David versus Goliath

By Dr. Mercola

Monsanto has long been trying to establish control over the seeds of the plants that produce food for the world. 
They have already patented a number of genetically altered food crops, which can only be grown with proper license, and the seeds for which must be purchased anew each year.
But genetically engineered crops cannot be contained.
And rather than being found guilty of contaminating farmers' property, Monsanto has successfully sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement.
Many farmers have subsequently, quite literally, lost their farms.
Percy Schmeiser of Saskatchewan, Canada, was also a victim of Monsanto's vile ways.
Schmeiser worked on farming and developing his own seeds for 50 years, and when his fields were contaminated, Monsanto threatened him, intimidated him, and tried to take his land away. 
But Schmeiser refused to give in, and eventually beat them in court.

David versus Goliath

Percy's story is a classic case of David versus Goliath, and his victory is no doubt momentous.
It all began in 1998, at which time Schmeiser had grown canola on his farm for 40 years. Like any other traditional farmer, he used his own seeds, saved from the previous harvest. But, like hundreds of other North American farmers, Schmeiser ended up being sued by Monsanto for 'patent infringement.'
More than 320 hectares were found to be contaminated with Roundup Ready canola—the biotech giant's patented canola, genetically engineered to tolerate otherwise lethal doses of glyphosate. The company sought damages totaling $400,000.
Most farmers end up settling, but Schmeiser was angry enough to fight back. In a 1999 interview, Schmeiser stated:

"I never put those plants on my land. The question is, where do Monsanto's rights end and mine begin?"

The case eventually went before the Federal Court of Canada. Schmeiser in turn accused Monsanto of:

• Libel, by publicly accusing him of committing illegal acts
• Trespassing
• Improperly obtaining samples of his seed from a local seed plant
• Callous disregard for the environment by introducing genetically modified crops without proper controls and containment
• Contamination of his crops with unwanted GM plants

After 10 Years, Monsanto Agrees to Pay for Cleanup

After a decade-long battle, Schmeiser won when, in March 2008, Monsanto settled out of court, agreeing to pay for all cleanup costs. The agreement also specified that Schmeiser would not be under gag-order, and that Monsanto can be sued for recontamination.
This was a much-needed win not just for Schmeiser, but for farmers everywhere. It set the precedence that farmers may be entitled to reimbursement when their fields are contaminated with unwanted GM crops (as indeed they should!). On Schmeiser's website, www.percyschmeiser.com, he states:

"If I would go to St. Louis and contaminate their plots--destroy what they have worked on for 40 years--I think I would be put in jail and the key thrown away."

However, that's not to say that farmers have nothing to fear anymore… The Federal Court of Canada did uphold the validity of Monsanto's patent, dismissing Schmeiser's challenge to the patent based on the fact that Monsanto cannot control its spread. Worse yet, while the judge agreed that a farmer can generally claim ownership of crops growing in his fields when they're inadvertently carried there by pollen or wind, this does not hold true when it comes to patented, genetically modified seed. Schmeiser was deeply upset about this particular part of the ruling, as the implications are huge.
Still, in this case, while Monsanto's patent was still deemed valid and enforceable, Schmeiser was not forced to pay for the 'privilege' of having his fields contaminated…
This landmark case is now featured in the documentary film "David versus Monsanto." (See the trailer above.)

The Riceland Foods Lawsuit—Another Successful Strike-Back against GM Contamination

More recently, Riceland Foods, the largest rice cooperative in the U.S. won its lawsuit against the Bayer Corporation after its natural long-grain rice was contaminated with Bayer's unapproved genetically engineered rice. It was just one of about 3,000 similar lawsuits filed against Bayer in recent years. In April of last year, Bayer CropScience was also ordered to pay a dozen Arkansas farmers nearly $50 million "for allowing a genetically altered strain of rice to escape into the commercial market, damaging rice prices in 2006," a Bloomberg Law article reported.
As a result of the contamination with Bayer's unapproved experimental GM rice, countries within the European Union refused to purchase U.S. long grain rice, and American rice farmers and cooperatives lost $389 million in projected sales, not to mention the clean-up costs.
The jury determined that Bayer caused "tremendous harm to Riceland and the entire industry," awarding Riceland $11.8 million in compensatory damages and $125 million in punitive damages.
In this case, the genetically engineered rice, known as LibertyLink, was never actually approved for commercial planting. It's an experimental crop, meant to be sown for research purposes only. However, it's a perfect example of just how impossible it is to contain genetically engineered crops once they're in the ground.
Biotech corporations have tried to convince everyone that their genetically altered crops pose no danger to the environment and other nearby crops, and that the issue of contamination is an insignificant one. Clearly, the reality is very different from what they've projected. There's simply NO way to avoid contamination! Genetically modified (GM) seed crops can, and most certainly do, spread beyond their designated fields.

GM Contamination Spreading Like Uncontained Wildfire

Contamination can occur in a number of different ways. Pollen drift from field to field via insects and wind is just the beginning.
In August of last year, the Food Freedom blog reported that the Irish government discovered they'd accidentally planted banned GM maize, originating from Monsanto. In this case, the contamination originated from the seed supplier, Pioneer Hi-Bred Northern Europe, a subsidiary of DuPont. Random tests by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF), discovered that three out of 1,000 plants were contaminated by Monsanto's illegal GM maize, NK603. The crop was subsequently destroyed to protect organic farms in the area.
But the full extent of the contamination is uncertain, as it was only discovered through random testing. The seed had already been verified as "GM-free" by Pioneer Hi-Bred itself.
Other recent cases of widespread contamination include:

• 2010: Monsanto's GM corn was discovered across 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) in seven German states. Since Germany doesn't allow GM corn to be planted, the farmers had to destroy their crops. These farmers had to "eat" their losses, as the seed companies refused to accept liability for the contamination.
• 2007: Pollen drift from GM maize (MON810) fields were found to have contaminated hundreds of conventional and organic farmers in Spain, the only country in the EU that allows GM maize to be cultivated.

In the latter case, a 2009 Greenpeace report documents the profound socioeconomic and human impacts the contamination has had. Part of the summary reads:

"The farmers' stories tell of an alarming reduction in the amount of organic maize being grown and the direct negative impacts that genetically modified organisms have on the population. These organic producers have voluntarily opted out of the conventional or GM farming model, many out of dedication to the principles of sustainability.
 Now, they face contamination from neighboring GM crops, even when they take measures to try to avoid cross pollination of the plants. For an organic farmer, genetic contamination is an unmitigated disaster. This report tells the stories of real people who have experienced losses not of their own making. Adding insult to injury, they often have to pay for testing or other protection measures themselves.
… There are no safeguards for MON 810 cultivation, and co-existence of GM and non-modified crops is impossible." [Emphasis mine.]

That's the reality of the situation, and this is precisely why we must fight against the approval of each and every new genetically engineered crop. They simply cannot be contained. And the same will be true for other genetically engineered foods, such as salmon. All genetically engineered foods absolutely WILL contaminate their conventional and organic counterparts, and destroy diversity.
This is also what makes the recent approval of GM alfalfa in the U.S. so incredibly dangerous. The release of GM alfalfa quite literally threatens the entire organic industry, including organic meat, as alfalfa is the fourth most grown crop in the US, and is used to produce forage seed and hay to feed cows and other livestock.

Protecting Our Food Supply is Everyone's Business! 

It's quite clear that genetically engineered foods threaten not only biodiversity and the environment, it can also pose potentially serious threats to animal and human health when consumed. Unfortunately, the revolving door between the biotech industry and the agencies in charge of industry legislation makes it very difficult to stop the ongoing madness.
That does not mean it's impossible, however. But it does require your active participation.
First and foremost, avoid buying GM foods! Since the industry has successfully squelched every attempt at getting genetically engineered foods labeled, avoiding them requires you to be an educated consumer.

• Print out the Non-GMO Shopping Guide and refer to it often. It can help you identify and avoid foods with GMOs. You can also download the free iPhone application that is available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.
• Better yet, always buy USDA 100% Organic products when possible as these do not permit GM ingredients, or buy whole fresh produce and meat from local farmers. The majority of the GMO's you're exposed to are via processed foods, so by cooking from scratch with whole foods, you can be sure you're not inadvertently consuming something laced with GM ingredients.
• When you do purchase processed food, avoid products containing anything related to corn or soy that are not 100 percent organic, as any foods containing these two non-organic ingredients are virtually guaranteed to contain genetically engineered ingredients.
• For ongoing updates, follow our Non-GMO’s page on Facebook.

We CAN shift the balance by simply voting with our pocketbooks. Europe successfully did this over a decade ago, without any government assistance, and Americans can drive GMO's out of our food supply as well, but it requires educating the public about what GM foods are.

Important Action Item: Support California's Ballot Initiative to Label GMO's!

In 2007, then-Presidential candidate Obama promised to "immediately" require GM labeling if elected. So far, nothing of the sort has transpired.
Fortunately, 24 U.S. states have (as part of their state governance) something called the Initiative Process, where residents can bring to ballot any law they want enacted, as long as it has sufficient support. California has been busy organizing just such a ballot initiative to get mandatory labeling for genetically engineered foods sold in their state. The proposed law will be on the ballot for 2012.
Michigan and Washington are also starting similar campaigns.
Since California is the 8th largest economy in the world, a win for the California Initiative would be a huge step forward, and would affect ingredients and labeling nation-wide. Last month, a coalition of consumer, public health and environmental organizations, food companies, and individuals submitted the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act to the State Attorney General. Now, they need 800,000 signatures to get the Act on next year’s ballot.
I urge you to get involved and help in any way you can.
If you live in California, volunteer to gather petition signatures. If you live outside of California, please donate to help support this Initiative and spread the word to everyone you know in California. Be assured that what happens in California will affect the remainder of the U.S. states, so please support this important state initiative, even if you do not live there!

SPAIN 1494

Columbus' letter to the King and Queen of Spain, 1494
(Undated, probably 1494)

Most High and Mighty Sovereigns,

In obedience to your Highnesses' commands, and with submission to superior judgment, I will say whatever occurs to me in reference to the colonization and commerce of the Island of Espanola, and of the other islands, both those already discovered and those that may be discovered hereafter.

In the first place, as regards the Island of Espanola: Inasmuch as the number of colonists who desire to go thither amounts to two thousand, owing to the land being safer and better for farming and trading, and because it will serve as a place to which they can return and from which they can carry on trade with the neighboring islands:

That in the said island there shall be founded three or four towns, situated in the most convenient places, and that the settlers who are there be assigned to the aforesaid places and towns.
That for the better and more speedy colonization of the said island, no one shall have liberty to collect gold in it except those who have taken out colonists' papers, and have built houses for their abode, in the town in which they are, that they may live united and in greater safety.
That each town shall have its alcalde [Mayor] ... and its notary public, as is the use and custom in Castile.
That there shall be a church, and parish priests or friars to administer the sacraments, to perform divine worship, and for the conversion of the Indians.
That none of the colonists shall go to seek gold without a license from the governor or alcalde of the town where he lives; and that he must first take oath to return to the place whence he sets out, for the purpose of registering faithfully all the gold he may have found, and to return once a month, or once a week, as the time may have been set for him, to render account and show the quantity of said gold; and that this shall be written down by the notary before the aIcalde, or, if it seems better, that a friar or priest, deputed for the purpose, shall be also present
That all the gold thus brought in shall be smelted immediately, and stamped with some mark that shall distinguish each town; and that the portion which belongs to your Highnesses shall be weighed, and given and consigned to each alcalde in his own town, and registered by the above-mentioned priest or friar, so that it shall not pass through the hands of only one person, and there shall he no opportunity to conceal the truth.
That all gold that may be found without the mark of one of the said towns in the possession of any one who has once registered in accordance with the above order shall be taken as forfeited, and that the accuser shall have one portion of it and your Highnesses the other.
That one per centum of all the gold that may be found shall be set aside for building churches and adorning the same, and for the support of the priests or friars belonging to them; and, if it should be thought proper to pay any thing to the alcaldes or notaries for their services, or for ensuring the faithful perforce of their duties, that this amount shall be sent to the governor or treasurer who may be appointed there by your Highnesses.
As regards the division of the gold, and the share that ought to be reserved for your Highnesses, this, in my opinion, must be left to the aforesaid governor and treasurer, because it will have to be greater or less according to the quantity of gold that may be found. Or, should it seem preferable, your Highnesses might, for the space of one year, take one half, and the collector the other, and a better arrangement for the division be made afterward.
That if the said alcaldes or notaries shall commit or be privy to any fraud, punishment shall be provided, and the same for the colonists who shall not have declared all the gold they have.
That in the said island there shall be a treasurer, with a clerk to assist him, who shall receive all the gold belonging to your Highnesses, and the alcaldes and notaries of the towns shall each keep a record of what they deliver to the said treasurer.
As, in the eagerness to get gold, every one will wish, naturally, to engage in its search in preference to any other employment, it seems to me that the privilege of going to look for gold ought to be withheld during some portion of each year, that there may be opportunity to have the other business necessary for the island performed.
In regard to the discovery of new countries, I think permission should be granted to all that wish to go, and more liberality used in the matter of the fifth, making the tax easier, in some fair way, in order that many may be disposed to go on voyages.

I will now give my opinion about ships going to the said Island of Espanola, and the order that should be maintained; and that is, that the said ships should only be allowed to discharge in one or two ports designated for the purpose, and should register there whatever cargo they bring or unload; and when the time for their departure comes, that they should sail from these same ports, and register all the cargo they take in, that nothing may be concealed.

In reference to the transportation of gold from the island to Castile, that all of it should be taken on board the ship, both that belonging to your Highnesses and the property of every one else; that it should all be placed in one chest with two locks, with their keys, and that the master of the vessel keep one key and some person selected by the governor and treasurer the other; that there should come with the gold, for a testimony, a list of all that has been put into the said chest, properly marked, so that each owner may receive his own; and that, for the faithful performance of this duty, if any gold whatsoever is found outside of the said chest in any way, be it little or much, it shall be forfeited to your Highnesses.
That all the ships that come from the said island shall be obliged to make their proper discharge in the port of Cadiz, and that no person shall disembark or other person be permitted to go on board until the ship has been visited by the person or persons deputed for that purpose, in the said city, by your Highnesses, to whom the master shall show all that he carries, and exhibit the manifest of all the cargo, it may be seen and examined if the said ship brings any thing hidden and not known at the time of lading.
That the chest in which the said gold has been carried shall be opened in the presence of the magistrates of the said city of Cadiz, and of the person deputed for that purpose by your Highnesses, and his own property be given to each owner. -

I beg your Highnesses to hold me in your protection; and I remain, praying our Lord God for your Highnesses' lives and the increase of much greater States.

I am OLD ... so what ..

I am OLD ... so what ..
Posted: 2011-12-18 19:58:27 UTC-08:00
You may have planned to sip margaritas on the beach during your retirement, but if the recent stock market tumble has taken a good chunk of your savings with it, you may need to explore other options. Part-time work can help you pick up a few extra paychecks to cover basic expenses or perks such as travel and entertainment while your retirement portfolio rebounds.
While the job market has had better days, a range of options -- with good pay, flexible hours and interesting and meaningful work -- are available to people 50 and older. If you are 55 now , its not too late to start afresh something which you have longed for but just could not find the time nor the heart to jump into.

The children are all grown up and have lives of their own … you can do things now for JUST YOU …. Or your spouse if she or he is still around !!!

Septiclouds

Coming your way

Go Safe DIETING

A safe and sensible detox plan by Weight Loss Resource's Dietitian, Juliette Kellow.

Rather than following an extreme detox plan that limits just about every food except fruit and veg while at the same time getting you to down a nasty ‘detox’ drink every day, this plan is safer and more sensible and shouldn’t leave you short on nutrients if you follow it for just one week.

Foods to include in the plan

Your plan can include:
Fruit – your plan can include any fruit including fresh, frozen, dried or canned in natural fruit juice. This includes apples, bananas, pears, oranges, grapefruit, satsumas, sultanas, raisins, pineapple, mango, kiwi fruit, strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, nectarines, peaches, melons, star fruit etc

Fruit juice – either make homemade fruit juices or smoothies from fresh fruit, or drink ready-made juices. Make sure ready-made juices are labelled as being ‘pure’ or ‘unsweetened’.

Vegetables – eat any vegetables including fresh, frozen or canned in water (without salt added). This includes carrots, onions, turnip, swede, sprouts, cabbage, peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn, peppers, leeks, courgettes, broccoli, cauliflower, salad, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions etc

Beans and lentils – eat any beans, including those that have been dried or canned in water. This includes red kidney, haricot, cannellini, butter, black eye, pinto, red lentils, green lentils and brown lentils

Tofu and Quorn

Oats – sprinkle oats over fresh fruit or use to make porridge, sweetened with honey and fresh fruit

Potatoes – all types

Brown rice and rice noodles

Rye crackers, rice cakes and oatcakes

Fresh fish – eat any fresh fish including cod, plaice, mackerel, salmon, lobster, crab, trout, haddock, tuna, prawns, Dover sole, red mullet, halibut, lemon sole, monkfish, swordfish etc. Canned fish in water is suitable too eg salmon or tuna

Unsalted nuts – eat any including Brazil, peanuts, almonds, cashew, hazel nuts, macadamia, pecans, pine nuts, pistachio, walnuts etc

Unsalted seeds – eat any including sunflower and pumpkin

Plain popcorn – without sugar or salt

Live natural yoghurt

Extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Garlic, ginger and fresh herbs

Ground black pepper

Honey

Water – at least 2 litres a day. Tap or mineral water is fine.

Herbal or fruit teas

Beware .. foods lovers ..

There was no need for detoxing our bodies centuries ago, food was pure and unaltered. Now we know that lots of food contains chemicals, to preserve it, to colored it, to make it look good, to make it grow faster. We know that the makers don't care about our health only about their sales increase, that the governments are corrupt etc. We see increasing cases of cancer, strokes etc. just a sign that our body can not cope anymore not only with what we take in orally but also what we inhale.

The loss of fat from the Adipose sites can also increase the toxic load on the level as the fat acts as a store for toxins to keep them away from the liver. As soon as these sites are emptied and the fat used for metabolism (during weight loss), the toxins are released back into the blood stream and hence have to be dealt with by the liver which can cause toxic overload and actually harm the person who is supposedly detoxifying !

Avoid
Lead
In the ancient world and the middle ages, sugar of lead (lead acetate) was used to sweeten wines, usually resulting in severe and widespread lead poisoning. Something similar happened in England in the 18th Century when the cider producers used it for the same purpose. The resulting symptoms were so common that they became known as Devonshire Colic. Its use in sweetening beers was banned in England in the early part of the 20th century. Although no longer so common in our environment it is estimated that over half a million children in the USA have dangerously high levels.

Mercury
The Victorians used mercury compounds in ointments and as a cure for diseases such as syphilis but they were also quite capable of dishing it out to their children as a cure for constipation. Experts rate it as being between 1000 and 5000 times more toxic than lead. Replace these amalgam tooth fillings as soon as you can! The UK is a curious case, most countries are eliminating amalgam in dentistry, some even paying citizens to have their old stoppings replaced, however the British State discourages removal. There are probably economic reasons for this. Symptoms are too numerous to mention. On the Hints and Tips Website we have had several people posting tips on health who say that having their fillings removed made a dramatic difference.

Cadmium
A serious poison, however it is no longer a high risk in the developed countries. The metal was until quite recently used as an anti-corrosion coating. Like Aluminium it is known to cause a type of damage to brain cells that are characteristic of Alzheimer's Disease. Search Keywords; neurfibrillary tangles, Early onset dementia (EOD)
Aluminum (also Aluminium)

Not by definition a heavy metal but definitely to be avoided. Aluminum is perhaps the most serious toxin in our environment. By far the most serious threat is the use of alum to take the cloudiness out of drinking water. Other sources are to be found in antacids and food additives such as aerating or raising agents. The body has several systems in place to prevent it from reaching the brain as, once past the blood-brain barrier it is more neurotoxic than cadmium or mercury. If you are pregnant or lactating then avoid.

Like lead it has been implicated in behavioral problems (such as Attention Deficit Disorder) in children. Aluminum intoxication is usually a slow process and it can take 15 to 20 years for the symptoms to develop. No figures appear to exist regarding its duration in the brain, however some experts set the half-life at 100 years plus. Older people have less effective kidneys and blood-brain barriers and are therefore much more at risk. Other groups at risk are those with the chromosome 21 disorder that is common among Alzheimer's sufferers also the abnormal condition that results in Downs Syndrome. The widespread use of aluminum in additives and medications is reminiscent of the 'sugar of lead disaster' of the last century - see Lead. Aluminium is used as a catalyst in the production of some margarines and spreads. A dangerous new fad is using Alum crystals to rub under arm areas to inhibit perspiration. Even some apparently reputable health food stores stock them, claiming falsely that they do not have the type of aluminum that gets in to the body. Ask if they are from Bauxite and the assistant will usually agree but be quite unaware that Bauxite is the principal source of aluminum. More information

Arsenic
Present in groundwater in some countries. When visiting Bangladesh take note of where the water you drink comes from. The practice of obtaining drinking water from tube wells has led to what is perhaps the world's worst environmental disaster. The government there has been slow to respond to the problem and some of the measures taken to try to correct the problem has added more toxicity to the water. There has been some concern in the USA that the relaxation of regulations has allowed some groundwater to reach levels that could be harmful over long periods of time. The mining industry is usually the cause of the problem. If there are mining activity in your area make enquiries.

Nickel
Like Aluminum, Nickel has increased in the human environment over the past few decades, getting in to our bodies via industrial pollution and stainless steel cookware. Nickel has until recent times not been considered a serious toxin, however it is one of the many pollutants known to cause allergies. Margarines, even some so called healthy options have traces as it is used as a catalyst in the production process.

Copper
An essential nutrient in small quantities, copper from water pipes can in theory pose a problem, especially in soft water and acid water regions, however copper is of much lower toxicity than many other metals and only very rarely poses a problem.
Fluorine

The "Wrecking Ball" of the elements. The only substances that are more damaging to living cells than free fluorine atoms are the radioactive isotopes. In my opinion the only valid medical uses of fluorine compounds are in anti-cancer treatments where fluoride "killers" are steered to the affected cells to wipe them out.

Before "Molecular Biology" appeared as a subject of study and the havoc wreaked by many fluorine compounds was fully appreciated, it was decided that fluorides should be added to drinking water to strengthen our teeth, however it has since become apparent that general health is damaged significantly by the practice. Fluorine compounds soon leaves the body as it is such an active substance. Some experts suggest that tea can prevents fluorine from entering the bloodstream.

Silver
Pretty rare these days to find someone with acute silver poisoning, but it adds to the toxic load. Body piercing, tooth fillings and the bactericide in some water filters can contribute. Silver poisoning is known as Argyria.

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/img/d/detox-fruit-veg.jpg

the killer oil

The oil in the food you eat may well have been recycled and meant for diesel engines or some other industrial use.

Unscrupulous manufacturers buy repeatedly used cooking oil from restaurants and process it for sale in 1kg packets.

As it is cheap, it is popular not just among the public. Many food outlets buy the used oil in new packaging while livestock farmers use it for animal feed.

Thus, the meat they sell, cooked with the oil, is doubly hazardous to your health.

slowly killing yourself

he oil in the food you eat may well have been recycled and meant for diesel engines or some other industrial use.

Unscrupulous manufacturers buy repeatedly used cooking oil from restaurants and process it for sale in 1kg packets.

As it is cheap, it is popular not just among the public. Many food outlets buy the used oil in new packaging while livestock farmers use it for animal feed.

Thus, the meat they sell, cooked with the oil, is doubly hazardo

gimme one reason

Superfoods The Mushrooms

By Dr. Mercola

Steve Farrar has a Masters Degree in Horticulture from the Washington State University and has worked and studied mushrooms professionally for the last 30 years.

The first 20 years he spent growing them and working primarily with gourmet chefs, but in the past decade, he's started applying his expertise of mushrooms to health purposes.

According to Farrar, Americans consume about 900 million pounds of mushrooms a year, but 95 percent of that just one species: the common button mushroom and its relatives, the Crimini and the Portabello mushrooms.

In more recent years, mushrooms have received a lot of attention, both in gourmet cooking and in the pharmaceutical industry.

As you will soon learn, mushrooms are a largely untapped resource that can help increase your health and well-being.
The Unique Nutritional Properties of Mushrooms

"Mushrooms are defined as a fungus that forms a fleshy above-ground reproductive structure called the' mushroom fruit body,'" he explains.

Mushrooms should not be confused with mold and fungi however, which do not form fleshy fruit bodies. To learn more about the details of how mushrooms grow and propagate, please listen to the interview or read through the transcript. The common button mushroom, while not as 'interesting' as its more exotic cousins, is an excellent low-calorie food, especially for diabetics. It contains a number of valuable nutrients, including:
Protein
Enzymes
B vitamins (especially niacin)
Vitamin D2

However, Farrar's focus has been on growing various gourmet mushroom species, particularly the wood decaying mushroom species, which differ greatly from your average button mushroom in terms of biology, nutrition and medicinal value, as well as in the production and methodology of growing them.

"By virtue of them being primary decomposers, they have some unique nutritional and also health benefits to them," Farrar explains. "I tended to focus on species like Maitake, Shiitake, Enokitake, oyster mushrooms, brown beech mushrooms; mushrooms that people over the last 20 years were not really that familiar with."

The wood decaying mushrooms, which are preferred in Asia and parts of Europe, are quite different in terms of flavors and textures. They also tend to have valuable medicinal properties that differ from the button mushroom. And we've barely scratched the surface when it comes to understanding the value and importance of mushrooms as we've only classified about 10 percent of all available species.

"I'm continually humbled by my ignorance of what's going on in this incredible complex world of fungi," Farrar says. "It's just mind boggling. Even with the well-studied species, nearly every week they're finding a new bioactive component… Maybe it's a polysaccharide, maybe it's an enzyme, a protein, an antioxidant. They are continually finding new things that have profound effects when we consume them as a food or as a dietary supplement."
Mushrooms are "Superfoods"

According to Farrar, the effect mushrooms can have on human health is multifaceted, but they're most well-known for their immune-boosting properties. Long chain polysaccharides, particularly alpha- and beta glucan molecules, are primarily responsible for the mushrooms' beneficial effect on your immune system.

"They're host mediated responses, meaning that they are not going in like a pharmaceutical medicine and [like] a sledgehammer forcing your body in a particular way. They interact through your immune system itself by stimulating it and making it ready and efficient," he explains.

Mushrooms are excellent sources of antioxidants in general as they contain polyphenols and selenium, which are common in the plant world. But they also contain antioxidants that are unique to mushrooms. One such antioxidant is ergothioneine, which scientists are now beginning to recognize as a 'master antioxidant.' Interestingly, it's an amino acid that contains sulfur, and if you listened to my interview with Dr. Seneff on the highly underestimated importance of sulfur, you may recognize why this particular antioxidant may be of particular importance for human health, as many are severely deficient in sulfur.

"[I]t's one of the only antioxidants identified so far that our cells [use as] a transport system to actively take ergothioneine across the cell membrane into the cell, to the points of oxidative stress," Farrar explains. "It's a very significant antioxidant. It's probably eventually going to be called a vitamin… they barely even found ways to quantify it effectively. Mushrooms are an excellent source of this antioxidant. We can only get it from our diet. It's only produced by fungi and certainly soil inhabiting bacteria."

A 2009 study in the journal Nature discusses the importance of ergothioneine, describing it as "an unusual sulfur-containing derivative of the amino acid, histidine," which appears to have a very specific role in protecting your DNA from oxidative damage. So, if Farrar's assertions that your body needs ergothioneine, which is fairly exclusive to mushrooms, to effectively transport ergothioneine into your cells, it's easy to see how mushrooms may be an important part of an optimal diet. If you don't like to eat them whole, you can also find them in supplement form, either as an extract or whole food supplement, which I'll discuss more in a moment.
The Immune Enhancing Effects of Mushrooms

According to Farrar, many of the immune benefits obtained from mushrooms are due to the glyconutrients (complex sugars) contained in the fruit body and the mycelia.

"The vital information that can be contained in these sugars is astounding," he says. "…The way they communicate is… through receptor sites on your cells. It's described as a lock and a key. There are receptor sites depending on the physical structure of the polysaccharides, the side branches, and the substitutions on it, [and] they will lock on to certain components of your immune system and activate it much like they would be activated by coming into contact with the bacteria.

It's very profound effects, and we don't fully understand them… But it's really these long chained polysaccharides (that are immense complex structures), a lot of times bound with proteins or amino acids or different side chains, that have the effect on your immune system."

From a practical standpoint, what this means is that you can effectively elicit a very broad-based immune response by consuming a variety of different mushrooms of different species. Most likely, this is exactly what our ancestors used to do, and by eating a diverse variety of foods within each food group, you're giving your body everything it needs, thereby optimizing your genetic expression.
How Mushrooms Helped Win a Kentucky Derby

Now, some may argue that you typically would not consume the mycelia of the mushroom—which is the thread-like vegetative part of the mushroom that branches through the soil—because if you were to pick it in the wild, you'd typically snap off the top (the fruit body and stem), leaving the rest in the ground. However, Farrar points out that there's compelling evidence indicating that the mycelia have very valuable health properties.

Studies involving thoroughbred race horses, for example, offer a glimpse into what benefits mushroom products that include the mycelia might harbor. Farrar tells the story of how, in 2007, they convinced an East Coast trainer to put all the horses in his stable on a mushroom blend product developed by Farrar and his team.

"It contained a lot of the Cordyceps species, which is widely recognized as a performance mushroom, enhancing energy production. It had a number of other species and it helped with muscle recovery after strenuous exercise.

Basically, the 2007 Kentucky Derby winner 'Street Sense' was a horse that was on our product. The owner and trainer attributed a lot of the success to that. Interestingly enough, part of that was the performance energy component… another part of it was basically a behavioral aspect. It was totally unexpected on our part. The trainer said that [when the horse was] given this blend of mushroom… it was [like] a different horse… racehorses tend to be very fidgety and very high strung and they can be distracted. It's very difficult to focus their attention. They said once they started along this regimen of a daily dose of this mycelial blend of mushrooms, its trainability and focus [improved]; it was a different animal.

So instead of a lethargic sort of calming effect, it was more like an alert focus... That combined with the performance aspects, the muscle recovery, and the energy generation, was enough to make a difference they thought. Since then they have been spokesman for our products."

Others have found the same effects giving Farrar's product to their pets. Owners of elderly dogs in particular have reported that their dogs start acting like puppies again when taking it.
Usage and Dosage Recommendations

When it comes to mushroom supplements, there are two primary types:
Mushroom concentrates or extracts—Most of these are so-called hot water extracts, where either the mushroom mycelia or fruit body is boiled for extended periods of time to extract the long chain polysaccharides. Farrar explains:

"What you get basically is a concentrated form of these beta glucans. But the enzymes, the proteins, the amino acids, the dietary fiber, mostly the antioxidants, are either denatured, destroyed, or simply discarded.

While you do get a very concentrated amount of these – generally, they also try to purify it to get them down to a minimum of variation [so] they can standardize it… Not to say that those aren't valuable products. In extreme cases of advanced cancer, tumors, all sorts of things, that is a very appropriate thing… Particularly as a complimentary therapy."
Whole food/Raw mushrooms—Consuming the mushrooms raw or using a whole food mushroom (powdered pill) product is generally a better alternative if you're reasonably healthy and looking to maintain optimal health, as they help maintain ideal function of your various systems as opposed to imparting a direct effect. Most of the knowledge about mushrooms come from ancient Chinese medicine where mushrooms are regarded as tonics. Tonics are considered to have non-specific beneficial effects across several systems of your body that do not decline over time.

If you choose to eat your mushrooms raw, make sure they are organically grown, as their flesh easily absorb air and soil contaminants. Likewise, you'll want to make sure any product you buy is certified organic for the same reason.

Furthermore, Farrar points out that whole mushrooms also provide healthful dietary fiber that act as "prebiotic platforms for the growth of probiotic organisms in your gut," which is very important for digestive health. This is yet another reason to opt for a whole food mushroom product.

There are no toxicities or resistance build-up associated with mushrooms, Farrar says. Your body will simply use what it needs and expel the rest. One of the most famous medicinal mushrooms is Reishi, revered as "the mushroom of immortality" by the Chinese, who typically take it every day.

"If you take a massive dose of these mycelial products, you're not going to overdose on them… You can't overdose," he says. "Typically when people start on these products, for the first seven to 10 days we recommend a double dose of it to load your system, and thereafter a moderate dose of one to a couple of grams a day. It's all that's needed.

When you're talking about the isolates of mushrooms, the active ingredients, you're talking about milligram dosages. If you're talking about the raw whole food, anywhere from one gram up to 30 grams for very severe cases of cancer cases. People are taking relatively massive doses of it and have had phenomenal effects."

Typically, one to two grams is enough for a tonic effect, taken on a daily basis. Farrar recommends taking the product on an empty (or nearly empty) stomach, but it can be taken with moderate amounts of food or liquids.
How to Identify a High Quality Product

In the interview, Farrar describes the techniques used within his industry to produce different kinds of mushroom products, so for more information, please listen to the interview in its entirety or read through the transcript.

One way involves a fermentation process, which can be used for both the fruit body and the mycelia. The cells walls are different in the mycelia compared to the fruit body; they're more easily digested, making it easier to reap the benefits from the bioactive compounds therein. The technique involves the use of oats, which may raise concerns about gluten content. However, Farrar allays such fears stating that gliadin cannot be detected in the final fermented product. So in its finished form, it's a gluten-free product.

In a nutshell, when evaluating mushroom supplements, the points of differentiation between products can be broken down to:
Isolates versus whole foods
Solid state fermentation versus submerged technology
The type of substrate (grain) used for the fermentation
Percentage of fruit body to mycelium
Conventionally grown versus organic

Solid state fermentation is superior to submerged technology when growing the mycelia. Particularly if you're looking for a complex matrix of nutrition and bioactive compounds.

So-called 'submerged fermentation' is typically used by companies focused on extracting particular isolates, and this accounts for up to 70 percent of the products on the market. It's a more 'drug-based' approach that can be beneficial for certain health ailments. However, for a more comprehensively beneficial effect, you'll want to look for a product using 'solid state fermentation,' which is based on the whole food approach where the final product contains more or most of the original compounds and co-factors.

Within the whole food approach, manufacturers may use a variety of different substrate grains for the fermentation process, such as oats, rye, rice, millet, or milo. Farrar tends to favor those using oats, as they tend to have better nutrition than those using rice.

As for the ratio of fruit body to mycelium, Farrar recommends opting for products that contain more of the mycelium. "There is more research directly with the mycelial stage of the mushroom, by far, than the fruit body stage," he explains. He also discusses several other reasons for opting for mycelium, such as:
The mycelia stage of the mushroom is easier to standardize and keep contained
Mushrooms grown to the fruit body stage for harvesting opens it up to environmental factors that can be more difficult to control, so there's more variation in the quality
Mushroom fruit bodies attract airborne contaminants, both biological and industrial, so there's greater risk for contamination

Last but certainly not least, you have the option of simply eating the mushrooms raw, or very lightly cooked. Excellent choices include maitake, shiitake, and king trumpet.

"They are so versatile. You can eat them in anything," Farrar says. "In the United States, our annual per capita consumption of mushrooms is about four pounds a year. In parts of China and Japan, it's 20, 25, 30 pounds! Even Canada has twice the consumption of mushrooms that we have. Mushrooms should be a bigger part of our diet."

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who really discovered America

Who really discovered America? --------------- Everyone recognizes that many people were in America long before Columbus. The Asiatic peoples who became Native Americans were certainly the first, tens of thousands of years ago. Also Norse expeditions to North America, starting with Bjarni Herjolfsson in 986, are well established historically. Many other pre-Columbian discoveries are not well established. Claims have been made for St. Brendan, Basque fishermen, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Africans, and even Carthaginians. Some of these claims may be true; most are probably not. For example, Gavin Menzies recently made a big splash by claiming in a bestselling book that America (and most of the rest of the world) was discovered in 1421 by the Chinese Admiral Zheng He. While it is true that Zheng He made a number of important voyages, none of them went beyond the Indian Ocean, as numerous contemporary Chinese accounts make clear. A number of notable scholars have quietly demonstrated that Menzies' evidence is tissue-thin and his claims unfounded. Even though Columbus wasn't the first, his discovery (or re-discovery, if you prefer) is rightly regarded as the most historically important, and will continue to be -- even if other earlier claims are eventually proven true. That is because, unlike the others, Columbus inaugurated permanent large scale two-way commerce between the Old World and the New. Previous discoveries were so obscure that almost no one in either hemisphere was aware of the other hemisphere's existence prior to Columbus. But after Columbus, everyone knew. The "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," unlike his predecessors, changed the world. --------------- America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it had always been hushed up. Oscar Wilde Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)

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Who discovered America ?

1421:
The Year a Chinese Muslim Discovered America




Islamicity




The British submarine engineer and historian Gavin Menzies gave an astounding seminar on March 15, 2002 to the Royal Geographical Society in London, with evidence to support his theory that Zheng He, the Chinese Muslim navigator in Ming dynasty, beat Columbus by more than 70 years in discovering America.

Using evidence from maps drawn dated before Columbus' trip that clearly showed America, and astronomical maps traced back to Zheng He's time, Menzies is confident that the Zheng He should be honored as the first discoverer of America.

Menzies's conclusion is based on 14 years of research that includes secret maps, evidence of artifacts, and apparent proof of the voyage provided by the modern astronomy software program Starry Night.

As key evidence for a voyage that will remake history, Menzies says he obtained ancient Chinese navigation charts associated with the travels of Zheng He. The journey ran from 1421 to 1423. Menzies maintains that the ships sailed around the Southern tips of both Africa and South America.

The late evening southern sky as it would have looked on March 18, 1421, from off the southern tip of South America. Reconstructed with Starry Night Software to compare with maps found from Zheng He's voyages.

"I set Starry Night up for dates in 1421 for parts of the world where I thought the Chinese had sailed," explained Menzies, a navigation expert and former Royal Navy submarine commander. He found that in two separate locations of the voyage, easily recognizable stars were directly above Zheng He's fleet.

Those stars have since moved, due to changes in Earth's orientation in space. Earth's spin is slightly imperfect, and its axis carves a circle on the sky every 26,000 years. The phenomenon, called precession, means that each pole points to different stars as time progresses. Menzies used the software program to recreate the sky as it would have looked in 1421.

"I had Chinese star charts, and I needed to date the charts," he said. "By an incredible bit of luck, one of the courses they steered, between Sumatra and Dondra Head, Ceylon, was due west."

This part of the journey was very near the equator in the Indian Ocean. Both Polaris, the North Star, and the bright southern star Canopus, which was very nearly above the celestial south pole, were on the charts. "From that I was able to determine the apparent shift of Polaris (due to precession). I could therefore date the chart to 1421, plus or minus 30 years."

Phillip Sadler, a celestial navigation expert at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, says the estimation of a map's age based on star positions is possible. He said an estimate within 30 years, as Menzies claims, is possible.

About Zheng He:

Zheng He (1371-1435), or Cheng Ho, is China's most famous navigator. He built a total of 1622 ships and made at least seven major excursions between 1405 AD and 1430 AD. He traveled more than 50,000km and visited over 30 countries, reaching Somalia and probably Europe (France, Holland and Portugal).

Zheng He constructed many wooden ships, some of which are the largest in the history, in Nanjing. Three of the shipyards still exist today.

In each trip, he led a troop of 27,800 people on more than 300 ships. In each trip, 62 major ships of this fleet were employed, each over 400 ft long and 193 ft wide, holding 1000 people per ship, dwarfing Columbus' Santa Maria (75 ft x 25 ft) more than six-fold.

In the 1930s, a stone pillar was discovered in a town in Fujian province. It held an inscription that described the amazing voyages of Zheng He.

Zheng He described how the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had ordered him to sail to "the countries beyond the horizon," all the way to the end of the earth." His mission was to display the might of Chinese.

The pillar contains the Chinese names for the countries Zheng He visited. He wrote:

We have...beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising sky-high, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds, day and night continued their course rapid like that of a star, transversing the savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare.

The countries and territories covered and recorded in the official Ming history includes Java, Sumatra, Vietnam, Siam, Cambodia, Philippines, Ceylon, Bangladesh, India, Yemen, Arabia, Somalia, Mogadishu. As a clear demonstration of his travel to Africa, among the souvenirs he brought back to China were the giraffes and lions, indigenous animals of Africa.

The official history also mentioned "Franca" (which was the territory to describe today's France and Portugal) and Holland. The Hollanders were described as tall people with red hair and beard, long nose, and deep eye sockets. If he did meet with the Europeans in their native countries, then the only way would be to navigate around the Cape of Good Hope before the Suez Canal was a throughway.

Unfortunately, Zheng He's magnificent accomplishment was later targeted by other courtiers as wasteful. Most of his records were destroyed and building of ships with more than three masts were considered crimes punishable by death. So, a large part of his excursion (which might include the America part) has no reports.

In Africa near Kenya today, there are tribes that are clearly Asian-looking. They also consider themselves as the descendants of Zheng He's crew.

His achievements show that China had the ships and navigational skills to explore the world. Mysteriously, China did not follow up on these voyages. The Chinese destroyed their ocean going ships and halted further expeditions. Thus, a century later, Europeans would "discover" China, instead of the Chinese "discovering" Europe.

China has a very old seafaring tradition. Chinese ships had sailed to India as early as the Han Dynasty. Chinese sailors had an important invention to help them-the compass. The compass, or "south pointing spoon," started out as a fortune-telling instrument used like an Ouija board. By the Song era, sailors had taken it up. As a foreign ship captain wrote, "In dark, weather they look to the south pointing needle, and use a sounding line to determine the smell and nature of the mud on the sea bottom, and so know where they are.

Chinese shipbuilders also developed fore-and-aft sails, the sternpost rudder, and boats with paddlewheels. Watertight compartments below decks kept the ship from sinking. Some boats were armor plated for protection. All these developments made long distance navigation possible.

After the Mongols were overthrown in 1368, the emperor of the new Ming Dynasty wanted to assert Chinese power. Because China was no longer part of a land empire that stretched from Asia to Europe, the emperor turned to the sea. He decided to build a navy. The Chinese made elaborate plans that would not be fulfilled for many years. A shipyard was built at the new capital of Najing (Nanking). Thousand of varnish and tung trees were planted on nearby Purple Mountain to provide wood for shipbuilding. The emperor established a school of foreign languages to train interpreters. While all this was going on, the man who would lead the navy was still an infant.

China's greatest adventurer, the 15th century Muslim,
Admiral Zheng He

Zheng He was born in 1371 in Kunyang, a town in southwest Yunnan Province. His family, named Ma, were part of a minority group known as the Semur. They originally came from Central Asia and followed the religion of Islam. Both his grandfather and father had made the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Zheng He grew up hearing their accounts of travel through foreign lands.

Yunnan was one of the last strongholds of Mongol support, holding out long after the Ming Dynasty began. After Ming armies conquered Yunnan in 1382, Zheng He was taken captive and brought to Nanjing. The eleven year old boy was made a servant of the prince who would become the Yong Le Emperor. It was Yong Le who renamed the boy Zheng He.

Zheng He is described in Chinese historical records as tall and heavy, with "clear-cut features and long ear lobes; a stride like a tiger's and voice clear and vibrant." He was well liked and admired for his quick wit in argument. Moreover, he was a brave soldier. When his prince seized the Chinese throne from his nephew, Zheng He fought well on his behalf. As a result, Zheng He became a close confidant of the new emperor and was given an important position at court.

The Yong Le emperor had ambitious plans. A vigorous man, he rebuilt the Great Wall to the condition in which it exists today. He also built his new capital at Beijing, next to the remains of the former Yuan capital. The emperor decided to go ahead with the sea voyages that had long been planned. He appointed Zheng He to lead them and gave him the title "Admiral of the Western Seas."

At each country Zheng He visited, he was to present gifts from the emperor and to exact tribute for the glory of the Ming. The Chinese had a unique view of foreign relations. Because China developed its culture in isolation from other great civilization, it says itself as the center of the world. The Chinese called their country "the Middle Kingdom."

The Chinese emperor's duty was to attract "all under heaven" to be civilized in Confucian harmony. When foreign ambassadors came to the Chinese court, they "kowtowed" as they approached the emperor. (The required process of "kowtow" was to kneel three times and bow one's head to the floor three times at each kneeling.) In return for tribute from other countries, the emperor sent gifts and special seals that confirmed their rulers' authority. In fact, these foreign kings were officially made part of the Ming Dynasty.

In 1405 Zheng He set out on his first voyage. No nation on earth had ever sent such a fleet onto the ocean. It included sixty-two large ships, some 600 feet long, larger than any other on the seas. Hundreds of smaller vessels accompanied them. A Chinese historian described them; "The ships which sail the Southern Sea are like houses. When their sails are spread they are like great clouds in the sky."

Zheng He's first port of call was in Champa, a part of today's Vietnam. He was surprised to find many Chinese living there. Merchants and craftsmen had emigrated from the coastal provinces since the time of the Tang Dynasty. They had already helped to spread Confucian ideals, and Champs's ruler willingly offered tribute for the Chinese emperor. In return, of course, Zheng He presented the king with lavish gifts that were probably more valuable.

Zheng He sailed away from the coast, westward across the Indian Ocean. The ships traveled for days out of sight of any land. Then they encountered a hurricane. The ships tossed wildly in the fierce storm and seemed to be on the verge of sinking. Then a "divine light" suddenly shone at the tips of the mast. "As soon as this miraculous light appeared, the danger was appeased," Zheng He wrote.



When the Chinese sailors reached Calicut, India, their giant ships created a stir. The ruler there presented his visitors with sashes made of gold spun into hair-fine threads and studded with large pearls and precious stones. The Chinese were entertained with music and songs. One crewmember wrote that the Indians' musical instruments were "made of gourds with strings of red copper wire, and the sound and rhythm were pleasant to the ears."

On the way back to China, the fleet threaded its way through the Straits of Malacca, stopping at the large islands of Sumatra and Java. Zheng He established a base at the Straits that he would use for each of his seven voyages. There are thousands of smaller islands in this vast archipelago, and some were pirates' lairs. The pirates preyed on unwary fishermen and small merchant vessels. Zheng He, showing how the emperor treated those who disrupted harmony, attacked and destroyed a fleet of pirate ships. He captured the leader and brought him back to Beijing for execution.

When Zheng He returned, the emperor was pleased. He sent his admiral on ever-longer voyages. Seven times, Zheng He's ships set sail for unknown lands. On and on he went, following his orders to travel as far as he could. He reached Arabia, where he fulfilled a personal dream. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca that is the duty of every good Muslim once in his lifetime. He also visited Prophet Muhammad Mosque in Medina. On the fifth voyage, he reached the coast of Africa, landing in Somalia on the east coast.

Zheng He organized each expedition on an enormous scale. Besides sailors and navigators, they included doctors, scribes, shipwrights, and cooks. On some voyages Muslim religious leaders and Buddhist monks were brought along to serve as diplomats in lands where people were Muslim or Buddhist.

Each ship brought enough food to last the whole voyage, in case "barbarian" food was not acceptable. In addition to rice and other food that could be preserved, the ships carried huge tubs of earth on deck so that vegetables and fruit could be grown.

On each voyage the fleet anchored at the Malacca base, where provisions, tribute, and gifts were stored in warehouses. Zheng He found that foreign kings and princes particularly admired the famous blue-and-white Ming porcelain dishes, vases, and cups. Foreigners still yearned for Chinese silk, for cotton printed with Chinese designs, and for the coarse but long lasting, brownish yellow cloth known as Nankeen because it was made in Nanking (now Nanjing). The holds of Zheng He's ships were also crammed with gold and silver, iron tools, copper kitchenware, and perfumes.

In exchange for such wares, and as tribute, Zheng He brought back medicinal herbs, dyes, spices, precious, gems, pearls, rhinoceros horns, ivory, and exotic animals. On the homeward voyage, the fleet again stopped at their base to sort out the foreign goods and wait for a favorable wind to return to China.

The expeditions were an important source of information about foreign countries. A crewmember described the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal off the east coast of India:

Its inhabitants live in the hollows of trees and caves. Both men and women there go about stark naked, like wild beasts, without a stitch of clothing on them. No rice grows there. The people subsist solely on wild yams, jackfruit and plantains, or upon the fish which they catch. There is a legend current among them that, if they wear the smallest scrap of clothing, their bodies would break into sores and ulcers, owing to their ancestors having been cursed by Buddha for having stolen and hidden his clothes while he was bathing.

In Sri Lanka, the Chinese visited Buddhist Temple Hill, where Buddha was said to have left his footprint on a rock. They marveled at all the temples, particularly one that held a relic of the Buddha's tooth. According to a crew member, the people of the island

do not venture to eat cow's flesh, they merely drink the milk. When a cow dies they bury it. It is capital punishment for anyone to secretly kill a cow; he who does so can however escape punishment by paying a ransom of a cow's head made of solid gold.

Sri Lanka seemed like a treasure island, where rubies and other precious stones were abundant. The people harvested pearls from the sea and had discovered the trick of making cultured pearls by planting a speck of sand inside an oyster's shell.

The king of Sri Lanka was an ardent Buddhist who treated both cows and elephants with religious respect. However, because he did not show proper respect for the ambassadors from the Son of Heaven, he was taken back to China for "instruction." He was returned to his island on a later voyage.

When the Chinese reached the east coast of Africa, they found people who built houses of brick. "Men and women wear their hair in rolls; when they go out they wear a linen hood. There are deep wells worked by means of cog wheels. Fish are caught in the sea with nets." The Africans offered such goods a "dragon saliva, incense, and golden amber." The Chinese found the African animals even more amazing. There included "lion, gold-spotted leopards, and camel-birds (ostriches), which are six or seven feet tall." The most exciting thing that Zheng He ever brought back to the emperor's count was a giraffe.

The animal came from today's Somalia. In the Somali Language, the name for giraffe sounds similar to the Chinese word for unicorn. It was easy to imagine that this was the legendary animal that had played an important part in the birth of Confucius. Surely, it must be a sign of Heaven's favor on the emperor's reign.

When the giraffe arrived in 1415, the emperor himself went to the palace gate to receive it, as well as a "celestial horse" (zebra) and a "celestial stag" (oryx). The palace officials offered congratulations and performed the kowtow before the heavenly animals.

When Zheng He came back from his seventh voyage in 1433, he was sixty-two years old. He had accomplished much for China, spreading the glory of the Middle Kingdom to many countries that now sent tribute and ambassadors to the court. Though he died soon afterward, his exploits had won him fame. Plays and novels were written about his voyages. In such places as Malacca and Java, towns, caves, and temples were named after him.

However, a new Ming emperor had come to the throne. His scholar-officials criticized Zheng's achievements, complaining about their great expense. China was now fighting another barbarian enemy on its western borders and needed to devote its resources to that struggle. When a court favorite wanted to continue Zheng He's voyages, he was turned down. To make sure, the court officials destroyed the logs that Zheng He had kept. We know about his voyages only from the pillar and some accounts that his crewmembers wrote.

Thus, China abandoned its overseas voyages. It was a fateful decision, for just at that time, Portugal was beginning to send its ships down the west coast of Africa. In the centuries that followed, European explorers would sail to all parts of the world. They would establish colonies in Africa, America, and finally in the nations of East Asia. China would suffer because it had turned its back on exploration. Zheng He had started the process that might have led the Middle Kingdom to greater glory Unfortunately the rulers of the Ming Dynasty refused to follow his lead.

Zheng He died in the tenth year of the reign of the Ming emperor Xuande (1435) and was buried in the southern outskirts of Bull's Head Hill (Niushou) in Nanjing.

In 1985, during the 580th anniversary of Zheng He's voyage, his tomb was restored. The new tomb was built on the site of the original tomb in Nanjing and reconstructed according to the customs of Islamic teachings, as Zheng He was a Muslim.

At the entrance to the tomb is a Ming-style structure, which houses the memorial hall. Inside are paintings of the man himself and his navigation maps. To get to the tomb, there are newly laid stone platforms and steps. The stairway consists of 28 stone steps divided into four sections with each section having seven steps. This represents Zheng He's seven journeys to the West. The Arabic words "Allah (God) is great" are inscribed on top of the tomb.

epsom salts

Effective Benefits of Epsom Salt

Author: petersonbran

Epsom salt has properties that make it useful in treating patients with various illnesses. One of the uses of Epsom salt in medicine is as part of the procedure used by doctors in emergency rooms to revive patients who have suffered from cardiac arrest.

Epsom salt is also sometimes prescribed by doctors to treat patients suffering from colds, respiratory congestion and asthma. In the maternity ward and the nursery, Epsom salt is administered to delay or prolong the labor in women who are experiencing it prematurely. There are studies showing that intravenous application of Epsom salt to premature babies prevent the development of cerebral palsy in them.

Pour two cups into a bath of warm water. Lean back and relax. As you soak, the natural action of Epsom Salt helps soften the rough, dry patches of your skin. You can also rub Epsom salts all over the body, while wet, then rinse and towel off. Rubbing Epsom salts directly on the body exfoliates skin and leaves it smooth and silky. They make a great gift to give someone when you put them in a nice glass jar with lid and tie on a pretty ribbon. You can add scent to them by sprinkling them with essential oil. Or mix Epsom salts with baby oil and keep by the sink if you wash your hands a lot.

As a hair cleanser. The shampoo, conditioner and styling products that we use on our hair often leave remnants on each strand, leading to product buildup. When product buildup happens on the hair, it can be hard for the nutrients supposedly supplied by shampoo and conditioner to be absorbed by the hair. To clear the hair of product buildup, mix Epsom salt with your shampoo and rinse thoroughly.

Try soaking your aching, tired feet in a tub of water with half a cup of Epsom Salt, this will not only make your feet feel better, but also removes feet odor. Epsom Salt neutralizes odor and softens skin. Epsom Salt has been a long time natural remedy for a number of ailments. An Epsom Salt bath is known to relieve inflammation and relieves pain, making it beneficial in the treatment of sore muscles, bronchial asthma and migraine. In addition, it has been known to heal cuts, reduce soreness from childbirth and relieves colds and congestion.

Bruises, sore or strained muscles and sprained ankles receive relief when soaking in Epsom salts. Epsom salts are safe to use but when applying directly to the skin or hair, rinse well. The next time you’re shopping for bath, health or beauty products, pass by the fancy, expensive stuff and try Epsom salts for a blast from the past.

Warm the mixture of equal amounts of conditioner and Epsom salt for 15 seconds. Apply this mixture through your hair from scalp to end; leave it for 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water; you can observe the natural glow in your hair.

Article Source: http://petersonbran.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/effective-benefits-of-epsom-salt-993186.html

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Kalau masih ada yang percaya bahawa peristiwa keruntuhan Menara Kembar WTC New York dan peristiwa 11 Sept 2001 adalah perancangan Usama Bin Laden dan kumpulan Al Qaeda, teman rasa elok pi check screw kepala mike tu balik yop. Mungkin ada skrew yang longgar. Amat malang kalau ada manusia, terutama umat Islam khususnya, yang masih terpedaya dengan pembohongan dan penipuan Yahudi Zionis, sebagaimana mudahnya segelintir umat Islam bangsa Melayu terpedaya dengan sandiwara dan pembohongan Anwar Ibrahim dan kaum Anwarinas!

Kalau mike tengok videoklip diatas (tak perlukan 4 orang saksi yop), dan banyak lagi buku, tulisan, videoklip dan banyak lagi penerbitan yang dibuat oleh rakyat Amerika sendiri yang jelas membuktikan bahawa peristiwa 11 Sept 2001 sebenarnya adalah satu penipuan dan pembohongan (macam penipuan dan pembohongan Anwar Ibrahim dan kaum Anwarinas dalam 16 Sept) didalangi oleh Yahudi Zionis dan pepatung mereka George W. Bush untuk menghalalkan tindakan kafir terhadap negara Islam saperti Iraq, Afghanistan dan lain-lain termasuk gerakan-gerakan Islam. Dan ini terbukti dengan penaklukan Afghanistan, Iraq dan pembunuhan Saddam Hussein, Usama Laden dan ramai lagi selepas peristiwa itu.

10 tahun pembohongan besar 11 Sept berlalu, dan dalam tempoh 10 tahun itu kedudukan sosio-politik dan geografi negara Islam dan umat Islam berubah habis. Kita diratah dan dilanyak-lunyai tanpa batasan. Negara Islam dijajah. Umat Islam dihina. Islamophobia menjadi penyakit baru kaum kafir dan munafik. Purdah direntap. Menara masjid diranap. Umat menjadi bahan santap!!!

11 Sept digunakan sebagai alasan menghalalkan pembantaian terhadap negara Islam dan umat Islam. 11 Sept dijadikan asas kepada melahirkan budaya Islamofobia, dan di Malaysia dikaitkan dengan Malayufobia. Sama saperti peristiwa Pearl Harbour dijadikan alasan untuk menghalalkan Perang Dunia ke 2 yang menyaksikan negara Islam dipecah-belah dan dijajah! Entah benar atau tidak kapal-kapal Amerika diserang, kerana terdengar kisah kapal-kapal yang dibom oleh tentera kamikaze Jepun yang terpedaya adalah kapal kayu yang sudah nak dilupuskan. Sama saperti kisah Holocaust, yang dijadikan alasan untuk Yahudi Zionis bermaharajalela, sehingga akhirnya umat Islam kehilangan Falastin dan Masjidil Aqsa!

Benar sabda Rasullah saw, akan datang satu zaman bilamana kafir bersatu meratah umat Islam, yang walaupun berbillion jumlahnya, tetapi kualitinya hanya saperti buih dilautan. Tak guna satu sen pun. Dan kita lihat depan mata kita, walau pun dilanyak dan dihentak kiri kanan oleh kafir harbi la'natullah, umat Islam bukan sahaja tidak bersatu; malah mereka menjadi makin kelabu. Mereka jual agama mereka, mereka gadai kalimah ALLAH Tuhan mereka, mereka buang perjuangan negara Islam kerana konon mereka tak jumpa dalam Quran, mereka pajakkan anak-bini mereka dengan bai'ah talaq tiga demi kepentingan politik kepartian, mereka sokong kafir harbi dan sanggup mati untuk punjabi, mereka haramkan bacaan Quran di masjid mereka sendiri, dan terkini mereka sokong dan dewa-dewakan kominis atheist yang tak percaya kepada ketuhanan.

Dalam keadaan keimanan makin surut, dalam suasana syariat makin kaput, dalam keadaan syiar yang kian reput, dalam keadaan umat yang makin semput, dalam keadaan agamawan yang menjadi syaitan karut; umat Islam memerlukan suntikan hidayah untuk mempertahan dan memantapkan keimanan dan keyakinan. Umat Islam perlukan mukjizat. Dan itulah yang dibuktikan oleh peristiwa 11 Sept 2001 - mukjizat Al Quran terbukti akhirnya, hidup dan relevan sepanjang zaman!

Tersebut kisah seorang kafir harbi mencabar umat Islam, khususnya para ulama dan ilmuan, "kalau benar Al Quran itu mukjizat, dan relevan sepanjang zaman, buktikan kepada aku peristiwa 11 Sept 2001 ada tercatat didalam Al Quran", bentak sikafir ini dengan penuh keyakinan. Dia cukup konfiden umat Islam akan terkedu kali ini.

Apabila menerima cabaran ini, para agamawan dan serbannawan terkedu. Mereka jadi syaitan bisu & kaku. Kata mereka, kami tak belajar ni di gedung pondok kami. Yang kami belajar kat ma'had hanyalah bahawa hukum videoklip bukan bahan bukti, sebab ia cuma besi beku. Kaum yang setelah bertahun memaki kapirkan orang lain kerana tidak menubuhkan Daulah Islamiyah, akhirnya membuang perjuangan kerana mendakwa rupenya dalam Quran takde ayat pasal negara Islam. Para agamawan menjadi kelu, dan tiada jawapan kunjung tiba dari mereka. Umat yang mengharapkan mereka akan ke saf hadapan untuk mempertahankan Islam, sangat kecewa bila mereka hanya sanggup mati untuk mempertahankan punjabi kafir harbi.

Dalam kekelaman itu, seorang hamba ALLAH yang hanya lulusan muqaddam, yang kerjanya bukan mencari syuruu duit aur makan dengan berceramah di masjid surau, yang tidak menjadikan mimbar Jumaat tempat maki hamun, menyebar fitnah dan mengadu-doomba, yang hanya takut kepada ALLAH dan menitis airmata sering teringat Rasulullah saw; dia datang mara ke saf hadapan. Membela dan mempertahankan kesucian dan kehormatan kalam ALLAH swt, menebus maruah ummah!

"Ada!!!" tegas 'Abdillah si hamba ALLAH ini. "Ada tercatat didalam Al Quran peristiwa 11.09.2001 ini!!!", ujarnya dengan penuh keimanan dan keyakinan! Si kafir harbi terkedu! "Prove it, buktikan!". Desak si kafir harbi. Maka berlakulah dialog diantara mereka;

'Abdillah: "Berapa haribulankah berlaku peristiwa ini wahai kafir harbi"

Kafir harbi: "11 haribulan"

'Abdillah: "Cuba mike buka Juz ke 11 dalam Al Quran";

Kafir harbi: sambil membuka lembaran terjemahan Al Quran, "Apa ni, Abu Teroris, hanya ada beberapa surah dalam Juz 11 ni";

'Abdillah: "Bulan berapa peristiwa itu berlaku wahai kafir?" tanya insan beriman ini tanpa mempedulikan sindiran si kafir;

Kafir harbi: "Bulan sembilan. Bulan September ikut kalendar tuhan ku" jawab si harbi dengan sinis!

'Abdillah: "Didalam Juz ke 11, ada surah yang kesembilan, cuba mike check tengok" keyakinan 'Abdillah makin terserlah;

Kafir harbi: "Apa ni, surah ke sembilan, surah At-Tawbah. Apa kena mengena 11.09 dengan bertaubat", perli sekafir harbi. Bodoh pulak si Muslim ni, kata hati sikafir!

'Abdillah: Tanpa memperdulikan perli si harbi, 'Abdillah bertanya; "Berapakah tinggi Menara Kembar WTC New York yang runtuh itu wahai kafir harbi?";

Kafir harbi: Sambil menggaru kepala yang tak gatal, "11o tingkat tuan extremis"; kata si harbi sambil menganggap ini ulama' kangkung mana nak berdebat dengan dia!

'Abdillah: "Cuba mike tengok didalam Juz ke 11 surah ke 9 itu, ada ayat 110. Cuba mike baca tengok", dengan senyum penuh keyakinan 'Abdillah menyuruh si kafir harbi membaca;

Kafir harbi: Sambil menyelak lembaran terjemahan Al Quran itu, dan dibacanya terjemahan ayat tersebut, "Keruntuhan bangunan yang dibina oleh mereka yang munafik itu sentiasa menjadi penyakit syak dan keluh kesah dalam hati mereka, dan tidak habis (perasaan itu) kecuali bila hati mereka hancur runtuh (dalam tanah). Dan ingatlah, ALLAH Maha Mengetahui lagi Maha Bijaksana!!!" baca si harbi sambil dahi mula berpeluh;

'Abdillah: "Cuba mike baca terjemahan bahasa Inggeris pulak, kot nanti mike kata tak faham pulak kang" desak 'Abdillah kepada kafir yang malayufobia itu dengan penuh keyakinan;

Kafir harbi: sambil membuka terjemahan Inggeris, "The building which they built, will never cease to be misgivings in their hearts of hypcorisy, until their hearts are torn and cut into pieces. ALLAH is All-Knowing, All-Wise", bagai direntap-rentap jantung si harbi membaca wahyu Ilahi yang tidak ada sedikit pun keraguan padanya.

Kafir harbi: "Apa ini wahai Muslim?", hati si harbi sudah mula lembut;

'Abdillah: Mari teman ceritakan asbabul nuzul, sebab turunnya ayat ini, jelas 'Abdillah mengulangi sejarah sebagaimana Saidina Ja'far Abi Tolib At-Tayyar membacakan surah Maryam kepada Maharaja Najasyi Al-Habsyi yang menyebabkan runtun jiwa Raja Besar Nasrani itu;

"Terdapat seorang munafik di Madinah, namanya Abu Dhirrar. Dia mahu menunjukkan kepura-puraan dia menyintai Islam. Lalu dia membina sebuah masjid yang besar, lebih cantik dan hebat dari Masjid Nabawi di Madinah dan Masjid Quba'. Setelah masjid itu siap, yang dipanggil Masjid Ad-Dhirrar tersergam megah, lalu Abu Dhirrar meminta Nabi saw merasmikannya.

Kebetulan Nabi dalam persediaan untuk pergi ke Perang Tabuk bersama para sahabat untuk bertempur dengan Maharaja Kristian Herkules dari Rom. Jadi Rasulullah saw berkata, "nanti dalam perjalanan balik dari Perang Tabuk, insyallah aku akan singgah dan rasmikan masjid mu wahai Abu Dhirrar".

Selama Nabi saw ke Tabuk, satu perjalanan yang jauh dibawah panas terik matahari, dimana sahabat saperti Saidina Abu Bakr mendermakan seluruh hartanya fisabilillah, Abu Dhirrar sentiasa keresahan menanti Nabi saw kembali untuk merasmikan Masjidnya, supaya kemunafikan dia tidak kelihatan.

Dalam perjalanan pulang dari Tabuk, Saidina 'Umar ibnul Khattab, yang mendermakan separuh hartanya untuk membiayai peperangan tersebut bertanya kepada Rasulullah, "wahai Nabi kekasih ALLAH, mengapakah engkau mahu merasmikan masjid yang dibina oleh Abu Dhirrar, si munafik yang membinanya dengan keangkuhan dan kesombongan?". Bantah 'Umar.

"Wahai 'Umar, kita husnul zan sahabatku, kita bersangka baik sahajalah. Kan yang dibina Abu Dhirrar itu sebuah masjid", sanggah insan yang cukup mulia itu. "Tapi ya Rasulullah, kalau engkau merasmikannya, ia hanya akan menambah kemunafikan Abu Dhirrar, dan akan diguna masjid itu sebagai sarang menyerang umat Islam pula", bantah 'Umar yang terkenal tidak pernah berkompromi dalam hal Islam, sehingga iblis dan syaitan akan lari tak mahu bertembung dengan 'Umar ditengah jalan (teringat teman kaum Anwarinas membina sebuah pakatan luar tabi'e yang diguna kafir harbi biaDAP untuk menyerang dan memusnahkan Islam!).

"Tidak apalah 'Umar, aku akan tetap merasmikannya. Insyallah, aku berserah kepada ALLAH" kata Nabi yang pernah menyembahyangkan jenazah Abdullah Bin Ubay Bin Salul, bapak munafik Madinah. Dengan kehendak ALLAH, turunlah wahyu kepada Nabi saw, membenarkan bantahan 'Umar. Maka turunlah ayat 107-110 surah At-Tawbah yang bermaksud:

"Dan diantara orang munafik itu juga ialah orang-orang yang membina masjid dengan tujuan membahayakan keselamatan umat Islam, dan menguatkan keingkaran mereka sendiri, serta memecah-belahkan perpaduan umat Islam dan orang beriman, dan juga untuk dijadikan tempat intipan bagi orang yang memerangi ALLAH dan RasulNya sebelum itu, dan apabila tujuan buruk mereka itu terbongkar, mereka akan bersumpah dengan berkata: Tidaklah yang kami kehendaki (dengan mendirikan masjid ini) melainkan untuk kebaikan semata-mata. Padahal ALLAH menyaksikan bahawa mereka sesungguhnya berdusta.

Jangan engkau sembahyang didalam masjid ini selama-lamanya (wahai Muhammad), kerana masjid (Quba') yang engkau bina dan dirikan atas dasar taqwa dari mula ujudnya, sudah lebih sepatutnya engkau sembahyang didalamnya. Didalam masjid itu, ada orang-orang yang suka (mengambil berat) membersihkan (mensucikan) dirinya, dan ALLAH mengasihi orang-orang yang membersihkan diri mereka (zahir & batin).

Maka adakah orang yang membangunkan masjid yang dididrikannya atas dasar taqwa kepada ALLAH dan (untuk mencari ) keredhaan ALLAH itu lebih baik, ataukah orang yang yang membangunkan masjid yang didirikannya ditepi jurang yang (hampir) runtuh, lalu runtuhlah ia dengan orang yang membangunkannya kedalam api neraka! Dan ingatlah, ALLAH tidak akan memberi hidayah petunjuk kepada orang-orang yang zalim!!!".

Wahai kafir, sebagai hamba ALLAH yang ta'at, sebaik sahaja mendapat wahyu itu, Nabi Muhammad saw terus memerintahkan tentera Islam yang bersama Baginda di Perang Tabuk bergegas ke Masjid Ad-Dhirrar. Sesampainya tentera Islam di Masjid Ad-Dhirrar, lalu mereka meruntuhkan masjid itu dan membakar tapaknya sehingga sebutir kesan pun tidak ada yang ditinggalkan!".

'Abdillah: jadi kamu lihat wahai ahli kitab, peristiwa keruntuhan Menara Kembar WTC 110 tingkat itu pada 11.09 itu sebenanya telah ALLAH ceritakan didalam Al Quran didalam Juz ke 11, surah ke 9, ayat 110!

'Abdillah: "Dan kamu belum yakin lagi dengan mu'jizat Al Quran wahai ahli kitab?", tanya hamba muttaqin ini kepada kafir yang sudah runtuh benteng kekafirannya!

Kafir harbi: "Ada apa lagi wahai Muslim?", lembut tapi sayu dan sedih bunyi suara si kafir tegar itu.

'Abdillah: "Adakah kamu tahu, huruf 'mim' dalam perkataan "hakim" di akhir ayat 110 Surah At-Tawbah itu adalah huruf ke 2001 dalam surah tersebut!!!

Subhanallah, masya ALLAH wahai Muslim.

Aku kini percaya dan yakin dengan kebenaran dan mukjizat Al Quran:

Asy hadu alla ila ha illallah, wa asy hadu anna Muhamaddar rosulullah!!!

Aku naik saksi, tidak ada tuhan melainkan ALLAH Yang Esa, dan aku naik saksi Muhammad itu pesuruh ALLAH!

Maka berimanlah si kafir harbi yang tegar itu! Menjadi seorang Muslim yang yang sejati!

I'tibar: wahai saudara Muslim ku yang beriman, yakin dan percayalah kita dipihak yang benar, ALLAH Yang Maha Esa itu benar, Nabi Muhammad saw itu benar, Al Quran itu benar, mati itu benar, alam barzakh itu benar, Akhirat itu benar, dan Syurga-Neraka itu benar. ALLAH akan membantu kita bila kita membantu agama ALLAH, dan ALLAH akan letakkan kafir kebawah tapak kaki kita - tetapi kita perlu yakin, percaya dan istiqomah dengan lafaz:

Tidak ada tuhan melainkan ALLAH Yang Satu, dan kita ikhlas beragama Islam kerana ALLAH (dan bukan kerana parti, individu, kerusi, habuan, kedudukan, jawatan dan lain-lain)!

Wallahua'lam & wassalam.

Zulkifli Bin Noordin
Sabtu
12 Syawal 1432
10 Sept 2011 (menjelang 11 Sept 2011)

*Nota: segala rujukan kepada Al Quran, Hadis & sirah diatas diperolehi daripada sumber rujukan yang sahih dan dipercayai benar. Sekiranya terdapat mana-mana kesilapan atau kesalahan, ianya adalah kelemahan teman sendiri dan diharap dapat diperbetulkan. Yang baik datangnya daripada ALLAH, yang tidak itu semuanya adalah kelemahan teman sendiri. Wallahua'lam.

Oleh Zulkifli Noordin pada 12:46 PM
Label: 11 Sept, Dialog 11 Sept, Surah At-Tawbah 110, Videoklip 11 Sept

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