The National Debt is no Illusion

The brain can be tricked. Illusions are transmissions of visual information to our minds (and sometimes sound) which, when interpreted by our brains, tell us things about the object we are viewing that simply are not true.

I guess I have to wonder what kind of illusions were are work when President Obama and the Democratic Congress put us into debt forever. They saw bailout, and jobs, and improved economy, and all kinds of good things. Only thing is, from where I was standing, I saw bailout as simply me paying for someone else's business debt, and the loss of jobs, because of the loss of business; and because of the loss of business and jobs, a crippled economy. I see nothing good. I say our national leaders have been looking at an illusion.

Check these illusions out:

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Cosmetic Poisons - What Women are Wiping on Their Faces

American manufacturers are poisoning us. They put chemicals on our crops, in our food, in our cosmetics, and in our drinks. We've been soaking up chemicals for many years now. The cancer rate and other metabolic disorders are soaring. But, of course the chemicals couldn't be the cause. After all, we know that the manufacturers would never harm us. Right?

Way back in 1909, a rather prominent scientist wrote the following: "[T]he administration of benzoic acid, either as such or in the form of benzoate of soda, is highly objectionable and produces a very serious disturbance of the metabolic functions, attended with injury to digestion and health."[1]

Now, over 100 years later, benzoic acid, sodium benzoate and related compounds--parabends--are still widely used in foods and cosmetics. The technical nomenclature is antimicrobial preservatives, which means they kill cells that might infect what we eat or put on our bodies. However, tests that have been peer reviewed and have drawn conclusive results reveal that these chemicals cause gastric irritation, hives and are a known asthma trigger. And, because they dissolve in water and are soluble in oil as well, they have become a tool of incalculable value for the cosmetics industry, which has strict controls on potential microbe contamination.

How ironic that the cosmetics industry would want to control the microbe contamination but not be concerned as to the serious threat to human health posed by the use of these chemicals.

Fortunately, there are some people who have taken note of these harmful chemicals in skin care products, makeups, creams, eye-shadows, lipsticks, and other personal products. Two organizations deserve kudos. First, Ava Anderson Non-toxic for her "zero tolerance" policy with respect to chemical additives in her cosmetic products. And second, to Skin Deep, an organization determined to show the public the deadly contents of thousands of cosmetic products.

May their tribe increase.


[1] Lindy Woodhead, War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden : Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry [book on-line] (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2003, p. 204

Incredible Stats on the Internet

Recently, I watched a fascinating video dealing with the internet and statistics. It is incredible to know that there are over 250 million internet users in America alone. The  email we get daily (billions of emails around the world) is over 80% spam.

  Watch this little video.