Follow the Yellow Brick Road? Not Me

What was it the wizard told Dorothy and her friends, once they finally made it to the Emerald City to get his advice, in the movie The Wizard of Oz? Something like, "Don't look behind the curtain! Don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain!" Well, folks,the more I research and learn

for myself the composition of the things that surround us, that have been developed and marketed in the commercial arena, the more skeptical I get about the true motivation of the corporate entities in our country. I prefer my own path instead of dancing mindlessly down the yellow brick road, to the land of poison poppies that dull the senses and leave one neurologically impaired, to the point that one will take and do anything regardless of the cost to them, their families, or mankind.

I have written about GMO products before. Why have so many countries around the world banned all GMO seed production and growth from their borders? Is it because they understand and care about the dire consequences of feeding their people and livestock these products? Why are countries refusing shipments of grain exported from our country because of the GMO content of the shipment? Could it possibly be so it won't contaminate their crops and poison their people?

Sometimes Frank suffers with migraines, as do many other people. We were reading about MSG (monosodium glutamate) the other day and didn't know how many other 'names' it goes by. Here is a partial list of these other names according to truthinlabeling.org. Check the link to see the rest of the list, it is much longer than this one.

• Glutamic acid, Glutamate
• Monosodium glutamate
• Monopotassium glutamate
• Calcium glutamate
• Monoammonium glutamate
• Magnesium glutamate
• Natrium glutamate
• Anything “hydrolyzed”
• Any “hydrolyzed protein”
• Calcium caseinate,  Sodium caseinate
• Gelatin
• Soy sauce
• Soy sauce extract 

Some of the common side effects of MSG are: headaches, nausea, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, flushing or excessive sweating, skin rash, numbness, intense thirst, lethargy or sleepiness, ringing ears and tingling in the mouth. Not all people suffer from the same side effects, but just reading about it makes me want to try to eliminate as much as possible from our diet.

Another item in our culture that has become very popular, to the point of ridicule if you don't use it, is hand sanitizer. Yes, hand sanitizer. Does it make you 'safe' from all of those unwanted germs, or does it lower your body's ability to protect itself by killing off the natural protection your skin provides? Here are a few excerpts from an article at The Health Site.
"In a study published in the Science Daily, carried out by the Northwestern Research Center found that a child’s immunity is seriously affected by the

use of hand sanitizers." And, "Some hand sanitizers don’t have alcohol content and use triclosan instead. Triclosan is an anti bacterial and anti fungal agent and is commonly used in a variety of soaps and cleaning agents. But, did you know that it is an active ingredient in pesticides? Another thing to consider is the fact that the compound has been widely touted as an agent that causes the formation of super bugs or antibiotic resistant bacteria.  Triclosan, as a component, is capable of quickly being absorbed into the skin and entering the blood stream, once there, it is known to cause various side effects like cancer, allergies, hormonal and neurological ill effects and muscle weakness. More importantly, it is known to cause infertility." This is just two of the possible side effects listed on this site. If you use hand sanitizer or antibacterial anything, please look into how it may affect you and yours. What you find may be very surprising.  Adequate use of soap and water will generally take care of any cleaning or disinfecting your hands may need.

Fresh air, we all love it, right? So, if the air is not fresh and sweet smelling, Madison Avenue will provide us with a way to freshen it up. From things you plug into the wall, to machines that 'freshen' the room at timed intervals, to the option of spraying away at your hearts content, we have been provided with every 'good' scent known to man right at our finger tips. According to Health Scams Exposed, "It may surprise you to know that the air fresheners you use don’t actually make the odor in your home go away. Your home smells good when you use them because they actually change the way your nose perceives odors. A chemical called p-dichlorobenzene deadens the nerve cells in your nose by coating your nostrils in a type of film." The article goes on to say, "The Centers for Disease Control classifies p-dichlorobenzene as a possible occupational carcinogen. It has also been reported to cause asthma, allergy attacks, eye irritation, liver disease, kidney malfunction, gastrointestinal problems, and skin rash." This site goes to include information about some of the chemicals included in air fresheners. Air fresheners may include the ingredients:

phthalates, a powerful endocrine disruptor; parabens, which are found in deodorant as well, are known carcinogens among other things; formaldehyde, which affects your respiratory tract and has been classified as a carcinogen for over 20 years; petrochemicals, which are also in pesticides, cause breathing problems, headaches and neurological dysfunction among other problems; and benzene, a flammable, sweet-smelling chemical that is a carcinogen, is linked to leukemia, and can affect the composition of your blood cells.

Frank has never been able to walk down the soap aisle at the store, through the tire store or by someone that has on way too much cheap perfume without getting an instant headache. It seems to him that the type

of people that wear cheap perfume think that the more they wear, the better it works. They wear so much you can taste it. Yuck! Obviously it has some kind of deadening agent in it as well, because it deadens the senses of the men around them, according to Frank. So what chemical scents are included in soaps, shampoos, laundry detergent or a wide variety of cleaners? Obviously there are many other chemicals that are released into the air and absorbed into our bodies. What affect they have on us is individualized depending upon our sensitivities, but the fact that they affect us all is undeniable.

And what about the clothes we buy? When you buy clothes at the store or order them online, have you ever noticed that chemical smell when you open the package or pick them up? According to Fibre2Fashion "Formaldehyde is commonly used in garments as an embalming fluid

to give a 'permanent press' look. Excessive content of this chemical in our clothes can cause irritation in eyes, skin, nose, and result in respiratory problems, and diseases like cancer. It can also result in headaches, skin rashes, nausea, and chronic fatigue. Just by simply touching those products, or breathing the formaldehyde they release into the air, can cause intense symptoms." So when it comes to formaldehyde, we eat it, breathe it, dress in it, all of which can and does cause serious health issues. Then after it kills us, they preserve us with it until they can get us in the ground. Amazing, huh? We always make sure to wash any new item of clothing, or anything made of cloth, before we use it just to try to eliminate as many of these added chemicals as possible.

How many other chemical agents are out there that include a deadening agent to get us to ingest it, breathe it, drink it or absorb it? I had no idea that the mechanism of delivery for scents was to numb the olfactory nerves so that the 'foul' odors are no longer detectable. That's amazing. Why have so many things been allowed to be 'innocently' sold to the public when there are documented ill affects to health? What is the planned outcome for putting all of the poisonous chemicals in food, water, air, clothes, houses, etc., etc.? Each one of these chemicals are individually tested and deemed 'safe' at so many part per million. But what about the combination of all of them together? Our government seems to think they are safe. Right? Would they lie to us? No, not our government, not Big Brother. 

Frank and I have talked about this many times. I truly believe at the onset, the ability to produce some chemical agents was for the benefit of mankind. Men, yes, men, are designed as problem solvers. As the industrial age came into full force, men wanted to design and create things that would make life easier for their families. The first wives to receive a washing machine from their husbands were very happy women indeed. So the creation of some chemicals provided a way to preserve food a little longer, made a plastic wrap that would keep the flies off of food and kept the moisture in, and just made life a little easier. When did things change from benefiting mankind to anything for a buck? When did profits and pleasing the stockholders take precedence over caring for the workers and customers? When did cold, calculating greed win? 

Some people think there are just too many people on our planet and these things have to happen just to provide for the ever growing demand for basic necessities and comforts. Some people think that if these harmful substances had not been implemented to begin with, the balance in

population vs. production would have taken care of itself. You know, supply and demand. When there are not enough rabbits to feed the coyotes the population density of the coyotes decline. But if artificial means are utilized to create an over abundance of rabbits, the coyote population will increase as well. What happens when the artificial means start impacting the health of the rabbits to the point where it produces an inferior specimen or causes lethal heath issues? In turn, how does

that impact the population of the coyote? Is this a sustainable system? No. Are we caught right in the middle of all of it? Yes, very sadly we are. So, now what? Frank and I both agree there is absolutely no way we can avoid all chemicals. Everything we eat, wear, breathe, drink, read and look at has been impacted by chemicals one way or another. What can we do? Research, learn and modify the way we do things as much as possible. Has much damage already been done to our bodies? Yes. Is it reversible? I don't know. Maybe some of it is. But I do know that God has given me this task to perform. Why, I do not know. I only know that I am supposed to learn as much as I can. Now. Not later. The choice is mine and I choose to live the best way I know how. What about you?

Until next time - Fern