June is FINALLY Here, Thank Goodness! And a Bit of a Rant.

Although I despise the heat here, I am glad to see the month of June arrive! May was so miserable for so many people. As if to make me feel better, Mother Nature granted us a short rainstorm and a cooling breeze last night. Yes, I went outside and walked in the rain and enjoyed the breeze!
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On to my rant.

Though I may not see it in my lifetime, I can see the writing on the wall.
America is done.
Within 50 years states will become *regions*, regions will splinter and fracture and the whole idea of a *United* States will become moot.
I don't see the country becoming a banana republic, but I do see the country becoming a chaotic continent of regions, some living peacefully side by side, some constantly warring.
At least one region, possibly two, will come into total domination by the backwards, archaic, violent Muslim population. ( Dearborn Michigan and Paterson New Jersey are already dominated by high Muslim populations). If you live in those areas, get your ass out now, unless you want your children, grandchildren and other future descendants living under Sharia law. Islam allows for ONLY three outcomes for the non-Islamic: Conversion, Enslavement or Death.
There will be massive violence as those areas transition.
Please, do NOT protest this and say *But it's the religion of peace*. We all know that is bullshit.
Read your history books. There has NEVER been an Islamic country that lived peacefully.
If they lived peacefully with their neighbors, then they committed acts of violence against each other...raping young girls, beating their wives,honor killings, male rape of young boys, killing neighbors because they wouldn't sell their 10 year daughter into marriage with a 45 year old man, etc. And all of it condoned by their *faith*...which, in reality is NOT a *faith*, but is an all encompassing political/cultural/religious movement.

We have become a weak country. Seriously weak.
We no longer value self-sufficiency, courage, independence, critical thinking, freedom, or ANY of those qualities that made America the Republic a nation to be envied and held up as an example.
Now we arrest kids that take a plastic GI Joe to school that has a less than 1 inch gun in it's holster.
We don't ask immigrants to assimilate into our melting pot....we *celebrate* their cultures...even if they practice Female Genital Mutilation , taking hunks of broken glass or lids of tin cans to slice and dig out the inner labia and clitoris without anesthesia  in the belief that it keeps girls pure and chaste. Oh yeah...celebrate that shit! Such damn cultural diversity, it makes me want to puke.
I had an uncle (now deceased) that fought in World War II. Korea. AND VietNam.
Three Purple Hearts. A couple of Silver Stars and a Bronze Star. In addition to several other medals and decorations. He saw the horrors of the Nazi Concentration Camps up close and personal. Bodies being loaded onto flat bed rail cars like cord wood in Korea. Infants booby trapped and placed in the road by their mothers in VietNam because the VC knew American troops would want to save the baby and would get blown up with the infant.
What he did NOT see? A diagnosis of PTSD. He retired after 34 years in the service, went onto a successful career in real estate and enjoyed his remaining years with my aunt...taking vacations and enjoying life.
We used to be made of sterner stuff, I think.
Through my Darlin' Man, I have heard of current soldiers who never went into a combat area being diagnosed with PTSD (and getting disability for it!) because they HEARD of a friend getting killed in combat.
Spare me.
I had eight friends that were killed in VietNam, perhaps I should apply for PTSD related disability.

We have coddled ourselves to death. Unfortunately, it means the death of our country.
Those individuals (call them *preppers* or *survivalists* or whatever catch-all term is being used this week) that value self-sufficiency, freedom, etc. are rapidly "detaching" themselves from society. They still attend their churches or community events or go to the cinema or concerts...but they are talking less and less about their efforts and/or preps. It's called "going gray (or grey for my British friends). More and more are doing it. They are attempting to take their lives "off grid"...maybe not literally (as in no electricity or other utilities), but they are lowering their profiles. No credit cards and/or bank accounts. No cell phone with GPS capabilities. No GPS in their vehicles. Becoming self-employed and moving to a state with no state income tax or sales tax to lighten the load of all the invasive paper work. They home school. They grow as much of their own food as possible. I think they are the smart ones.

Our government has betrayed us AND the intent of our Founding Fathers. (Will someone please go check the graves of Tho. Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Geo. Washington, Thomas Payne, et al? I am sure those gentlemen have spun so much in their graves all the dirt must have been kicked off by now!)
We have corporations that wield more power than any politician or elected official (including the President). Monsanto being a good example. Monsanto poisons us and the band plays merrily on....due to the fact that the halls of Congress and the Executive Branch AND the Supreme Court are populated by former Monsanto lawyers and employees. Of COURSE GMOs are safe! We wouldn't lie to you! Colony Collapse in bees? Oh no...our genetically modified corn, wheat, canola, etc and herbicides wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with that! And we are sure the Monarch Butterfly numbers are decreasing rapidly because of some other reason...

If you are not angry, you haven't been paying attention!

I continue to blog in the hopes that it will help someone out there, somewhere, to wake the hell up!
You have the internet (obviously) because you are reading this.
Use duckduckgo.com (they don't save data to hand over to the government!) or, if you must, google.
Check out:
Cotton suicides (Monsanto), GMO bans, FGM, Sharia Law, Honor Killings, "Going Gray".
Check out financial pages and see how the bankers are giving us the shaft.
The Icelandic Revolution (woefully under reported by the main stream media)
Educate yourself.
It is painful, but it is necessary.

Reassessing, Reprioritizing, Evolving

Maybe it is because Spring is here, but this is the time of year I tend to re-evaluate my life, my goals and what is going on in general. I generally make changes in the Spring, it seems the best time to do it, although I made a few changes last Fall.
The main change I made last Fall was I stopped using hair dye. I read numerous reports of hair dye causing severe allergic reactions because of changes in the chemicals the companies put in it. Apparently, some of the changes were mandated by the FDA, other changes were made by the companies themselves to make the colors stay vibrant longer, etc. Regardless of the intent or why they were changed, it had some Very Bad results. One woman in Florida went into a coma after using hair dye. She had used hair color for over 10 years, same brand, same color, but she reacted to it horribly. Other women had their scalps blister or break out so severely, they had to shave their heads. So, I received some henna as a Christmas present! (Okay, I ordered it for myself, but the Darlin' Man paid for it!) Yes, I intend to fight gray hair...I'll go gray kicking and screaming!
The henna worked beautifully and I am now a confirmed henna addict! Henna is an all natural vegetable based color. You can bright up a batch by adding paprika (!) or brown it down by adding some powdered rosemary. Mix it up with hot water, a bit of lemon juice and some olive oil and spread it on. Adding heat helps, but you can just leave it for a few hours. No harsh chemical smell! It smells a bit woodsy/mossy, but it is not bad.  The color is lovely and way more natural looking than the chemical dye!

The changes I am making now has to do with food.
We all need food. The food choices we make can determine our health.
So...because of recent news stories about various chemicals and other nasty things that are absolutely anchored in processed food, we have decided there are some foods we will never buy again.
I am sure most of my readers have heard about the HEK 283 furor (Human Embryonic Kidney cells, of which 293 were *harvested* from an aborted baby in the Netherlands in the 1970s). These cells are used by a company called Senomyx to test flavorings for companies, including Pepsi, Kraft Foods and Campbells Soup.They continue to grow the cells in tissue cultures in laboratories around the world. While the companies state that the human cells never make it into the food products themselves, I am not sure I want to trust them. After all, they never were open about GMO foods, either!
The Darlin' Man and I sat down, read all the various news stories and reports about HEK 293, did some research and made some decisions. We talked about our moral compasses and our personal beliefs. We are both pro-life, but he is more of a Libertarian than I am (or so he says, lol!), but still, he is VERY uncomfortable with the thought that the cells of an aborted baby are being used to develop food flavorings. Reading up on this, we found that they could have used animal cells, but that the fetus cells were cheaper for them in the long run. It is awful to think that it was cheaper to use those human cells than the cells from a rabbit or a rhesus monkey! We also talked about GMO foods, high fructose corn syrup (and that it is ALL made from GMO corn!),other foods that we know are GMOs (canola oil, for example) and the livestock that feeds on GMO corn, cotton seed  and wheat, etc.
Our diet has changed radically.
We were already *partially* organic. Our eggs, goats milk (and the resulting yogurt, cheese and butter and ice cream!) and what little gardening we do.
Now we are going TOTALLY organic. We know this will be more expensive, so we have also decided to drastically cut meat consumption. Every other day, we will be eating vegetarian. Not a problem, as everyone here LOVES spinach souffles and omelets and big dinner salads.
Also, we all like soda here. I have a Dr Pepper addiction and the fella loves his Coca-Cola.
BUT...since all sodas use HFCS (well, except for my beloved Dublin Dr Pepper which I can only order online once in a blue moon) , we are going to get a Soda Stream and make our own. I know the little packets of flavoring are not exactly organic, but I have found out from some friends online that you can make your own flavors using sugar and spices (real ginger ginger ale!)  Also, making our own will drop the cost of our favorite "toxic treat" (as the Darlin' Man calls it) down considerably.
We are also going to reduce our dependence on chemical based cleaning supplies. Baking soda and vinegar are going to be the basis for the majority of our cleansers. I make my own sanitizer/room air freshener out of lavender and rosemary already. (I swear, it works as good as Lysol...does for me, anyway...and smells SO much better!)
I have seen all the recipes for home made laundry detergent online and I plan to start making ours. If I want a gentle scent, I'll just fill a tea ball with lavender flowers and toss that in the rinse cycle. (I already do that for the sheets....try it! You'll sleep better!)
So, we are evolving. Becoming more self-sufficient. Hopefully, healthier.