Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Protect Your Health Freedom Rights!

As Americans struggle to eat a healthier diet, the FDA has taken draconian steps to suppress information about foods that reduce disease risk.

While various agencies of the federal government encourage us to eat more fruits and vegetables, the FDA has issued an edict that precludes cherry companies from posting scientific data on their websites. This censorship of published peer-reviewed studies denies consumers access to information that could be used to make wiser food choices.

Please read the rest of this article on the following link it is very informative:

FDA Threatens To Raid Cherry Orchards

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Valentine's Day is Coming!!!!!

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.
Valentine's Day Trivia

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Million Cartoon March 2006

Has the Muslim world really gone that mad? Do a billion Muslims really want to kill a few insensitive cartoonists because they violated their religious sensibilities, however dear they may be?

Luckily, the answer to both questions is no. In fact, what some Islamic scholars are calling "cartoongate"--the publication of insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in more than half a dozen European papers--actually reveals more about the state of the Western, and particularly European fears of Islam, than it does about Islam today.


Originally published last September in a Danish newspaper, the depictions of Muhammad in the cartoons include some very insulting images indeed: Muhammad with a turban-shaped bomb on his head; Muhammad at the Pearly Gates informing newly arrived suicide bombers that Heaven has "run out of virgins" (an allusion to the 72 virgins that supposedly await martyrs in Heaven); Muhammad menacingly holding a sword with two veiled women behind him, and so on. The images were commissioned because the paper's editor was having trouble finding a cartoonist willing to caricature the Prophet, depictions of whom are prohibited according to Muslim tradition.......

And as the latest protests in Beirut make clear, the reasons behind them often involve issues of class, politics, and religious identity, as the consulates are often located in wealthy neighborhoods where the countries' elites and wealthy foreigners live, and which feature expensive shops far beyond the means of most protesters. And the organizers of the protests are most often groups looking to gain political capital by challenging weak governments at a moment of heightened tension......

Of course, Muslim newspapers have long depicted Jews in similarly hateful ways. Perhaps the uproar will lead them to reconsider the practice--although considering Iran has just announced that its leading newspaper will run a series of cartoons satirising the Holocaust, the chances are perhaps not that great.
Ironically, the same day that editorial pages of American newspapers began criticizing Muslims for their lack of respect for freedom of speech, peace activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested and removed from her seat at the State of the Union speech (she was invited by Representative Lynn Woolsey), simply for the "crime" of wearing a t-shirt under her jacket that listed the number of dead US soldiers in Iraq as of last Tuesday--2,245. A security guard saw the number on the shirt, screamed "Protester!" (perish the thought!) into his walkie talkie, and out she went. Nary a word of protest was uttered by the US media.
For most of the Muslim world, America's willingness to kill tens of thousands of Iraqis and see killed thousands of our own children for a war launched on a series of half-truths and outright prevarications (which almost no one in our own journalistic establishment had the courage to expose, despite clear evidence at the time) is as "crazy" as their willingness to boycott, or even threaten violence against Westerners, because of a few religiously insulting cartoons......
Animation Site.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

WWW III an information age war

Imagine for a moment if 12 cartoons could propel us into WWW III. We may need to call in the animators of Disney and Pixar to create new cartoons in Dexter's Lab to counteract the Satirical Dutch and appease the Muslim world. No one enjoys getting disrespected, especially large groups of angry men with automatic weapons and matches. There is a fine line between censorship and freedom. Everything in life is like that cartoon where bugs bunny rolls a little snowball down a snow covered mountain and by the time it got to the bottom it became Really huge. If you try to appease everyone, a Free country can lose its freedom little by little until one day your president is now your king. I am sure if everyone on the planet gets a computer and internet access there will be may jealous, angry, offended people. This is why some countries try to censure the internet and mass media in there respective countries. It is kind of like the Matrix, if you don't know what is really going on you could actually lead a happy life. Many people cannot handle information, they are affected by it rather than seeing it for what it is.... ink on paper or shades of light. You can't make everyone happy but as long as we Americans do not allow anyone to change our Bill of Rights, I am happy.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Bouley Restaurant Bakery & Market

Last night we decided to dine at The Bouley Bakery / Café, Market. The third floor dining area is small but the service is excellent. I counted twelve employees and 24 patrons, nice ratio. The food and drinks were excellent and it was fun watching the chef cook our meal. I can't wait to go back:-) or try the Main Restaurant next time. If you don't mind really tight seating, you will love this casual place.

The Bouley Bakery / Café, Market, and Upstairs dining comprise a set of operations sited on three floors of a single, compact building. It is designed to bring together in one location the basic elements that go together to create a satisfying dining experience in a relaxed, casual setting. This includes the prospect of taking home either prepared dishes or the products needed to create meals in one’s own kitchen, recognizing that, in every instance, the starting point must be the quality of the ingredients.
The Bouley Bakery/Café serves as the entry point to the complex, at street level. In addition to the fresh-baked goods that emerge from the wood-burning oven enclosed in 19th century cobblestones, the Bakery/Café features house-made soups, salads, sandwiches, hot and cold beverages, including coffee, cappuccino, teas, iced teas, and juices, and, of course, a full range of desserts.
For the visitor who wishes to eat on premises, there is self-service sidewalk seating at umbrella-shaded tables, and, during daytime hours, the Upstairs dining room is available for self-service seating as well.
In producing high quality baked goods, we begin with a variety of organic flours and other flavorful ingredients that go into our various breads, from garlic bread, to hazelnut bread, to lemon bread, to the basic Miche, a round of specialty French bread, also known as a boule, with a dark crunchy crust.
Bouley Bakery also features pastries, in both traditional and modern French styles along with Viennese, American, and Asian influences, ranging from fruit tarts to chocolate and almond croissants, to enjoy on their own or to cap off and complete the experience of a full meal.