Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Last night it blew a gale here in La Nucia. The wind is a warm wind but it is really fierce and I feared it would result in structural damage. However, we are blessed with a beautiful day with warmth and sunshine and the world looks better for it. The UK has its ongoing monetary problems, the Prime Minister under constant attack and problems of every ilk around the country. However, the newspapers have their priorities. The Coles are going to split up. Cheryl seems a very nice girl but do us a favour…yawn, yawn, yawn………….I have a Spanish lesson to attend so I will post the podcast later.

“Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.” ~ Tom Krause

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Spanish trade unionists will pour on to the streets to protest against Socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero´s attempts to reform a moribund economy that has left one in five Spaniards out of work.

Marches are due in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia in a show of union muscle designed to head off reforms to both generous labour laws and a state pension programme that critics claim are strangling growth.  Full Story

——————————————————-

We really should know better.

Drinking water was delivered in lead pipes for centuries. Finally, lead pipes were banned in the U.S. in 1986 after scientists realized that lead exposure caused cognitive problems and other health issues.

Interesting side note: The UK banned lead pipes in 1969. Seventeen years before the U.S. Just sayin’.

So here in the 21st century, having learned our lead lesson, you might think we’d be wise about delivering liquids and foods in metal containers.

But no.

Interesting side note: More than 70 years ago, scientists at Canada’s McIntyre Porcupine Gold Mine thought they found a way to prevent silicosis, a deadly lung condition caused by inhaling silica dust in the mines. Research showed that inhaled powdered aluminum prevented damage from silica dust. This turned out to be untrue, but for several decades miners would start their day’s work with a deep inhalation of aluminum. In the 1980s, a Toronto researcher gave cognition tests to more than 640 men who had worked in the mines. She found that ALL the retired miners scored in the “impaired” range.

Other studies have linked aluminum exposure to impaired cognition and (more importantly) Alzheimer’s risk. So it was unsettling to come across this NutraIngredients-USA headline: “Food Packaging to Aid Aluminium’s Global Surge.”

If you’re not in the aluminum industry, and if you ARE concerned about the worldwide explosion of Alzheimer’s cases, an aluminum global surge sounds like a serious threat.

———————————————————–
Aluminum tsunami
———————————————————–

More than two billion people in developing countries will cross the line from poverty to working class over the next few years.

But as billions raise their standard of living, aluminum will come clanking along after. According to an aluminum industry insider: “The capacity to manufacture aluminium beverage containers and other food packaging will struggle to keep pace with demand.”

Of course, food and beverage packaging is just one of MANY ways we’re exposed to aluminum. The average person my absorb anywhere from 10 to 100 mg of aluminum DAILY through aluminum deodorants, cookware, baking powder, antacids, and other sources.

And here’s the worst part: Aluminum is able to cross the blood brain barrier that effectively blocks MOST harmful intruders from entering your brain. Once inside, aluminum sets off free radical formation. Then oxidative stress threatens brain cell membranes and promotes inflammation. Aluminum also contributes to the primary Alzheimer’s culprit – amyloid plaque buildup.

In the July 1998 Members Alert, HSI Panelist, Marty Milner, N.D., explained how he helped discover a way to reduce dangerous levels of aluminum.

Dr. Milner wrote: “In a group of fibromyalgia patients being treated with malic acid, we were amazed to note that the aluminum levels in their tissues – as measured by hair analysis – dropped dramatically. This was an incredibly important development, because aluminum is notoriously difficult to chelate (remove).”

Malic acid is available in most health food stores (magnesium malate is the preferred form). Dr. Milner recommends 500 mg of malic acid three times a day for no more that three weeks at a time. But he adds that aluminum chelation should only be attempted if you have established (through hair analysis) that your aluminum levels are high, and only with the care of a health professional.

And for more ways to prevent excess aluminum buildup, I recommend the article, “Pardon Me – But Your Brain is on Fire!” by my colleague and fellow HealthierTalk.com contributor, Dr. Alan Inglis Source

——————————————————————–

El arte

(ar’-teh) (noun) – art; artistry, flair, skill; cunning

• Me encanta el arte abstracto en este museo. – I love the abstract art in this museum.
• Tiene el arte para arreglar flores. – She has a flair for arranging flowers.

• No tener arte ni parte en – To have absolutely nothing to do with
• Por arte de birlibirloque – By extraordinary means
• ————————————————————————

Japanese Monk is flexible in delivering Buddhism

Kansho Tagaican be seen at the 400-year-old Kyoouji Temple in central Tokyo offering softly chanted prayers throughout the day amid traditional bell chimes and wafts of incense.

However, every now and then Tagai, whose community has dubbed him “Mr Happiness” for his positive outlook, raises the volume and the tempo of these prayers. He raps Buddhist sutra, or teachings, to hip hop beats and in modern Japanese!

Complete story.

—————————————————————-

Golden Oldies  from Jackie C in Alfaz….

No one believes oldies . .. . everyone thinks they are senile.

An Elderly couple was celebrating their sixtieth anniversary. The couple had married as childhood sweethearts and had moved back to their old neighborhood after they retired.

Holding hands they walked back to their old school.
It was not locked, so they entered, and found the old desk they’d shared, where Andy had carved “I love you, Sally.”

On their way back home, a bag of money fell out of an armored car, practically landing at their feet Sally quickly picked it up,  but not sure what to do with it, they took it home. There, she counted the money–fifty-thousand dollars.

Andy said, “We’ve got to give it back.”
Sally said, “Finders keepers.” She put the money back in the bag and hid it in their attic.
The next day, two FBI men were canvassing the neighborhood looking for the money, and knocked on the door.

“Pardon me, but did either of you find a bag that fell out of an armored car yesterday?”

Sally said, “No.”
Andy said, “She’s lying. She hid it up in the attic.”
Sally said, “Don’t believe him, he’s getting senile.”

The agents turn to Andy and began to question him.
One says:  “Tell us the story from the beginning”
Andy said, “Well, when Sally and I were walking home from school yesterday . .. “

The first FBI guy turns to his partner and says, “We’re outta here.”

—————————————————————————————–

Music Stuff February 24th

To anyone learning to play the guitar…visit this link and you won´t be disappointed.

1957, Buddy Holly recorded a new version of ‘That’ll Be The Day’
1963, The Rolling Stones started a Sunday night residency at The Station Hotel, Richmond, Surrey.
1969, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played their last ever-British performance .. at the Royal Albert Hall.
1973, Roberta Flack US No.1 with ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song
1976, The Eagles ‘Greatest Hits’ became the first album to be certified platinum by the R.I.A.A. New certification’s represented sales of 1 million copies for albums and two million for singles.
1979, a new UK TV show started on BBC2 called ‘Seven To One’, the title referring to the format of seven teenagers questioning a star guest, the first weeks guest was Sir Bob Geldof.
1982, The Police won best British group at the first annual Brit Awards held in London. Outstanding Contribution went to John Lennon.
1982, winners at the Grammy Awards included John & Yoko Album of the year with ‘Double Fantasy
1990, American singer, songwriter, pianist Johnnie Ray died of liver failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
1990, Manchester band The Happy Mondays had six singles on the UK indie chart.

1997, The Spice Girls won best single with ‘Wannabe’ at this years Brit Awards held in London.
2000, Carlos Santana won eight awards at this year Grammy Awards. Before the ‘Supernatural’ album, the guitarist had not had a Top 10 album since 1981.
2000, Sixties pop star Georgie Fame was banned from driving for a year and fined £350 after being breathalysed the morning after a concert.
2004, Estelle Axton, who helped create the legendary US soul music label Stax, died in hospital in Memphis, aged 85. Stax was home to Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Isaac Hayes and Booker T and the MG’s and the Stax studio, ‘Soulsville USA’.
2009, The United States Mint launched a new coin featuring American composer, pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington, making him the first African-American to appear by himself on a US coin.

Birthday Boys and Girls February 24th
1942, Paul Jones, singer, harmonica player, actor, radio presenter, Manfred Mann
1944, Nicky Hopkins, session piano player who worked with The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, The Beatles, John Lennon, The Who and Small Faces.
1947, Rupert Holmes, writer, producer, singer, The Pina Colada Song
1948, Dennis Waterman, singer, actor,
1962, Michelle Shocked,

Latest Podcasts