in your product if the label doesn’t reveal this information.
GMO — Making Soy Even Worse
One of the worst problems with soy comes from the fact that 90 to 95 percent of soybeans grown in the US are genetically modified (GM), and these are used to create soy protein isolate.
Why the genetic tinkering?
Genetically modified soybeans are designed to be “Roundup ready.” That’s right, they are chemically engineered to withstand heavy doses of herbicides without killing the plant! What does this mean for your health and the health of your unborn or yet-to-be-conceived children? Read on.
GM Soy Can Lead to Hormonal Disruption and Miscarriages
The active ingredient in Roundup herbicide is called glyphosate, which is responsible for the disruption of the delicate hormonal balance of the female reproductive cycle.
“It’s an endocrine buster,” says UK pathologist Stanley Ewen, “that interferes with aromatase, which produces estrogen.”
What’s more, glyphosate is toxic to the placenta, which is responsible for delivering vital nutrients from mother to child, and eliminating waste products. Once the placenta has been damaged or destroyed, the result can be miscarriage. In those children born to mothers who have been exposed to even a small amount of glyphosate, serious birth defects can result.
In an excellent summary of glyphosate-related effects by the Pesticide Action Network, Dr. Andreas Carrasco of the Embryology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine in Buenos Aires, simply and expertly explains the serious risks for unborn children exposed to Roundup-laden GMO soy products.
Amphibian embryos were exposed to a tiny concentration of glyphosate (diluted 5000 fold) and showed the following effects:
“Effects included reduced head size, genetic alterations in the central nervous system, increased death of cells that help form the skull, deformed cartilage, eye defects, and undeveloped kidneys. Carrasco also stated that the glyphosate was not breaking down in the cells, but was accumulating.
The findings lend weight to claims that abnormally high levels of cancer, birth defects, neonatal mortality, lupus, kidney disease, and skin and respiratory problems in populations near Argentina’s soybean fields may be linked to the aerial spraying of Roundup.”
The long-term effects of the human consumption of genetically modified soy and soy-based products are staggering.
In April 2010, researchers at Russia’s Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Association for Gene Security found that after feeding hamsters GM soy for two years over three generations, by the third generation, most lost the ability to have babies! Now, let’s take a close look at some of the health risks to YOU as a result of eating genetically modified soy.
Infertility in Women
Do you want to start a family? Have you had any trouble conceiving, perhaps due to irregular menstrual cycles or endometriosis? Have you ever experienced a miscarriage?
If so, what you’re about to read will shock you.
A Brazilian study published in 2009 looked at the impact of soy on the reproductive system of female rats. Female rats fed GM soy for 15 months showed significant changes in their uterus and reproductive cycles, compared to rats fed organic soy or no soy.
Extrapolating the findings to people, women who eat genetically modified soy products, such as the soy protein isolate in processed vegetarian fare, may be more likely to experience severe hormonal disruptions, including an overabundance of estrogen, a hair-growth stimulating hormone, and damage to the pituitary gland.
According to Dr. Stanley Ewen, the female rats fed GM soy probably had an increase in progesterone, which could cause an increase in the number of eggs released during each ovulation cycle.
You might think this would lead to an increase in fertility. However, as discussed in an article by Jeffrey Smith, women who consume genetically modified soy products are at increased risk for developing retrograde menstruation (the menstrual cycle backs up into the body instead of outward), causing endometriosis, which can lead to infertility.
The consumption of soy protein isolate and other soy-based products can also lead to abnormally heavy or longer menstrual periods. This is called menorrhagia and, ironically, some commercials have been popping up with a new pill that supposedly offers the “cure” for this “mystery syndrome.”
When in reality the real cure for some women is as simple as removing soy and soy-based products from the diet. The negative effects of soy are not restricted to women, however.
Loss of Libido & Erectile Dysfunction in Men
Guys, do you enjoy protein bars or use a weight gainer shake? If so, be sure to read the label to see if the products you use contain any soy ingredients. Did you know that celibate monks living in monasteries and leading a vegetarian lifestyle find soy foods quite helpful for dampening libido?
Another drawback: Soy has also been linked to erectile dysfunction. The two natural drugs found in soy, genistein and daidzein, mimic estrogen so well that they have been known to cause a variety of alarming side effects in men:
- Breast enlargement (gynecomastia)
- Decreased facial and body hair growth
- Decreased libido
- Mood swings and frequent crying jags
- Erectile dysfunction
- Lowered sperm count
For example, one recent study documented a case of gynecomastia in a 60-year-old man as a result of his soy consumption.Another study showed that juvenile rats exposed to daidzein showed impaired erectile function at maturity.
Men, if you’ve experienced one or any of these symptoms, soy could be the culprit. Remove it from your diet, but be sure to consult a trusted physician if your symptoms do not improve or get worse as this could be a sign of another serious condition.
The Healthy Aspects of Soy: Fermented vs. Unfermented
In order to back up the claim that soy is a health food, privately funded “researchers” have been quick to point out that Asians, who consume a diet high in soy, have less risk of breast, uterine and prostate cancer. Unfortunately, they leave out two very important
points:
- Asians, especially the Japanese, while having a decreased risk of the above-mentioned cancers, have a much higher risk of developing cancer of the esophagus, thyroid, stomach, pancreas and liver!
- Asians also consume a diet rich in fermented soy, which is the only type of soy to offer health benefits.
The reason Asians have an increased risk for some cancers is the same reason they do not develop others: unfermented soy. The soy marketing and promotion gurus left out this critical piece of information. Would you rather have one cancer over another? Isn’t that like asking whether or not you’d like to be whacked in the head with a two-by-four vs. a wooden stick?
You might be asking yourself what the big difference is between consuming a fermented soy product such as, say, tempeh, vs. tofu or a veggie burger. I’m here to tell you, the difference is night and day.
Unfermented AND fermented soy contains hormonal mimics in the form of isoflavones which can not only disrupt delicate hormone systems in your body, but also act as goitrogens, substances that suppress your thyroid function. When the thyroid is suppressed, a host of health problems result, namely:
- Anxiety and mood swings
- Insomnia
- Difficulty losing weight
- Difficulty conceiving children
- Digestive problems
- Food allergies
And so much more. No wonder soy can lead to thyroid, esophagus and stomach cancer! Unfermented soy is also chock full ofphytic acid, an “antinutrient” responsible for leeching vital nutrients from your body. Phytic acid also blocks the uptake of essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc especially.
Now, fermented soy products do provide health benefits.
As I mentioned in my previous article, some examples of healthful fermented soyproducts are as follows:
- Tempeh, a fermented soybean cake with a firm texture and nutty, mushroom-like flavor.
- Miso, a fermented soybean paste with a salty, buttery texture (commonly used in miso soup).
- Natto, fermented soybeans with a sticky texture and strong, cheese-like flavor.
- Soy sauce, which is traditionally made by fermenting soybeans, salt and enzymes; be wary because many varieties on the market today are made artificially using a chemical process.
For those of you who enjoy tofu, I’m sorry to say it didn’t make this list because tofu is an unfermented soy product.
So, What Are The Health Benefits of Fermented Soy Products?
The claim that soy products can prevent osteoporosis, decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia and protect you from cancer of the prostate, lung and liver is actually true, but ONLY if the soy is fermented.
How?
The process of fermenting soy destroys the above-mentioned dangerous substances, thereby making it fit for consumption. Also, fermented soy products such as those listed above are a rich source of vitamin K2, a vitamin that works in harmony with vitamin D to keep you healthy. Vitamin K regulates your body’s blood clotting ability and helps prevent cancer, osteoporosis and heart disease. And vitamin D is essential to the function of every system in your body.
Warning to Vegetarians about the Risk of Mineral Deficiency
Since phytic acid or phytates sap the nutrients from your body, if you’re eating a vegetarian diet that has replaced meat with mostly unfermented soy such as veggie burgers containing GMO soy protein isolate, you are at risk for severe mineral deficiency.
In addition to this nutrient loss, many processed veggie burgers and the like are packed with harmful artificial flavorings, particularly MSG and textured vegetable protein products to give them their strong “meat” flavor.
What’s even worse is the process soy has to go through to become soy protein isolate. Acid washing in aluminum tanks, which is designed to remove some of the antinutrients (but the results often vary widely), leeches aluminum into the final product. Aluminum can have adverse effects on brain development and cause symptoms such as:
- Antisocial behavior
- Learning disabilities
- Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
As I mentioned in a previous article about soy, this makes processed vegetarian fare more palatable, but far from nutritious. Vegetarians have plenty of options for well-rounded, nutritious meals without needing to eat soy or soy-based products.
- Beans are an inexpensive, protein-rich food that can be eaten alone, added to salads or served as a side dish. Be sure to purchase organic dried beans and cook them at home to avoid the adverse health effects of eating canned food. Ideally is it also best to soak them for at least 12 hours before cooking them.
- Nuts are also an excellent source of protein. For optimal health benefits, reach for organic nuts such as almonds or walnuts, instead of overly processed mixed nuts.
- Quinoa is a gluten free grain that can be enjoyed as a cereal, side dish or added to homemade vegetable stews as a thickener.
- Flaxseed, which is rich in essential omega 3 fats like ALA, is an excellent source of protein. Add it to salads or sprinkle it over yogurt to infuse your meal with vital nutrients. However, it is important to grind flax seeds just prior to eating them because100 percent of commercially ground flaxseeds are rancid. Hemp seeds are also an excellent source of protein.
Hope for the Lactose Intolerant
If you suffer from lactose intolerance and have been replacing milk with soy, you have three more healthful options: Almond milk, and now hemp milk. All are nutritious alternatives to soy, and almond milk has a richer, heartier flavor. Hemp milk is a very creamy, high protein alternative to soymilk, and it’s easy to blend your own by whizzing up hemp seeds and water in a high-speed blender.
Babies — Birth Control in a Bottle
As stated in a number of previous articles, soy formula is one of the most dangerous foods you can feed your baby!
“In 1998, investigators reported that the daily exposure of infants to isoflavones in soy infant formula is 6 to11 times higher on a body-weight basis than the dose that has hormonal effects in adults consuming soy foods. Circulating concentrations of isoflavones in infants fed soy-based formula were 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than plasma estradiol concentrations in infants on cow’s milk formula.”
What does this mean? Feeding your infant soy-based formula can cause a host of health problems including:
- Behavioral problems
- Food allergies and digestive distress
- Early puberty and fertility problems (including the inability to menstruate)
- Asthma
- Precocious puberty for girls and gynecomastia (man boobs) for boys
- Thyroid disease
- Cancer
As I concluded in my article on infant formula, babies who are fed exclusively from the breast from birth to six months enjoy health benefits such as:
- Lower risk of respiratory tract and middle ear infections
- Lower risk of eczema
- Lower risk of obesity
- Added protection against heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and allergies
- Improved brain function and immune system function
Soy formula is also laden with toxic chemicals such as aluminum and manganese, which can cause both physical and mental health problems, learning disabilities, brain damage and behavioral problems. If, for some reason, you are unable to breastfeed or have adopted a baby, look into these recipes for homemade infant formula.
School Lunch — Children’s Nutrition Left Behind
In order to comply with new US Government standards, soy products are now being used to replace whole, nutritious foods in school lunches. Due to the decreased fat content of soy, it is touted as a healthful alternative to the meat and dairy of yesterday’s hot meal.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Soy added to your child’s hot lunch depletes the necessary nutrients needed for healthy growth and has been linked to learning disabilities. I encourage you to watch this sobering video to learn more about the dangers in your child’s school lunch. Do your children a favor and send them to school with a healthy, home-packed meal.
Senior Citizens — Aging Less Gracefully
According to a study done by Dr. Lon White of the Hawaii Center for Health Research, senior citizens who consumed a lot of tofu in mid-life were more likely to experience accelerated brain aging and a more pronounced loss of cognitive function.
“What’s more,” said Dr White, “those who ate a lot of tofu, by the time they were 75 or 80, looked five years older.”
If you’re heading toward your golden years and are looking to avoid soy protein, become a label reader. Meal replacement drinks like Ensure are filled with soy protein and are best avoided. If you’re looking for a wholesome, nutrient-filled vegetarian meal replacement drink, try my 100% Pure Pea Protein supplement. As you can see, unfermented soy is anything but a health food.
Do your own research, try eliminating it from your family’s diet and judge the results for yourself. Remember, an educated consumer is an armed consumer. Big companies can only produce and sell these harmful products as long as you’re buying them.
Vote with your wallet by spending your money on healthier alternatives!
……
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PEACE OUT
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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March 8th, 2011 at 7:33 am
It is quite interesting to read this information and reflect as to the ailments and “cures” that big pharma have for our society. Just by watching an hour or two of the tele will give one much insight as to the ways of the failed capitalistic world that we live in. It is clear that Monsanto, ADM, Cargill, Quaker Oats, and other food, seed and pesticide firms are in bed with the big pharma firms. Follow the food issues, and you will find ailments that are needed to be rectified. Follow the ailments and you will find pills and shots that will help you “live” and continue with the ailments. Follow the FDA to each of these remedies and you will find it staffed with people previously from the big food and pharma industries. (Just like following Goldman Sachs and our government, the largest faction of the Washington lobbyists, and the financial oversight committees, the FED, and the Treasury) Follow the food issues and the control of the seeds and distribution and you will also get to the oil companies. Follow the oil companies and you will find the large industrial war complex, which subsequently will bring you to the large international construction firms…follow all of this and it will lead to only a handful of very, very, rich, elite, white men. Follow these and you will find that most, if not all, do not reside in the United States, have a history of war and dictatorship financing and circle is complete.
March 8th, 2011 at 7:58 am
Hafa Adai Michelle:
I had so many calls(squeals) about your article featuring Guam yesterday. You are the BEST!
Guam love you.
Anna
March 8th, 2011 at 8:01 am
Little Johnny attended a horse auction with his father.
He watched as his father moved from horse to horse, running his hands up and down the horse’s legs and rump and chest.
After a few minutes,
Johnny asked, “Dad, why are you doing that?”
His father replied,
“Because when I’m buying horses, I have to make sure that they are healthy and in good shape before I buy.”
Johnny, looking worried, said,
“Dad, I think the UPS guy wants to buy Mom.”
March 8th, 2011 at 8:08 am
Doug:
It is sad but true. It seems that we are all slaves to those with the big money. The tycoons,the bankers, large corporations, and oil barons are using the worlds population as pawns in their schemes to enrich themselves more and more.
The U.S. Government being their most complicit ally. We are all fucked because they are an oligopoly that supplies all our daily needs.
“Working” for the company store so to say. It is the only game in town, and the populous is ever more dependant on them because their only competition is themselves.
Al
March 8th, 2011 at 8:21 am
DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENTS IN EYE CARE
I like to think of myself as a strong woman, but I wasn’t so tough when I scratched my cornea a few weeks back — it was easily the most painful injury I’ve ever suffered.
Fortunately, I healed fairly quickly. But the experience was awful enough that my interest was piqued by some reports I’ve seen about new procedures, including surgical ones, being performed on aging eyes.
None of us is getting any younger, and I was a little horrified to think I might be vulnerable to problems that would require a doctor to do something painful to my eyes — the good news, I learned, is that while there are many more procedures being done on adult eyes today (in part because of our aging demographic), they hurt less and help more. That’s the type of story I enjoy covering for Daily Health News.
WHY SO MANY EYE PROCEDURES?
Age makes us vulnerable to numerous eye problems beyond the farsightedness that is more or less inevitable by the fifth decade of life.
Older people are more likely to suffer retinal tears and macular degeneration, and then there is diabetic retinopathy, which is more common with age (and, of course, even more so since we’re in the midst of a type 2 diabetes epidemic).
Those facts alone account for some of the huge rise in retinal procedures, which — according to a recent report — have more than doubled in the past decade.
I contacted Pradeep Y. Ramulu, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the glaucoma division of The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and author of the study that identified this surge in surgeries.
We discussed the prevalence of retina problems and what people should expect if they end up having one.
Dr. Ramulu told me that there has been a notable change in how retina problems are treated.
Whereas ophthalmologists used to be able to perform only a single, and not terribly effective, treatment for problems affecting the retina, patients now are more likely to undergo a series of therapies, often on an ongoing basis, that may not only slow down their vision loss but may even restore some vision!
DO WHAT TO MY EYE?
After sharing my own squeamishness with the idea of getting things done to my eyes, I asked Dr. Ramulu to tell me about the new treatment techniques for retina problems…
Intravitreal injections: A poke in the eye
What it is: Medication (such as Lucentis or Avastin, which both restrict abnormal blood vessel growth) is injected, via a needle, directly into the eye in order to reach the problem areas. Anesthetic eyedrops (and sometimes injections of anesthesia) are given beforehand so that the outcome is, by all reports, apparently worth the minor discomfort. Many people (as many as 36%) actually have some of their vision restored by this procedure!
Who needs it? These injections help patients with macular degeneration (one of the most common causes of adult-onset blindness in this country), but unfortunately only the wet form, not the more common dry form.
Wet macular degeneration occurs when abnormal blood vessel growth develops under the retina, in the back of the eye, leaking fluid that leads to damage and vision loss.
Injections enable direct delivery of medications that fight blood vessel growth.
How it’s better: Previous treatments used lasers to obliterate new blood vessels under the retina, which could slow the destruction but not stop or reverse it.
New medications, on the other hand, actually can fix some of the damage and lead to improvement in vision.
Risks: Infection, retina detachment, bleeding, cataract if the needle accidentally hits the lens of the eye — all of which are very rare, Dr. Ramulu said.
Vitrectomy: Cutting out the gooey center of the eye
What it is: Surgical removal of the vitreous, which is the jellylike substance that makes up much of the volume of the inside of the eye.
Why do this? Vitrectomy is a preliminary procedure that ophthalmologists must perform before proceeding with the treatment of a variety of eye problems, Dr. Ramulu explained.
“To do anything physically to the retina (aside from using a laser), you need to first remove the vitreous jelly in order to have space to perform surgery, among other reasons,” he explained.
(Note: The jelly gets replaced with saline solution, silicon oil or intraocular gas to maintain pressure both during the surgery and afterward.)
What it’s used for: Problems that necessitate vitrectomy include:
Detached retinas
Large retinal tears
Bleeding into the eye resulting from proliferative retinopathy (scar tissue formation on blood vessels in the retina)
Macular holes (literally a hole in the center of the retina responsible for the central part of your vision or in the membranes that form over the retina).
How it’s better: While vitrectomy isn’t a new procedure, it’s becoming easier for surgeons to perform (more training and better, microsized surgical instruments).
The procedure can be done without suturing, which reduces the likelihood of infection and also speeds healing for the patient.
How it feels: When vitrectomy is done under local anesthesia, it is typically an outpatient procedure.
Very occasionally it requires general anesthesia, and those patients may need to stay in the hospital for monitoring.
The surgery typically takes one to three hours, leaving the affected eye red and sore, often for several days or longer. During recovery, patients are advised to limit head movements and avoid lifting heavy objects.
Risks: Bleeding, infection and the possibility of recurrent retinal detachment — again, all quite rare.
IF YOU NEED RETINAL SURGERY
If you have retinal problems that require injection or vitrectomy, Dr. Ramulu advises seeking care from a retinal specialist, an ophthalmologist who has received special training in retina-related conditions and the techniques required to treat them.
Most such specialists work in hospitals and eye-care clinics, and your ophthalmologist should be able to give you a referral.
Even if your eyes are fine so far, it’s important to know the signs of macular degeneration and retinal tears/detachment so that you can, if needed, seek treatment right away.
Symptoms that indicate you should see an eye doctor soon include seeing a new floater (a dark, floating shape in your field of vision) or if you suddenly see flashes of light.
Dr. Ramulu said that most people who have these two symptoms don’t have serious problems, but cautioned that it is always wise to make sure that there is no tear or detachment of the retina.
Clear signs that you should see an ophthalmologist immediately, on the other hand, include sudden partial or complete loss of your field of vision, such as a “curtain” that suddenly appears over a part of your visual field.
Source(s):
Pradeep Ramulu, MD, MHS, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore.
March 8th, 2011 at 8:37 am
Happy International Women’s Day!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/07/international-womens-day_n_832612.html#s250249&title=Stand_Together
March 8th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
Doug:
Did my earlier comment #4 make sense to you? I read yours #1, and I think you were trying to convey that who ever one buys almost anything from, the money spent ultimately ends up in the same dirty 4% hands:)
Were we on the same page, or was I reading the wrong book? Sometimes I miss your point, or read you wrong.
Al
March 8th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
Al, you’re spot on, except it’s not 4%…it has reached to the elite 1% to 2%. Try to put it in a perspective this way, that of the top 400 richest people in the United States control as much wealth as 155 million other Americans. Read that line again, and let it all sink in. In addition to this discrepancy, most corporations pay “0″ taxes through tax loopholes, and have the right to donate any amount they wish to political campaigns. Add to that, of the corporate bailouts over the past 3-4 years on the taxpayer dime…
eh, don’t get me going…
The saddest part of all of this, is that everyone knows it to be true. But, they choose not to acknowledge the issue, or leave it be to put the blame on something else, as it would mean that they, and everyone else, would have to admit that they were swindled right out from under their own conscious noses. So, if we all know it is happening, and it continues to happen, well…
I use the term sheople, however, have you ever seen a cattle farm and watch the cows come in at the end of the day…one after the other, single file, following a line…and the TAO and others call this a cattle planet…
I get it.
March 8th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
Sheople … I like it
March 8th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Al, I am putting this here because you may not look back.
Linda Says:
March 8th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Al, you are so sweet. I like a gentle man. Sure I was pouting but I never miss this blog. I save all your comments.
I bet if I could write poetry like Miss Anonymous 8, I would get your attention. But, alas I am talentless in the poetry department. Does it count that I love poetry or that I read it a lot?
Al, have you ever heard that “sticks and stones can break your bones, but words shouldn’t hurt you. So why be bothered if I call you “Sweetheart?”
It doesn’t obligate you to anything and it is a whole lot better than lunkhead. There are a lot of lunkheads that write in to this blog.
My sister said she couldn’t believe that you were from the South. No southern gentleman would dress down a lady in that fashion.
I said you were probably Northern raised and you didn’t know that it would hurt so bad. But if it hurts you more to be called “Sweetheart” by lil ole me, I’ll settle for just “Sweetie.”
You are a sweetie pie you know. I know you try hard sometimes to be indifferent in some of your comments, but at heart you are just a tender hunk of love.
Thanks for smoothing over a girl’s pride, Sweetie.
Linda
March 8th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
I too love that poem Anon8. You are a hot poet.
March 8th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
From an email I got from Move On today. It’s inspiring to know we are making a difference and there’s a recall effort underway
The struggle in Wisconsin is still ongoing, but MoveOn members like you have already played a pivotal role in fighting back against Governor Scott Walker’s radical attack on workers’ rights.
Walker expected his budget bill to sail through, but instead, it’s sparked a national backlash and energized millions of people. And that’s thanks, in part, to you.
Since the fight began:
Thousands of Wisconsin MoveOn members attended the massive demonstrations in Madison, made calls to their state legislators, and sent almost 10,000 messages to Governor Walker, which protesters plastered all over the walls outside Walker’s office when he refused to accept them.
MoveOn members contributed more than $100,000 to the Wisconsin 14, the brave Democratic state senators who left the state to prevent Republicans from jamming through Walker’s proposal—providing them a huge boost to fight back against Republican attacks.
MoveOn members sent more than 260,000 statements of support to the Wisconsin 14. We delivered the statements—all 5,700 pages of them—to State Senator Chris Larson. He was thrilled to share them with his colleagues and posted on Facebook: “Thank you for standing with us! (And yes, people actually do get paper copies of those forms you fill out online. Thank you MoveOn.org).”
MoveOn members nationwide contributed more than $445,000 to support the efforts to recall the Republican state senators who refuse to negotiate. The folks running the recall report they’re off to an amazing start, beating their signature goal in the first weekend by 35%, and they’re hugely grateful for the early fundraising.
MoveOn members held solidarity rallies in every state capital—our biggest in years, and on just four days’ notice—to say that we are all Wisconsin and we won’t stand by while Republicans try to kill the American Dream.
It’s an amazing and inspiring list. And this fight is far from over. Even if Governor Walker manages to push through his disastrous proposal, the recall efforts targeting Republicans are already off to an amazing start and several of those who support Walker could be thrown out of office as soon as June.
With similar fights happening across the country and in Washington, we’ve got a long way to go before we put the American Dream back in reach for all Americans. But Wisconsin has sparked a national uprising and given us the strength to fight back.
For the moment though, we just wanted to take the time to say thanks, for all you do.
–Daniel, Joan, Kat, Lenore, and the rest of the team
P.S. With Republicans in Washington pushing devastating federal budget cuts—to education, student loans, NPR, environmental protection, family planning, health and nutrition programs for pregnant women and small children, and more—we’re looking to highlight the stories of those who’d be affected by the cuts. If any of the Republican budget cuts would affect you or your family, please click here to share your story:
http://pol.moveon.org/budgetcutstories/?id=26435-18577251-B1p7qHx&t=6
/SB
March 8th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
HI Mischa, good post, I have read some on soy products but your article is full of some detes I did not see before. Thanks.
Doug, you called it and Al, you, too…scary little rabbit hole to research but all of the above Monsanto, ADM, Cargill are doing some freakish things and so are a lot of those with elite bloodlines, that 1-2% and the control they have over everything is just staggering, add to that some seemingly unrelated occurences/events and yes, we are just sheople or cattle or lemmings, filing one by one and painfully slowly so you won’t notice – only somehow for a long time we thought we had some free will in there somewhere, yeah…no…as a one liner from the movie ‘adjustment bureau’ stated (paraphrased), yes, you get to pick your toothpaste and where you buy your latte’ but everything else big, not so much…scary…and my own research, it was so scary that I’ve been trying to escape bc it just gets more ludicrous/pathetic.
Al’a'mode, Albert, Allen? I love the formal usage of Zen Lillian, nice : ) been fine, though as you read above, I worked myself into a scary place for a while, so I took today off to clear my head from all of it and I will tell you that there is no better way to clear a head like mine than to go ski my ass off : D and tear up that mountain I did. It is one of those things that is a moving meditation for me, no overthinking anything including heavy research/information or what I’m doing, I just relax into the muscle memory, breath and enjoy the ride. I wore a helmet for the first time ever at a friends’ suggestion for improving my inner ski zen and sure as hell, it gave me the edge I’ve been waiting for, or maybe it just made me a cocky fool : ) not sure but it was a much needed mini-vacation. All consuming activities like that chnages your outlook/state and puts things in perspective and now I think I will just resume my life as a cow or sheople : ) I know you cannot relate maybe bc of your health, so I have a question: what kind of mind activity do you do or might you do that would give you that same effect? Do you use meditation or…?
oh, and I think sweetheart or sweetie suits you and that was sweet of you to address Linda bc I caught that she hadn’t shown up since you took issue with her pet name. Can you not accept that a woman can dig you bc of the words you speak here?
I have to go read anon8′s poem, how’d I miss that?
I’m beat, so catch you on the flip, Luv, Zen Lill
March 8th, 2011 at 8:14 pm
And today, International Women’s Day, sad news from the Washington Post about the attempted Million Woman March in Eqypt. My heart breaks for these women. At least there were some men trying to protect them
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Women’s rights marchers in Cairo report sexual assaults by angry mob
CAIRO – Women hoping to extend their rights in post-revolutionary Egypt were faced with a harsh reality Tuesday when a mob of angry men beat and sexually assaulted marchers calling for political and social equality, witnesses said.
“Everyone was chased. Some were beaten. They were touching us everywhere,” said Dina Abou Elsoud, 35, a hostel owner and organizer of the ambitiously named Million Woman March.
She was among a half-dozen women who said they were repeatedly groped by men – a common form of intimidation and harassment here that was, in fact, a target of the protesters. None of the women reported serious injuries.
The demonstration on International Women’s Day drew a crowd only in the hundreds to Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the popular revolt that drove President Hosni Mubarak from power. Gone, organizers said, was the spirit of equality and cooperation between the sexes that marked most of the historic mass gatherings in the square.
As upwards of 300 marchers assembled late Tuesday afternoon, men began taunting them, insisting that a woman could never be president and objecting to women’s demands to have a role in drafting a new constitution, witnesses said.
“People were saying that women were dividing the revolution and should be happy with the rights they have,” said Ebony Coletu, 36, an American who teaches at American University in Cairo and attended the march, as she put it, “in solidarity.”
The men – their number estimated to be at least double that of the women’s – broke through a human chain that other men had formed to protect the marchers. Women said they attempted to stand their ground – until the physical aggression began.
“I was grabbed in the crotch area at least six times. I was grabbed in the breasts; my throat was grabbed,” Coletu said.
She and several others said they eventually took refuge in a tourism agency office protected by Egyptian army personnel.
The sexual assault of CBS News reporter Lara Logan during the Tahrir Square protests last month brought the problem to wider Western notice, but Egyptian women say that sexual harassment has long been rampant here and that they grow up expecting to be fondled in public by men with impunity.
Nagla Rizk, also a professor at American University in Cairo, said she went to the march Tuesday full of hope but left within an hour after sensing the ugly mood of the counterdemonstrators.
“The whole event was not successful, and I am very disappointed,” she said. “This is totally alien to the spirit of Tahrir.”
———————————————-
Especially sad —
“Gone, organizers said, was the spirit of equality and cooperation between the sexes that marked most of the historic mass gatherings in the square.”
Why can’t men step up and protect their wives, mothers and sisters? Are their mothers partially responsible for raising them to see them as second class? How can the collective conscience of a generation be changed? I wish I knew what I could do to help.
/SB
/SB
March 8th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Oh, just caught that first line (sorry, jumped right into the info) a friend of yours suffered bc of a diet high in soy, glad she finally caught the culprit of her health problems and she’s improving. That must’ve been hard to track it to her lifelong diet.
I love Mercola, he knows his stuff : ) the other brilliant Doc is the Italian nobel prize winner, Louis Ignarro, check him out on youtube, talking about heart health (and as a side benfit, the natural alternative to Viagra) he’s another naturalist doc who knows what he’s talking about, not many of them do and I wish people would not blindly trust all docs, they are not all created equal.
- ZL
March 8th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
These despicable creatures we call men here in Egypt make me hate men. They begged us to march along side of them when they were opposing M. but now they have what they wanted we are nothing but animals to be herded back into our corrals.
We used as pawns to prevent M. from being as brutal as he would have been had not women been present in the rallies. The dogs that call themselves men used us.
My message is as Madaline said it would be a man only thing. I say to the women in the West Bank, let your men die for their own reasons. Resist as best you can strapping bombs to your bodies for the salvation of those dogs.
The dogs we have here are misogynists of the worst kind. There were a few very few men who came to march with us. They were our young comrades.
Like Madaline said. It is basically too late to help this lot. Kill them all and let the Gods sort it out.
If she returns I have left the line asking for a sorting the good men from the bad. I am in the line that advocates
“KILLING THEM ALL AND LETTING THE GODS SORT IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!
Lashkar Gab
March 8th, 2011 at 11:58 pm
I watched my baby sister struggle as men tore her clothes to get at her crotch. They shoved their dirty hands between her legs with such brutal force that her garments were soaked with blood.
I will worship no god, if I am left to worship a god arab men pray to. They are abominations of human beings. Consummate liars, and self-centered whiners all.
If I there were aliens that came to eat them, I would pull them apart and feed them limb by limb to the waiting aliens. My only request would be for god to allow them to live through the ordeal.
Afaf
March 9th, 2011 at 12:13 am
I cannot sleep for the hatred that causes by heart to beat so. If there is a Prince out there looking for his Princess.
If you are waiting for the men here to treat women as equals, I would suggest that you wait no longer. Destroy them and the planet with them if you must.
Those that do not carry the whip, wear sun shades to shield their eyes from the use of the whip and ear plugs to shut out our cries.
KILL THEM ALL!
If there are some who would be true men as Anonz, then resurrect them on another planet. But scorch this one.
All I ask is that you do not make it quick. Make them suffer as they have made us. Give them hope and then snatch it from them in the cruelest why you an imagine.
KILL them so slowly that their cries will be heard for centuries, but KILL THEM ALL!
If you can not bring yourself to do it, Call Madaline, she is our salvation and she has said many times if I would only be turned loose.
“The amount of blood I would shed, would only be second to the sound of the cries I would torture out of them as the bled before us.”
“Steel your hearts ladies and let’s get on with it.”
Michelle, if you are the one who can loosen the MADALINE, perhaps it is time.
Husn
March 9th, 2011 at 6:53 am
Cheap, Uncertified Electrical Items Can Be Dangerous
Anthony Toderian
CSA International
Cheap, uncertified electrical items can be dangerous — and they are becoming more common as people search for bargains.
Improperly made items, such as extension cords and power tools, can cause injuries and fires. Self-defense:
Avoid items whose labels do not provide the manufacturer’s contact information… ones without UPC bar codes… ones without any branding or certification marks… and ones with spelling and grammatical errors on packages. Be especially careful when buying products online.
Personal interviewed Anthony Toderian, spokesperson, CSA International, which tests and certifies consumer electronics and other products, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
March 9th, 2011 at 7:20 am
Hafa Adai
Michelle, I want everyone to know that Guam is acting responsibly to save the useless slaughter of sharks by the millions every year.
========================
Sharks are in hot water. Their populations are rapidly dwindling as they’re caught and killed by fisherman. Oftentimes these fish are killed solely for their fins — some 73 million sharks are killed for the fin trade each year.
Fortunately for the struggling swimmers, there’s a movement to stop the brutal practice of finning, a process where fishermen cut off a shark’s fin and tail and throw the animal back into the water to die. And this anti-finning movement is growing: In January President Obama signed a federal law that prohibited U.S. fishermen from finning sharks. Hawaii also recently tackled the problem from the retail side, banning restaurants from serving shark fin soup, the traditional Chinese dish often served at banquets that has grown in popularity in recent years.
Now Guam has followed suit, passing Bill 44, which bans the finning and feeding of sharks and the possession, selling, trading, or distribution of shark fins and ray parts in Guam. “Pacific island leadership is helping these fish, threatened by the fin trade, to keep their place as apex predators in the ocean food chain,” said Matt Rand, director of Global Shark Conservation for the Pew Environment Group. “Guam, a major fishing hub, now joins other Pacific Ocean voices in support of shark conservation.”
The latest battle in this movement is California, which is looking to follow Hawaii’s example and outlaw the sale of shark fins in the state. Like Hawaii’s ban, this proposed law adds to the federal ban on shark finning, which only applies to boats registered in the U.S. California’s bill tackles the issue by also banning the sale of shark fins — no matter what country they came from — in an attempt to limit markets for shark fins. The ban, California State Assembly Bill 376, was introduced by Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) and is supported by a wide range of environmental and conservation organizations.
You can help this movement, sharks, and the ocean by signing this petition. It asks the members of the California State Assembly for their support in banning the sale of shark fins. It’s time to end this brutal practice — before sharks go extinct and throw the ocean ecosystem totally out of balance.
=====================
Lea
March 9th, 2011 at 7:21 am
Hijjii Says: ?March 8th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
NAVIGATOR:
The crew wants to know if you really do read this blog. And if so, can they use it to reach you?
Hijjii
March 9th, 2011 at 7:27 am
Linda; Glad your back. I never claimed to be a Southern nor Nothern gentleman. Please allow me my space to be me and we will get along just fine. I felt quilty that you stopped commenting on my accord, so I apologized. Focus on the topics. I am flattered that you think of me as a sweetie pie. Really, I am not who you may think I am.
ZL: The main mind activity that I do is I go out of it. I also spend a lot of time angry the system that I exist in. Other than that everything is just peachie.
Al
March 9th, 2011 at 7:30 am
Husn:
It saddens me to read that you have suffered so deeply as to feel that your only relief is to call for the death of others.
I do not refer to the death of others that you are calling for only the pain that has rendered your heart and mind numb to the cries and pain you wish upon others.
I cannot say I will pray for you, because I am a male and my god obviously has not heard your cries for relief.
I write to let you know that if there were anything this man sitting with a sadness I cannot describe could do, he would anything he could to help you.
I cannot speak for men here in Greece, but I speak honestly for myself.
Lucas
March 9th, 2011 at 7:36 am
Al, would you lighten up on Linda. The lady is just be friendly to a person that she admires because of your comments. Personally, I don’t see the attraction, but to each his/her own.
However, you act as if you are trapped in a room with a woman who has her hands all over you. Can’t you just accept a compliment without using that proverbial “ten foot pole?”
Teddy
March 9th, 2011 at 7:56 am
This is all I get when I attempt to load your blog:
“Could not connect to database. Please check your DB Settings from your admin area or in “config/db_config.php”
I have been trying for 8 days to load your blog. I am in the Shaanxi provence. But I am having my friend in Vietnam send this one.
Are you still in China?
Xu
March 9th, 2011 at 8:02 am
Ditto Teddy.
Al, someone pointed you and Howie out at the mall one day. You are big tall guy. Why would a 6 foot plus guy like you be afraid of a little lady?
And you slump too much. Stand taller and be proud of your height.
No one is going to accost you. My friend said that you guys know aliens that eat people. So, are you cannibals too?
Don’t get huffy, it was just a question. If you don’t want to answer it, fine.
But if you do, I’ll take my answer on the blog -:).
Shelby
March 9th, 2011 at 8:09 am
Michelle, when I tune in I read your intro and especially linger over your individual comments to the regulars and the occasional Lune.
So when I tune in and see none, I am very disappointed. I realize you have a life so I am not complaining, just letting you know that some of us do miss the hot tongue of this blog’s sassy Ms.
Oh and that picture is soooooooooooHot! It’s my screen saver.
Kevin
March 9th, 2011 at 8:20 am
Zen Lill
Where do you go to ski? I live in LA and I go to Aspen. We usually partner up and go as three or four couples and stay at one of the “Chill Out Residences.
It is like having your own private hotel and home rolled up into one package. It runs between $1400-$1800 per night. That’s less than $500 per couple per night. And it comes with fantastic views, decks, and hot tubs.
There’s always room for another.
Oscar
March 9th, 2011 at 8:54 am
Hijjii i think the navigator answered you on the same page you originally posted your message on, at least that is what I saw.
A Friend
March 9th, 2011 at 9:18 am
[...] I read on-line the stories of this supposed day of celebration…as I peruse the comments from women who write on my blog, I feel a rage so strong in myself that I too can not sleep. And yet, the rage [...]
March 9th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Teddy/Shelby:
Why don’t you just mind your own business, and I will stay out of yours. This topic is closed as far as I am concerned.
Al