Last year I started listening to Free Capitalist Radio and learning all about the principles of Capitalism. It was fascinating! I started applying the principles at home and teaching the boys things I was learning. Thus began the Recycling with Ethan saga.
I declared an end to the recycling season with the first rains last year and sent out a letter to the neighbors thanking them for participating. Ethan has been asking me to start recycling in the neighborhood again. I've been putting it off. Ethan has decided to not be a victim to my procrastination.
He has been rather resourceful and has come up with plenty of other ideas in which he can create value and make some money. We drove by some kids in front of their house selling lemonade. He was fascinated with the idea and started mixing his own lemonade first by pouring lemon juice into the sugar and then sugar into straight lemon juice. I helped him dilute the second batch, but he insisted on setting up a lemonade stand in the living room using every glass in the cupboard. You could tell where he had walked carrying his product because the floors were sticky and made noise as your shoes lifted out of the stick.
This morning Ethan set up another food vending venture. He came into the bathroom and proudly announced to Michael and I that he was open for business selling real food and he expected real money. I went into the living room to find a fort (his store front) built out the trampoline, bins and blankets and the opened shredded wheat bag inside his store. Hunter decided to be his competition and poured out several piles of shreded wheat directly onto the carpet. Elle, the only customer in sight seemed to prefer the easy access of Hunter's store.
I let the children finish eating the pile of shredded wheat off the floor but confiscated the opened bag that Ethan was stocking his store with.
Undaunted, Ethan made a sign with the numbers 10 20 and displayed it in front of his still standing fort. He said that the numbers were how much it cost to go in his fort. He went through the rationalization of Hunter's financial capacity and then told me that I had to give Hunter money for the entry fee since he didn't have any. $10.20 seemed rather steep to me so I gave Hunter 10 pennies, which was satisfactory for Ethan to let Hunter in. As a gesture of good will Ethan announced that babies did not have to pay the entry fee and gave Elle free access to his fort.
Since Ethan was in the mood for lessons in Capitalism I thought we'd continue his game. I called the boys for breakfast and gave Ethan his menu and the prices for each item. A bowl of cereal is 5 pennies. Milk is 2 pennies. A vitamin is 1 penny.
Ethan paid the 5 cents for his cereal and the one for his vitamin. He was torn over splurging for milk, though. He finally relented and paid the extra 2 cents for milk. What struck me about the whole thing is that he showed enormous respect and manners at breakfast. He answered my questions about his "order" by using ma'am and was extremely polite when he asked for a napkin. He didn't finish his cereal, but I didn't feel compelled to make him eat all of it either since he paid for it.
Huh.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Drunk Driver
We were coming home when Michael pointed out a black car ahead of us swerving all over the road. "We've got a drunk". We've come across drunks before and called their license plate in, but experience has taught me that highway vehicles that are called in are too hard for CHP to find and arrest.
He was like a moth to a flame...following closely behind the car ahead. When he was in a lane he would drift across lanes and then correct, drift onto the shoulder and back again. He was all over the road. He'd make unsignaled lane changes weaving around cars. I've seen people do this before, but never drunk. The drunks I've come across usually are going a bit slower and exercising caution. I said to Michael, "He's going to kill somebody".
We got close to get a license plate, but it must have been a new car because he had the dealer paper plates still on.
As we approached our exit to take care of mom's new dog Dixie, Michael noticed that our drunk exited right in front of us. He turned right, crossed the double yellow line and went into oncoming traffic. Fortunately there were no cars coming from the other direction. We followed him as he pulled into the Shell station. We watched as he then sat at pump #1 for at least 3 minutes before getting out. That gave Michael enough time to call the PD with a description of both the vehicle and the driver. The man went into the store and we waited.
One officer arrived before the man came out. When the man came out the officer pulled up behind his car and approached him. Another officer arrived and the second officer started doing sobriety tests. Unfortunately he was behind the pump so I couldn't see what was going on. Then the man walked out to where I could see him, fulfilling the officers request to walk a straight line. He was hard pressed to comply. Actually seeing him walk was rather frightening considering he had just been behind the wheel.
The first officer got a brethalizer kit out of his car. It seemed weird that he kept blowing into it and they kept asking him to do it again and again. Michael could tell that he was playing games by not putting his mouth around it or not really blowing. There was a red light on the machine that glowed when he blew and went up a few bars on one blow in particular, but I couldn't really tell what to look for.
The officers had him turn around and cuffed him up and then put him in the back of the police car. I felt really glad and relieved he was off the road!
The second officer came over to talk to us and told us that this was not the first time he'd been caught driving drunk. OH REALLY!!!
Maybe the judge will wise up and suspend his license.
He was like a moth to a flame...following closely behind the car ahead. When he was in a lane he would drift across lanes and then correct, drift onto the shoulder and back again. He was all over the road. He'd make unsignaled lane changes weaving around cars. I've seen people do this before, but never drunk. The drunks I've come across usually are going a bit slower and exercising caution. I said to Michael, "He's going to kill somebody".
We got close to get a license plate, but it must have been a new car because he had the dealer paper plates still on.
As we approached our exit to take care of mom's new dog Dixie, Michael noticed that our drunk exited right in front of us. He turned right, crossed the double yellow line and went into oncoming traffic. Fortunately there were no cars coming from the other direction. We followed him as he pulled into the Shell station. We watched as he then sat at pump #1 for at least 3 minutes before getting out. That gave Michael enough time to call the PD with a description of both the vehicle and the driver. The man went into the store and we waited.
One officer arrived before the man came out. When the man came out the officer pulled up behind his car and approached him. Another officer arrived and the second officer started doing sobriety tests. Unfortunately he was behind the pump so I couldn't see what was going on. Then the man walked out to where I could see him, fulfilling the officers request to walk a straight line. He was hard pressed to comply. Actually seeing him walk was rather frightening considering he had just been behind the wheel.
The first officer got a brethalizer kit out of his car. It seemed weird that he kept blowing into it and they kept asking him to do it again and again. Michael could tell that he was playing games by not putting his mouth around it or not really blowing. There was a red light on the machine that glowed when he blew and went up a few bars on one blow in particular, but I couldn't really tell what to look for.
The officers had him turn around and cuffed him up and then put him in the back of the police car. I felt really glad and relieved he was off the road!
The second officer came over to talk to us and told us that this was not the first time he'd been caught driving drunk. OH REALLY!!!
Maybe the judge will wise up and suspend his license.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Flouride: for the sake of children's teeth?
Since I got my adult teeth they have looked marbled. I've always taken good care of them, brushing after meals, seeing the dentist regularly....but my teeth looked yellow in spots. It was embarrassing. I stumbled across some information on fluoride that peaked my interest and so I did some digging.I It turns have a mild case of fluorosis which has discolored my teeth and made them look modeled. At least now I know now what it's called and why I my teeth look the way they do. I've stopped using fluoride toothpaste, thrown it all away and started using baking soda for myself and the children.
The following are bits and pieces that I found regarding fluoride.
"Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century, if not all time."
-Robert Carton, Ph.D., Toxicologist
The following are bits and pieces that I found regarding fluoride.
Dental fluorosis is an irreversible condition caused by excessive ingestion of fluoride during the tooth forming years. It is the first visible sign that a child has been overexposed to fluoride.
Fluoride causes dental fluorosis by damaging the enamel-forming cells, called ameloblasts. The damage to these cells results in a mineralization disorder of the teeth, whereby the porosity of the sub-surface enamel is increased.
Letters from People Impacted by Dental Fluorosis
The following is a sampling of emails sent to the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) from people impacted by dental fluorosis.
------ Forwarded Message
From: [...]
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 21:34:12 EDT
To: personal@fluoridealert.org
Subject: depressing fluorosis
My name is Jennifer and I have severe dental fluorosis. I am now 20 and have had this since I was very young. This has really affected my life to the fullest extent. In elementary, middle, and high school, I was teased really bad by the other kids. People did not understand what I was talking about when I tried to explain, they thought I just did not brush my teeth. I can't smile or even look people in the eye when I talk to them. It is completely devastating. Thank God I am finally getting it fixed. I am going in one month for a Composite Bonding. I wish more people knew how exactly this affects children. Especially when they grow older, everyone would like a nice smile, but this makes it so much worse, especially since it is permanent. To everyone else that has it, remember you are not the only ones!
http://fluoridealert.org/dental-fluorosis.htm
Pictures of Dental Fluorosis
Mild/Moderate Fluorosis
Photo by Elke Babiuk
Severe Fluorosis
Photo by Hardy Limeback, DDS
"it is illogical to assume that tooth enamel is the only tissue affected by low daily doses of fluoride ingestion."
- Dr. Hardy Limeback, Head of Preventive Dentistry, University of Toronto. (2000). Why I am now Officially Opposed to Adding Fluoride to Drinking Water.
"Common sense should tell us that if a poison circulating in a child's body can damage the tooth-forming cells, then other harm also is likely."
- Colquhoun J. (1997). Why I changed my mind about Fluoridation. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 41:29-44.
"Like bones, a child's teeth are alive and growing. Flourosis is the result of fluoride rearranging the crystalline structure of a tooth's enamel as it is still growing. It is evidence of fluoride's potency and ability to cause physiologic changes within the body, and raises concerns about similar damage that may be occurring in the bones."
- Environmental Working Group, "National Academy Calls for Lowering Fluoride Limits in Tap Water", March 22, 2006.
"It seems prudent at present to assume that the ameloblasts are not the only cells in the body whose function may be disturbed by the physiological concentrations of fluoride which result from drinking water containing 1 ppm"
- Groth, E. (1973), Two Issues of Science and Public Policy: Air Pollution Control in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Fluoridation of Community Water Supplies. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, May 1973.
"A linear correlation between the Dean index of dental fluorosis and the frequency of bone fractures was observed among both children and adults."
- Alarcon-Herrera MT, et al. (2001). Well Water Fluoride, Dental fluorosis, Bone Fractures in the Guadiana Valley of Mexico. Fluoride 34(2): 139-149.
___________________________________________________________________
http://www.befreetech.com/fluoridation.htm
It was in the year 1939 that a famous institute in the eastern part of the United States commissioned their biochemist to find a use for the sodium fluoride wastes produced by aluminum foundries. Some 45 other industries also had fluoride disposal problems. Many were tormented by expensive damage suits arising from the noxious effects of the poison on livestock and crops. Oil refineries, metal smelters, tile, brick, steel, fertilizer and ceramic plants and many installations of the Atomic Energy Commission were involved. The cost to eliminate this chemical was fantastically high. Was there no way this byproduct could be put to a profitable use?
Now this biochemist was a clever and cunning man. He came up with a big moneymaking idea: why not dissolve the stuff in drinking water? He had absolutely no medical background and had not conducted any clinical research into the effects of sodium fluoride on our body's chemistry. His idea went over big with companies who were burdened by what to do with sodium fluoride wastes.
The next step was not difficult . . . turn the idea over to the advertising companies and let them tell the public that the greatest health measure in modern times had been discovered. So they used the premise that sodium fluoride in drinking water would prevent tooth decay in children, as they found a Texas town that had naturally occurring fluoride and, it seemed, fewer dental cavities. The public was eager to hear more. At last, a way to prevent tooth decay! Most became convinced despite the fact that tooth decay comes from poor nutrition and especially the high consumption of refined sugar drinks, candy and products.
___________________________________________________________________
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Washington , D.C. 20460
MAR 30 1983
OFFICE OF WATER
Leslie A.Russell, D.M.D.
363 Walnut Street
Newtonville, Mass. 02160
Dear Dr Russell:
Thank you for you letter of March 9, 1983, in regard to the flouridation of drinking water.
The information available to the Environmental Protection Agency is that flouridation is a safe and effective means for reducing the occurrence of dental caries. The flouridation process has been endorsed by several Presidents of the United States and by several Surgeons General, including the current Surgeon General, Dr C. Everett Koop. A copy of Dr Koop's statement on flouridation is enclosed.
Water treatment chemicals, including fluosilicic acid, have been evaluated for their potential for contributing to the contamination of drinking water. The Water Treatment Chemicals Codex, published by the National Academy of Sciences, prescribes the purity requirement for fluosilicic acid and other flouridation chemicals.
In regard to the use of fluosilicic acid as a source of fluoride for flouridation, this Agency regards such use as an ideal environmental solution to a long-standing problem. By recovering by-product fluosilicic acid from fertiliser manufacturing, water and air pollution are minimized, and water utilities have a low-cost source of fluoride available to them. I hope this information adequately responds to your concern.
Sincerely yours,
Rebecca Hanmer
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.bragg.com/healthinfo/fluoridepoisonFS.html
Shocking Historical Fluoride Facts
- Adolf Hitler sought a means to make people docile and suggestible. He discovered that odorless sodium fluoride slowly poisons and makes dormant the small tissue in the brain's left rear occipital lobe that normally helps a person resist domination. Fluoride allows muscles to move one way, but not relax. In large doses fluoride causes paralysis and death.
- Sodium fluoride is classified with arsenic and cyanide as a dangerous poison and is used in rat poison. Hydrogen fluoride is an industrial pollutant. It is illegal to sell or give away a fluoride pill of 1 mg. Fluoride slowly destroys the body's self-repair and rejuvenation capabilities causing premature ageing, bone damage and deformities.
- Fluoride increases the risk of hip fractures up to 41%. Fluoridation can cause tooth enamel mottling, poor health, mongolism in infants and increases the growth of cancer cells
"Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century, if not all time."
-Robert Carton, Ph.D., Toxicologist
Since 1996 these 11 Associations no longer endorse Water Fluoridation:
- American Heart Assoc.
- American Academy of Allergy & Immunology
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Activation Network
- American Diabetes Assoc.
- National Institute of Law Municipal Officers
- American Chiropractic Assoc.
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Nat'l Kidney Foundation
- American Psychiatric Assoc.
- Soc. of Toxicology
| "The survival of this fake controversy represents one of the major triumphs of quackery over science in our times!" - Consumer Reports '78 |
A Few of the Serious Health Disorders caused by Deadly Fluoridated Water:
- Cancer with all its deadly forms
- Digestive System Disorders
- Ulcers & Colitis
- Inability to Utilize Vit. B & C
- Constipation & Nausea
- Cirrhosis & Hepatitis
- Kidney, Bladder & Urinary Disorders
- Respiratory & Lung Disorder
- Tuberculosis, Asthma, Sinusitis & Bronchitis
- Circulatory Diseases
- Arteriosclerosis, Heart Failure, Hypo & Hypertension
- Varicose Veins & Coronary Thrombosis
- Leukemia, Hemophilia & Anemia
- Mental & Neurological Disorders
- Neuroses & Psychoses, Polio & Multiple Sclerosis
- Eye Diseases & Endocrine Dysfunction Cataracts, Glaucoma, Goiter
- Impaired Gland Function: Adrenal, Thyroid, Sterility & Sex
- Skin, Nail & Hair Conditions
- Acne & Boils, Dermatitis & Eczema, Alopecia & Lupus
- Bone & Joint Conditions - Osteoporosis, Bone Cancer
- Arthritis, Swollen & Aching Joints
- Teeth & Gum Diseases - Gum & Periodontal, Mottled & Darkened Teeth
- Bone & Calcium Loss
Shocking Fluoride Facts:
53% of the U.S. population drinks water containing fluoride, which is costing taxpayers billions of dollars, not only for the fluoride, but in added medical expenses!
41 of the 50 largest US cities have added fluoride to their drinking water. Los Angeles and San Diego are two lucky ones, but Gov. Wilson is trying to pass a fluoride bill for all California, which could bankrupt cities and their medical facilities!
Millions of gallons of this deadly poison are doing untold damage. If your area is fluoridated start action groups to stop this criminal action now - to protect and save the lives of yourself, your family and future generations!!!
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