CAN A HAMBURGER BE CREATED IN A LABORITORY?

 In my previous blog I wrote about my curiosity of what the future will hold.  Most of us do not have a clue, while others will speculate using their imagination.

Not giving a thought since my last piece, my imagination wondered into the future during dinner one evening. I thought about how poorly our meat and chickens have become. There’s controversy of Mad Cow in our meats which may cause demented minds and Alzheimer’s disease. Many countries refuse to purchase our meats. There is so much cruelty done to those poor baby chicks and the slaughter of animals, yet from what I read, there is not enough food to go around the world. These are all raising concerns among us.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could raise meat in a lab?” I asked my husband. “After all we have in-vitro babies in a lab, why can’t we have food made that way?” I continued, “I bet it is being done now, just as we speak. We would not have to worry about acid rain, arsenic and pesticides in our foods.”

After dinner, I immediately went on line to research future foods. Sure enough, I learned that futurologists are making different kinds of foods including creating hamburgers in a lab using stem cells from cows.  For more information read below:

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-08/first-lab-grown-hamburger-served

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/05/first-hamburger-lab-grown-meat-press-conference

Other companies are using insects such as caterpillars, locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers in creating food. They boast that insects have more nutrients than other foods.  Some companies are processing them into flour, making delicious cookies, adding them to chopped meat, and other kinds of foods.   Others are making food with 3 D printers.  The thought of consuming those turn my stomach.  However, what would my grandmother say if she knew I was eating lobsters? In her world it was unheard of and disgusting. In the future, insects in food will be a normal way of eating.

  Read more information below:

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2014/04/cricket-flour-   baking-mixes.html

 Thank you for coming into my website.  I hope you enjoyed my blogs.

I always look forward to your coments, so please do not be shy.

HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR

THE CHICKEN DILEMMA

For many years I have enjoyed Costco’s rotisserie chickens until I tasted chlorine. After researching, I learned all chickens are given chlorine baths to protect against diseases.  Perhaps the one I tasted had too much.

Reluctantly, I returned to the supermarkets only this time I purchased organic, paying a little more for better quality. However being aware of organic foods does not guarantee a better taste.  Sometimes the organic chickens tasted great yet other times it was tough and tasteless.

The final straw that disgusted me was learning about our USDA government approving our raised and harvested chickens to be shipped to china for processing and packaging.  China then returns those chickens back to us for human consumption-- without labeling. 

Consumers have the right to know where their food is coming from and where they were processed. In my research, I found many consumers questioned whether the chickens we shipped to China would be the same chickens we get back.  How would we know if they were our chickens?

Meanwhile advocates are fighting over this as I write.  From what I understand China is cooking our chickens now making chicken dinners and soups. I wonder if Chinese restaurants among other favorite restaurants are getting them from China.  Wasn’t it a while ago that they banned purchasing pet food processed in China?

A little panic came over me as I had to think of ways to protect myself against all this madness regarding where our food supply is coming from and where they were processed and packaged. Presently, no labeling is required for GMO foods, drugs, etc.  We have a right to know about everything we consume.

At first the thought of farming my own chicken and eggs seemed like a good idea after reading these deals with china; that concept was not appropriate in my community, I looked for private farmers to sell to me. They told me the chickens and eggs would cost between double to triple what we pay in supermarkets free of chemicals, hormones and antibiotics. The chickens would be fed with grass healthy grains and protein and be free range.

One chicken farmer interested me as he raises chickens on his farm and sells to restaurants.  After a long conversation, the farmer offered to come to my home to personally deliver a free organic chicken and a dozen eggs.  The chicken was a special breed from France which is different than the ones we purchase in the super market.  He warned me that there will be little white meat similar to Duck.  After cooking the French chicken with my regular spices, my husband and I were disappointed.  Perhaps we were not used to this type of chicken.

Russia and most countries in Europe do not trust our meats and chickens. There really are not enough USDA inspectors going around checking our food.  The only thing we can do is raise hell with our politicians demanding better quality and enforcing labeling.  That gives us the choice whether or not to buy the food..

There is a website www.forcechange.com  Please add your name and email if you wish to be part of a petition to institute labeling indicating where our foods are coming from, ingredients, whether or not it is not GMO (Genetically Modified) and to restrict shipping our food to China for processing.

SMART DUST AND WHAT I WILL MISS IN THE FUTURE

Tonight I am thinking about my life, as tomorrow I turn 75 years old. "Seventy Five", that is quite a number. How did I get here so fast?  Wasn’t it the other day I was dancing at the Pizza King in Queens, Roller skating at the Empire Roller Drum, and bowling at Freddie Fritzimmons Bowling alley in Brooklyn during my teen years.

After marriage I’ve been so busy raising a family, and working, I did not notice how thin and pretty I was.  I was always worried about keeping my family well and fed.  There was very little time for me.

What should my grandparents say?  They worked harder than I.  There were no washing machines and dryers, dishwashers or cell phones.  They had to boil dirty diapers by hand and dry wet clothes outside on the line.  To prepare a chicken, they had to pluck the feathers and clean it. Some had to carry ice blocks up stairs to their apartments and place it in their ice box.  And, they told me they came a long way since they were teenagers.

Being present today at the age of the greatest technology of all time, I feel very fortunate. With my computer at my disposal, I can research any question that comes to mind.  All I have to do is click on the google website and in seconds the information is there.  If my parents and grandparents could not afford encyclopedias, they had to take two trolley cars, even in the dead of winter to travel to a library to find the information they needed. The time spent would take almost a whole day. Everything is fast compared to the old days.  The mail and letter writing is almost extinct as we email now and if we needed it faster we’d text.

Just today I posted a picture on Facebook of a friend.  Facebook recognized the picture and tagged them to the individual’s Timeline, with their names.  How did they know their names just by the picture?  Amazing, I thought.  My grandparents would be overwhelmed.  I am aware of face recognition and eye recognition which to me is amazing. It is used to detect our enemies and terrorists.  We have RFID which is Radio Frequency Identification to detect items and people.

We certainly have come a long way since my grandparents.  I am sure our military has increased their technology; however I am not up on that at the moment.

Thus, I am thinking to myself in the early hours of the morning, as I am writing this down.  My life is three quarters over.  Some of my friends my age have passed.  They will never know what is ahead.  Will I? I am afraid not.  I sit here at my computer wishing I knew what’s in the future.

Recently I learned huge corporate companies like Intel, Cisco and Hewlet Packard among others have been working on Smart dust for years. I’ve heard of Smart Tours, Smart Phones, Smart TV’s , even Smart Alec, but not Smart Dust.  It aims to monitor everything from our enemies to the health and well-being of all of us. Someday it will tell how we think among other uses.  If you should notice a little dust around the house that looks iridescent, it could be Smart Dust and you may be monitored. 

For more information go to http://chaione.com/smart-dust-communication-systems-and-the-future-world/

Or you can surf the Internet for more research on Smart Dust.  It is real!

Travyon Martin and Obama's Statement - Why I Was Outraged

It has been almost a year that I have not written a blog.  Perhaps writer’s block came over me. When I usually write, it was because I was moved by current events.  Nothing touched me more than the case of Travyon Martin’s unfortunate death and the shock of Obama’s statement to the press today..

Like many people I had mixed feelings in this case as there was so much doubt due to errors on the part of Zimmerman and the strong emotions and negative past of Trayvon.  With no witnesses present at the time of the shooting, nor the onset of the fight, we can only take sides of whom to believe was the guilty one.

From my business law class in the late 50’s, we learned that one case tried by two separate jurors and judges can result in two different verdicts.  It is simply how the case is presented and the opinions of the juries.

Similar to the cases of OJ Simpson, and Casey Anthony, we all had our own opinions on their guilt.  Yet the jury was instructed that if there is a shadow of doubt, whether you want to believe or not, you must find them “not Guilty.”  Yes, there was public outrage but the case was closed and we go on with our lives hugging our children and family a little more.

At first, I wanted to believe Trayvon was an innocent kid, dressed in a hoodie minding his business.  I thought of Zimmerman as a captain of a neighborhood watchman anxious to catch a thief who has been robbing and terrorizing the neighborhood.  Although Travyon was slowly walking in the rain, I felt Zimmerman stalked him.  Martin did not commit any crime at the time he was approached by Zimmerman.  No one knew what happened next but two assumptions was clear.  Either Martin attacked Zimmerman for following him, and Zimmerman shot Martin in self defense or Zimmerman was out to get his victim no matter what.  Because of these doubts with no real witnesses, they had to let Zimmerman go free. Like OJ, like Casey Anthony

The nation is split into two.  We need to heal.  Stricter rules must be made for neighborhood watchmen to be paired in twos.  Rules must be obeyed by not getting out of the car when a crime is not committed and if suspicious of someone,  to wait for help from police.

  

The real guilt in this case is Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Charles Hurley who has been reassigned pending investigations into allegations of misconduct.
Complaints filed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Miami-Dade Public Schools reportedly accuse Hurley of directing officers to Baker Act rather than arrest students to make it appear that crimes have decreased under his watch.

During the course of that investigation, MDSPD officers and supervisors described Chief Hurley’s policy of not reporting crimes by students. Chief Hurley was subsequently accused of sexually harassing two female subordinates.

On Robert Stacy McCain’s blog 

In October 2011, after a video surveillance camera caught Martin writing graffiti on a door, MDSPD Office Darryl Dunn searched Martin’s backpack, looking for the marker he had used. Officer Dunn found 12 pieces of women’s jewelry and a man’s watch, along with a flathead screwdriver the officer described as a “burglary tool.” The jewelry and watch, which Martin claimed he had gotten from a friend he refused to name, matched a description of items stolen during the October 2011 burglary of a house on 204th Terrace, about a half-mile from the school. However, because of Chief Hurley’s policy “to lower the arrest rates,” as one MDSPD sergeant said in an internal investigation, the stolen jewelry was instead listed as “found property” and was never reported to Miami-Dade Police who were investigating the burglary. Similarly, in February 2012 when an MDSPD officer caught Martin with a small plastic bag containing marijuana residue, as well as a marijuana pipe, this was not treated as a crime, and instead Martin was suspended from school.

Either of those incidents could have put Trayvon Martin into the custody of the juvenile justice system. However, because of Chief Hurley’s attempt to reduce the school crime statistics — according to sworn testimony, officers were “basically told to lie and falsify” reports — Martin was never arrested. And if he had been arrested, he might never have been in Sanford the night of his fatal encounter with Zimmerman.

In fact, the reason Zimmerman was patrolling the townhouse community the night of the February 2012 shooting was that there had been a rash of burglaries in the neighborhood, although there was no indication that Trayvon Martin was involved in any of those crimes.

George Zimmerman himself is mixed race, although he’s often reported as being Hispanic. George Zimmerman has black roots through an Afro-Peruvian great-grandfather.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/847663/george-zimmerman-racism-he-helped-black-people/#uyShSbKqR5JRVwPu.99

George Zimmerman Helped Blacks - 

Before the Trayvon Martin shooting even took place, George Zimmerman was one of the few non-black people that helped protest the beating of a black homeless man by the son of a Sanford police officer that was left unpunished. The twist to this story is that George Zimmerman asked the NAACP in Sanford for help, but he was shot down, claiming they didn’t have the resources to help the homeless black man.
So without the help of the NAACP George Zimmerman printed his own fliers and distributed them at black churches in the area. Only after the guilty party turned himself in did the NAACP become involved in negotiating an “undisclosed financial reward” for the black man George Zimmeran had helped.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/847663/george-zimmerman-racism-he-helped-black-people/#uyShSbKqR5JRVwPu.99

So why am I outraged?  Obama said on Fox News network today that he (Obama) could have been Travyon Martin 35 years ago.  Listening most of the day, I did not hear one comment about if Obama, 35 years ago was suspended from school, defacing buildings with graffiti , and carrying stolen jewelry in his pocket along with a screw driver used in breaking into houses.  Why on earth would our president put himself so low in the class of Travyon Martin  just because he was black.  Had the young boy been a good student and this happened, well I could understand the president making that comment.  I am not saying that Martin’s lack of education and discipline justified his death.  The fact that our President put himself in Martin’s class.  He could have said"35 years ago, it could have been him or any of his white friends"  as an example of anyone caught in a fight that led to death.

In closing, a real leader would not look to divide our country and cause more chaos, but would look to unify our country and not feed into racial arsonists like Sharpton and Jackson. Although they are important to the black community, they should not destroy all the good and hard work they have done by causing racial dissension in our country

HOW TO SCREEN A NANNY

      It was in the 1960’s when I had the most unpleasant experiences of sleep in maids.  We did not call them nannies in those days as they took charge of the household as well as taking care of my four and six  year old sons.  It was a time when I started a new business out of necessity, as my husband was president of a newly formed public company and was hardly home.  Unlike the CEO’s of today, he hardly took home enough money to cover our expenses.  After living off our savings I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time in the fashion jewelry and accessory industry. Young and talented, I was lucky in finding hot items to create, and hungry. With the help of two manufacture reps, I sold all over the country and needed help at home.

     Looking in the paper I noticed an advertisement for a young housekeeper who loved children and was looking for a sleep in position. The ad was placed by a Reverend from a local church for the young lady.  After speaking with him, he sounded respectable and trusting. Allowing myself to interview this young Twenty year old, I found her sweet and very eager to work for us. Anxious to get out of the house to continue with my business, she was hired that same day with a room of her own.

     At times I felt envious that our maid was wearing my apron, doing my dishes and playing with my children.  That was not the dream I had growing up, hoping one day I'd have children and play with them. Now, someone from a third world country, a stranger was in charge of my life’s possessions. While my friends and neighbors envied me, I became miserable about the situation I was in.

    My divorced father, living alone was recuperating from a heart attack in my home.  His doctor gave him strict orders not to have salt in his diet.  Giving instructions to our young maid, she promised to be careful with his diet..

    One day I came home finding my young children playing unattended in the street, my father in a rage and my maid missing.  It appeared she gave my father a meal with salt and he demanded to leave my house.  Mona, my maid, was missing all day, and I drove all over looking for her. The next day I got a call from her telling me she went to an Afro American beauty parlor to have her hair done.  The ladies there question her as to where she was from and what she did for a living.  When they heard she was a maid, they told her to quit working for us as they will get her a better job. “No young Afro American girl should be a maid” they told her. Those ladies did not give her proper advice.  Yes, they were right about her being too young to be a maid, but they should have guided her in being more responsible by not leaving young children unattended  and a sick patient in bed.  They should have taught her to first give notice before quitting.

    A month later I got a call from the ladies in the Afro American beauty parlor asking me to please take her back.  They did not realize they created a liability for themselves, as Mona was not educated nor skilled.  Having to feed and clothe her, they wanted me to take her off their hands.  I told them no way and what they did was unforgivable.  Then the Reverend called begging me to reconsider.  I never did.

    The next maid came from an agency where they screened her.  After interviewing her, she was hired on the spot.  I adored her and my children loved her as well. Since I was extremely busy with my head in my business, I did not realize the unhappiness of this new maid.  My boys came over to me telling me whenever she was in her room she cried all the time. Assuming I did something wrong, I went to her asking if I offended her in any way or caused her unhappiness.  She told me her depression was not with me but from her situation with her husband.  Although she had children with him back in the Caribbean, he took up with her friend having more babies with her.

    Only having one year of physiology 101 in college, I was very interested in the human mind.  Some depressions could be harmless while others most dangerous.  Not being properly trained and fearing for my children, I sadly had to let her go.  I took a big chance with both maids and considered myself very lucky as I hired these ladies without proper screening..  Afterall I was in my twenties with  no one to advise me how to do it correctly. It was during that time when I let the last maid go, I read in the paper about a nanny who drowned two little children in a tub for religious reasons.  It left a devastating mark in my mind and promised myself no matter how poor I was and needed to get a job to earn a living, I will never hire a nanny for that fear.  If  in the event I needed to work, I would do it from home.  That is what I did for 28 years.  My husband and I had a leasing business in our home while we had our third child.  Always home, I gave my daughter milk and cookies after school. During dinner I served my family wearing my own apron. 

    Not many young mothers are as fortunate as I was to make the same choice.  Many need to leave their babies home for long periods during the day to work.  They are now faced with the fear of this recent news of the nanny killer, Yoselyn Ortega who fatally stabbed two young children to death in the bathtub..  Young mothers need to learn more about how to screen their nannies. The problem with most young mothers are they are desperate for help and need it fast.  They use their gut feelings instead of proper screening.
    For what it’s worth here is the questioner you should  print and make many copies for future hiring.  Do not be embarrassed by these questions.  If you need to finance a car or get a job, some of these questions are asked.  If they are not answered honestly, they do not get hired.  It is your child who is relying on you to be careful.  Do not hire a nanny who is just nice.  You need more information.

NANNY APPLICATION

FIRST NAME                               LAST NAME

STREET ADDRESS                         CITY              STATE        ZIP

PREV ADDRESS                             CITY              STATE        ZIP

HOME PHONE                                CELL

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

GREEN CARD

MARRIED/SINGLE

NAME OF HUSBAND CONTACT NUMBER

NAME OF BOYFRIEND ADDRESS  CONTACT NUMBER

NEAREST RELATIVE

FIRST NAME                            LAST NAME                

ADDRESS                                 PHONE                RELATIONSHIP

NEAREST RELATIVE

FIRST NAME                            LAST NAME               

ADDRESS                                 PHONE               RELATIONSHIP

MEDICAL DOCTOR

FIRST NAME                   LAST NAME                PHONE NUMBER

                                                                                                               

PSYCHIATRIST 

FIRST NAME                     LAST NAME                    PHONE NUMBER

ILLNESSES DID YOU EVER HAVE (circle)

MUMPS

MEASLES

CHICKEN POX

AIDS

HEART DISEASE

THYROID

RESPIRATORY DISEASE

SEIZURES

SLEEP DISORDERS

SCHIZOPHRENIA

ANGER MANAGEMENT PROBLEM 

DEPRESSION

MOOD SWINGS

WHERE YOU EVER SEXUALLY ABUSED?

LIST ALL MEDICATIONS

ARE YOU TAKING MIND ALTERING DRUGS YES/NO

LIST THREE OR MORE REFERENCES WHERE YOU WORKED 

REASONS FOR LEAVING

WHAT IS YOUR RELIGION  VERY /NOT VERY

DO YOU KNOW HEIMLICH MANEUVER  FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN
WHERE DID YOU LEARN IT?  CAN YOU DEMONSTRATE WITH THIS DOLL?

HOW DO YOU DISCIPLINE A CHILD

SLAP

HIT

SCOLD

PUNISH
OTHER

HOW DO YOU HANDLE A CRYING BABY

HOW DO YOU HANDLE A NAGGING CHILD

DEFINE YOUR REQUIREMENTS TO NANNY 

    After making reference calls, go on line looking for companies that does back ground checks.  It is worth the money and is not expensive. There is also a Nanny Personality and Risk Assessment test in addition to the above that you can obtain on line. When the Nanny is hired, make sure you have a Nanny Cam hidden in an appropriate place.

    One last advice and most important.  Find time to sit down with your nanny, asking how she is feeling, especially if she has a cold, or problems at home.  Most young mothers are only interested in news relating to their children. Some nannies are lonely with no one to talk to.  The best way to find out what is in her head or what's troubling her is conversation and showing you care.
    Good luck
 

If you wish to comment, add your experiences, or offer advice to our readers, please do so by clicking on COMMENTS

Thalidomide Dilemma

 Why I am outraged at the pharmaceutical companies.  It all started 57 years ago when I met a Thalidomide friend. After telling me her mother took the prescribed drug for morning sickness and anxieties, I wondered why the doctors did not protect her.

There are many parents today who are taking their young children to doctors for prescription drugs to help them grow taller, make them more alert, calm them down, make them sleep better, perform better in sports, schools, etc.  The nice doctors oblige but hardly give the parents the side effects. Most important, they honestly do not know the long term results of those drugs.  Still they administer them. And that is my case for this issue

In my friend’s memory I wrote a eulogy August 2010 on my web site:  www.pushthewheel.com.  It mentions her plus a video showing children who were affected.

If one would look up Thalidomide they would read as follows: Thalidomide is a sedative drug introduced in the late 1950s that was used to treat morning sickness and aid sleep. It was sold from 1957 until 1961, when it was withdrawn after being found to be a cause of birth defects. Since my friend was born July, 1939 one would say the above information was untrue.

Thalidomide was launched by Grünenthal on 1 October 1957.  It was effective as a tranquilizer and painkiller, and was proclaimed a "wonder drug" for insomnia, coughs, colds and headaches. It was also good for pregnant women who had morning sickness. So my question is how did they know, (the medical profession) if the drug harmed them or their children afterwards. Wasn’t there research out there then? At the time of the drug's development, scientists did not believe any drug taken by a pregnant woman could pass across the placental barrier and harm the fetus.

Grunenthal has claimed to have lost documents relating to drug trials but Dr Johnson said its 1954 patent for Thalidomide indicated it had already been tested on humans before official tests began. Isn’t that interesting how all those formulas and documents got lost? It was noted that the drug was being tested and marketed in Germany in the early 1900 as an insecticide and found it did dangerous things.

An Australian class action law suit led my Lynette Rowe, a Thalidomide victim, was settled July 17, 2012, it was believed to be in the millions of dollars and paving the way for class action victims to receive further compensation.

Argentinian author Carlos De Napoli says he has discovered a November 1944 document from German pharmaceutical company IG Farben which refers to a substance with the same chemical formula as Thalidomide. In his book Hitler's Laboratories, he states company director Fritz ter Meer sent a memo to Karl Brandt, an SS general who ran Hitler's euthanasia programme.

The memo refers to the drug by a number - 4589 - and adds it has been tested and is ready for use. “There is absolutely no doubt of the Nazi development of, and experimentation with, thalidomide in the World War Two camps,' he said.

But documents unearthed by Dr Martin Johnson, director of the Thalidomide Trust, suggest it was created as a antidote to nerve toxins including sarin and was developed by Otto Ambros, a Third Reich scientist. Dr Johnson claims the drug was worked on by Ambros before he went to Grunenthal after the war.

'It is now appearing increasingly likely that thalidomide was the last war crime of the Nazis,' Dr Johnson said

.

The company insists it was invented in 1953 but a document suggests it had previously purchased the trade name Contergan, and therefore presumably the drug, from a French firm which had been controlled by the Nazis.

He concludes in a report: "The patents suggest that thalidomide was probably one of a number of products developed at [chemical laboratory] Dyhernfurth or Auschwitz-Monowitz [a synthetic rubber and petrol processing plant which used labour from concentration camps] under the leadership of Otto Ambros in the course of nerve gas research."

Recently it was just published in the Palm Beach Post that Germany apologized to all surviving Thalidomide victims.  Sorry, that just won’t do. There should be more pressures to the various countries especially Germany to compensate all Thalidomide survivors and their heirs. An Apology is simply not enough