OUTSOURCING A WOMB, AS WELL AS COMPUTER PROBLEMS, TO INDIA.

Since once ovum and sperm meet, all the genetics are set.  Thus the race of the room 'borrowed' for gestation does not affect the external appearance of the child.  It is not a surprise that impoverished woman in India, whose husbands earn the equivalent of America's $25, may choose to earn as much as $5000 to incubate a fertilized ovum for near nine months.  While the biological alien will never have the joy of being so close to her unborn child as wearing it on the inside, nature will preserve it intact with all its genetic material intact.  The child born will resemble its parents and not the body in which it was gestated.

Since America has outsourced so many jobs for cheaper prices, why should we be surprised if surrogacy has been added to the list.  We can all remember the legal battlers that made headlines in the past when the surrogate was unable or unwilling to give up the child once born.   To avoid this contract violstion, a very wise company now in the surrogacy business in India, chooses women who are married and already have children so that the temptation to keep the baby is lessened. To read an article by Arlie Hochschild with more detail on this subject, click here.

This is a trend that has increased, with America being one of the leading users of the service.  It certainly suggests a move 180 degrees away from the 'do-it-yourself' movement which we have prided ourselves on for so long!

MANKIND WECOMES ANIMAL HELP

A BBC report: 

Businessmen, office workers and policemen are decamping to the forests of Brandenburg to study the behaviour of wolves in packs. The skills on offer are how to lead, command respect, and improve efficiency at the workplace." Steve Rosenberg reports.on video   .  "Wolves are being used to improve German business skills""German sociologists are pioneering the use of wolves to teach leadership skills"  For more of the article from which this quote came, click here. People write many things and we, clearly, cannot read everything we would like to read. Some interesting book titles though I have not read the books re seen Today, animals seem to be getting smarter. that is it because their life span is shorter and thus they can e  That is my observational opinion though I see no scientific works proving it.

FINDING MY OWN WAY OUT OF A LONG FUNK

This blog never intended to be about my personal state of mind or mental health.  However, I just figured out why I had been in a funk (slump) for a couple of years.  It  seemed logical to share my own insights to see if others were experiencing my process similarly and that it was not atypical for people on life's journey ,as the light at the end of the tunnel is the oblivion of being life's end..  My funk was not a clinical depression and no one close to me noticed or knew I was in a funk.  I did my job, but fell behind on lots of things I should have been doing. doing lots of things that didn't really need to be done by me, and putting off many other chores , like filling out a health proxy and all those other legal end-of-life things.

I can only describe this phase somewhat 'end to beginning' and in a context retrospectively visible to me long after I was caught up in its action-sapping fingers.  As insight gradually seeped into my consciousness, it became apparent the initial triggers were the death of three of my very good friends, about my age, in a close cluster of time. Lastly, my age having turned to a decade too often stereotyped in our society  as beyond youth into near senility.  As of this writing, my health is excellent, I feel younger than most with my years of life, and I'm told I neither think like most my age nor behave like them...whatever one can interpret from that.

Realization struck that all three of my friends had serious illnesses for some time but had survived long enough that imminent death came as a surprise about all three.  Those three had backed off life to a remarkable extent while I had continued living my life much as I had the previous decade.

As I counted the probable years left to me in life, my mind began a list of priorities.  I began to cut back on some of the things I wanted to finish and rethought those that I felt I must finish.  My feelings were an irritation at all the myriad tasks of survival that took up so much of the day.  Unwanted phone intrusions which had not normally bothered me now did.  I became impatient with people whom I considered as wasters of my time, though many were lovely human beings; I determined to whom I would grant the sharing of what was left to me and speak only to those with whom I wish the contact.  I cherished the friends and relatives whom I love and regretted that their lives were so busy, as mine had been a few decades earlier, allowing little time for sharing their lives with me.  All the things I still wanted to learn more about piled up for the valuable answers to many of my questions.  My house is full of books and I know many of them will be unread , but I will never know it..

Recognizing with what my psyche was struggling, since I have no fear of death, my quest is to prioritize the relatively few years remaining so that, while I am alive, I can feel I am making the most of them just as I bargain shopped for years to feel I was maximizing the use of my finite amount of money.  If I were immortal I know I would never be bored as there is always something to learn, do, experience, and feelings to be felt, images to store in my brain, and relationships to make me feel worthwhile to others.  The comfort I finally achieved was the realization that as much as there may be panic felt at how much I can cram into those remaining years, at whatever point it is over, nothing will matter. I will know nothing of what was undone, what memories of myself I left for others, whatever happened to my treasured belongings, and will not experience Armageddon or the future generations of my offspring.. 

DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU EAT?

Recently a new line of defense has been established in the food industry.  Machines to quickly determine the DNA of a food product are now selling.  Thermo-Fisher Scientific is providing the industry of regulation of food with new tools.  Not all food will be tested, but an eye on imports is showing that a significant percentage of the small number tested indicate that olive oil, honey and maple syrup are easily diluted with other products.

An article in the Washington Post gives much more detail on the subject.  Lindsey Layton describes much of what is being done and, more importantly, that which is still needed.  She writes: "Some honey makers dilute their honey with sugar beets or corn syrup, their competitors say, but still market it as 100 percent pure at a premium price....."Food fraud" has been documented in fruit juice, olive oil, spices, vinegar, wine, spirits and maple syrup, and appears to pose a significant problem in the seafood industry. Victims range from the shopper at the local supermarket to multimillion companies, including E&J Gallo and Heinz USA."

A new fad is Agave Nectar.  It is described in this article as The Triumph of Marketing Over Truth.  Several articles I read suggest it is just another way of getting fructose syrup.  Judge for yourself.  It has a much more popular use and that is when it is refined to Tequila.

As I used Google to do a bit of research on this subject, I found as many articles warning against food scams were scams themselves.   However, for yet another warning, click here.

CHANGE VERSUS ACCEPTANCE

People look for control of their own lives, even when it gives that control to someone like God who, they think, will be wise and good to them, freeing them of responsibility.  For others, the struggle is to be boss, to be in power, whatever it takes.  Leadership works best when the leader can get the followers, subordinates, offspring, students or whatever, to feel good about themselves...praised to stroke them and free them of anxiety or fear of disapproval or loss of control of their lives, livelihood, or security.  Not free of anxiety, it is a natural tendency for people to go underground against the authority; to be passive aggressive and feel that the nasty power deserves to be plotted against.  The powerful is punished without understanding where the resistance source stems or how simple it would be to change it rather than accepting it as an inevitable that power has to combat, to tame, the threaten and punish, to get rid of the guessed at or perceived offenders.  Stable work units, the trust in one another on a team, does not get built that way.
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It takes  acceptance of one's self; to deny the majority would reflect poor taste or there is fear of the exposure of standing alone.  It takes maturity to dare that position and avoid the manipulation of the marketers..

Lastly, brain research has shown us that it is harder for some people to accept change.  This is true of those with autism, PTSD, and recently research  showed more Republicans find change more difficult with which to deal than Democrats. First comes change,,,,and then with luck, it is followed by acceptance.  When it is difficult to make change in the first place. don't push your will or acceptance the the kind of person who has just agreed to make the first step of change!

REAL JOURNALISM

Jeremy Scahill is this year's Izzy Award winner.  The Izzy, which is named after the legendary muckraker I.F. Stone, celebrates outstanding achievement in independent media..  He commented on the need to save 'real journalism'.  We, as American citizens can comment, "Next to losing our minds, we miss good journalists, honest, truthful, fact finding  to read.  It will take some time before the public as a whole can trust journalists, political talk show hosts, and politicians.  In addition to those who are more interested in personal gain, re-election, and greed, who have ruined our country, we must not only try to keep the country afloat in many dimensions, but we must find people to trust.  It is clear that our current voting practices are not sufficient to allow the public to choose enough competent people in elections. elected

It took a long time for a voice, with sufficient substance to be heard,  to say what many of us have known for a long time....that the Republicans work for Fox News. (quote:  David Frum) It speaks to the motivation within those with power and money which seduces people to follow that power blindly when brainwashed and preached to many hours daily the those who lie so blatantly and powerfully that people  who watch or read little else are quickly brought into the fold of the Pied Pipers of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Karl Rove, and  so many others.. Glenn Beck and Sarah Pail are playing a very dangerous game, inciting the gun bearers to a revolution,

A recent interview went as follows:  "Byard Duncan: What does it mean to be an "independent journalist?"

Jeremy Scahill: I would define an independent journalist as someone that's totally un-embedded when it comes to their relationship with the powerful. In other words, you don't get into bed with any political party. I'm not a Democrat; I'm not a Republican. I'm a journalist. It means that you don't get in bed with the military, with the CIA, or wealthy corporations, and you don't compromise your journalistic or your personal integrity in the pursuit of anything, including a story.

I believe that the way independent journalists are most effectively able to conduct their work is by maintaining their independence from the powerful. I don't hob-nob with the powerful. I don't count among my friends executives or other powerful people. I think it's important for independent journalists to not be beholden to any special interests whatsoever."

We need more of these men and women who have some principles and integrity.  Where are they hiding.  Come out, come out, wherever you are.  We know you have been hiding!"