Green Options

Recently I have been reading very disturbing research about how Diet Coke can possibly cause cancer and kill you. The artificial sweetener that is used in most diet beverages, aspartame, once ingested, becomes a lethal poison called methyl alcohol. Small quantities of this noxious substance can lead to blindness and death; even the most miniscule amounts of this aspartame toxin are strongly linked to cancer.

This is an image of the cancerous tumor that was recently removed from my body.

Last week Florida Congressman Alan Grayson accurately and succinctly explained the Republican Health Care “Plan”: Don’t get sick. And if you do get sick, just please die quickly. His passionately honest retort against our nation’s “no-mongers” has spread across the country faster than a California wildfire.

Brave New Films has just created this short video which clearly exposes the utter hypocrisy and obdurate cruelty of Republican

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Last Wednesday, as I was riding my bicycle down Third Street to the UCSF Mission Bay Farmer’s Market, my thoughts turned to the economist Jospeh Schumpeter and his seminal book “Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy”. Streams of loud cars and trucks barreled past me on the road, some of the vehicles nearly grazing me as oblivious drivers chattered on cell phones. As I continued pedaling down the street, images of organic daikon and Schumpeter’s theory of “Creative Destruction” swirled around [...]

One of the things I loved about working with midwives is that each visit lasted 45 minutes. From your sex life to your diet, midwives are very thorough.  I have parallel care with an MD for blood work; however, I opted out of most testing. I never had an ultrasound or many of the other recommended tests, because I was committed to having my child, no matter what might be wrong with him/her. My good friend was also pregnant at the time, and she had a horrible pregnancy of constant worry and trips to the bay area for level 2 ultrasounds.  She was told her child might have down’s syndrome, then was told the baby only had half a kidney.  In the end, her daughter was born healthy, but I remember at the time thinking, there could be something wrong with my baby, and I wouldn’t know it. It turns out I was right.

Early in my first trimester, I got very sick with a fever (one of the hazards of being a teacher).  I went from this illness to morning sickness, and lost 12 pounds those first three months.  Again, the doctor and midwives were concerned I wouldn’t gain weight, but I did in the end, grossing 45 extra pounds.  During my sixth month, I started having contractions.  They felt a little bit more serious than Braxton-Hicks, so my midwives sentenced me to one hour of bedrest in the morning, and one hour in the afternoon.  I was convinced this baby was coming early; he was five days late.