Cooking Counters

Yesterday, the NYT reported in What's Lurking in Your Countertop that some of the zillions of granite countertops trendily being installed in kitchens and bathrooms around the US may actually emit radiation at a level that could be a health risk...! It seems, the more esoteric your granite counter top, the more likely that it is emitting bad vibes at a level higher than what we experience as "background" radiation from the earth's crust and outer space.

My first reaction was to laugh. I mean, I get to gloat since I can't afford to install granite counter tops, right? Isn't it the folks without cash who usually get screwed by these things? Isn't it funny that it's the Yuppies this time?

Bad Micha.

It's not nice to laugh at other people. Remember, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

vaccinations

Today I was forwarded a story from CNN.com about children who develop autism after receiving their MMR immunization shots.
Many of you know that my youngest cousin had a extreme developmental after being vaccinated (not autisim, but his development was severly impaired). Sadly, I have met other people in this world who have had similar reactions to vaccinations as babies.
I asked a nurse friend of mine what he thought of this and his reply was that children are given too many vaccinations at once, mostly for public health reasons. Since they know that you'll be brining them in a number of times as babies, they schedule all the vaccinations then. Perhaps if you pay the extra $$ to have your child receive vaccinations for each disease separately there is less risk. I've also heard that if you wait until after your kids have reaced 2 years of age, their bodies are better equipped to handle the vaccinations.
Personally, I don't expect that I'll be vaccinating my kids. I'll not so keen on the mingling of politics and medicine.

ya learn something new every day

In reading Roz Cummings retrospective food column today had an elated epiphany about thyme. And I quote from Roz:

Most transcendent moment in an organic garden
When I visited Sooke Harbour House, on Vancouver Island last spring, I took a tour of the organic garden with Nichka Phillips. While showing me the herbs, she mentioned that the French use thyme in a tincture to treat respiratory ailments. I suddenly remembered the expression that I heard my father use all my life whenever the topic of healing came up -- "Nothing heals as well as a tincture of time." Might he really have been saying "a tincture of thyme"? It made me feel connected to him, even though he died a few years ago. The sense of feeling connected to someone I loved while standing in an aromatic garden in a beautiful place was completely lovely.

HA! A tincture of thyme! I'm familiar with the expression, having heard it before, probably from my grandparents. I had no idea - and apparently neither did she!

(if you are interested, her full article is here.)

Ya-hoo!!

California has the right to regulate emissions!
Now we just need to get the EPA on board...ugh...

Read the full story here.

Bio-hazard

A good article with lots of info on why you might want to start phasing out the constant use of your Nalgene bottle, amoungst other things.