I bring you an article by Wise Bread called The Cost of Meat - Too High to Pay. I’ve made several posts on the subject on all of the mass-produced meat and how it is damaging our environment (and I’m a carnivore), but this post really goes into depth on the different ethical factors that mass-produced meat is causing. It doesn’t just focus on the environment, but also health and cruelty as well.

Very good read.

My dearest friend Melissa, who I’ve known for probably 4 years or so now, has a recipe for what is called the “Devil’s Smoothie”. This is a smoothie designed to battle the onslaught of an upcoming cold. And since I am currently coming down with a cold, I thought I’d share her post on the Devil’s Smoothie (note, pictures and such are on her post, I’m just repeating the recipe itself)
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I had an appointment today to see a skin specialist regarding a problem I’ve been having on the same knee that I tore the ligament in (which, btw, is doing VERY well). I showed up on time for my appointment, because they had mailed me the paperwork 2 months ago when I made the appointment, so I could submit it early. Which I was happy to do, because I remember when I worked at the Vet and we had new patients show up on time for their appointments, but didn’t realize they needed 15 minutes to prepare new patient paperwork.

But they lost the paperwork. So I had to fill it out again anyway.

When the doctor came in, he took a very brief glance at my knee, and by brief I mean I pulled my leg up, he took all of 1 second to look at it and immediately said he knew what it was and how to treat. I had enough time to ask a question or two, such as what causes it, to which he replied that no one knows. And he made sure to mention that it dates back as far as the bible, and our first hints to the problem were in the “bible.” By this time I noticed he kept staring at a necklace I was wearing and seemed very cold towards me. It wasn’t anything overly questionable, it was a yak bone necklace shaped like a claw with some Tibetan writing carved into one side and a skeletal fish on the other.

After he wrote a few things on my chart, he handed my folder to me with a prescription and got up and left. I made a joking comment about that being the fastest visit I’ve ever been on, and he mumbled something as he walked away from me and into his next appointment. I felt fairly put off, but didn’t really care, I just wanted to know what it was so I could figure out how to treat it. He prescribed Olux E Foam, but I don’t intend to fill it just yet. I want to see what I can do on my own now that I know what it is.

Luckily my case is very mild, is only on my knee, and just looks like a callous.

From the intarweb:

Psoriasis is a non-contagious skin condition that shows itself through patches of red areas or silvery scales that appear on the legs, knees, arms, elbows, scalp, ears, and back. Toes and fingernails can also be affected by losing their shine and developing ridges and pits. This condition is linked to rapid growth of the outer layer of skin, and is often hereditary. The growths of skin cells never mature and go through an entire growth cycle, leaving patchy, scaly, immature areas of the skin. The affected area tends to spread. The condition is characterized by a series of flare-ups and remissions, and usually strikes between the ages of 15 and 25. It can be triggered by anything that can inflame the skin; stress, illness, sunburn or any kind of laceration of the skin (like cuts, injury, or surgery) as well as poison ivy or bacterial infection. Although the underlying cause is not known, it is known that an unhealthy immune system plays a role in psoriasis, as well as a possible faulty utilization of fat. Toxins in the colon can also aid in psoriasis development. There are many natural ways that can aid in preventing and controlling psoriasis.

Here are a few:

Natural Treatments
EMU Oil
Castor Oil
Sunlight and Sea Water (Dead Sea is preferable) most recommended
Avocado Oil
Cashew nut oil
Buttermilk
Vitamin E
Goldenseal Extract (alcohol free)
Ginger Bath
Hot Epsom Salt Bath (goes with the sea water affect I imagine)
Mudpacks to absorb toxins
Cabbage Leaves compresses
Lecithin
Aloe Vera gel and garlic oil
Cashew nut oil
Wheat germ oil and castor oil
2 drops of calendula oil and one drop of oregano oil to one small cup of olive oil.
Marigold lotion - Boil 4 marigold heads in 4 cups of water for two minutes. Allow it to cool and then apply it on the affected area. Add lemon juice or cider vinegar to the rinsing water for a thorough wash.

Ayurvedic Supplements / applications
Neem Guard
Liverol Strong
Neem ka Tail (Oil)
Chalmungra Oil (Tubrak)

According to Yahoo, Staples will be accepting used monitors and computers as of today.

Staples said its program will ship the devices for domestic recycling by Vestal, N.Y.-based Amandi Services, which Staples calls “one of the country’s most experienced and innovative electronics recyclers.” Amandi complies with federal standards for electronics recycling and will take steps to ensure personal data stored on old computers aren’t compromised, Staples says.

Items like keyboards, mice and speakers will be taken for free, but televisions and floor-model copiers won’t be taken (and I’m not sure if they plan to start).

Still, it’s nice to have a place for such big items to go rather than filling up landfills.

As posted by: Treehugger

Babies can be one of the most contributing factors to waste in landfills, just from disposable diaper usage. Every baby will use approximately 6,000 diapers in their lifetime, and compare that to the amount of babies that are born every day.

Treehugger.com provides a very good list of things you can do in order to lighten your babies footprints on the earth. They’ll thank you.
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Alcoholic Hot Chocolate, originally posted by Kestrel

Ingredients: serves 2
* 2 cups milk
* 1 1/2 - 3 1/2 oz best-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, as preferred. More chocolate will make for a stronger drink.
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 2 teaspoons honey
* 1 teaspoon brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 2 tablespoons dark rum or to taste

Directions:
Put the milk into a sauce pan. Break the chocolate into pieces and add to the milk along with the cinnamon, honey and sugar. Heat gently until the chocolate’s melted. Add the vanilla and mix with a small hand whisk. Continue mixing and add only a spoonful of the rum first, then taste it to see if you want more. Add more rum if desired, add more sugar if you want it sweeter too. Take out the cinnamon stick, pour into two cups and serve.

This tasty treat is from: Feast: Food to Celebrate Life

Farming is definitely a full-time job. You don’t realize it until you’re the one doing all the work everyday after getting home from an 8 hour office job. It’s more than just feeding and watering the animals, which in itself takes a hefty amount of time when you have 80 chickens, 50 rabbits, etc, but everything else combined. Fixing broken cages, keeping up with the health of your animals, keeping the babies warm.

I gathered 6 dozen eggs this morning. That’s a lot of goddamn eggs.

Trying to do this while fumbling around in the dark is not the best scenario either. And none of this is counting the crop portion of farming, and we don’t even have a big place.

At the very least, it puts things into perspective when I do eventually have the ranch that I want with the animals and crops that I’d like to have. What amount of time am I going to need to take care of that and make an income? Will I have to be a housewife in order to make sure everything is done that needs to be? What happens if kids are thrown into the picture? Kids are a full-time job in itself.

But for now it’s fun.