Saturday, May 31, 2008

The dog next door.....

Well, of course....I'm an animal lover. I have a dog and at one time I had both dogs and a cat....plus a bird. So, yes, I am indeed an animal lover and protector.

Now the house next door to me used to be home to my best friend. I was devastated when she had to move....not just a little ways away, but all the way across the nation away. The people who bought the place from her were great neighbors. They had a gorgeous black lab and he was my buddy. They sold out after 10 years and bought acreage. The people who bought from them were.....different. Not as easy going friendly as the previous owners but still nice neighbors. They had a yellow lab who was trained to be a hunting dog. Wow...I loved this dog a lot! When they moved after only about 3 years I really missed the dog more than the humans. Now there are new people in there. They seem friendly enough but both work and there isn't a lot of time for sitting around and chatting. They have cats. They also are new to the area, having come from several counties away.

One day last summer we looked out to see that they had a new addition to the family....a small brown puppy. My son visits with the guy more than I do and he said they got the pup from the animal shelter. Well, weeks turned into months and then winter was upon us. Their dog is let out primarily in their back yard and I don't have a very good view unless I actually leave the back deck and go out into my own yard. I hadn't seen the puppy in a long time. I looked out the other day and did a double-take. This is an 'oh-oh' moment for sure. The guy was outside and his dog, who has grown considerably, was out there with him frolicking around....happy as can be. The dog is a pit-bull. If its not 100%, its more than half. This is an oh-oh because in our community pit-bulls are prohibited. Even if they are only part pit-bull, they are prohibited. I feel really bad about my neighbor's dog. This dog will never be abused and will never be used for fighting. It will be loved as part of a family....the woman is pregnant now. But, they are not allowed to have it here. I'm sure they are totally unaware of this and I just CAN'T be the bearer of this bad news for them.

I really don't know what to do.....its only a matter of time before someone calls about the dog. The school bus stop is in front of his house. The neighbor behind him has two matching Shelties (one is mean, one is friendly) and the one is actually more of a threat than this particular pit-bull could ever be. I have a miniature poodle behind me, and two doors down is a Schnauzer. Across the street are two Bassett hounds and next to them are two yellow Labs. Yep, this is a neighborhood full of dogs, the breeds all diverse.

These people are going to be heart-broken when they are told they can't keep this pet. I blame the animal shelter for not being well-versed on the restrictions of the various townships and/or cities in the area they service. For once I'm really glad that we do not visit often with this neighbor.....I'm sure he's going to wonder why no one told him before he got attached to this puppy. We simply did not know the breed....it was hard to tell when it was so small and from a distance. I really do feel for them.....but I just CAN'T be the one to tell them.

Friday, May 30, 2008

A bit of gossip.....


This is just going to be a short little post to let you know of an incident that occurred that is a definite stress-releaser. I didn't get much gossip from the beauty shop when I got my nails done, but got a humdinger from the neighborhood grapevine. I checked it out online through the county website and the grapevine is accurate. Remember the kid that was bothering my daughter and my grandson....I talked about him here. Well, please believe me when I say that I NEVER wish anyone bad luck or bad things but I am a firm believer on wishing people get what they deserve. I even prayed on this one. Well, he got caught! Yep, the police caught him coming out of a house he had broken into with stolen property in his arms. He is now in jail with two felony charges and his bond has been set at $50k cash. I hope his parents are not stupid enough to bond him out. Now he may FINALLY get the help he needs but one thing is for sure....he will be off drugs. My daughter and grandson are relieved.

I haven't done much commenting because time's been short but I have noticed one thing in common with a lot of the blogs I visit.....a lot of them are bored too. Seems like a lot of bloggers are having a dry spell as far as having something to write about, just like me. Its been a common complaint. Now if I were like Soul, it would be easy. She can write an entire 18 paragraph post about having nothing to talk about and she makes it interesting. This woman has a gift I tell ya....a real gift! Not to mention the engrossing novels that Gypsy writes when she says she has absolutely nothing to say. Such talent and wrapped up in a pretty package to boot! Y'all know I'm right....don't ya. (I'd link you but she's gone private).

Even the beauty shop gossip was dull. My nails turned out nice, as usual, though. Its the one thing I do just for me. I can stretch visits to go every three weeks but I still wince a bit when I pay for them. She's a sweetie so I always give her a good tip too. One thing I heard at the beauty shop was that one of the girls who works there had her first baby last week. She was in labor a whopping 2 hours!!! Does this child know how lucky she is? I was in labor fifty ..... FIFTY hours with my first one. Of course my second one came 16 minutes after I got to the hospital...so that kinda evened things out, I guess. I guess I'll go take a little nappie; its 78 outside but nice and cool in here.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Sigh.....its just me


Sometimes I feel like my life is just so effing boring.....I don't have anything to write about. Last night I actually gave myself a headache trying to think of SOMETHING to write about. Something witty, something thought-provoking, something shocking even. But, alas....I have NOTHING. Of course, if I want to consider the ALTERNATIVE to having a boring life, like having no life at all..... then I guess having a boring life is A-ok with me right now.

I will be leaving here in a few minutes to go get my nails done. WOW.... isn't that earth-shattering news! Maybe I will hear some interesting tidbit at the beauty shop, which we all know is just a swirling pool of gossip and mayhem. Ask me if I've finished my bathroom yet. Ah....that would be no. Ask me why....well, cuz I just didn't feel like it. I know all the extra hours I've been working have sorta done me in.....I guess I need to admit that I'm not as young as I used to be.

I have finished reading DUMA KEY by Stephen King. It still can't hold a candle to my all time favorite Stephen King novel, THE GREEN MILE, but it was pretty good. It held my interest in a weird, Stephen King-ish way. I swear being married to that man would surely make me nervous. WHERE does he come up with all these ideas?? It was a 602 page book and I finished it off in about 4 days. So, that's another reason why the bathroom didn't get finished. HA!

Well, kids, I'm off like a prom dress.....hopefully I'll return with beautiful hands and something to write about.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day.....

This day means many different things to many different people. It was always a custom in my family to make the trip to the cemetery with gardening tools and flowers. My family plot is in a very old cemetery that used to be in the country. Now the space all around it has been built up with homes and apartment complexes. This small serene space, however, remains with only minor changes....the addition of another headstone here and there and the trees have grown to towering oaks. There used to be an old handpump for water but that was replaced with a faucet a few years back. I didn't like going there with my dad but I went. He and my grandma (his mother) would work on the grave of his dad and when we left it would be filled with flowers, black wet soil and even the headstone would have been washed off. Grandma planted a small tree by the headstone many years before and it was beginning to show some growth. It was a flowering tree but I can't remember what kind now. Grandma could grow anything. That tree is huge now.

When Grandma died, I still went with my dad to the grave site. My mother didn't go. I never remember her going. When I was older, I used to walk around the whole cemetery and look at the headstones. Some of them were so very old, back in the early 1800's.

My mother was the next one to take up residency there and I only went a very few times. It was hard for me and it still is. My other grandmother was next and then my father. My father passed away 19 years ago; it seems like only last year. I have not been back but maybe 5 or 6 times in all these years. It tears me apart. I did not go this year again....but I may....just not right now. I was very close to my parents and some may think its terrible that I don't go and decorate their graves. I can't go because its too emotional for me to see their names there. I'm not really in denial.....I just don't want to get upset.

They live in my memories and I don't believe a day goes by that I don't think of them or remember something they used to say. Its amazing how wise our parents become the older WE get, isn't it. But I just wanted to put a reference here to them, to both my grandmothers and my grandpa who loved me so much, on this day of remembrance. They were good people and I was lucky to have had them and words can't even express how much I miss them.

I was tagged.....

I’ve been tagged by Mapi to do the following. I’m not going to tag anyone in particular. If you would like to participate, please do so and let me know as I would be interested in reading your answers. As for mine, I’m pretty boring. LOL

The Rules:

Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 6 people to be tagged, list their names & why you tagged them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment saying “You’re it!” & to go read your blog. You cannot tag the person that tagged you, so since you’re not allowed to tag me back; let me know when you are done so I can go read YOUR weird/random/odd facts, habits and goals.

1. I find it calming after putting the clothes in the washer to lean over, head supported by my elbows and just watch them agitate, with the clean smell of the laundry detergent wafting up as I’m watching.

2. The tastiest food on my plate I will save for the last to eat.

3. I love the smell of new books and will sometimes put my face in the book just to breathe it in.

4. To see horses run, their manes and tails flowing, truly makes me cry with emotion. Their beauty is unsurpassed.

5. The sound of a seagull’s cry is so overwhelmingly sad for me I have to leave the area and get away from it.

6. A bouquet of daisies is the best as far as I’m concerned.

7. If you’re my friend and intentionally hurt me, I’ll forgive you once, but not twice.

8. I’ve always wanted some musical talent. I have none at all. I can’t carry a tune even if I had a basket. My mother and grandmother both had beautiful voices and one sang on stage at one time.

9. I believe everything happens for a reason, even though we may never find out what that reason is.

10. I start looking at a magazine from back to front.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

A Dog Mom.....


It seems like I've always been a dog mom...and for a while I was a cat mom too. They are like our children, they just have an extra set of legs and are a bit more furry, that's all. Last winter was a bad one for me and getting that rotten cold that was going around really set me behind schedule in a lot of things. Getting my dog her shots and license was one of them. June 1st, the license fee doubles so I made the appointment and took my dog in there. They are always so happy riding in the car, heads trying to get out the window. I don't put my window down much, so about all she can get out is her nose. But that's enough to make her happy....lots of smells out there to check out. As soon as we pull into the parking lot of the vet's office, however, that happy demeanor changes. She's usually a ball of energy trying to smell every bit of grass and pavement and steps all the way to the door. Once inside, she starts to quiver and looks at me with those huge soulful eyes. We know what's best but its hard not to give in and take them back home right then.
The other dogs in the waiting room are courteous and quiet. I wonder what's going through their minds. Its fun to match up the dogs with their owners. The resemblance of dog and owner sometimes is surprising as well as humorous. Well, my dog wanted NO part of getting on the scale, which looks like a treadmill to me. She's rather small so they said they'd use the baby scale for her. She's a whopping 17 pounds when they finally weigh her, with every one of her claws grasping at whatever she can get ahold of to keep from standing on that scale. Her check-up is fine. Her tests are all fine. I get a new supply of heartworm preventative and flea preventative. She gets her nails trimmed. I bought one of those clippers, but have been so afraid to use it because some of her nails are all black and I can't see the vein. The vet also tells me that she's getting a bit of tarter build-up on her back teeth. I am amused at the fact that I leave that place with a "dog" toothbrush and a sample package of chicken flavored toothpaste. Yes, I will be brushing her teeth most every day that I remember to do it. Since its chicken flavored, I'm sure she'll let me. It kinda makes my stomach turn to think of brushing my teeth with chicken flavored toothpaste. I did ask the vet if I could use 'human' toothpaste on her and he emphatically said NO NO NO. The fluoride is bad for them. Hmmmmm....what about US, I wonder, but don't say anything. I guess I'd rather have minty fluoride than chicken flavored toothpaste.
I brought her back home and she curled up for a nap. It had been a big day for her little doggie self. Wait til she gets a load of the toothbrushing. In the meantime, I subtracted the $255 from my checkbook and wonder how people with 3 or 4 dogs can afford it.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Chivalry is NOT dead.....

at least not in my neighborhood. Thank the Lord. Yep, tonight I felt as though I had been transferred back through time and was living in Norman Rockwell's slice of Americana. It was wonderful...although what led me into it was a bit traumatic.

Picture this. I am driving home from work. I have about five miles to drive on a 5 lane highway. Heavy traffic, going fast. If you don't do at least 60, they run over you. I had just gotten off of that and had turned onto the road that takes me home. I had only gone about a half mile when I felt my car really begin to pull to the right. A lot. The road I was on is only a 35 mph road, so I was going slow. I was about a half mile from home when I heard the unmistakeable FLOP FLOP FLOP and the steering was hard to manipulate. There are dirt shoulders on this road and I pulled over onto one.....right in front of a fenced in house, with two dogs who barked then wagged their tails like they knew me. I got out of my vehicle and walked around to check the tire, which I already knew had to be flat. The front passenger side. As I'm walking around my car, I speak to the dogs and tell them they are good and watch the tails wag even harder. As my eyes land on the VERY FLAT front tire, I hear, "you couldn't have picked a better place to stop". I look up to see not one, not two....but THREE knights in shining armor.

They are all about 40, holding cans of beer, obviously friends. One of them says....we were just sittin' around havin' a beer and we heard that flat tire when it happened. And they just started in helping me....they took charge of the situation. Took the flat one off and put the little biddy one from the trunk on. My tire is not repairable. Its all torn up....what a mess! They chatted happily as they worked, joking about being my "pit crew" and with the likes of them, I surely would come in last place. The sun was shining, the smell of freshly cut grass and lilacs filling the air. I could hear someone's lawnmower doing its job. Kids were throwing a baseball back and forth. It was small town Americana as if Rockwell himself had painted it. I thanked them with all my heart and offered to pay them but they would have none of that. I didn't have far to go to make it home and even though I cannot see their houses from mine, they are my neighbors and I'm proud they are.

After getting safely home I thought about how much different this all could have turned out if that blow out had happened when I was doing 60 on the 5-lane highway, during rush hour when everyone is in such a hurry. I'm so glad my Guardian Angel kept me going until I reached a much quieter area and into the lives of 3 great men who really made my day and helped me forget all about having to buy a new tire. I'll buy it with a smile on my face. So chivalry is NOT dead and ..... oh boy...am I EVER glad.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

I knew it would eventually happen.....


My grandson was over yesterday for a bit. He was thumbing through a magazine while I finished up paying a bill online. He said to me:
GS: Grandma?
Me: hmmmm?
GS: Do you know what a Circadian Rhythm is?
Me: (blinking a couple times and trying to rewind my brain) a what honey?
GS: A Circadian Rhythm.
Me: (knowing that I have heard the term before but can't put my finger not only on WHERE but a definition for it) Ah, it sounds familiar but I can't think off the top of my head right now what it is.....why?
GS: Well, its a sleep rhythm and I'm doing research into it for my project at school.
Me: That sounds intriguing . What is your project? (I am sure I saw his shoulders 'square up' a bit)
GS: Well, I'm arguing that school should start later in the day because teenagers are programmed by their Circadian Rhythm to sleep later and they are at their best later in the day. Even teachers are aware of this and that's why in the first two hours of school they really don't get on to you if you happen to fall asleep in class.
Me: (feeling certain he must have first hand knowledge of falling asleep in class) Don't you think that these rhythms could be altered if teenagers would simply get to bed earlier?
GS: Not really. Who wants to go to sleep when its still daylight outside (because of daylight saving time).
Me: Well, what about the teachers? Don't you think they should be at their best also? How can they effectively teach a class if the "adult" rhythms are programmed to be their best earlier in the day?
GS: I have to do more research but I'm confident I can find a good argument for that too.

I knew it would happen eventually.....that one day soon he would ask me a question that I didn't have the answer to. Part of me is glad....its as it should be, I guess. Our future depends on our children and we want them to be more knowledgeable than we are. The other part of me feels like he may not have as much respect for me since "I'm slipping". I wonder if I can find an effective way to "stall" him when he asks me something I don't know the answer to long enough for me to run and google it. That same day, later on, feeling he was on a roll....he asked me if I knew how to do algebra. I don't. I never had to take it in school and never felt the need to use it. He whipped out a pencil and begain to show me a sample problem. The smile on my face was wide....God, I'm proud of him.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

And the beat goes on.....

I'm sorry I haven't answered any comments on here lately. Things are just getting to be over-whelming in some ways. We are still dealing with the so-called court system and custody battles. I finally lost it today and stuck my nose in. The social worker is calling my son at work and his employers are getting a bit frustrated with it all. She (the social worker) knows I'm not intimidated by her so she won't talk to me....she won't even answer my messages. Instead she will bother my son at his place of employment. She's making some mistakes in her handling of my 3 year old granddaughter and its gotten on my last nerve. Today I made waves. BIG ones. This will probably cause another court hearing, but I've contacted my granddaughter's "lawyer" and advised him of what's going on. He agrees that the welfare and safety of the child should be foremost in the minds of these social workers and that just has not been the case lately. They are, instead, coddling my granddaughter's drug addled mother who has lost her other children to the State and who does not have physical custody of her. He has promised that he will talk to the judge and get back with us. I told him that I'm ready to go to my State Representative. Enough is enough!

Add to this huge pot of turmoil another big dosage of trouble from my daughter and her end of the family. Seems as though a guy her son knows, who is 19, has been kicked out of his house and also his grandparent's house. This guy is a loser. He doesn't have a job or a car or a diploma. His parents and grandparents are rich and have handed him money every time he asks for it for years now. He takes the money and gets high with it. They have enabled this for years and have finally had their fill. Last night he was knocking on all my daughter's doors and windows....wanting inside. She will not let him in her house any longer since rumor has it that he's on serious drugs (heroin) and she fears he will steal from her. Her dog was having such a fit last night, she went out in the back yard to check and found this guy in her little girl's playhouse. It was 1 in the morning. She didn't call the police on him, but did threaten to. He said he had no place to go. She offered to take him to a shelter but he didn't want to give up his drugs. He finally left. This guy wanted to take advantage of her kindness and was hoping she'd let him stay there. My daughter is a kind soul so even though she knows he's a loser I think she would have let him stay there for the night if it wasn't for his drug addictions. So today she has to consult our local police and find out what to do about him. No doubt in her mind that he will be back again tonight trying to find a place to stay. Even though there is a 2 year age difference, I wish my grandson would man up and just take care of this guy. My grandson outweighs him by 50 lbs. and is a head taller. I had a little talk with him a while ago about just that. We'll see what happens.

There are so many stresses in the world and the above stresses I have talked about have all been brought on my someone's stupidity....by being on drugs. That's the bottom line of it all and its so very sad. Its a domino effect and drug use hurts everyone.....those who do it as well as those associated with those who do it.....not to mention those who love them.

Tomorrow is another work day and then the blessed weekend is here. I have hopes of getting the border up in my bathroom this weekend. And my grandson starts work tomorrow. Yep, its a fast-food place but its a job and that will help him in so many ways. If he can keep the "loser" from hanging around begging for food. I already warned him he could lose his job over being too caring.

Monday, May 5, 2008

The story continues.....

Well, lets see now. I can end one story. The karate class for my granddaughter ended up being canceled because the instructor canceled out. Since she won a scholarship to it, they traded it in for a dance class instead. So she's happy and hopefully THIS instructor will show up.

We are still waiting for the driving record to be mailed. My son is still working, but everything is sort of at a stand-still for the time being. In other words, they have not ordered his work uniforms yet. It sure doesn't give him a feeling that they think everything is going to turn out ok.

I hired someone to paint my bathroom since its been in limbo for months now. Again, I remember my mother's words echoing in my brain.....you get what you pay for. No truer words were ever spoken. I didn't pay an arm and a leg but he did come highly recommended......however, after this performance, I wouldn't let him paint a doghouse. I really don't think he had that much experience. Why.....when I actually bought and handed him a roll of tape, would he paint the window and not put the tape on the glass to keep it clean. I did not notice it until they left....I was so happy they were leaving. A few hour job turned into a two-day job. The glass is frosted and pebbly.....not smooth at all. I'm not sure how I can get the paint off.....any suggestions? A razor will not work.

Anyway, he made mistakes and the woodwork all had to be repainted because he painted it the wrong color. I'm not real sure if he understood English. I'm not saying this to be mean....I'm just sayin'. This, of course, took up a lot more time. I don't think that the guy who recommended him to me was pleased with him at all. HA. He has to stand in line for that one. I don't think anyone was more displeased than me. But.....it did finally end up pretty good. I like the effect and the mistakes that were made are ones I think I can correct without too much trouble.

So I'm going to buy a new curtain and maybe a new shower curtain if the colors of my old one fight with my new wall colors. And that means I will have to get a new rug too. I have wallpaper border picked out online. If its as pretty when I actually see it, it will go perfect. The border will hide some mistakes too. It just keeps snowballin'. I can't wait for it to all come together though and it sure will be nice to have a pretty bathroom again. I am getting a vent fan installed in a couple weeks and then it will officially finished. Pictures will follow.

I'm still off the Diet Pepsi. I am drinking Pepsi One with Splenda instead. My post on aspertame encouraged me to keep checking about the stuff and there is a lot about it online. All in all, I think most people realize that this chemical really isn't good for you. All but one of my commenters seemed to be impressed by the article. We drink it and hope that nothing bad happens to us....but everyone is different and it can affect some adversely. I'm going to try what one website suggested and stay off of aspertame for 60 days and see what happens. I have nothing to lose but......hopefully.....my pain. In 60 days, I'll let you know if I can dirty dance again.

Oh....one more thing....if you have a few minutes, check this video out. Its true and its about the company who invented aspertame....yep, that's right, Monsanto. This video, I'm sure, is just the tip of the iceberg.....eh, Brad?

Friday, May 2, 2008

I hope this helps someone else too.....


I sent the following to Brad in an email. He agrees 110% that this stuff is poisoning us. He thinks I should post it so everyone who reads my blog will know about this and maybe I can save someone else from suffering also. I have found I can drink Pepsi One because its sweetened with Splenda and Splenda is not a chemical, its made from sugar but is perfectly safe for diabetics. I'm wondering why Splenda products are so hard to find and why its not used in more "diet" products....instead of these poisonous chemicals they are using now. The following is what I emailed Brad:


I have been in a lot of pain for about 8 years now. My doctor thinks I'm nuts I fear. My friend sent me the following article and it all started to make some sense. Altho I do not have all these symptoms I do have a lot of them and YES I am a Diet Pepsi drinker. I have stopped drinking it for about 5 days now and I can tell a difference in how I feel. I don't think this article is anything to take lightly. What do you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


GUESS DIET SODAS AREN'T THE BEST FOR YOU. This is true...... just read the label on the can. It's also in other Diet things.

SWEET POISON In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain.

By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick; she just knew she was dying. She put her house, bank accounts, life-insurance,etc., in her oldest daughter's name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of.

She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.

On March 19 I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS.

I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment.

I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking diet soda!

I e-mailed her the article my friend, a lawyer, had sent.

My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but she sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home.

Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind.

In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda...and literally dying a slow and miserable death.

When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery.

And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life.

If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on "ASPARTAME," marketed as "NutraSweet",''Equal", "Canderel", and "Spoonful".

In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant.

I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.

I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 30 degrees C, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. Themethanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. Many people were being diagnosed in error.

Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is!

Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition.

We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas.

In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly.

This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia.

During a lecture, I said, "If you are using ASPARTAME (NutraSweet,Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms,shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches,tinnitus, joint pain, unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!"

People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?"

Yes! Yes! Yes! STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem.

Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice, a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence!

Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM(salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight!

These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve "tissue specimens." Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body!

Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the "diet products" and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.

Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics.

We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame.

The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance.

Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, seizures, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and rage.

Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well.

Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behaviour when these chemicals have been removed from their diet. So called "behaviour modification prescription drugs" (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being "poisoned" on a daily basis with the very foods that were "better for them than sugar."

It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.

Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy.

Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison."

Herein lies the problem:

There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets.

Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED!

There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a "piece of the Aspartame pie." I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is.

And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians?

This has been recently exposed in the New York Times.

These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products.

Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants. The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioural symptoms.

The bill was killed.

It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're Informed now! YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!

Please print this out and/or e-mail to your family and friends.

They have a right to know too.