Asparagus facts

Asparagus, its fleshy spears topped with bud-like compact heads, is often thought of as a luxury vegetable, prized for its succulent taste and tender texture. It is harvested in the spring when it is 6 to 8 inches tall. While the most common variety of asparagus is green in color, two other edible varieties are available. White asparagus, with its more delicate flavor and tender texture, is grown underground to inhibit its development of chlorophyll content, therefore creating its distinctive white coloring. It is generally found canned, although you may find it fresh in some select gourmet shops, and it is generally more expensive than the green variety since its production is more labor intensive. The other edible variety of asparagus is purple in color. It is much smaller than the green or white variety (usually just 2 to 3 inches tall) and features a fruitier flavor. It also provides benefits from phytonutrients called anthocyanins that give it its purple color. With prolonged cooking, the purple color may disappear.

Health Benefits of Asparagus

• It is high in vitamin K and Folate
• Eat asparagus when you are pregnant or thinking about conceiving - because of it being high in folic acid it helps prevent birth defects such as spina bifida
• Great for your heart
• Helps menstrual cramps with fertility problems
• Great for your gastrointestinal tract and your colon
• Helps menstrual cramps
• Great food to help treat depression
• Has been known to increase the success rate of chemo therapy
• Is considered a diuretic which means it is a good anti-inflammatory - best for arthritis, asthma rheumatism, and even water retention…PMS
• Help get rid of warts
• Helps detoxify your body
• Add more asparagus to your diet to lover cholesterol
• Great for nursing mothers stimulating milk production
• Has antioxidant agents - prevents the effects of aging
• Has antifungal and antiviral qualities
• Great for your kidneys - cleansing your body by stimulating urination and preventing kidney stones
• Helps prevent bladder and urinary tract infections
• Use to be used as an a aphrodisiac - increase sexual and comforting feelings
• Helps with treating HIV
• Helps prevent multiple sclerosis
• Helps prevent scurvy
• Asparagus has anti-cancer agents - especially lung cancer
• Helps fight chronic fatigue syndrome
• Helps fight off high blood pressure
• If you bruise easily - eat more asparagus
• Is considered a laxative - eat an asparagus if you have diarrhea and constipation
• Great for your capillaries - eat more asparagus to avoid varicose veins
• Great for your eyes preventing cataracts
• If you are experiencing hair loss- eat more asparagus
• Helps treat toothaches

"The 7 Stages of Grief"

Here is the grief model we call the 7 Stages of Grief:

1. SHOCK & DENIAL-
   You will probably react to learning of the loss with numbed disbelief. You may deny the reality of the loss at some level, in order to avoid the pain. Shock provides emotional protection from being overwhelmed all at once. This may last for weeks.
2. PAIN & GUILT-
   As the shock wears off, it is replaced with the suffering of unbelievable pain. Although excruciating and almost unbearable, it is important that you experience the pain fully, and not hide it, avoid it or escape from it with alcohol or drugs.
   
   You may have guilty feelings or remorse over things you did or didn't do with your loved one. Life feels chaotic and scary during this phase.
3. ANGER & BARGAINING-
   Frustration gives way to anger, and you may lash out and lay unwarranted blame for the death on someone else. Please try to control this, as permanent damage to your relationships may result. This is a time for the release of bottled up emotion.
   
   You may rail against fate, questioning "Why me?" You may also try to bargain in vain with the powers that be for a way out of your despair ("I will never drink again if you just bring him back")
4. "DEPRESSION", REFLECTION, LONELINESS-
   Just when your friends may think you should be getting on with your life, a long period of sad reflection will likely overtake you. This is a normal stage of grief, so do not be "talked out of it" by well-meaning outsiders. Encouragement from others is not helpful to you during this stage of grieving.
   
   During this time, you finally realize the true magnitude of your loss, and it depresses you. You may isolate yourself on purpose, reflect on things you did with your lost one, and focus on memories of the past. You may sense feelings of emptiness or despair.
   
   More 7 stages of grief...
5. THE UPWARD TURN-
   As you start to adjust to life without your dear one, your life becomes a little calmer and more organized. Your physical symptoms lessen, and your "depression" begins to lift slightly.
6. RECONSTRUCTION & WORKING THROUGH-
   As you become more functional, your mind starts working again, and you will find yourself seeking realistic solutions to problems posed by life without your loved one. You will start to work on practical and financial problems and reconstructing yourself and your life without him or her.
7. ACCEPTANCE & HOPE-
   During this, the last of the seven stages in this grief model, you learn to accept and deal with the reality of your situation. Acceptance does not necessarily mean instant happiness. Given the pain and turmoil you have experienced, you can never return to the carefree, untroubled YOU that existed before this tragedy. But you will find a way forward.
   
   You will start to look forward and actually plan things for the future. Eventually, you will be able to think about your lost loved one without pain; sadness, yes, but the wrenching pain will be gone. You will once again anticipate some good times to come, and yes, even find joy again in the experience of living.
   
   You have made it through the 7 stages of grief.

The best homemade remedies to treat hay fever and seasonal allergies

NaturalNews) Homemade remedies for hay fever can quickly reduce seasonal allergy reactions, providing relief from symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, itching, congestion and coughing. Hay fever affects the mucous membranes of the sinuses, nose, throat, eyes and palate. Grasses and plant pollens are the cause of inflammatory reactions that stimulate the immune system, and are made worse by the presence of chemicals, dust and pollutants. Research indicates that approximately 20 percent of the population suffer some form of hay fever.

Homemade remedies including treatment with herbs, homeopathy and common household ingredients provide natural antihistamines, relieve symptoms and prevent their return.

Treatment with herbs

Homemade remedies consisting of herbal recipes are often highly effective at providing allergy relief for hay fever sufferers.

Chamomile tea is reputed to relieve hay fever symptoms. Some herbalists suggest smearing chamomile and lemon oil on a tissue and inhaling to prevent hay fever symptoms.

Ginger tea and raw honey works to break up chest congestion and loosen phlegm. It strengthens the immune system and acts as a natural antihistamine.

Green tea blocks the production of histamine and is one of the best homemade remedies for building the immune system.

Peppermint tea relieves nasal and sinus congestion. Drink it cold to sooth coughing associated with hay fever and allergies.

Butterbur reduces inflammation, blocking histamines and leukotrienes. Studies suggest the herb is effective for relieving sneezing, itchy eyes, sinus congestion and headaches. People allergic to ragweed or chrysanthemum should avoid butterbur.

Homemade remedies

Old time, folk remedies are tried and true, providing relief from sneezing, congestion and itching from hay fever.

Steaming produces excellent results to break up congestion. Add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to a bowl of hot water and carefully inhale the steam. Avoid eucalyptus if you are taking homeopathic remedies as it voids their action.

Grapefruit and lemon boiled in one cup of water for 15 minutes makes an excellent home remedy for hay fever. Use only the fruit, not the rind. Cool and mix with raw honey to relieve symptoms.

Calendula liquid diluted in water makes an excellent eye wash to soothe itchy eyes. Use non-alcoholic calendula. Add a dropper full of colloidal silver to enhance the anti-microbial action and reduce inflammation.

Omega-3 fatty acids may act to lower the amounts of inflammatory chemicals produced by the body after exposure to an allergen. Although additional research is needed, it appears that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids may help decrease the incidence of hay fever.

Homeopathic remedies

Numerous homeopathic medicines make excellent homemade remedies for hay fever symptoms.

Arundo - People needing Arundo often experience burning and itching of the palate, nose and the eyes. There may be sneezing, runny nose and loss of smell.

Wyethia - Similar to Arundo, with intolerable itching on the roof of the mouth and back of the nose into the frontal sinuses and throat indicate the need for Wyethia.

Arum Triphyllum - This remedy may relieve burning nasal discharge that creates raw sores on the skin. There may be pain at the root of the nose and the individual must breathe through the mouth due to congestion. Scabs may form high up in the nostrils, and skin of nose and lips is dry and chapped.

Sabadilla - One of the best home remedies for constant sneezing accompanied by nasal discharge and itching in the nose indicate a need for Sabadilla. There may be watery eyes and a lump in the throat indicating the need for this remedy.

Source:  http://www.naturalnews.com

THE GREAT DICTATOR’S SPEECH TRANSCRIPT:

THE GREAT DICTATOR’S SPEECH TRANSCRIPT:

“We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness – not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…. Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes – men who despise you – enslave you – who regiment your lives – tell you what to do – what to think and what to feel! Who drill you – diet you – treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men – machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate – the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! You, the people have the power – the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.”