HHS Sec. triggers media by walking in a creek; Pope Leo scolds press; Trump wins IRS data fight; FDA hints vax reform; and Trump’s drug-price order lands—less flashy, more explosive.
Hey, Chris Cameron: This 77 y/o native Pittsburgher spent many childhood hours wading in creeks that contained strip mine runoff ... and here I am, alive and healthy, to write about it.
Maybe if you'd gone outdoors to play as a child, instead of staying "safe" indoors, you'd get it.
Yep. I grew up wading in creeks, collecting tadpoles and growing them into frogs in my bedroom then taking them back to the creek. Have no idea if the creeks were clean or not in the middle of Auckland.
Same. 🤣 I even recklessly jumped off high ledges in our barn into hay piles, climbed the silo, and enjoyed riding in a truck filled with freshly harvested soybeans. I played with goats, pigs, and chickens in their pens. I was into everything with bare feet and swam in creeks you couldn’t see beneath an inch below the surface. The only thing that ruined my fun was my fear of spiders, (that inhibits me to this day. 🫤)
yes, and we did it all without helmets. knee, elbow pads. OMG. My mom just passed away at 98, I always told her if she raised us today as we were in the 50"s she would have been a cell mate with Charlie Manson. !!
I was driving grain trucks to town, running a combine for commercial harvesting at 13. That was all just life, The way it was. We all worked. All kids had jobs saving for things. All part of what used to be honest capitalism!! Now most just "game" and too many eat Twinkies if they still have them!;):):)
They do still have them! My daughter served Zebra Cakes (Twinkies with black and white striped icing) at my granddaughter’s “animal party” birthday party 🥳
Yeah, I couldn't do snakes but did all that stuff as well. When we swam in the creek we could feel the fish swishing around our legs. I declare it's why I'm still sane in this crazy world.
County park had a pond where we went swimming---each time a fish tried to bite the mole on my back. Pond was eventually closed due to invasion of Canada geese.
To answer, and I'm LMAO, our eels were friendly and they were delicious smoked. They can also come out of the water and travel across land to other bodies of water. They freaked my American kids out.... LOL!
Growing up in Phx in the 1960s-1970s everyone had irrigation wells in our yards to water the grass from the canals that crisscross throughout the city. We were always playing in that water - looking for crawdads, using a thin piece of plywood as a skim board & all-out wallowing. Nobody worried about that shit - or getting sunburned, for that matter.
When we lived in Glendale AZ, my daughter pulled her red wagon down the street to the irrigated neighborhood park two blocks away to collect tadpoles, which she brought home in the wagon full of water, parked it next to our front porch, and checked on them every day as they turned into frogs.
Road in the back of an open pick up w the family dogs at my side. But it was the 70’s and there were less vehicles on the roads and the drivers could read roadsigns in English and a judeo-Christian ethic to actually follow the laws still prevailed. And God watching over me most of all! 😆
Did all that too and all the boys in high school had a double gun rack in their pickup trucks and would compare shotguns and 22 rifles during lunch break every day! No one got shot! LOL
Parents also pushed you out saying "go play!" You treked through forests, walked in streams or (horror) mud puddles, played kick ball or baseball with your friends (now think - do you even know who your neighbors are?), went to church (and I'm adding that to the good old days because demons have been hard at work the past 40 years pushing God out of everything and look at the results), read a book or just laid in the grass figuring out what shapes the clouds were in.
Now kids have tablets almost 24/7 that endless make their little brains have no down time for rest or spending time with family around the dinner table. Little Susie has been programmed up to her eyeballs in activities that adults wouldn't want.
I teach piano. I will take a home schooled child from a God believing and living family any day of the week over 10 public school (or even private depending on the school) kids. I have several now. They are more intelligent, rational, good at problem solving and more mature. My co-worker still spouts the "oh, well, they don't get socialized!" BS. Back in the late 1970's to end of 1980's, your life probably settle around family, school, church and neighborhood friends. I was a shy, introverted child. I could not handle what our children are dealing with today. One of my students told me last week when I asked what was wrong (she was very stressed). The answer? Her high school had 10 (TEN) fights that week alone. She told me about them. She didn't see all of them, but students (of course) stood around making Tik-Tok videos to send around the school. Much less the demonic craze of children being told they aren't male or female in God's image.
Sorry for the long comment, but what we are dealing with today is pure evil.
You are so right about all the crap going on in school today… So much stress on these kids. Then after school everyone is running to every ball practice and such… Everyone is so busy and harried! No downtime… No time for family or church or just spending time to be a kid.
Homeschooling has been a blessing to our family. It Gave us time to spend with our precious babies…
And we played in the woods, climbed trees and ate the unwashed fruit from those trees and roller skated and rode our bikes as fast and as far as we could - all with only the good sense God gave us and strict orders from mom to be home when the street lights came on! 👍🏻
I did cut my foot on a rusted off electric fence pole that couldn't be seen in the water. Since there were no cell phones, my parents came home to find bloody rags in the kitchen and myself and my sister gone. No note, either. She had taken me to get it stitched up and a tetanus shot. They didn't panic, though. They assumed the blood was from one of our animals and that we had taken it to the vet. :) The stories of farm life!
Not to mention the fact that when you get cut or bit is NOT the time to give the shot. If you think about it, it's obvious. You just might have been exposed to tetanus. So . . . expose you to more tetanus? No one thinking properly at the ER.
Same. I will have an inquiry with The Lord, albeit gentle and wondering-like, why in the world he made spiders. Maybe they were beautiful and crafted amazing webs before the fall. And then.
Oh, that's too bad Jenn. They are such sweet creatures, especially the wee jumping spiders. When I find them in the house, I take them outside and let them go, but in winter, I just leave them.
Yeah, I take 'em outside (except poisonous ones) but I still don't like them. And my daughter gets serious reactions to spider bites and really bad ones with black gnats. I prefer animals to things with more than 4 legs.
Juju, I have a long-nosed, hand held vacuum that is perfect for dispatching invading spiders. My fear began when I saw an enlarged photo of an ordinary house spider. Nope! Not in my house!
Yeah I can only use that for small ones no bigger than a fly 🤣 Anything bigger and I’m in the middle of the street flagging down a neighbor or passing car and begging them to bring me the carcass as proof it was killed. Lol. (Not joking I did that once 😆) We actually don’t get them in our house much because we use a scorpion pesticide that we buy from a do your own pest control online. We don’t live in scorpion area of the country but I read that it was phenomenal for spider control too. I remember an exterminator long ago when we used those services being amazed how even the unfinished part of our basement was completely web free, unlike most homes he goes to. Nuh uh … not in my house. The basement in our farmhouse was a nightmare for me to navigate because of all the webs and the dark murky cellars etc. Possibly why my fear is so great. My neighbor has a pretty and always clean basement BUT even her house had webs in the corners as if they were nothing more than flower arrangements. 🤣 You could lick the walls and corners of my basement. 🤣🤣 No. Webs. Everrrr.
Hey, Jeff S, I swam in the Wappinger's Creek in the Town of Poughkeepsie! And my dad's family had a dairy farm and dairy right off of Route 9. Brooklands Farm. George Carlon swam in the Hudson. If you can take the potty mouth, he does a great stich making fun of germaphobes!
My cousins used to fish in that creek, Sal. Nice area. Much better than where I was born and raised until 10, when we moved to Hyde Park due to Urban Renewal. Carlin's great! I catch him on YouTube. Take care.
Poughkeepsie NY? I lived across the Hudson from you in Kingston. Back in 78-94. I know it looks nothing like it did, but I still miss my NY friends. I lived in Saugerties as well.
I went away to college and ended up on the Left Coast. In high school I played basketball, with games at Kingston and Saugerties. One of my cousins used to live in Saugerties. It's way out there. Anyway, after all these years, I still call New York home.
Me too!! It was such a great place to Raise Children! We had 2 acres and living was Simple back then! We moved before my oldest was planted too deep with friends and didn’t want to move. Been in NC for 31 years. The people are not friendly here! Very Clickish! First question “where do you go to church”?
I did too! We had a creek in backyard, used to catch the salamanders, the crayfish! I would put them in my sisters kid pool! It would freak her out! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I, too, waded and swam in a creek that, considering where it was located, must have been full of bacteria and other wastes. I even remember peeling off the leeches after a swim. A few years later, our home had a swamp on one side, woods in the back, and fields on the other side. When I came home at night after playing (unsupervised, of course) with my brother and his friends, climbing trees and slogging in the swamp, my mother would check me for ticks. I also went barefoot most of the time in the summer and never heard of sunscreen and we didn't have a TV to advise us on health.
Here I am now in my 80's, on no medications, strong and healthy.
The biggest thing I ever found was a rusted out old tractor attachment one side submerged in the creek. Other than that a dead bird or frog was the most I saw … or recognized anyway. Lol
Indeed I do, rather than wiping it out with the modern immunization schedule. Is it any wonder certain conditions (autism, asthma, auto immune disorders, etc) have skyrocketed?
Same here. I was almost always barefooted on the farm, in the barn and the creek. And I stepped on more than one "cow pod." We had fun watching the goop squeeze up between our toes.
I could run full speed up the gravel driveway barefoot my feet were so calloused from the years of barefoot farm living!!! So many memories in this thread!!! Just the thought of the pain I would be in now makes me shudder!!
Barefoot city living here - bottoms of my feet were always black & I have heel calluses to this day (I’m 67) that are the bane of the technicians on the very rare occasion I get a pedicure. Only wear shoes out & about. At home & even at work (except when I leave my own office) I am barefoot
The bottoms of my 'Tom Sawyer' feet back in the 60's were so tough I could stomp a fizzer e.g. a Black Cat or Zebra firecracker that didn't go off from the fuse so broke it in half then lit it before stomping on it to get a 'bang'--usually wearing Jack Purcell shoes.
By the end of summer, I could walk on broken glass without cutting myself. Only wore shoes on Sunday until school started again. Those were the days. But then, there were no fire ants.
Loved my Jack Purcells! Got 1 pair until they sprouted too many holes or I couldn't fit my growing feet in them anymore. And they were stained green from mowing yards.
Thanks, Kathleen--timing is great---pulled something off my neck Saturday, smaller than any tick I have recognized. I always get at least a few while in Maine.
I grew up on a creek, too. Waded in it, played in it, tried building a raft to float downstream. 10 year old me didn't know what I was doing and I sunk. No worries about alligators or snakes or other creepy things. My parents didn't even know what I was up to back there. It was a fun childhood.
So true. I used to ride my 10 speed bike all over. My parents had no idea where I was until I arrived back home in time for dinner. and (gasp) I didn't wear a helmet.
I had a creek in one direction and a vast, long washed out gulley area with a crystal clear stream running down the middle in another. There were patches of clay, better than today’s play dough and much, much more. All secluded in the woods.
Indiana Jones eat your heart out!
Weather permitting and if I hadn’t gotten collared for unscheduled chores, I was out there.
Me, my siblings and friends played in the creek downstream from cattle. I can’t count the times I rinsed blackberries off in the water and ate them or even drank water from the creek. No Montezuma’s revenge, no stomach issues, healthy as a horse.
We explored and played outside all day long…creeks, trees, etc. Called it swamp stompin’. Barefoot when outdoors. Feet so calloused we could walk over the prickly “gum balls” that fell from the sweet gum trees. And I wasn’t even a tomboy.
Same. I grew up in rural Iowa playing in the dredge ditches, where excess water run-off from corn and soybean fields was diverted. We were obviously playing and fishing in water that had fertilizer and farm chemicals galore! I’m 58 and perfectly healthy.
This 74 y/o native Streatorite(Illinois) jumped into the Vermillion River, totally immersed many a time as a kid, swimming. This river, certainly more like algae green in color than "vermillion"!, was the sewage dump for our town and surrounding off-flow from many dairy and corn fields(nitrates galore, baby). You could see green globs floating down it. . . lots of stagnant pools full of carp, which I caught with only a hand line and hook/worm.
Never ate carp but the local "folks from the other side-of-the-tracks" did and many are still alive and kickin'-- after all these years . . . SOME attrition!
Insurance companies need to be bypassed when getting prescriptions. If my generic prescription only costs $5, but my health plan says I must pay $15 for each prescription, then I am paying $10 more. And the pharmacy is not allowed to tell you of the price difference. It's a scam.
I totally agree, with your point but I don’t like the idea of the federal government being the clearinghouse for prescriptions. It feels like one of those ideas that makes a ton of sense in theory, but in practice it becomes just another bloated government program. And who knows how it would be manipulated in future years. It smacks of centralization and I want the federal government OUT of my daily life. Why couldn’t they have a portal where one can check the price of a prescription and buy it from the least expensive? That’s a free market alternative and competition trumps government involvement every time. I’m sure there are other, better ideas than that too.
I completely agree. We need less government but we need honest and fair drug pricing. Why is my generic asthma inhaler over $200 a month on Amazon but with GoodRx I can go to CVS and get it for $50? Something is not right.
What about insurance companies more or less telling you which "brand" of medicine they will pay for, hoping that you will cave because of the price difference and go along with their recommendations! My insurance company will not pay for my thyroid medicine as I take the oldest and safest brand (Armour) vs their synthetic crap!!!!
Deb, check out the book, "Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom" by Katherine Eban. From the Amazon blurb: "We have been reassured by our doctors, our pharmacists and our regulators that generic drugs are identical to their brand-name counterparts, just less expensive. But is this really true?
Katherine Eban’s Bottle of Lies exposes the deceit behind generic-drug manufacturing—and the attendant risks for global health. Drawing on exclusive accounts from whistleblowers and regulators, as well as thousands of pages of confidential FDA documents, Eban reveals an industry where fraud is rampant, companies routinely falsify data, and executives circumvent almost every principle of safe manufacturing to minimize cost and maximize profit, confident in their ability to fool inspectors. Meanwhile, patients unwittingly consume medicine with unpredictable and dangerous effects."
I order through Pharmstore in Canada. The inhalers come from England and are shipped directly to me. Last order was around $200 for six, 3 of each for a 90 day supply. That included fast shipping. Can't buy a 3 month supply in the US as we could before Obummer or Hillary changed it to 30 days only.
We got a med for my husband from Pharmstore and they were great. Local price was over $300 for a 30-day supply. Pharmstore got us a 90-day supply for $90. Shipped from Mauritius if I recall. The US system is nuts!
I totally agree, and the insurance companies are as big a fraudsters as the government.
My S-I-L is under treatment for prostate cancer, taking hormone therapy which cost $15,000 per MONTH. All of which is paid by insurance, but there is something terribly wrong with this scenario.
He is using them also. It’s a tricky thing to just go off on your own with repurposed drugs because you still need to have lab work and tests to determine where you are. So far he hasn’t found a doctor to lead him through the process of going strictly with FenBen etc…
Cancer is a lifestyle disease. Do both of yourselves a massive favor and read some real cancer books. There is Nothing the medical murder mafia can or will do that will cure cancer. Full stop.
Ultimately doesn’t it increase the cost of insurance to everyone on the plan? I would think premiums would be cheaper if not for the excessive drug costs.
I think that is why the put in place the Obummer Care system in order to expand the government system, dictate plans (men needing to have female issue coverage on their plans, and women with men relating issues on their plans, etc... but that was probably to eventually do the trans cult "health care".), and make it more expensive, while eliminating competition. (Big money in controlling monopolies).
Their goal was/is to 'break/bankrupt the system' in order 'build back a universal system' that they completely control. Evil personified.
Rand Paul had a good idea on how to lower rx prices without resorting to price controls: He called them “associations” that you can participate in made up of thousands of people ( for ex. Costco) whereby the association negotiates prices on behalf of the members.
Good idea too, but I don’t really see Trump’s EO as price control. It’s more of a demand to stop screwing Americans with outrageous pricing, so the rest of the world’s drugs can be subsidized at reasonable prices. In other words… big pharma isn’t participating in free market capitalism… it’s participating in who knows what to call it.
Ditto Valerie! The Fed scant tie their own shoelaces without excess rules, regulations, nonsense. And to be at their mercy to get my prescription? No way this will work well.
Actually the pharmacists are required to sell at the insurers negotiated price once you tell them you're using insurance. If you ask first what the over the counter price is, and it's cheaper then they can sell it to you directly if you choose to pay out of pocket. This is not common knowledge unfortunately.
Interesting that any time I ask to pay cash it’s cheaper. Even for medical procedures! The same MRI that was quoted for thousands of dollars with insurance….i paid out of pocket for -$250. That’s when I knew the whole thing was a scam. Even if I have insurance….if the price is too high I tell them do not bill my insurance I’ll pay cash. They remind me it won’t apply to my deductible to which I spit on because it’s so high I’ll never meet it every year anyway. I’ll pay cash and bypass insurance scam companies. Unless it’s a major life threatening scenario our insurance is useless.
This is what the insurance companies really want: they want you and all and all the others who pay cash to do so that way they can bill the government for the higher prices. Insurance companies suck - all of them.
Not to mention…..we’re paying our premiums for insurance that suck and covers nothing and then paying cash on top of our premiums - and they make the money off our premiums and don’t have to cover our stuff. Win win for them. Lose lose for us.
That may be true to some degree but if they “know”because you’re a consistent customer that you have insurance, they will not sell it to you at the over-the-counter price. My insurance company was delaying on approval for a refill and I said just sell it to me and they can go jump in the river. I paid 4 times more than I would’ve paid with Insurance.
I’ve been using them because they are and independent pharmacy. I just hate giving my money to CVS or Walgreens or any of those big box pharmacies that are actually owned by the pharmaceutical companies. Hard to know what to do.
I weaned self off levothyroxine over 12 months, cutting dosage by 10% at a time. Had blood tests in March: all scores in normal range. I do think it was the slow and steady approach which gave my own thyroid time to come out of drug-induced hibernation.
I need to work on this- I need to research it and then talk with my doctor so that I’m informed from other sources. I don’t trust the medical community anymore.
When I tried to quit before, they did help wean me off it by reducing the mg incrementally. It didn’t seem to work because I got very depressed again and we decided that physically I was doing fine on the higher dosage - felt normal etc. safe & effective for me 😉 and I agreed. It’s my only prescription & I now since Covid no longer want to be tied to the drug or any drug. I am 73 and been taking this since I went through menopause & was dealing with a cancer diagnosis, a son who had a life threatening disease (he’s fine now) plus a job loss & mothers death. A lot to deal with at one time. I think now I might be able to do this 🙏
What have you heard about NP Thyroid? I just started on it due to hypothyroidism. I have high cholesterol even though I exercise regularly and I am not overweight. I have other side effects too, low energy, apathy, etc. What are you doing or taking instead for low thyroid?
That’s one of the drugs I finally stopped. I was on a low dose due to me being borderline on their charts. I quit the Lipitor and my leg aches went away but it was a fight with my doc. I had a 10% chance of stroke on those charts 😂 finally after trying a different statin that caused the same leg aches, he said to do a calcium chloride scan of my heart? I think that’s what it’s called to see if I had any calcium build up in my arteries- well, guess what? No problem there so he doesn’t bug me anymore. I paid for the test as insurance wouldn’t. I don’t know why they don’t do that in the beginning but I guess we all know the answer to that. There is so much wrong with modern medicine- it’s sad. But if anything this has taught some of us to trust our instincts & to research, not just accept what your doctor suggests. Some medications are vital to our health/condition. But some just put a bandaid on the problem
You might find some useful information in this article. I started taking an iodine supplement daily after reading this. I don’t have diagnosed low thyroid, but both my parents do. So as they say, an ounce (or 25 mg) of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
You sound very much like me. I have found a grain-and sugar-free diet clears up both my insulin, cholesterol, and triglyceride issues. It is not easy, but so beneficial. One warning: you end up eating much more fat. If you go that route, transition slowly. I did not, and it cost me my gallbladder.
Tried that, 30 years ago. If you desire to experience, as I did, 90 minutes in morning of normal energy, and the next 9 hours spent entirely on your bed, with yellow bags under your eyes, then go for it. That's what I myself experienced 5 months after having gone "cold turkey" from levothyroxine.
I know it won't help everyone, but for me, the way out of hypothyroidism and a rx of synthroid, was to give up all gluten.
All, as in every single last molecule.
but those like my friend M_____ whi had her thyroid removed due to cancer -- gotta have the med. BUT there are vitamins that contain dessicated thyroid extract. And taking powdered help helps (for the iodine)
I was going to CVS to get my thyroid meds using GOODRX bc ins was double. Several months ago ins dropped my copay to $0. Probably coming out of the almost $200 I pay monthly for Medicare which I rarely use. Maybe 1 doc visit for lab tests once a year.
I falsely assumed for years that if you have insurance, especially if you are on a Medicare Rx plan, you will be getting your Rx at a cheaper price. Totally wrong. I learned the hard way. Actually got charged about $500 for a 90 day supply of a generic Rx that I could have gotten for $46 using a free discount card from SingleCare and my local Kroger. (A 1000% markup to use my mail-order insurance that was connected with CVS.)The price has since gone down to about $22 for the 90 day supply using SingleCare. I now never use my Medicare Rx plan. The pharmacy has the information, but it is always cheaper for me to not use my insurance. If I ever end up in the hospital for an emergency will probably have to use it. And if I absolutely had to be on an Rx that could not be discounted, I might have to use it. Meanwhile everyone should check out free discount pharmacy cards like SingleCare and GoodRx whether they have insurance or not. Drug prices are like buying an airplane ticket. There is no consistency to the prices. So you really do have to shop around and know that the pharmacy you shop at is not always your best option.
There is a guy on Instagram that owns an independent pharmacy that posts about this all the time. There are drugs that Medicare is overpaying to the tune of $600mil per year vs his price. He goes through example after example, it’s infuriating. His pharmacy doesn’t take insurance, it’s only cash pay. Here’s an example of one of his posts:
Thank you Valerie! I used the price checker on his website (https://www.forestparkpharmacy.com). The cost was about $15 for a 90 day supply of my Rx vs $22. Of course, shipping added probably gets it closer to what I pay using the SingleCare discount card. But I will definitely save his site for future reference!
Check for unaffiliated pharmacies in your area. My small town in SC has an independent pharmacy; I just checked Forest Park's price list, and my local shop is significantly less expensive.
Melissa S, All true! You need to shop pharmacies and ask about pricing with your insurance and without and with cards like GoodRx. Prices are all over the board. Then, contact Canadian pharmacies. They won't take your insurance, but their prices can be considerably less than our prices. This racket needs to end!!
Crazy, isn't it? Earlier this year, I had to "cash pay" for a prescription normally covered by my insurance. With insurance, I pay $246. Doing cash pay, it was 40% less. So why bother with this coverage!
Indeed. My wife (56) and I (62) dumped our so-called “health” insurance 4 years ago when we noticed that we never used it because we don’t need doctors or Rxs.
Will never purchase that scam again.
Haven’t seen a doctor professionally since Jan. 2020. Don’t ever plan to again.
Yes, indeed. Why do we have to pay for prescription drug insurance when cash pay is far less? Oh…wait…padding big pharma’s budget. Never mind. Answered my own question.
Not a joke, a devious plan to make us beg for single-payer(Socialized medicine). If they make it painful enough, Americans will take whatever relief is offered.
I am having difficulty understanding how the prescription drug price cuts will filter down to the consumer. It seems only the insurance providers will get the discount and the rest of us will still pay the same co pays we always do. The insurers will never cut our premium costs.
@Debbie- if your script currently is $50, your copay is probably around $10. But if the price comes down, that script will be $10 or less. $10 will be what you pay, regardless of insurance. If it's less, you pay less.
What they need to do is get rid of the required Medicare pharmaceutical policy. If you choose not to buy insurance to cover your prescriptions and then later decide to buy it there is a penalty for every year thereafter. This is just wrong. Seniors should be able to pay the lowest cost without any insurance tacked on.
@Alison- your pharmacy shouldn't be charging you the full $15. If it costs $5, they should be charging you $5. If it costs $500, THEN they should charge you the $15.
@Alison- back when I had insurance, if the script was less than the copay, that's what I would be charged. Same with husband's Medicare Advantage HMO. I wonder if it's your insurance company in a deal with the pharmacy.
No, it’s the policy that pharmaceutical companies have to live by. I have a friend who’s a pharmacist and she told me about it. Plus I heard Tucker Carlson interview a gentleman and I can’t think of his name, but he was in that industry and he said they are obligated to charge you whatever the insurance company has approved.
Its the PBM's literally skimming off the top.... it's a cash cow industry that should be abolished in its entirety- there are no PBM's in other countries doing this abject robbery of its citizens.
Not sure what insurance you have but that’s not how mine works. Mine is a max copay and so was my husbands Medicare plan. If the generic is $5, we pay $5. If the drug costs $50, we pay $15.
Perhaps next Pope Leo XIV should 'gently call out' the open border wokescolds, and remind them that charity begins at home. In our parish in the 70's, we 'adopted' a Vietnamese extended family who were refugees from fall of Saigon. Grandfather, father, mother and several children, including one who was in his early 20's. They came here with nothing, no EBT cards, free healthcare or phones. The PEOPLE OF OUR CHURCH held drives - furniture, clothing, deposit for a rental place, someone donated a car, etc. And they got jobs. When we found out the son was walking FIVE MILES to work every day, we held fundraisers to get him a starter car. Within a few years they were self-sufficient, and moved to an area of the city that had a Vietnamese enclave, but thanked us for helping them get launched in their new country. If we are to be truly Christian, this is the way immigration should happen.
That’s wonderful! The key phrase is “within a few years, they were self-sufficient”. For the able-bodied, charity is not meant to be a permanent way of life.
My grandparents had the last name "Wooster" - when my great great-grandfather came here from the 'old country' in the late 1800's, and he and his wife had sons who changed their last names to be more 'Americanized' - some became Wooster, some became Woster.
This was how it worked for my relatives who came from postwar Europe. A church sponsored them and helped them get settled/started, then they worked their tails off and ended up being solid middle class after a while.
When I was in Warsaw's Old Town, I was amazed at all the old buildings.
Or so I thought. Right above the doorways were the dates of construction. 1953...1954...etc.
The Nazis has systematically leveled the center of the city street by street, house by house. The rebuilding occurred after the war using old photos and paintings to reconstruct in the original style.
Absolutely right Donna! When the Vietnamese people were brought into our country back then, they were actually assimilated. Now they are our neighbors and a vital part of our communities. I have a good friend among them who is a dear sweet lady with a wonderful family.
Her husband was a math professor at our local college.
There’s nothing wrong with immigration when it’s done the right way.
That’s why our immigration system worked for so many years. You had to have a sponsor to immigrate. Ask anyone who followed the rules and came legally. Illegal immigration has never worked. I live in the Houston area and I can’t tell you how many can’t speak English. They don’t even want to learn. They live in their own communities and never assimilate- their kids talk for them.
Or worse, the parents speak English, but don't teach it to the kids. Then they send the poor child off to school, where they can't communicate, to learn English. All because they want the foreign language to be primary.
This is only a problem because those kids are isolated in communities that don’t speak English either. Otherwise they pick up English regardless, from other kids in the neighborhood and from interacting with adults in stores, activities etc.
That’s how it worked for many years. The Christian community set up homes for unwed mothers, homes for the indigent, orphanages, and many other needed helps for people until they got on their feet. If the government would get out of the way, the compassion of America would continue as it always has.
Amen, the gov't programs are not a hand up they are a handout, and engender learned helplessness. So tired of Christians calling these programs charity. WE are our brother's keeper, not the gov.
THAT is the real damage of DEI. For those not trapped in the cycle of dependence on the gov for their very existence, along comes programming that says "you are a victim, it's not your fault" A society full of people who do not feel in control of their own lives is much easier to manipulate.
But the “immigrants” must be legal and vetted. There are too many violent gang members that have been let in to just roll out the red carpet to every immigrant.
Agree. There are not enough churches to sponsor the great hordes that were let in the last 4 years. I was in elementary school in the 70's so don't recall the status of the family our church sponsored but I presume they were legal with a path to citizenship. and had legit refugee status.
We also worked in the 70’s with the Vietnamese in our town via a committee of mainly churches & community leaders. It was a life changing experience- they were some of the hardest working people, devoted to family and making a new life. They wanted to assimilate & learn English. Everything was donated by our community & it worked.
For about the last four years, I’ve been helping a family from Burkina Faso in West Africa. They came here on a visa for Christian schooling but no English and 10 years later they still barely spoke English. I started having English classes with them at my home every Friday and helped them find food banks and Church Organizations that gave out food on a weekly basis, how to shop for clothing in secondhand stores AAA card so they could get assistance if their car broke down. Our church at various times has assisted them with rent and utilities. They are both college educated, but have been waiting waiting and waiting for their green cards so they can get better job. He volunteers in the media department and so does she. His full-time job is working as a valet parker which will change now that he has received his green . It is up to all of us not the government to look for the people who want to be assimilated into our culture, but need help getting there.
I don’t understand why if they are college educated they did not make the effort to learn the local language in 10 years. That makes no sense. It’s like they didn’t want to help themselves.
I would call it bad teachers. They know IT and media work. Language is very difficult for them..Honestly, I blame the place where they were going to school and I’ve contacted that group. They did know some English, but it wasn’t enough. Then, their sponsor flaked out on them and they were in an illegal status and did not know what to do. They didn’t go around, trying to talk to a lot of people and they were afraid. I know God put me in their path to help them apply better life circumstances
The rural Asian refugees of the 70s and 80s were hard-working, moral people who had the benefit of being unvaccinated, unaddicted to television, and unbrainwashed by the color revolutions of the CIA. That first generation assimilated pretty well into America. Once the public schooling and vaccinations started among their children, the drug gangs began. Unfortunately, traditional native-born Americans have unwittingly been living under constant, mini covert CIA color revolutions since the late 1950s-early 1960s. Hollywood became the tool used to destroy our morality and character, now it’s social media. Vaccines, prescription drugs and fluoride are the tools used for destroying our intellect and health.
Yeah I know - when my mom called to tell me we had a new pope, I took to X and it was a giant mixed bag. Suppose we will find out soon enough. But don't think Trump is going to be easily cowed regardless.
There is no doubt that much was swept under the rug for eons - and not just the Catholic church - they are just a big target with deep pockets and thus make for bigger headlines. Any org that deals with youth had the issues - read stories about the boy scouts, youth camps, etc. and all had the pervasive 'keep it under wraps' mentality. My mom tells me of a child who committed suicide in her small town in the 50's and later learned that he was involved in a youth group that years later was revealed that they had victimized kids for decades, but she said 'no one talked about such things' and that anyone who spoke out was ostracized for making the community look bad. NOT saying it's excusable, that does make me trust him less. Just saying protecting abusers was standard practice for too long.
But at least in my era, it seems the pendulum has swung too far. In the years of raising my kids in the church every priest in our parish has more or less just avoided being around kids period. When I taught Sunday school, bible study, VBS, we had to go through safety training - could never be alone with kids, could not hug or even touch them, and were taught to be mandatory reporters. We didn't even have a youth group and my kids barely even knew the priests outside of Mass. My son even went to a parish town hall in HS and asked for more youth centered events and activities, request went no where, in part due to liability concerns. Result is young people are not staying with the church - by doing the bare minimum to avoid risk kids are not getting plugged in to the community. Neither of my kids go to church now, and it makes me sad.
Yes, before it all ran amok I think you did have to prove you would not be a drain on society - so a sponsor or existing family, not sure when all that ended.
Going back to meds BEFORE petroleum based drugs were built is what we need. Figure out the more natural solutions to curing disease. Oh wait, those already existed, but profit on the backs of the sick was discovered and those cures were buried.
Methodist Hospital in Mansfield, Texas puts out a publication every few months about all the wonderful things their doctors are doing. yesterday they had an article about fatty liver disease and the expert doctor said throw away supplements. The FDA hasn’t approved them and we don’t know what’s in them and they can be creating liver disease problems. I didn’t throw away my supplements, but I did throw that magazine away and thought if I ever get sick, I hope that I don’t have to go to the Methodist Hospital!
Don’t take anything natural! It hasn’t been approved by FDA (or CDC)!!!
INSTEAD, TAKE THEIR DRUGS AND JABS-THAT KEEP YOU SICK, ABD THEY RICH!
ITS A WIN WIN!!!
Meanwhile…..they want to continue to jab up our babies and children with toxic “UNTESTED” poisons.
I’ve lost all faith in today’s medical-and I am healthcare provider. It’s been terrifying to watch, and I feel like I have PTSD…..I don’t even want to work anymore (in medical). It’s infiltrated, at least where I live. (PNW).
Especially when you see the revolving door with bureaucrats and Pharma, as well as the way they push drugs through for approval without thoroughly investigating them! Why would you trust those people and agencies??
Stunning how blind doctors are. But, when you factor in our DEI infused education system, it starts to make sense as to why. I just hope we can root it out before these people get too strong of a grip on us.
Rockefeller, Carnegie and Flexner removed medical practices that work (naturopathy, homeopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, etc.) from the general human consciousness.
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
You are farther along than I am. In the Psalms now, but this time I am journaling as I go. Getting so much more out of it. It will take as long as it takes! 🙌🏻
When I was in the histories, a 15 months ago, I printed out maps (chabad.org), wrote notes on them (i.e., when and where was each tribe?), made a side-by-side chart, with my own commentary, of who was king, and when, (and did he merit a smiley face or a frown) in Israel and Judah. From June, when I began the gospels, I was reading in other languages too, but post-Paul have returned to my received-at-age-7 RSV (some really sad pages!), and am driven to look up all the footnotes.
It helps me pay closer attention and process what I read. Sometimes I copy verses, sometimes write my thoughts, sometimes condense into short notes or lists.
I confess that I just don't grasp the idea of "read the Bible in a year". Read the first nine chapters of the Revelation earlier this morning, going back to reading in the Greek (which I used for John's gospel also). I didn't mean to read so much, but it was captivating. And now that I have read all that came before it, it is no longer frightening.
With difficulty, as I had not been using it for about 20 years. But it makes a difference. I read the gospels in KJV 1611, Italian 1649, French 1911 because (because I can, so I ought—putting one’s metaphorical talents to good use) I had, early in Matthew, been confused by something in the English, so checked the other options, and found such greater depth of understanding (and why does this version phrase it in this particular way? and why does this version omit what the other two offer?)
"Our new Health Secretary is literally wading through Washington’s crap" while the DC reporter sits for a pedicure and has his pubes bleached.... There, I fixed it for you...LMAO!
And he hangs with the vile buttplug salesman Rabbi Shmuely.
HE has called Palestinians "the most pampered people in the world", despite their being massacred by the Zionist filth. Is anyone in Gaza these days... "pampered"?
Re: vaccines. My crazy theory is that, 15 years from now they will be gone, added to blood letting and lobotomies on the trash heap of failed, dangerous medical ‘breakthroughs.’
My thought as well. There is a very long list of “medical “ interventions, beginning with the inability of doctors to recognize the value of something as simple as washing their hands, down to the present love affair with vaccines that the medical “profession “ has finally had to face and finally abandon. Vaccines are the latest medical fad that’s heading for that trash heap you mentioned. Paul Offit may well be the last one to continue advocating for them. Just this morning, his Substack blames Kennedy for two measles deaths as he continues yelling that vaccines must be mandatory or “we’re all gonna die.”
“I'd love to see the evidence to show that giving young, healthy children another COVID shot would help them, but that evidence does not exist"
That is moving in the right direction. Evidence required in advance of intervention, not intervention first, then a requirement to prove the intervention is NOT needed.
"Foaming at the mouth, difficult to arouse lasting minutes. EMS called. Told did not need to go to the hospital as was recovering during time of their eval. Within 2 weeks of the event described, he lost the ability to speak. He was previous speaking in sentences, describing sea animals and saying his ABC's. 2 weeks after the event, he stopped talking. He has been diagnosed with autism and no longer has any words."
"Third, and most revealing, was the tone: naggy, moralizing, anxious." Every time I read the NYT (in the interests of opposition research), I feel like I'm surrounded by Woody Allen characters....the writers and commenters are nearly all neurotic, anxious, and fretful about *everything* in life, even the smallest decisions. It makes me wonder how they even get out of bed to face each day.
About those middlemen in pharma, they're not the only ones. There's too many middlemen in many industries. They're costly parasites in the supply chain providing no extra value to the consumer.
"I Think There's A Realization In Washington, Maybe Even A Fear That It's Lost Control Of The Narrative."
To paraphrase "Doc" in Back to the Future, "Narrative?! What narrative? We don't need no narrative where we are going!". Before we all jump to conclusions, we should remember one thing: As we've seen for the last 100 days, Trump is a master showman. Always ask why is he doing what he is doing.................
I am giving myself some permission to actually believe that, perhaps, Trump is everything I've hoped he is: an across the board revolt against the NeoCon warmongering, deep state sociopaths who have been running this country since before Ronald Reagan and a revolution against the entire international banker's globalist control of America and the West.
Shit is happening and it's all I can do to restrain myself from getting excited. From all appearances so far, the globalists who planned to "Reset" the human race are getting reset. Trump is wielding powers that bespeak of a depth of support that goes way beyond any domestic Republican Party election. He's on route to change the entire planet... and not the way the WEF and the Old Bankers want it changed. I'm convinced this was Trump's plan for Netanyahu from the very beginning!! Trump's previous absurd comment about Gaza was only a smokescreen. As we've seen all along, this is part of Trump's M.O. It's gonna get real baby!
Hamas Said To Be In Talks With US/Trump Directly, Israel Blindsided: Larry C. Johnson: "I Think There's A Realization In Washington, Maybe Even A Fear That It's Lost Control Of The Narrative."
"Flying Palace" 747 From Qatar's Royal Family Given To US Dept. Of Defense For Possible Use By President Trump, But Nobody Knows Why
“There's something happening here.
What it is ain't exactly clear.”
...I’ve been listening and reading different perspectives all day. My gut feeling is that yes—it’s over between Trump and Netanyahu...
I always hated when back in 2020 and beyond certain conspiracy theorists would say, “Trump is playing 4-D chess” as it seemed too bizarre, but since Inauguration Day, he keeps proving he and his team have thought and planned long and hard for this. I know in my purple state now run by a triumvirate of wicked women who nearly made us in commiCalifornia without the glamour of Hollywood loving Colorado, we are seeing constant signs of push back from within. The 3 wicked witches are all term limited next year. They have reigned disaster on this state with the help of the MiGOP, but there are signs the jig is up, and with Trump’s interest in this state, more good news he is trying to keep it, “Pure Michigan”. I am cautiously optimistic.
Donald Trump to Announce US Recognizes Palestinian State, Gulf Diplomatic Source Claims
"WITHIN 48 HOURS, WE WENT FROM THE MOST PRO-ISRAEL PRESIDENT TO THE MOST PRO-ARAB PRESIDENT OF ALL TIME"
....It all started with Trump's deals with Saudi Arabia, when Israel was demanding the Saudis recognize them as a country during the US-Saudi negotiations. This is when Trump essentially called Netanyahu and said, "Why are you involved in this?"
We don't know what Netanyahu said back to the President, but we know after that phone call, communications were cut, ties were cut, and even Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense canceled his trip to Israel.
Israel then responded saying they're going to "Defend themselves alone in the region".
And then now today, 24 hours after all of that, Trump is going to recognize Palestine. Essentially a complete 360 twist on our views in the Middle East. Within 48 hours, we went from the most pro-Israel president to the most pro-Arab president of all time.
And the common misconception among Trump supporters, and the general public, was that Trump was a pawn of "the jews", controlled by Israel. But in his first admin he recognized Jerusalem, and moved our embassy there. He knows that Jerusalem is not the same as the constructed nation/state called Israel. And I'm sure he knew all along that Mossad had a hand in many bad things, including the murder of JFK. So he knows that BB is really part of the deep state swamp that must be drained. It's a complex issue no doubt.
I don't "know" that Mossad had a hand in the murder of JFK. I don't trust Mossad any more than I trust the CIA, but I haven't seen any evidence of their involvement. To me, it looks like the anti-Castro Cubans, the Mafia, and the CIA.
Trump just shut the door on the age of globalism and US interventionism, slams the Deep State Libs and Neocons, and is promoting a lasting peace in the Middle East.
Every anti-Trump narrative just went up in flames.
You get it. Regarding the Pope, almost every one I follow said the pope died 2 years ago, and is being played by an actor, with some CGI appearances. Jim Willie said the actor was Jonathan Prior. Trump posting the meme of himself as pope was a Q type notification the pope is now under Trump / White Hat control. Too much coincidence that Vance saw him the day before he "died". Actually, like Kissinger and many others, it was the name that was finally killed off, as the person died years before.
The attached link has been scrubbed, but I found this.Big Pharma Whistleblower Found Dead After Confirming Ivermectin Cures Cancer
Big Pharma Whistleblower Found Dead After Confirming Ivermectin Cures Ca...
A veteran physician with over 30 years inside the medical system, specializing in family and emergency medicine,...
“Big Pharma Whistleblower Found Dead After Confirming Ivermectin Cures Cancer
A veteran physician with over 30 years inside the medical system – specializing in family and emergency medicine – was found dead just days after blowing the whistle on one of the industry’s most explosive secrets: the hidden link between parasites and cancer… and the suppressed cure Big Pharma doesn’t want you to know about – Ivermectin.
This is explosive. And the consequences are grave.
Because if what Dr. Karen Ruthman uncovered is true, then Big Pharma isn’t just failing us – it’s actively complicit in sacrificing the health of millions, knowingly suppressing a cure to keep cancer patients locked in a cycle of treatment and profit.”
Roland, I've been sitting here putting things together in my head (I can be a little slow) and it hit me or rather, you hit me with the Vance comment. It's the outline of the takedown of the international banking system. The Vatican/Holy Roman Empire is the third leg of the international banking system with the British Crown/City of London and the Rothschild family/Bank for International Settlements.
Trump is coming for them. And so is Putin.
"This brief description of the Rothschild family illustrates all of the above connections (the British Crown and the Vatican/Holy Roman Empire) which goes back hundreds of years...................................
The Rothschild family is a prominent Ashkenazi Jewish banking family originating in Frankfurt, Germany. They gained international prominence in the 18th century through Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who established a banking business and later had his sons establish international branches in Paris, Frankfurt, London, Vienna, and Naples. The family was elevated to noble status in the Holy Roman Empire and the United Kingdom. The family's legacy is marked by their significant influence in international finance."
I have come to the same conclusions. I think the White Hats have largely neutered the deep state, and what we are being shown is a movie to slowly bring the normies up to speed. There are so many avatars , doubles, and CGI representing world leaders and celebrities it is hard to keep up. Some of them are o obvious. So where are the originals, one must ask?
The matriarch of the original Rothschild family said "if my sons did not want war there would be no war". And one of them added "I care not who controls the government so long as I control the money". They got control of the Bank of England after Waterloo, in very much the same way as the movie "Trading Places".
And regarding your comments about the Trump comments about the Middle East.,
FYI if you did not know , the reference to Trump saving MLB in Las Vegas : I have read a very detailed account about how that entire event was cover for an elaborate plot to kill MLB, which the White Hats thwarted.
Right? All this further extends and supports my thinking. I now have to truly wonder at Vance's timing of his visit to the Pope and is this connected to the speed at which the new Pope was named? I mean seriously - its too coincidental.
Assuming the real Pope was dead, was Vance's visit to force their hand and name a Pope that Vance and Trump wanted?? I think yes. The "death" of the Pope the next day and the subsequent unprecedented speed of the selection of the new Pope is a huge flag... and then this: "Trump posting the meme of himself as pope was a Q type notification the pope is now under Trump / White Hat control." Hello?? (Do you have a link for that meme?)
OK... I was unaware of all the theories regarding the Crown Prince and the Oct 1, 2017 Las Vegas shooting. But it fits... especially when you pay attention to the "house cleaning" that took place afterwards in Saudi Arabia.
Thanks for bringing me up to speed. I need to keep a scrapbook. This stuff will not be believed by the next generation.
Edit: BTW, I watched the 48 minute speech Trump gave in Saudi. The "bond" between Trump and the Crown Prince was so obvious and the inside conversation between them during the speech. Tell me it isn't like the kind of bond that says, "Bro, you took a bullet for me."
The meme of Trump as pope was all over the internet. The connection that it meant the new Pope was under White Hat control was from Mike King and others.
Just remember. There are no coincidences in politics, as FDR said. So yeah, you seem to have put the pieces together.
I keep a folder of so called "gem', but I know I only put a fraction of what I should in there, and over time, many of the links get scrubbed. I should have made thumb drives over the past ~18 years in there, but luckily, I still retain the key points in my head
Someone needs to create an AI for the sole purpose of tracking all the actual events and recording all this behind the scenes history as it happens. Someone smarter than me - lol.
I will say about the ONLY thing I miss on the Keto/carnivore diet I’ve been on for the past three years is … pie. Apple pie, peach pie, blueberry pie. Quiches too! That’s it. Nothing else is appealing to me anymore, not even pasta. But things with a flaky buttery crust? Man I do miss that.
I did master an eye roll worthy blueberry crumble with almond/coconut flour. And a couple years ago a delicious pie crust and a Keto quiche crust both made with almond flour, and it WAS delicious, but since cooking and baking has become soooo much simpler and less time consuming with this way of eating I haven’t made any of it in over a year. I just throw large chunks of meat on the grill and call it a day. 🤣 I’ll have to revisit those past recipes to enjoy at least a Keto pie.
Just a word of caution. I have a friend who is very health conscious. His wife only allows organic food in the house for him and their 2 kids. He takes cold showers, fasts, exercises, and has been on a Keto diet for many years. Until now. He had thyroid problems, and said he was borderline Hashimoto, and the doctor attributed it to his strict Keto diet. Merocla has recently switched and cautioned against doing it for a very long time. It is a good diet, but seems it is not healthy to do it for years.
I disagree. And “the doctor attributed it to his strict Keto diet” is reflective of the captured food and medical industries. They all LOVE to attribute it to this diet. 🙄🙄 Most allopathic doctors do NOT understand nutrition at all, or the low carb diets properly but they like to blame them for any medical conditions when they discover that’s the diet a patient is on. They are desperate to disprove it. They are dead wrong. The science and data is there that show the doctors have their heads up their arses.
Most people who have had “new” problems on Keto or carnivore never did the diet “strictly” or properly even though they all claim to. I’ve met hundreds that do it wrong yet chirp that they are strict. Closer inspection long term shows they absolutely are not. Also, the diet is not going to protect you 100% from all health issues. Correlation is not causation.
In three years I have reversed every health problem I ever had and got off over 14+ prescription drugs that I literally relied on for over 20 years. (Actually after 6 months I no longer needed any of them and today I remain free of all of them.) I have the energy of my 20s at the age of 60. Brain fog is completely gone and I never tire throughout my days. I reversed completely diabetes. The only health condition I struggle with was caused by big pharma - a PPI. I am stuck with battling severe advanced osteoporosis (diagnosed 30 years younger than my t-scores are typically seen in people,) and diet cannot treat such a condition.
What’s worse are people who have not thoroughly deep dived into the science nor experienced it themselves take what they read or hear what others say and parrot it as if they have credibility or authority on the matter. I spent over 18 months doing deep research equivalent to my college days, filled three notebooks full of the science, then I tested it first-hand at a time when my health was so bad for over 8 years and my prognoses given by allopathic doctors was very grim. I turned it all around. Left in the hands of doctors we now know I would have died 8-10 years sooner without all the interventions I took. I can’t decide if I can do carnivore long term or not, but I do know it’s preferable health wise to Keto. But both utilize ketosis, which is literally the fountain of youth and a cure-all of sorts.
Yep, I'm with you. Five years ago I was fat, had high blood pressure, fatty liver, insulin resistance, and prediabetic. I changed my eating to Keto. Now, I am 60, maintaining a healthy weight (was overweight my entire life) and no longer have any health or metabolic issues. I'm in it for life.
As I said, this information about Keto is anecdotal . You don't need to tell me about the importance of diet and lifestyle, or the total capture of the medical industry by the Rockefeller's. SSRI's broke our only child's brain (her words, not mine) and she blew her brains out. We cured stage 2B holistically, no oncologist. Just a lifestyle change, diet, detox, and fenbndezole. Dr. Tennant holistically cured my hyperthyroidism. We're 72, and I can still wear clothes from college, and the only regular drug I take is testosterone.
Like you , we researched up the wazoo, and it is sobering to see how toxic our foods are and how corrupt the medical profession is. I have no fear of cancer, because I know what causes it, what prevents it, and what kills it. Don't imagine many people can say that.
The information about Keto is NOT “anecdotal.” It is backed by a lot of science. As a matter of fact for almost 150 years prior to 1960s Rockefeller nightmare, a low carb diet was considered the best practice for a whole host of medical conditions. Being that it was and is a threat to big food and big pharma the scientific information isn’t widely known or easily found. You have to seek it out. It’s scientifically proven to successfully treat things like epilepsy, but also things like anxiety, schizophrenia, and diabetes to name just a few of many things. There is a lot of scientific proof that backs it all up. Read Brain Energy by Dr Chris Palmer, and read Dr Jason Fung. There are other doctors that share the science (like Dr Nadir Ali, a well respected cardiologist, and Dr Gary Taubes, Dr Robert Lustig, Dr Sten Ekberg, Dr Eric Westman, Dr Ken Berry, etc etc. There are so many more out there.)
It’s easy to repeat what you’ve heard as if it were fact (“Keto is only anecdotal”) but you need to know this is completely false and only serves to discourage and mislead others who it could help.
Ok here’s just a few. This is where I started three years ago. There are many more I never got to. And I’m sure there are newer sources too. This is from my notes app from when I was collecting resources to learn what I have.
* Dr Chris Palmer - Brain Energy
* Dr Robert Lustig - “Metabolical”
* Dr Jason Fung He is the Godfather of fasting & wrote the “Obesity Code” and explains benefits of low carb diets as well.
* Dr. Eric C Westman - “End Your Carb Confusion”
* Dr Ken Berry -“Lies My Doctor Told Me: Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health”
* Dr Sten Ekberg
* Dr Gary Taubes - "Why We Get Fat"
* Nina Teicholz - “The Big Fat Surprise”
* Dr Dan Maggs
* Dr. David Unwin
* Drs. Phinney and Volek. “Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living”
* Jacob Wilson - The Ketogenic Bible
Here is a great video to explain low carb diets and the positive impact on the heart, as well as cholesterol, by a world renowned cardiologist Dr Nadir Ali: https://youtu.be/qXtdp4BNyOg?si=GWAhaKLdgYEQO7bI
He actually has a couple low carb videos so you’ll want to view them all on YouTube. He’s really funny, but highly scientific and detailed. I paused the video many times to study his power point slides as he spoke so that I understood them well, because he usually is speaking to fellow medical colleagues. Great info.
There’s so much more that has been kept from the mainstream public. But once you start looking and reading, and following the bibliographies, you’ll find there’s just too much to absorb, and like me you’ll probably become angry how the science was kept from us and how our doctors are unaware of all of this because it falls outside the comfort of their allopathic grooming.
👍 been taking it for a year and a half! But my T-scores are typically only seen in 80 year olds (my spine was a -3.7 at age 56). So while it can be improved upon, it’s highly unlikely I’ll ever get below -3.0. Osteo starts at -2.5.
I'm sorry to hear that. I got off PPIs after being on them for many years. But my doctor just put me back on them because of pretty awful multiple gut problems. I'm hoping it will help the inflammation numbers go down. Which is ironic and frustrating, because PPIs likely contributed to my problems to begin with.
I hear you. Been following him for a while, and he has flip flopped on more issues than Fauci. Biden did name him Public Disinformation Enemy #1, so he's got that going for him, but I now treat everything he says with a grain of salt.
This made me sad to read, Juju. You enjoy pie and quiche, so why not have some? You should not be such a slave to a way of eating that it becomes a dogmatic prison sentence, shutting out opportunities to enjoy delicious food here and there. Would having an occasional piece of pie be THAT horrific to your health? Isn’t enjoyment of food one of the pleasures of life? You don’t have to have pie every day, but to be this strict about it like your post makes it seem like you are, comes across as a little over the top and sad.
Side note: while keto/carnivore can have some short term benefits (mostly the same benefits that any major diet change can offer short term: changing up your gut microbiome which provides noticeable differences in the way you feel in the short term), the long term effects of that way of restricted eating are likely more harmful than beneficial, particularly to the thyroid. I say this all with love and as a holistic healthcare practitioner in integrative nutrition.
And I say you are wrong, completely, as you are judging from the outside - but you are entitled to your opinion.
I’ve lived this long term and it only gets better. I’m not imprisoned as you assume. I don’t feel deprived. I’m a slave to my health and how I feel, not to foods I enjoy. Of course anything with sugar tastes great, that doesn’t mean we HAVE to have it occasionally. Thinking that way IS being a slave to food. I feel so good compared to how I felt on the standard American diet that I used to eat and I simply don’t want to screw that up. An occasional deviation doesnt hurt some people but others it’s a tremendous upset depending on their insulin resistance. Sugar and simple carbs are detrimental to all bodies, but to some there is a severe addictive quality to them. Would you say exactly what you did to the alcoholic that is refraining from alcohol knowing what it would trigger? Telling them they are imprisoned and surely they could enjoy just one drink on occasion? No, you would not.
I have to get to the gym but I will try to elaborate more when I come back. Sorry to cut this short.
I hear you, Juju — and I appreciate your thoughtful response. I absolutely respect your experience and the way you've found a pattern that works for your body and your health goals.
I wasn’t trying to judge or diminish your choices — just reflecting on how restrictive eating can sometimes sound, especially when someone openly misses something they enjoy but still won’t let themselves have it. My intention was more to gently challenge the all-or-nothing mindset that can (not always) lead to unnecessary rigidity or even disordered eating and orthorexia.
As a practitioner, I’ve just seen many people swing too far in either direction — and while keto/carnivore can bring real benefits for some in specific targeted therapeutic cases, I’ve also seen cases where extreme restriction leads to longer-term imbalances, particularly hormonally. That’s where my concern comes from — not a lack of respect for your autonomy. I also know that the root cause of issues you have likely been dealing with (insulin resistance, I assume?) is not sugar/carbohydrate itself but rather a glucose metabolism problem and when you solve for the metabolic problem, people absolutely can and do enjoy a piece of apple pie when they feel like it and they can do so in a healthy way. I get that this is not where you are at in your belief system though and that is okay - I am not judging you if you are not missing the apple pie as much as you implied in your original post.
As for the alcohol comparison — I do think that’s a bit of a false equivalency. Food and substance addiction work differently, biologically and socially. For most people, enjoying something like pie in moderation doesn’t carry the same kind of risks. Comparing apple pie to alcohol implies a moral and addictive framing of a relatively very innocuous food, which I reject. But I respect that everyone has different thresholds, and if yours feels better with total abstinence, that’s your call to make.
At the end of the day, I believe health should support life, not replace it — and pleasure is a valid part of wellness. But there’s no one right path. I’m glad you’ve found something that works for you.
I use an almond flour crust that I like - it took me trying 4-5 different ones before I found one that tasted really good. I substitute a mix of allulose/stevia/monkfruit/erythritol for any sweetener. The first three are a 0 on the glycemic index (sugar is a 65 GI and maltodextrin is a 134!) and the erythritol is only a 1. I won’t use any other sweeteners but these. All the others are higher on the GI. I think malitol is at least a 34! Xylitol is a 7 I think so it’s not horrifically high like the others but I still don’t use it.
Most things in the rest of a pie are Keto friendly fats, creams, or fruits already. 😂 So I just need to contend with the crust.
I once loved a pretzel jello salad so much and I’ve found a replacement recipe that my entire family absolutely loves better than the original and the crust stays crispy for days in the fridge, unlike pretzels that get soggy. The crust is made with a Keto Graham cereal that I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy in a bowl of milk, but as a crust? Omg it’s out of this world. Yes there are still carbs but it’s about 1/5 or 1/6 what the original recipe has in a serving. The rest is sugar free jello, fresh strawberries, and cream cheese/whipped cream filling. I use the crust from that recipe to make other deserts that need a graham cracker crust and it works great there too.
I had significant trial and error my first year on this diet learning to work with almond and coconut flours, and while there are Keto flours on the market, I can’t stand the taste that exists in all of them. So then when I went back to almond flour or coconut flour they tasted so fresh and delicious, not like something created in a lab. It also helped that my body had detoxed from over processed grains and I no longer had a craving for them so I was able to learn to work with almond and coconut flours. But by the start of my second year I had it down and now we enjoy muffins and pancakes and even cookies using almond flour. Coconut flour sometimes.
Can someone please explain the predilection some folks have for putting a slice of cheese on apple pie? Is it a regionally-rooted (I’m thinking Wisconsin) tradition or a daring move of culinary genius? I have the same thoughts about chicken and waffles… in any case, remember “Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie” (David Mamet). So participating in today’s observance is also good for one’s mental health. Bon appetite!
Apples are good with cheddar cheese. Apple pie is ruined by cheese. I consider myself an aficionado of apple pie, and I need Michele’s recipe because my quest in life is the successful creation of an apple pie by myself.
Hey, Chris Cameron: This 77 y/o native Pittsburgher spent many childhood hours wading in creeks that contained strip mine runoff ... and here I am, alive and healthy, to write about it.
Maybe if you'd gone outdoors to play as a child, instead of staying "safe" indoors, you'd get it.
Yep. I grew up wading in creeks, collecting tadpoles and growing them into frogs in my bedroom then taking them back to the creek. Have no idea if the creeks were clean or not in the middle of Auckland.
Same. 🤣 I even recklessly jumped off high ledges in our barn into hay piles, climbed the silo, and enjoyed riding in a truck filled with freshly harvested soybeans. I played with goats, pigs, and chickens in their pens. I was into everything with bare feet and swam in creeks you couldn’t see beneath an inch below the surface. The only thing that ruined my fun was my fear of spiders, (that inhibits me to this day. 🫤)
yes, and we did it all without helmets. knee, elbow pads. OMG. My mom just passed away at 98, I always told her if she raised us today as we were in the 50"s she would have been a cell mate with Charlie Manson. !!
I was driving grain trucks to town, running a combine for commercial harvesting at 13. That was all just life, The way it was. We all worked. All kids had jobs saving for things. All part of what used to be honest capitalism!! Now most just "game" and too many eat Twinkies if they still have them!;):):)
At age 12 I was being sent in my older sister’s pickup across several miles of farm community to buy raw milk for her two babies born 11 months apart.
I taught myself standard shift through trial and error.
They do still have them! My daughter served Zebra Cakes (Twinkies with black and white striped icing) at my granddaughter’s “animal party” birthday party 🥳
huh? where the heck is tara these days?
I just blocked Kim for the second time. What’s up with that?
Yeah, I couldn't do snakes but did all that stuff as well. When we swam in the creek we could feel the fish swishing around our legs. I declare it's why I'm still sane in this crazy world.
County park had a pond where we went swimming---each time a fish tried to bite the mole on my back. Pond was eventually closed due to invasion of Canada geese.
You should market a plastic bait in the shape of your mole.
I was thinking . . . string a tiny hook through it!
LMAO!
We had eels in our creeks.
When you swim in the creek and an eel bites your cheek, it's a moray.
Nice, but I don't think people are getting this. Clue. I'm currently watching a Matt Helms classic from the '60's (Dean Martin)
🤣🤣🤣
I had the music with the words right away 😁😆
😜
🤣 Good one, I got it immediately!
😂
😄
Is that from Pogo?
To answer, and I'm LMAO, our eels were friendly and they were delicious smoked. They can also come out of the water and travel across land to other bodies of water. They freaked my American kids out.... LOL!
Good one! And, I sang it. Out loud!
😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Good one:)
ISWYDT.
Thanks to your youthful constant contact with farm cooties, you grew up with strong natural immunities.
Growing up in Phx in the 1960s-1970s everyone had irrigation wells in our yards to water the grass from the canals that crisscross throughout the city. We were always playing in that water - looking for crawdads, using a thin piece of plywood as a skim board & all-out wallowing. Nobody worried about that shit - or getting sunburned, for that matter.
When we lived in Glendale AZ, my daughter pulled her red wagon down the street to the irrigated neighborhood park two blocks away to collect tadpoles, which she brought home in the wagon full of water, parked it next to our front porch, and checked on them every day as they turned into frogs.
remember the cotton fields?
Road in the back of an open pick up w the family dogs at my side. But it was the 70’s and there were less vehicles on the roads and the drivers could read roadsigns in English and a judeo-Christian ethic to actually follow the laws still prevailed. And God watching over me most of all! 😆
Did all that too and all the boys in high school had a double gun rack in their pickup trucks and would compare shotguns and 22 rifles during lunch break every day! No one got shot! LOL
That happened in my high school also… Every pickup had a gun rack, and no one got shot.
Parents also pushed you out saying "go play!" You treked through forests, walked in streams or (horror) mud puddles, played kick ball or baseball with your friends (now think - do you even know who your neighbors are?), went to church (and I'm adding that to the good old days because demons have been hard at work the past 40 years pushing God out of everything and look at the results), read a book or just laid in the grass figuring out what shapes the clouds were in.
Now kids have tablets almost 24/7 that endless make their little brains have no down time for rest or spending time with family around the dinner table. Little Susie has been programmed up to her eyeballs in activities that adults wouldn't want.
I teach piano. I will take a home schooled child from a God believing and living family any day of the week over 10 public school (or even private depending on the school) kids. I have several now. They are more intelligent, rational, good at problem solving and more mature. My co-worker still spouts the "oh, well, they don't get socialized!" BS. Back in the late 1970's to end of 1980's, your life probably settle around family, school, church and neighborhood friends. I was a shy, introverted child. I could not handle what our children are dealing with today. One of my students told me last week when I asked what was wrong (she was very stressed). The answer? Her high school had 10 (TEN) fights that week alone. She told me about them. She didn't see all of them, but students (of course) stood around making Tik-Tok videos to send around the school. Much less the demonic craze of children being told they aren't male or female in God's image.
Sorry for the long comment, but what we are dealing with today is pure evil.
You are so right about all the crap going on in school today… So much stress on these kids. Then after school everyone is running to every ball practice and such… Everyone is so busy and harried! No downtime… No time for family or church or just spending time to be a kid.
Homeschooling has been a blessing to our family. It Gave us time to spend with our precious babies…
“Be still, and know that I am God….” 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Well done to you for making that commitment!
Great stuff… 25 years so far with 3 more years to go… 5 launched and 1 to go… 👍🏽😁😁😁😁😁🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
And we played in the woods, climbed trees and ate the unwashed fruit from those trees and roller skated and rode our bikes as fast and as far as we could - all with only the good sense God gave us and strict orders from mom to be home when the street lights came on! 👍🏻
or you got the look of death from Mom!
This is probably why my youngest grandchild wants to be homeschooled. My heart hurts. I would school her myself if allowed.
I know several grandparents that are homeschooling their grandbabies. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
I did cut my foot on a rusted off electric fence pole that couldn't be seen in the water. Since there were no cell phones, my parents came home to find bloody rags in the kitchen and myself and my sister gone. No note, either. She had taken me to get it stitched up and a tetanus shot. They didn't panic, though. They assumed the blood was from one of our animals and that we had taken it to the vet. :) The stories of farm life!
Even the drama around tetanus shots may be a scam.
Not to mention the fact that when you get cut or bit is NOT the time to give the shot. If you think about it, it's obvious. You just might have been exposed to tetanus. So . . . expose you to more tetanus? No one thinking properly at the ER.
What a fabulous childhood!
Very similar to my childhood too!!
Same. I will have an inquiry with The Lord, albeit gentle and wondering-like, why in the world he made spiders. Maybe they were beautiful and crafted amazing webs before the fall. And then.
Oh, that's too bad Jenn. They are such sweet creatures, especially the wee jumping spiders. When I find them in the house, I take them outside and let them go, but in winter, I just leave them.
Yeah, I take 'em outside (except poisonous ones) but I still don't like them. And my daughter gets serious reactions to spider bites and really bad ones with black gnats. I prefer animals to things with more than 4 legs.
Juju, I have a long-nosed, hand held vacuum that is perfect for dispatching invading spiders. My fear began when I saw an enlarged photo of an ordinary house spider. Nope! Not in my house!
Yeah I can only use that for small ones no bigger than a fly 🤣 Anything bigger and I’m in the middle of the street flagging down a neighbor or passing car and begging them to bring me the carcass as proof it was killed. Lol. (Not joking I did that once 😆) We actually don’t get them in our house much because we use a scorpion pesticide that we buy from a do your own pest control online. We don’t live in scorpion area of the country but I read that it was phenomenal for spider control too. I remember an exterminator long ago when we used those services being amazed how even the unfinished part of our basement was completely web free, unlike most homes he goes to. Nuh uh … not in my house. The basement in our farmhouse was a nightmare for me to navigate because of all the webs and the dark murky cellars etc. Possibly why my fear is so great. My neighbor has a pretty and always clean basement BUT even her house had webs in the corners as if they were nothing more than flower arrangements. 🤣 You could lick the walls and corners of my basement. 🤣🤣 No. Webs. Everrrr.
LOL, I hear you! Just I hope you make sure the scorpion pesticide doesn't have any ingredients that might control you, too!
We didn't do any of that in the City of Poughkeepsie. But we used to drive out into the country every summer to see cows and horses!
George Carlin said they used to swim in the Hudson .
If it's good enough for Kosmo Kramer...!
Every summer through childhood. Senasqua park in Croton-on-Hudson. It was a blast.
Hey, Jeff S, I swam in the Wappinger's Creek in the Town of Poughkeepsie! And my dad's family had a dairy farm and dairy right off of Route 9. Brooklands Farm. George Carlon swam in the Hudson. If you can take the potty mouth, he does a great stich making fun of germaphobes!
My cousins used to fish in that creek, Sal. Nice area. Much better than where I was born and raised until 10, when we moved to Hyde Park due to Urban Renewal. Carlin's great! I catch him on YouTube. Take care.
Poughkeepsie NY? I lived across the Hudson from you in Kingston. Back in 78-94. I know it looks nothing like it did, but I still miss my NY friends. I lived in Saugerties as well.
I went away to college and ended up on the Left Coast. In high school I played basketball, with games at Kingston and Saugerties. One of my cousins used to live in Saugerties. It's way out there. Anyway, after all these years, I still call New York home.
Me too!! It was such a great place to Raise Children! We had 2 acres and living was Simple back then! We moved before my oldest was planted too deep with friends and didn’t want to move. Been in NC for 31 years. The people are not friendly here! Very Clickish! First question “where do you go to church”?
Same
It was a great time to be a child.
YES, it really was.
I used to net minnows and feed them to my pet snapping turtle.
I did too! We had a creek in backyard, used to catch the salamanders, the crayfish! I would put them in my sisters kid pool! It would freak her out! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I, too, waded and swam in a creek that, considering where it was located, must have been full of bacteria and other wastes. I even remember peeling off the leeches after a swim. A few years later, our home had a swamp on one side, woods in the back, and fields on the other side. When I came home at night after playing (unsupervised, of course) with my brother and his friends, climbing trees and slogging in the swamp, my mother would check me for ticks. I also went barefoot most of the time in the summer and never heard of sunscreen and we didn't have a TV to advise us on health.
Here I am now in my 80's, on no medications, strong and healthy.
I love to hear this. Best news I have heard today!
I remember the time my sister and I waded a distance up the creek and discovered a dead cow had been dumped in the water. Lazy ass neighbor farm boys!
🤣 😆 I can see that. Lol
The biggest thing I ever found was a rusted out old tractor attachment one side submerged in the creek. Other than that a dead bird or frog was the most I saw … or recognized anyway. Lol
Very funny!!
Your immune system has been as well-exercised as you were!
I believe that’s how kids develop an immune system, don’t ya think?
🛎️🔨
Indeed I do, rather than wiping it out with the modern immunization schedule. Is it any wonder certain conditions (autism, asthma, auto immune disorders, etc) have skyrocketed?
Same here. I was almost always barefooted on the farm, in the barn and the creek. And I stepped on more than one "cow pod." We had fun watching the goop squeeze up between our toes.
I could run full speed up the gravel driveway barefoot my feet were so calloused from the years of barefoot farm living!!! So many memories in this thread!!! Just the thought of the pain I would be in now makes me shudder!!
Barefoot city living here - bottoms of my feet were always black & I have heel calluses to this day (I’m 67) that are the bane of the technicians on the very rare occasion I get a pedicure. Only wear shoes out & about. At home & even at work (except when I leave my own office) I am barefoot
well, you are surely well-grounded.
Me too! and now they make barefoot shoes so I don't mind as much when I have to go out somewhere.
Oooo, what are “barefoot shoes”??!
The bottoms of my 'Tom Sawyer' feet back in the 60's were so tough I could stomp a fizzer e.g. a Black Cat or Zebra firecracker that didn't go off from the fuse so broke it in half then lit it before stomping on it to get a 'bang'--usually wearing Jack Purcell shoes.
By the end of summer, I could walk on broken glass without cutting myself. Only wore shoes on Sunday until school started again. Those were the days. But then, there were no fire ants.
“Well, go 'long and play; but mind you get back some time in a week, or I'll tan you.”
― Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Loved my Jack Purcells! Got 1 pair until they sprouted too many holes or I couldn't fit my growing feet in them anymore. And they were stained green from mowing yards.
We would count it as summer’s really here when we could run down the gravel driveway barefoot because our feet could take it! 😂
Yep I call that “farm feet.”
Yep, we used to run through the fields barefoot, getting stung by bees, and only pausing to pull the stinger out!
I swear, my feet are actually tanned, as in how you would tan an animal hide😂
I pretty much have to soak them in Gold Bond or Dr. Scholl’s foot crème at night.
Wow! You win - barefoot on gravel!
Same!! Not on a farm though but a reeeeeaaally small town with woods and fields all around it!
grounding rocks!
I'm a barefoot gardener. Pretty much, when in garden(s) either wearing my (hiking but purchased for gardening) boots or barefoot.
Excellent for grounding/earthing to discharge all the inflammation producing electrical buildup in your body!
If you get bit by a tick, send it here.
https://www.ticklab.org/
Thanks, Kathleen--timing is great---pulled something off my neck Saturday, smaller than any tick I have recognized. I always get at least a few while in Maine.
deer ticks are very small-- size of pin head.
Could it have been a seed tick? They are very small.
Hmm, Have to investigate. Hadn’t heard of such. Thanks, friend.
$50 to $100 for NON-Pa residents. . .
good to know regardless!
I just put one down the toilet an hour ago. Minnesota
Not sure if anyone else is offering this service.
Do you know?
nope, looks pretty unique to me.
Same here!! I can still feel the squishing between my toes! 😊
Brown on the outside, green on the inside. Yes.
😆
lol 😂 ewww…
🤣🤣🤣
First RFK shows off his pushups, now he shows off his immune system!
I grew up on a creek, too. Waded in it, played in it, tried building a raft to float downstream. 10 year old me didn't know what I was doing and I sunk. No worries about alligators or snakes or other creepy things. My parents didn't even know what I was up to back there. It was a fun childhood.
So true. I used to ride my 10 speed bike all over. My parents had no idea where I was until I arrived back home in time for dinner. and (gasp) I didn't wear a helmet.
The adventures on my ten-speed bike!!!!
my plywood boat didn't sink, but it weighed a TON!
I had a creek in one direction and a vast, long washed out gulley area with a crystal clear stream running down the middle in another. There were patches of clay, better than today’s play dough and much, much more. All secluded in the woods.
Indiana Jones eat your heart out!
Weather permitting and if I hadn’t gotten collared for unscheduled chores, I was out there.
I learned to swim in the Ohio River ... in the 70's, Yikes!
Same here, and with a nuc plant up river...
well, you had some nice warm water; good deal!
The Crappies, small mouth, and catfish seemed to love it! Only a couple three eyed fish, but they were still good eating. LOL!
😂🤣😜😳
Ditto
We played on jungle gyms built on asphalt, no rubber mats or mulch, just a concussion or broken arm waiting to happen.
My dad used to swim across the Monongahela River in the South Side.
Right where J&L used to be.
Your dad must have been one strong man ... the Mon runs a fast current there!
Yes, he was an extremely strong swimmer.
Saved a guy from drowning when he was in N. Africa during the war.
Jones and Laughlin Steel.
Went swimming a couple of times in the Schuylkill in '21.
in 1921. . . ?! Holy crapp!
so, you must be about 110 now?!
Silly boy! 2021
The SKOOKIL - haven’t thought about that river in ages!
Used to spend a little time at the 3rd Circuit (US Court of Appeals) in Philadelphia
And the Surekill Distressway?
Me, my siblings and friends played in the creek downstream from cattle. I can’t count the times I rinsed blackberries off in the water and ate them or even drank water from the creek. No Montezuma’s revenge, no stomach issues, healthy as a horse.
We explored and played outside all day long…creeks, trees, etc. Called it swamp stompin’. Barefoot when outdoors. Feet so calloused we could walk over the prickly “gum balls” that fell from the sweet gum trees. And I wasn’t even a tomboy.
Same. I grew up in rural Iowa playing in the dredge ditches, where excess water run-off from corn and soybean fields was diverted. We were obviously playing and fishing in water that had fertilizer and farm chemicals galore! I’m 58 and perfectly healthy.
I have to add to that Rog. . .
This 74 y/o native Streatorite(Illinois) jumped into the Vermillion River, totally immersed many a time as a kid, swimming. This river, certainly more like algae green in color than "vermillion"!, was the sewage dump for our town and surrounding off-flow from many dairy and corn fields(nitrates galore, baby). You could see green globs floating down it. . . lots of stagnant pools full of carp, which I caught with only a hand line and hook/worm.
Never ate carp but the local "folks from the other side-of-the-tracks" did and many are still alive and kickin'-- after all these years . . . SOME attrition!
Insurance companies need to be bypassed when getting prescriptions. If my generic prescription only costs $5, but my health plan says I must pay $15 for each prescription, then I am paying $10 more. And the pharmacy is not allowed to tell you of the price difference. It's a scam.
I totally agree, with your point but I don’t like the idea of the federal government being the clearinghouse for prescriptions. It feels like one of those ideas that makes a ton of sense in theory, but in practice it becomes just another bloated government program. And who knows how it would be manipulated in future years. It smacks of centralization and I want the federal government OUT of my daily life. Why couldn’t they have a portal where one can check the price of a prescription and buy it from the least expensive? That’s a free market alternative and competition trumps government involvement every time. I’m sure there are other, better ideas than that too.
I completely agree. We need less government but we need honest and fair drug pricing. Why is my generic asthma inhaler over $200 a month on Amazon but with GoodRx I can go to CVS and get it for $50? Something is not right.
And you can buy it in Mexico for 5.00
In Ontario with good old socialized medicine, $4.11 per puffer.
What about insurance companies more or less telling you which "brand" of medicine they will pay for, hoping that you will cave because of the price difference and go along with their recommendations! My insurance company will not pay for my thyroid medicine as I take the oldest and safest brand (Armour) vs their synthetic crap!!!!
Deb, check out the book, "Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom" by Katherine Eban. From the Amazon blurb: "We have been reassured by our doctors, our pharmacists and our regulators that generic drugs are identical to their brand-name counterparts, just less expensive. But is this really true?
Katherine Eban’s Bottle of Lies exposes the deceit behind generic-drug manufacturing—and the attendant risks for global health. Drawing on exclusive accounts from whistleblowers and regulators, as well as thousands of pages of confidential FDA documents, Eban reveals an industry where fraud is rampant, companies routinely falsify data, and executives circumvent almost every principle of safe manufacturing to minimize cost and maximize profit, confident in their ability to fool inspectors. Meanwhile, patients unwittingly consume medicine with unpredictable and dangerous effects."
I recently read that book too. Generics are definitely not the way to go if one can help it.
How about just don’t take ANY pharmaceuticals of any types?
Thank you, Melissa. I was not aware of this. Just as your post states, we have been told that generics are exactly the same. Dang it! Continuous lies!
VA charges me $8 for a 30-day supply of Albuterol.
And Cigna "charges" us $0 for a 90-day supply. Make it make sense!
And in England, it’s probably $5 are some other lower amount!
I order through Pharmstore in Canada. The inhalers come from England and are shipped directly to me. Last order was around $200 for six, 3 of each for a 90 day supply. That included fast shipping. Can't buy a 3 month supply in the US as we could before Obummer or Hillary changed it to 30 days only.
We got a med for my husband from Pharmstore and they were great. Local price was over $300 for a 30-day supply. Pharmstore got us a 90-day supply for $90. Shipped from Mauritius if I recall. The US system is nuts!
It’s a terrible joke
I totally agree, and the insurance companies are as big a fraudsters as the government.
My S-I-L is under treatment for prostate cancer, taking hormone therapy which cost $15,000 per MONTH. All of which is paid by insurance, but there is something terribly wrong with this scenario.
Check out Dr Makis substack on cancer treatments using ivermectin and fenbendazole.
He is using them also. It’s a tricky thing to just go off on your own with repurposed drugs because you still need to have lab work and tests to determine where you are. So far he hasn’t found a doctor to lead him through the process of going strictly with FenBen etc…
functional medicine dr would.
He has cancer?
Cancer is a lifestyle disease. Do both of yourselves a massive favor and read some real cancer books. There is Nothing the medical murder mafia can or will do that will cure cancer. Full stop.
Sympathetic Resonance Frequency Medicine has been knocking out Cancer for 90 years, according to a clinical trial at UC LA..
It all comes back to metabolics.
Ultimately doesn’t it increase the cost of insurance to everyone on the plan? I would think premiums would be cheaper if not for the excessive drug costs.
I think that is why the put in place the Obummer Care system in order to expand the government system, dictate plans (men needing to have female issue coverage on their plans, and women with men relating issues on their plans, etc... but that was probably to eventually do the trans cult "health care".), and make it more expensive, while eliminating competition. (Big money in controlling monopolies).
Their goal was/is to 'break/bankrupt the system' in order 'build back a universal system' that they completely control. Evil personified.
I'm sorry, I'm confused. You SISTER-in-law has prostate cancer?
Son-in-law.
Whew. I was pretty sure the gender-confused didn't hang out here. S-
I-L is usually Sister-in-Law, but Son-in-Law should have been obvious to me.
Double Mc I thought the same thing. SIL SISTER IN LAW. LOL.
Rand Paul had a good idea on how to lower rx prices without resorting to price controls: He called them “associations” that you can participate in made up of thousands of people ( for ex. Costco) whereby the association negotiates prices on behalf of the members.
Good idea too, but I don’t really see Trump’s EO as price control. It’s more of a demand to stop screwing Americans with outrageous pricing, so the rest of the world’s drugs can be subsidized at reasonable prices. In other words… big pharma isn’t participating in free market capitalism… it’s participating in who knows what to call it.
Ditto Valerie! The Fed scant tie their own shoelaces without excess rules, regulations, nonsense. And to be at their mercy to get my prescription? No way this will work well.
Pharamazon - the Amazon of RX!
Ditto! I resent even being on Medicare. I'd opt out but the punishment is pretty bad if it's someday needed.
Agree. That item made me cringe.
GoodRx does that
Actually the pharmacists are required to sell at the insurers negotiated price once you tell them you're using insurance. If you ask first what the over the counter price is, and it's cheaper then they can sell it to you directly if you choose to pay out of pocket. This is not common knowledge unfortunately.
Interesting that any time I ask to pay cash it’s cheaper. Even for medical procedures! The same MRI that was quoted for thousands of dollars with insurance….i paid out of pocket for -$250. That’s when I knew the whole thing was a scam. Even if I have insurance….if the price is too high I tell them do not bill my insurance I’ll pay cash. They remind me it won’t apply to my deductible to which I spit on because it’s so high I’ll never meet it every year anyway. I’ll pay cash and bypass insurance scam companies. Unless it’s a major life threatening scenario our insurance is useless.
This is what the insurance companies really want: they want you and all and all the others who pay cash to do so that way they can bill the government for the higher prices. Insurance companies suck - all of them.
Not to mention…..we’re paying our premiums for insurance that suck and covers nothing and then paying cash on top of our premiums - and they make the money off our premiums and don’t have to cover our stuff. Win win for them. Lose lose for us.
Yep. Such a scam!
Yep… thanks Obamacare for making an already dumb system (too many middlemen) even worse and more unaffordable.
True! Once I found out about it I would always ask the price!
That may be true to some degree but if they “know”because you’re a consistent customer that you have insurance, they will not sell it to you at the over-the-counter price. My insurance company was delaying on approval for a refill and I said just sell it to me and they can go jump in the river. I paid 4 times more than I would’ve paid with Insurance.
Yes, this! Try a different pharmacy.
I’ve been using them because they are and independent pharmacy. I just hate giving my money to CVS or Walgreens or any of those big box pharmacies that are actually owned by the pharmaceutical companies. Hard to know what to do.
Use GoodRx
https://www.goodrx.com/
I didn’t know that. I’ll have my husband ask next time he refills (I only take 1 prescription & I’d like to get off it but I’m addicted)
I weaned self off levothyroxine over 12 months, cutting dosage by 10% at a time. Had blood tests in March: all scores in normal range. I do think it was the slow and steady approach which gave my own thyroid time to come out of drug-induced hibernation.
I need to work on this- I need to research it and then talk with my doctor so that I’m informed from other sources. I don’t trust the medical community anymore.
Unfortunately, I don’t even have a thyroid anymore so I’m stuck.
Both my parents have hypothyroidism and are on levothyroxine. I started taking an iodine supplement daily after reading this article:
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertyoho/p/252-when-heroes-are-needed-courageous?
I’m curious as I would like to do the same thing. How did you cut your dosage by 10%? Did you have a doctor that worked with you?
When I tried to quit before, they did help wean me off it by reducing the mg incrementally. It didn’t seem to work because I got very depressed again and we decided that physically I was doing fine on the higher dosage - felt normal etc. safe & effective for me 😉 and I agreed. It’s my only prescription & I now since Covid no longer want to be tied to the drug or any drug. I am 73 and been taking this since I went through menopause & was dealing with a cancer diagnosis, a son who had a life threatening disease (he’s fine now) plus a job loss & mothers death. A lot to deal with at one time. I think now I might be able to do this 🙏
We will be praying for you Cheryl. May God bless you.
God bless you, Cheryl. You’re in my prayers.
What have you heard about NP Thyroid? I just started on it due to hypothyroidism. I have high cholesterol even though I exercise regularly and I am not overweight. I have other side effects too, low energy, apathy, etc. What are you doing or taking instead for low thyroid?
The high cholesterol scam is talked about by A midwestern Doctor. As we age our brain needs cholesterol to function properly.
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-great-dangers-of-statins
That’s one of the drugs I finally stopped. I was on a low dose due to me being borderline on their charts. I quit the Lipitor and my leg aches went away but it was a fight with my doc. I had a 10% chance of stroke on those charts 😂 finally after trying a different statin that caused the same leg aches, he said to do a calcium chloride scan of my heart? I think that’s what it’s called to see if I had any calcium build up in my arteries- well, guess what? No problem there so he doesn’t bug me anymore. I paid for the test as insurance wouldn’t. I don’t know why they don’t do that in the beginning but I guess we all know the answer to that. There is so much wrong with modern medicine- it’s sad. But if anything this has taught some of us to trust our instincts & to research, not just accept what your doctor suggests. Some medications are vital to our health/condition. But some just put a bandaid on the problem
Yes thank you. I’m off statins. Was asking about NP Thyroid.
100%
You might find some useful information in this article. I started taking an iodine supplement daily after reading this. I don’t have diagnosed low thyroid, but both my parents do. So as they say, an ounce (or 25 mg) of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertyoho/p/252-when-heroes-are-needed-courageous?
You might check re how your adrenal glands are doing.
You sound very much like me. I have found a grain-and sugar-free diet clears up both my insulin, cholesterol, and triglyceride issues. It is not easy, but so beneficial. One warning: you end up eating much more fat. If you go that route, transition slowly. I did not, and it cost me my gallbladder.
Can this be done if you've had the thyroid removed?
I’m not a “medical professional”, I regret to say.
It’s great that you have already recognized your 1st step of the 12 steps of recovery. Now you are free to progress to freedom.
Cold Turkey
Going cold turkey is not recommended.
Heard. Good luck!
Tried that, 30 years ago. If you desire to experience, as I did, 90 minutes in morning of normal energy, and the next 9 hours spent entirely on your bed, with yellow bags under your eyes, then go for it. That's what I myself experienced 5 months after having gone "cold turkey" from levothyroxine.
I know it won't help everyone, but for me, the way out of hypothyroidism and a rx of synthroid, was to give up all gluten.
All, as in every single last molecule.
but those like my friend M_____ whi had her thyroid removed due to cancer -- gotta have the med. BUT there are vitamins that contain dessicated thyroid extract. And taking powdered help helps (for the iodine)
I was going to CVS to get my thyroid meds using GOODRX bc ins was double. Several months ago ins dropped my copay to $0. Probably coming out of the almost $200 I pay monthly for Medicare which I rarely use. Maybe 1 doc visit for lab tests once a year.
MIne also was at $00 at CVS. Certainly made me wonder. Now i pay $000 for anything.
Good to know
I falsely assumed for years that if you have insurance, especially if you are on a Medicare Rx plan, you will be getting your Rx at a cheaper price. Totally wrong. I learned the hard way. Actually got charged about $500 for a 90 day supply of a generic Rx that I could have gotten for $46 using a free discount card from SingleCare and my local Kroger. (A 1000% markup to use my mail-order insurance that was connected with CVS.)The price has since gone down to about $22 for the 90 day supply using SingleCare. I now never use my Medicare Rx plan. The pharmacy has the information, but it is always cheaper for me to not use my insurance. If I ever end up in the hospital for an emergency will probably have to use it. And if I absolutely had to be on an Rx that could not be discounted, I might have to use it. Meanwhile everyone should check out free discount pharmacy cards like SingleCare and GoodRx whether they have insurance or not. Drug prices are like buying an airplane ticket. There is no consistency to the prices. So you really do have to shop around and know that the pharmacy you shop at is not always your best option.
There is a guy on Instagram that owns an independent pharmacy that posts about this all the time. There are drugs that Medicare is overpaying to the tune of $600mil per year vs his price. He goes through example after example, it’s infuriating. His pharmacy doesn’t take insurance, it’s only cash pay. Here’s an example of one of his posts:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJe3p-cCsfo/?igsh=eXYxOHBpYjQ3bmlh
Thank you Valerie! I used the price checker on his website (https://www.forestparkpharmacy.com). The cost was about $15 for a 90 day supply of my Rx vs $22. Of course, shipping added probably gets it closer to what I pay using the SingleCare discount card. But I will definitely save his site for future reference!
Excellent! It’s always good to have options.
Actually, the guy and his pharmacy are only currently licensed in Texas & Indiana. Bummer!
I’m in Texas so I didn’t notice. Bummer.
Check for unaffiliated pharmacies in your area. My small town in SC has an independent pharmacy; I just checked Forest Park's price list, and my local shop is significantly less expensive.
I'm not on Insta....is there another way to find him? YouTube or X?
Someone put his website a couple of comments above
Melissa S, All true! You need to shop pharmacies and ask about pricing with your insurance and without and with cards like GoodRx. Prices are all over the board. Then, contact Canadian pharmacies. They won't take your insurance, but their prices can be considerably less than our prices. This racket needs to end!!
Thanks! Any Canadian pharmacies to recommend?
I've used canadadrugsdirect.com
Crazy, isn't it? Earlier this year, I had to "cash pay" for a prescription normally covered by my insurance. With insurance, I pay $246. Doing cash pay, it was 40% less. So why bother with this coverage!
Indeed. My wife (56) and I (62) dumped our so-called “health” insurance 4 years ago when we noticed that we never used it because we don’t need doctors or Rxs.
Will never purchase that scam again.
Haven’t seen a doctor professionally since Jan. 2020. Don’t ever plan to again.
Yes, indeed. Why do we have to pay for prescription drug insurance when cash pay is far less? Oh…wait…padding big pharma’s budget. Never mind. Answered my own question.
My dog and I were on the same prescription earlier this year. Same pharmacy, same drug, same quantity, same dosage, similar timing.
Dog cost? $12.
My cost after insurance? $40.
Seems like a simple fix…
The entire health insurance industry is a joke
Agree. That is why we 'affectionately' refer to it as the "sick care industry" or the "sick care industrial complex"...
Not a joke, a devious plan to make us beg for single-payer(Socialized medicine). If they make it painful enough, Americans will take whatever relief is offered.
Go to a different pharmacy and don't tell them you have insurance, don't even MENTION insurance, just pay the bill and take your meds home.
I am having difficulty understanding how the prescription drug price cuts will filter down to the consumer. It seems only the insurance providers will get the discount and the rest of us will still pay the same co pays we always do. The insurers will never cut our premium costs.
I’m praying and hoping that major reform of the whole system of health insurance will come out of all of this!
@Debbie- if your script currently is $50, your copay is probably around $10. But if the price comes down, that script will be $10 or less. $10 will be what you pay, regardless of insurance. If it's less, you pay less.
What they need to do is get rid of the required Medicare pharmaceutical policy. If you choose not to buy insurance to cover your prescriptions and then later decide to buy it there is a penalty for every year thereafter. This is just wrong. Seniors should be able to pay the lowest cost without any insurance tacked on.
Exactly. That is part of the middleman pharmaceutical manager "profits".
@Alison- your pharmacy shouldn't be charging you the full $15. If it costs $5, they should be charging you $5. If it costs $500, THEN they should charge you the $15.
They shouldn't but that is the agreement they have signed with the insurance companies. It should be illegal.
@Alison- back when I had insurance, if the script was less than the copay, that's what I would be charged. Same with husband's Medicare Advantage HMO. I wonder if it's your insurance company in a deal with the pharmacy.
No, it’s the policy that pharmaceutical companies have to live by. I have a friend who’s a pharmacist and she told me about it. Plus I heard Tucker Carlson interview a gentleman and I can’t think of his name, but he was in that industry and he said they are obligated to charge you whatever the insurance company has approved.
@P- back when I had insurance, my generic co-pay was $10. If the script came in at $6.40, that's what the pharmacy would charge me.
Oh yes, Barry and Nancy's O-care. Had to make sure all the big corps get paid. Got to fund the bureaucracy.
Its the PBM's literally skimming off the top.... it's a cash cow industry that should be abolished in its entirety- there are no PBM's in other countries doing this abject robbery of its citizens.
that is so true. i’ve had that experience as well
Not sure what insurance you have but that’s not how mine works. Mine is a max copay and so was my husbands Medicare plan. If the generic is $5, we pay $5. If the drug costs $50, we pay $15.
Exactly.
Perhaps next Pope Leo XIV should 'gently call out' the open border wokescolds, and remind them that charity begins at home. In our parish in the 70's, we 'adopted' a Vietnamese extended family who were refugees from fall of Saigon. Grandfather, father, mother and several children, including one who was in his early 20's. They came here with nothing, no EBT cards, free healthcare or phones. The PEOPLE OF OUR CHURCH held drives - furniture, clothing, deposit for a rental place, someone donated a car, etc. And they got jobs. When we found out the son was walking FIVE MILES to work every day, we held fundraisers to get him a starter car. Within a few years they were self-sufficient, and moved to an area of the city that had a Vietnamese enclave, but thanked us for helping them get launched in their new country. If we are to be truly Christian, this is the way immigration should happen.
That’s wonderful! The key phrase is “within a few years, they were self-sufficient”. For the able-bodied, charity is not meant to be a permanent way of life.
BAM!
My grandparents had the last name "Wooster" - when my great great-grandfather came here from the 'old country' in the late 1800's, and he and his wife had sons who changed their last names to be more 'Americanized' - some became Wooster, some became Woster.
This was how it worked for my relatives who came from postwar Europe. A church sponsored them and helped them get settled/started, then they worked their tails off and ended up being solid middle class after a while.
There was so much destruction and deprivation in Europe after the war.
I can't even begin to image how difficult it was...
They came over with about 50 dollars. They had almost no furniture at first. Definitely not easy.
When I was in Warsaw's Old Town, I was amazed at all the old buildings.
Or so I thought. Right above the doorways were the dates of construction. 1953...1954...etc.
The Nazis has systematically leveled the center of the city street by street, house by house. The rebuilding occurred after the war using old photos and paintings to reconstruct in the original style.
I love that!
Absolutely right Donna! When the Vietnamese people were brought into our country back then, they were actually assimilated. Now they are our neighbors and a vital part of our communities. I have a good friend among them who is a dear sweet lady with a wonderful family.
Her husband was a math professor at our local college.
There’s nothing wrong with immigration when it’s done the right way.
Assimilation is the key for our country’s survival.
That’s why our immigration system worked for so many years. You had to have a sponsor to immigrate. Ask anyone who followed the rules and came legally. Illegal immigration has never worked. I live in the Houston area and I can’t tell you how many can’t speak English. They don’t even want to learn. They live in their own communities and never assimilate- their kids talk for them.
Or worse, the parents speak English, but don't teach it to the kids. Then they send the poor child off to school, where they can't communicate, to learn English. All because they want the foreign language to be primary.
This is only a problem because those kids are isolated in communities that don’t speak English either. Otherwise they pick up English regardless, from other kids in the neighborhood and from interacting with adults in stores, activities etc.
In the N. Virginia area, you will find some of the best Vietnamese restaurants.
Entire families work in the restaurant.
I remember this as well. Our Church adopted a Cambodian family. I remember going to get them and walk with them to school.
That’s how it worked for many years. The Christian community set up homes for unwed mothers, homes for the indigent, orphanages, and many other needed helps for people until they got on their feet. If the government would get out of the way, the compassion of America would continue as it always has.
Amen, the gov't programs are not a hand up they are a handout, and engender learned helplessness. So tired of Christians calling these programs charity. WE are our brother's keeper, not the gov.
🎯🎯🎯
To me, it’s a cop out on their part, let the government do it so I don’t have to get involved myself.
Love that term “learned helplessness”
THAT is the real damage of DEI. For those not trapped in the cycle of dependence on the gov for their very existence, along comes programming that says "you are a victim, it's not your fault" A society full of people who do not feel in control of their own lives is much easier to manipulate.
But the “immigrants” must be legal and vetted. There are too many violent gang members that have been let in to just roll out the red carpet to every immigrant.
Agree. There are not enough churches to sponsor the great hordes that were let in the last 4 years. I was in elementary school in the 70's so don't recall the status of the family our church sponsored but I presume they were legal with a path to citizenship. and had legit refugee status.
We also worked in the 70’s with the Vietnamese in our town via a committee of mainly churches & community leaders. It was a life changing experience- they were some of the hardest working people, devoted to family and making a new life. They wanted to assimilate & learn English. Everything was donated by our community & it worked.
EXACTLY - if you come here, you do have responsibilities and an obligation to assimilate. Just as our ancestors did.
For about the last four years, I’ve been helping a family from Burkina Faso in West Africa. They came here on a visa for Christian schooling but no English and 10 years later they still barely spoke English. I started having English classes with them at my home every Friday and helped them find food banks and Church Organizations that gave out food on a weekly basis, how to shop for clothing in secondhand stores AAA card so they could get assistance if their car broke down. Our church at various times has assisted them with rent and utilities. They are both college educated, but have been waiting waiting and waiting for their green cards so they can get better job. He volunteers in the media department and so does she. His full-time job is working as a valet parker which will change now that he has received his green . It is up to all of us not the government to look for the people who want to be assimilated into our culture, but need help getting there.
I don’t understand why if they are college educated they did not make the effort to learn the local language in 10 years. That makes no sense. It’s like they didn’t want to help themselves.
I would call it bad teachers. They know IT and media work. Language is very difficult for them..Honestly, I blame the place where they were going to school and I’ve contacted that group. They did know some English, but it wasn’t enough. Then, their sponsor flaked out on them and they were in an illegal status and did not know what to do. They didn’t go around, trying to talk to a lot of people and they were afraid. I know God put me in their path to help them apply better life circumstances
The rural Asian refugees of the 70s and 80s were hard-working, moral people who had the benefit of being unvaccinated, unaddicted to television, and unbrainwashed by the color revolutions of the CIA. That first generation assimilated pretty well into America. Once the public schooling and vaccinations started among their children, the drug gangs began. Unfortunately, traditional native-born Americans have unwittingly been living under constant, mini covert CIA color revolutions since the late 1950s-early 1960s. Hollywood became the tool used to destroy our morality and character, now it’s social media. Vaccines, prescription drugs and fluoride are the tools used for destroying our intellect and health.
@Donna- this new pope, as a cardinal, had tweeted about his like of open borders.
I’ll start taking those people seriously when they open the Vatican to all “migrants” who want to relocate there 😑
Yeah I know - when my mom called to tell me we had a new pope, I took to X and it was a giant mixed bag. Suppose we will find out soon enough. But don't think Trump is going to be easily cowed regardless.
Leo protected pedo priests.
That's my line in the sand.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14693619/Pope-Leo-XIV-looked-way-confronted-child-sex-abuse-allegations-against-priest-Chicago-church.html
There is no doubt that much was swept under the rug for eons - and not just the Catholic church - they are just a big target with deep pockets and thus make for bigger headlines. Any org that deals with youth had the issues - read stories about the boy scouts, youth camps, etc. and all had the pervasive 'keep it under wraps' mentality. My mom tells me of a child who committed suicide in her small town in the 50's and later learned that he was involved in a youth group that years later was revealed that they had victimized kids for decades, but she said 'no one talked about such things' and that anyone who spoke out was ostracized for making the community look bad. NOT saying it's excusable, that does make me trust him less. Just saying protecting abusers was standard practice for too long.
But at least in my era, it seems the pendulum has swung too far. In the years of raising my kids in the church every priest in our parish has more or less just avoided being around kids period. When I taught Sunday school, bible study, VBS, we had to go through safety training - could never be alone with kids, could not hug or even touch them, and were taught to be mandatory reporters. We didn't even have a youth group and my kids barely even knew the priests outside of Mass. My son even went to a parish town hall in HS and asked for more youth centered events and activities, request went no where, in part due to liability concerns. Result is young people are not staying with the church - by doing the bare minimum to avoid risk kids are not getting plugged in to the community. Neither of my kids go to church now, and it makes me sad.
That ties in with end times prophecy.
Agreed! Awesome! This was the way immigration was supposed to be. I thought at one time you had to have a sponsor?
Yes, before it all ran amok I think you did have to prove you would not be a drain on society - so a sponsor or existing family, not sure when all that ended.
"Their stupid covid shot will end up unraveling the entire jab industry."
I love Jeff's take on this!
I'm wondering how this projects out... over the next 3.5 years of Trump's term, now much of big pharma power will be rolled back.
Praying we can get the next term as well (JD Vance, etc) and continue the reform of our drug industry...
Let it be so!! That unraveling would be one of the best things to happen to this country in a long time!!
🙏🏼
Vaccine reform could be one of the most c&c centric reforms of the admin. Here’s to
Hoping Kennedy does what’s right!
Step 1: remove ALL liability protections on all vaccines. Step2: Make all vaccine usage voluntary. Neither of these things will happen.
I agree both things should be done. I am also hopeful that it will happen. Keep the positive vibes going. Negative thinking is bad for your health.
I'm trying. I do tend to look on the down side of things. Thanks for the reminder.
Want only the best for you!
Going back to meds BEFORE petroleum based drugs were built is what we need. Figure out the more natural solutions to curing disease. Oh wait, those already existed, but profit on the backs of the sick was discovered and those cures were buried.
Methodist Hospital in Mansfield, Texas puts out a publication every few months about all the wonderful things their doctors are doing. yesterday they had an article about fatty liver disease and the expert doctor said throw away supplements. The FDA hasn’t approved them and we don’t know what’s in them and they can be creating liver disease problems. I didn’t throw away my supplements, but I did throw that magazine away and thought if I ever get sick, I hope that I don’t have to go to the Methodist Hospital!
I wonder if they also said throw away all high fructose sweetened "foods" and beverages as they are known to cause fatty liver disease?
Wonder no more… They did not mention that.
Don’t take anything natural! It hasn’t been approved by FDA (or CDC)!!!
INSTEAD, TAKE THEIR DRUGS AND JABS-THAT KEEP YOU SICK, ABD THEY RICH!
ITS A WIN WIN!!!
Meanwhile…..they want to continue to jab up our babies and children with toxic “UNTESTED” poisons.
I’ve lost all faith in today’s medical-and I am healthcare provider. It’s been terrifying to watch, and I feel like I have PTSD…..I don’t even want to work anymore (in medical). It’s infiltrated, at least where I live. (PNW).
Especially when you see the revolving door with bureaucrats and Pharma, as well as the way they push drugs through for approval without thoroughly investigating them! Why would you trust those people and agencies??
Stunning how blind doctors are. But, when you factor in our DEI infused education system, it starts to make sense as to why. I just hope we can root it out before these people get too strong of a grip on us.
Ironically I went to that hospital a few months back.
Small world.
Yes, that is a small world story
Investigate homeopathy. This movie explains how it works and how effective it is. This is what was used prior to Rockefellers petroleum based drugs.
https://introducinghomeopathy.com/
Homeopathy was successfully used during the Spanish Flu epidemic.
https://www.natureofhealing.org/homeopathy-healed-the-spanish-flu-pandemic-in-1918/
Rockefeller, Carnegie and Flexner removed medical practices that work (naturopathy, homeopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, etc.) from the general human consciousness.
Vaccine reform?...maybe in the next life.
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
— James 3:16-18 LSB
Make it so in us Lord. Amen
Amen
"Walking in a creek" is the new "breathing without a face covering "
How about the dumping of Aluminum waste product Flouride in to drinking water?
Le masque!
He was “raw dogging” the creek
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
“Their stupid covid shot will end up unraveling the entire jab industry.”
Your lips to G*d’s ears.
Best to you all
Decentralized Bumper Sticker Producers: Finally we have a message!
“Your stupid covid shot destroyed the entire pharmaceutical industry.”
Watcha think?
Love to all
To God be the glory!
“He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”
Revelation 19:13
NKJV
That's my next read. FInished Jude this morning. Began this serious "beginning to end" reading 25 months ago.
You are farther along than I am. In the Psalms now, but this time I am journaling as I go. Getting so much more out of it. It will take as long as it takes! 🙌🏻
When I was in the histories, a 15 months ago, I printed out maps (chabad.org), wrote notes on them (i.e., when and where was each tribe?), made a side-by-side chart, with my own commentary, of who was king, and when, (and did he merit a smiley face or a frown) in Israel and Judah. From June, when I began the gospels, I was reading in other languages too, but post-Paul have returned to my received-at-age-7 RSV (some really sad pages!), and am driven to look up all the footnotes.
What a great idea, journaling as you go.
It helps me pay closer attention and process what I read. Sometimes I copy verses, sometimes write my thoughts, sometimes condense into short notes or lists.
I confess that I just don't grasp the idea of "read the Bible in a year". Read the first nine chapters of the Revelation earlier this morning, going back to reading in the Greek (which I used for John's gospel also). I didn't mean to read so much, but it was captivating. And now that I have read all that came before it, it is no longer frightening.
Greek . . . 🤯
With difficulty, as I had not been using it for about 20 years. But it makes a difference. I read the gospels in KJV 1611, Italian 1649, French 1911 because (because I can, so I ought—putting one’s metaphorical talents to good use) I had, early in Matthew, been confused by something in the English, so checked the other options, and found such greater depth of understanding (and why does this version phrase it in this particular way? and why does this version omit what the other two offer?)
Doing same… on 1 Kings
and the day for His return to earth has already been fixed! Acts 17:31
"Our new Health Secretary is literally wading through Washington’s crap" while the DC reporter sits for a pedicure and has his pubes bleached.... There, I fixed it for you...LMAO!
Yes, they are just jealous that he is a 71 year old man that is still built like a brick 's' house!
LOL. Yes he is, and yes they are!
He has taken hardcore steroids for many years.
And he hangs with the vile buttplug salesman Rabbi Shmuely.
HE has called Palestinians "the most pampered people in the world", despite their being massacred by the Zionist filth. Is anyone in Gaza these days... "pampered"?
Although he looks like he got locked at a tanning booth…
Re: vaccines. My crazy theory is that, 15 years from now they will be gone, added to blood letting and lobotomies on the trash heap of failed, dangerous medical ‘breakthroughs.’
My thought as well. There is a very long list of “medical “ interventions, beginning with the inability of doctors to recognize the value of something as simple as washing their hands, down to the present love affair with vaccines that the medical “profession “ has finally had to face and finally abandon. Vaccines are the latest medical fad that’s heading for that trash heap you mentioned. Paul Offit may well be the last one to continue advocating for them. Just this morning, his Substack blames Kennedy for two measles deaths as he continues yelling that vaccines must be mandatory or “we’re all gonna die.”
“I'd love to see the evidence to show that giving young, healthy children another COVID shot would help them, but that evidence does not exist"
That is moving in the right direction. Evidence required in advance of intervention, not intervention first, then a requirement to prove the intervention is NOT needed.
It's such a slow move in the right direction, but I reckon they can't go full anti-vax in one swoop.
Not even something like this moves them to do so.
VAERS ID: 2835674-1
Patient Age: 4.00
"Foaming at the mouth, difficult to arouse lasting minutes. EMS called. Told did not need to go to the hospital as was recovering during time of their eval. Within 2 weeks of the event described, he lost the ability to speak. He was previous speaking in sentences, describing sea animals and saying his ABC's. 2 weeks after the event, he stopped talking. He has been diagnosed with autism and no longer has any words."
http://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D8/D436F076
Unnecessary and absolutely heartbreaking .
Fauci in cuffs. NOW!
😭😭😭
Exactly. I'd like to see evidence that giving ANYONE any covid shot would help them, but that evidence does not exist!
I hope this is a “the cat’s on the roof” notice to pHarma about the jabs. 🙏🏻
"Third, and most revealing, was the tone: naggy, moralizing, anxious." Every time I read the NYT (in the interests of opposition research), I feel like I'm surrounded by Woody Allen characters....the writers and commenters are nearly all neurotic, anxious, and fretful about *everything* in life, even the smallest decisions. It makes me wonder how they even get out of bed to face each day.
Alvy Singer!
Marvelous characterization!
About those middlemen in pharma, they're not the only ones. There's too many middlemen in many industries. They're costly parasites in the supply chain providing no extra value to the consumer.
"I Think There's A Realization In Washington, Maybe Even A Fear That It's Lost Control Of The Narrative."
To paraphrase "Doc" in Back to the Future, "Narrative?! What narrative? We don't need no narrative where we are going!". Before we all jump to conclusions, we should remember one thing: As we've seen for the last 100 days, Trump is a master showman. Always ask why is he doing what he is doing.................
I am giving myself some permission to actually believe that, perhaps, Trump is everything I've hoped he is: an across the board revolt against the NeoCon warmongering, deep state sociopaths who have been running this country since before Ronald Reagan and a revolution against the entire international banker's globalist control of America and the West.
Shit is happening and it's all I can do to restrain myself from getting excited. From all appearances so far, the globalists who planned to "Reset" the human race are getting reset. Trump is wielding powers that bespeak of a depth of support that goes way beyond any domestic Republican Party election. He's on route to change the entire planet... and not the way the WEF and the Old Bankers want it changed. I'm convinced this was Trump's plan for Netanyahu from the very beginning!! Trump's previous absurd comment about Gaza was only a smokescreen. As we've seen all along, this is part of Trump's M.O. It's gonna get real baby!
...................................................................................
Hamas Said To Be In Talks With US/Trump Directly, Israel Blindsided: Larry C. Johnson: "I Think There's A Realization In Washington, Maybe Even A Fear That It's Lost Control Of The Narrative."
"Flying Palace" 747 From Qatar's Royal Family Given To US Dept. Of Defense For Possible Use By President Trump, But Nobody Knows Why
“There's something happening here.
What it is ain't exactly clear.”
...I’ve been listening and reading different perspectives all day. My gut feeling is that yes—it’s over between Trump and Netanyahu...
https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/hamas-said-to-be-in-talks-with-ustrump
I always hated when back in 2020 and beyond certain conspiracy theorists would say, “Trump is playing 4-D chess” as it seemed too bizarre, but since Inauguration Day, he keeps proving he and his team have thought and planned long and hard for this. I know in my purple state now run by a triumvirate of wicked women who nearly made us in commiCalifornia without the glamour of Hollywood loving Colorado, we are seeing constant signs of push back from within. The 3 wicked witches are all term limited next year. They have reigned disaster on this state with the help of the MiGOP, but there are signs the jig is up, and with Trump’s interest in this state, more good news he is trying to keep it, “Pure Michigan”. I am cautiously optimistic.
God is doing great things!
Donald Trump to Announce US Recognizes Palestinian State, Gulf Diplomatic Source Claims
"WITHIN 48 HOURS, WE WENT FROM THE MOST PRO-ISRAEL PRESIDENT TO THE MOST PRO-ARAB PRESIDENT OF ALL TIME"
....It all started with Trump's deals with Saudi Arabia, when Israel was demanding the Saudis recognize them as a country during the US-Saudi negotiations. This is when Trump essentially called Netanyahu and said, "Why are you involved in this?"
We don't know what Netanyahu said back to the President, but we know after that phone call, communications were cut, ties were cut, and even Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense canceled his trip to Israel.
Israel then responded saying they're going to "Defend themselves alone in the region".
And then now today, 24 hours after all of that, Trump is going to recognize Palestine. Essentially a complete 360 twist on our views in the Middle East. Within 48 hours, we went from the most pro-Israel president to the most pro-Arab president of all time.
https://forbiddennews.substack.com/p/donald-trump-to-announce-us-recognizes
And the common misconception among Trump supporters, and the general public, was that Trump was a pawn of "the jews", controlled by Israel. But in his first admin he recognized Jerusalem, and moved our embassy there. He knows that Jerusalem is not the same as the constructed nation/state called Israel. And I'm sure he knew all along that Mossad had a hand in many bad things, including the murder of JFK. So he knows that BB is really part of the deep state swamp that must be drained. It's a complex issue no doubt.
May GOD direct Trump and team in the direction that HE has planned.
Trump holds out his hand to everyone. He always gives them a choice.
Exactly.
I don't "know" that Mossad had a hand in the murder of JFK. I don't trust Mossad any more than I trust the CIA, but I haven't seen any evidence of their involvement. To me, it looks like the anti-Castro Cubans, the Mafia, and the CIA.
I'm going with Grok on this one.
"No, Donald Trump has not recognized a Palestinian state. Recent reports citing a Gulf diplomatic source claimed Trump might announce U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state during his May 2025 Middle East trip, but these were dismissed as "nonsense" by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. Huckabee emphasized Trump's strong support for Israel, and no official confirmation of such a policy shift has emerged from the Trump administration. Speculation persists due to Trump's upcoming Gulf summit, but current evidence suggests no recognition has occurred or is imminent.[](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rktd00ypgel)[](https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/huckabee-says-report-trump-to-recognize-palestinian-state-nonsense/)[](https://www.thejc.com/news/usa/trump-will-not-recognise-a-palestinian-state-says-huckabee-lzml745d)
Not
WOW!! Here we are chapter and VS!
"Saving Israel for last", trust the plan.
I hesitated to say that.
You had me when you invoked Buffalo Springfield.
Same!
Trump’s Historic Speech in Saudi Arabia
Clandestine
May 13, 2025
Holy shit…
Trump just shut the door on the age of globalism and US interventionism, slams the Deep State Libs and Neocons, and is promoting a lasting peace in the Middle East.
Every anti-Trump narrative just went up in flames.
🔥It’s happening
https://bioclandestine.substack.com/p/trumps-historic-speech-in-saudi-arabia
You get it. Regarding the Pope, almost every one I follow said the pope died 2 years ago, and is being played by an actor, with some CGI appearances. Jim Willie said the actor was Jonathan Prior. Trump posting the meme of himself as pope was a Q type notification the pope is now under Trump / White Hat control. Too much coincidence that Vance saw him the day before he "died". Actually, like Kissinger and many others, it was the name that was finally killed off, as the person died years before.
I've learned not to believe in "coincidence". So much going on and all we get to see are the ripples on the surface.
You mean like this? Whistleblower doctor who said Ivermectin cures cancer killed in fire.
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/doctor-killed-in-plantation-house-fire-remembered-as-pure-love-inspiration/3488060/
The attached link has been scrubbed, but I found this.Big Pharma Whistleblower Found Dead After Confirming Ivermectin Cures Cancer
Big Pharma Whistleblower Found Dead After Confirming Ivermectin Cures Ca...
A veteran physician with over 30 years inside the medical system, specializing in family and emergency medicine,...
“Big Pharma Whistleblower Found Dead After Confirming Ivermectin Cures Cancer
A veteran physician with over 30 years inside the medical system – specializing in family and emergency medicine – was found dead just days after blowing the whistle on one of the industry’s most explosive secrets: the hidden link between parasites and cancer… and the suppressed cure Big Pharma doesn’t want you to know about – Ivermectin.
This is explosive. And the consequences are grave.
Because if what Dr. Karen Ruthman uncovered is true, then Big Pharma isn’t just failing us – it’s actively complicit in sacrificing the health of millions, knowingly suppressing a cure to keep cancer patients locked in a cycle of treatment and profit.”
https://x.com/tpvsean/status/1921650127888142634
Local news reported it was arson and a gas can was found at the scene.
Makes sense. Not hard to figure who wanted her dead
Do you know about the Day Tapes?
no
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G442p5JrV5k&t=6s
Ivermectin only cures Cancer when it's one of the 5 causes. There are exactly 5 causes.
Roland, I've been sitting here putting things together in my head (I can be a little slow) and it hit me or rather, you hit me with the Vance comment. It's the outline of the takedown of the international banking system. The Vatican/Holy Roman Empire is the third leg of the international banking system with the British Crown/City of London and the Rothschild family/Bank for International Settlements.
Trump is coming for them. And so is Putin.
"This brief description of the Rothschild family illustrates all of the above connections (the British Crown and the Vatican/Holy Roman Empire) which goes back hundreds of years...................................
The Rothschild family is a prominent Ashkenazi Jewish banking family originating in Frankfurt, Germany. They gained international prominence in the 18th century through Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who established a banking business and later had his sons establish international branches in Paris, Frankfurt, London, Vienna, and Naples. The family was elevated to noble status in the Holy Roman Empire and the United Kingdom. The family's legacy is marked by their significant influence in international finance."
I have come to the same conclusions. I think the White Hats have largely neutered the deep state, and what we are being shown is a movie to slowly bring the normies up to speed. There are so many avatars , doubles, and CGI representing world leaders and celebrities it is hard to keep up. Some of them are o obvious. So where are the originals, one must ask?
The matriarch of the original Rothschild family said "if my sons did not want war there would be no war". And one of them added "I care not who controls the government so long as I control the money". They got control of the Bank of England after Waterloo, in very much the same way as the movie "Trading Places".
And regarding your comments about the Trump comments about the Middle East.,
https://sunnysjournal.com/2025/05/14/saudi-arabia-qatar-you-are-witnessing-history/
FYI if you did not know , the reference to Trump saving MLB in Las Vegas : I have read a very detailed account about how that entire event was cover for an elaborate plot to kill MLB, which the White Hats thwarted.
Right? All this further extends and supports my thinking. I now have to truly wonder at Vance's timing of his visit to the Pope and is this connected to the speed at which the new Pope was named? I mean seriously - its too coincidental.
Assuming the real Pope was dead, was Vance's visit to force their hand and name a Pope that Vance and Trump wanted?? I think yes. The "death" of the Pope the next day and the subsequent unprecedented speed of the selection of the new Pope is a huge flag... and then this: "Trump posting the meme of himself as pope was a Q type notification the pope is now under Trump / White Hat control." Hello?? (Do you have a link for that meme?)
OK... I was unaware of all the theories regarding the Crown Prince and the Oct 1, 2017 Las Vegas shooting. But it fits... especially when you pay attention to the "house cleaning" that took place afterwards in Saudi Arabia.
Thanks for bringing me up to speed. I need to keep a scrapbook. This stuff will not be believed by the next generation.
Edit: BTW, I watched the 48 minute speech Trump gave in Saudi. The "bond" between Trump and the Crown Prince was so obvious and the inside conversation between them during the speech. Tell me it isn't like the kind of bond that says, "Bro, you took a bullet for me."
The meme of Trump as pope was all over the internet. The connection that it meant the new Pope was under White Hat control was from Mike King and others.
Just remember. There are no coincidences in politics, as FDR said. So yeah, you seem to have put the pieces together.
I keep a folder of so called "gem', but I know I only put a fraction of what I should in there, and over time, many of the links get scrubbed. I should have made thumb drives over the past ~18 years in there, but luckily, I still retain the key points in my head
Someone needs to create an AI for the sole purpose of tracking all the actual events and recording all this behind the scenes history as it happens. Someone smarter than me - lol.
Good Morning to all my Covfefe's.
Happy National Apple Pie Day.
Be blessed.
I will say about the ONLY thing I miss on the Keto/carnivore diet I’ve been on for the past three years is … pie. Apple pie, peach pie, blueberry pie. Quiches too! That’s it. Nothing else is appealing to me anymore, not even pasta. But things with a flaky buttery crust? Man I do miss that.
I did master an eye roll worthy blueberry crumble with almond/coconut flour. And a couple years ago a delicious pie crust and a Keto quiche crust both made with almond flour, and it WAS delicious, but since cooking and baking has become soooo much simpler and less time consuming with this way of eating I haven’t made any of it in over a year. I just throw large chunks of meat on the grill and call it a day. 🤣 I’ll have to revisit those past recipes to enjoy at least a Keto pie.
Just a word of caution. I have a friend who is very health conscious. His wife only allows organic food in the house for him and their 2 kids. He takes cold showers, fasts, exercises, and has been on a Keto diet for many years. Until now. He had thyroid problems, and said he was borderline Hashimoto, and the doctor attributed it to his strict Keto diet. Merocla has recently switched and cautioned against doing it for a very long time. It is a good diet, but seems it is not healthy to do it for years.
I disagree. And “the doctor attributed it to his strict Keto diet” is reflective of the captured food and medical industries. They all LOVE to attribute it to this diet. 🙄🙄 Most allopathic doctors do NOT understand nutrition at all, or the low carb diets properly but they like to blame them for any medical conditions when they discover that’s the diet a patient is on. They are desperate to disprove it. They are dead wrong. The science and data is there that show the doctors have their heads up their arses.
Most people who have had “new” problems on Keto or carnivore never did the diet “strictly” or properly even though they all claim to. I’ve met hundreds that do it wrong yet chirp that they are strict. Closer inspection long term shows they absolutely are not. Also, the diet is not going to protect you 100% from all health issues. Correlation is not causation.
In three years I have reversed every health problem I ever had and got off over 14+ prescription drugs that I literally relied on for over 20 years. (Actually after 6 months I no longer needed any of them and today I remain free of all of them.) I have the energy of my 20s at the age of 60. Brain fog is completely gone and I never tire throughout my days. I reversed completely diabetes. The only health condition I struggle with was caused by big pharma - a PPI. I am stuck with battling severe advanced osteoporosis (diagnosed 30 years younger than my t-scores are typically seen in people,) and diet cannot treat such a condition.
What’s worse are people who have not thoroughly deep dived into the science nor experienced it themselves take what they read or hear what others say and parrot it as if they have credibility or authority on the matter. I spent over 18 months doing deep research equivalent to my college days, filled three notebooks full of the science, then I tested it first-hand at a time when my health was so bad for over 8 years and my prognoses given by allopathic doctors was very grim. I turned it all around. Left in the hands of doctors we now know I would have died 8-10 years sooner without all the interventions I took. I can’t decide if I can do carnivore long term or not, but I do know it’s preferable health wise to Keto. But both utilize ketosis, which is literally the fountain of youth and a cure-all of sorts.
Yep, I'm with you. Five years ago I was fat, had high blood pressure, fatty liver, insulin resistance, and prediabetic. I changed my eating to Keto. Now, I am 60, maintaining a healthy weight (was overweight my entire life) and no longer have any health or metabolic issues. I'm in it for life.
As I said, this information about Keto is anecdotal . You don't need to tell me about the importance of diet and lifestyle, or the total capture of the medical industry by the Rockefeller's. SSRI's broke our only child's brain (her words, not mine) and she blew her brains out. We cured stage 2B holistically, no oncologist. Just a lifestyle change, diet, detox, and fenbndezole. Dr. Tennant holistically cured my hyperthyroidism. We're 72, and I can still wear clothes from college, and the only regular drug I take is testosterone.
Like you , we researched up the wazoo, and it is sobering to see how toxic our foods are and how corrupt the medical profession is. I have no fear of cancer, because I know what causes it, what prevents it, and what kills it. Don't imagine many people can say that.
The information about Keto is NOT “anecdotal.” It is backed by a lot of science. As a matter of fact for almost 150 years prior to 1960s Rockefeller nightmare, a low carb diet was considered the best practice for a whole host of medical conditions. Being that it was and is a threat to big food and big pharma the scientific information isn’t widely known or easily found. You have to seek it out. It’s scientifically proven to successfully treat things like epilepsy, but also things like anxiety, schizophrenia, and diabetes to name just a few of many things. There is a lot of scientific proof that backs it all up. Read Brain Energy by Dr Chris Palmer, and read Dr Jason Fung. There are other doctors that share the science (like Dr Nadir Ali, a well respected cardiologist, and Dr Gary Taubes, Dr Robert Lustig, Dr Sten Ekberg, Dr Eric Westman, Dr Ken Berry, etc etc. There are so many more out there.)
It’s easy to repeat what you’ve heard as if it were fact (“Keto is only anecdotal”) but you need to know this is completely false and only serves to discourage and mislead others who it could help.
you completely misunderstood. I said the information I had from a friend that long term Keto diet usage created his thyroid condition
I would love a list of good books about true keto diets.
Ok here’s just a few. This is where I started three years ago. There are many more I never got to. And I’m sure there are newer sources too. This is from my notes app from when I was collecting resources to learn what I have.
* Dr Chris Palmer - Brain Energy
* Dr Robert Lustig - “Metabolical”
* Dr Jason Fung He is the Godfather of fasting & wrote the “Obesity Code” and explains benefits of low carb diets as well.
* Dr. Eric C Westman - “End Your Carb Confusion”
* Dr Ken Berry -“Lies My Doctor Told Me: Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health”
* Dr Sten Ekberg
* Dr Gary Taubes - "Why We Get Fat"
* Nina Teicholz - “The Big Fat Surprise”
* Dr Dan Maggs
* Dr. David Unwin
* Drs. Phinney and Volek. “Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living”
* Jacob Wilson - The Ketogenic Bible
Here is a great video to explain low carb diets and the positive impact on the heart, as well as cholesterol, by a world renowned cardiologist Dr Nadir Ali: https://youtu.be/qXtdp4BNyOg?si=GWAhaKLdgYEQO7bI
He actually has a couple low carb videos so you’ll want to view them all on YouTube. He’s really funny, but highly scientific and detailed. I paused the video many times to study his power point slides as he spoke so that I understood them well, because he usually is speaking to fellow medical colleagues. Great info.
Article from last December about Ketones:
https://neurosciencenews.com/ketone-bodies-autophagy-28154/
There’s so much more that has been kept from the mainstream public. But once you start looking and reading, and following the bibliographies, you’ll find there’s just too much to absorb, and like me you’ll probably become angry how the science was kept from us and how our doctors are unaware of all of this because it falls outside the comfort of their allopathic grooming.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Thank you for taking the time to do this. I think I have the Fung book somewhere. Will look into the rest!
RE osteoporosis taking vitamin k2 can help get calcium out of your blood and into your bones.
👍 been taking it for a year and a half! But my T-scores are typically only seen in 80 year olds (my spine was a -3.7 at age 56). So while it can be improved upon, it’s highly unlikely I’ll ever get below -3.0. Osteo starts at -2.5.
I'm sorry to hear that. I got off PPIs after being on them for many years. But my doctor just put me back on them because of pretty awful multiple gut problems. I'm hoping it will help the inflammation numbers go down. Which is ironic and frustrating, because PPIs likely contributed to my problems to begin with.
Interesting. My Bil has eaten keto for several years and was just treated for thyroid cancer. 🤔
Mercola started taking advice from a shaman. And fired his board. Idk if he is a sane resource any longer.
I hear you. Been following him for a while, and he has flip flopped on more issues than Fauci. Biden did name him Public Disinformation Enemy #1, so he's got that going for him, but I now treat everything he says with a grain of salt.
This made me sad to read, Juju. You enjoy pie and quiche, so why not have some? You should not be such a slave to a way of eating that it becomes a dogmatic prison sentence, shutting out opportunities to enjoy delicious food here and there. Would having an occasional piece of pie be THAT horrific to your health? Isn’t enjoyment of food one of the pleasures of life? You don’t have to have pie every day, but to be this strict about it like your post makes it seem like you are, comes across as a little over the top and sad.
Side note: while keto/carnivore can have some short term benefits (mostly the same benefits that any major diet change can offer short term: changing up your gut microbiome which provides noticeable differences in the way you feel in the short term), the long term effects of that way of restricted eating are likely more harmful than beneficial, particularly to the thyroid. I say this all with love and as a holistic healthcare practitioner in integrative nutrition.
And I say you are wrong, completely, as you are judging from the outside - but you are entitled to your opinion.
I’ve lived this long term and it only gets better. I’m not imprisoned as you assume. I don’t feel deprived. I’m a slave to my health and how I feel, not to foods I enjoy. Of course anything with sugar tastes great, that doesn’t mean we HAVE to have it occasionally. Thinking that way IS being a slave to food. I feel so good compared to how I felt on the standard American diet that I used to eat and I simply don’t want to screw that up. An occasional deviation doesnt hurt some people but others it’s a tremendous upset depending on their insulin resistance. Sugar and simple carbs are detrimental to all bodies, but to some there is a severe addictive quality to them. Would you say exactly what you did to the alcoholic that is refraining from alcohol knowing what it would trigger? Telling them they are imprisoned and surely they could enjoy just one drink on occasion? No, you would not.
I have to get to the gym but I will try to elaborate more when I come back. Sorry to cut this short.
I hear you, Juju — and I appreciate your thoughtful response. I absolutely respect your experience and the way you've found a pattern that works for your body and your health goals.
I wasn’t trying to judge or diminish your choices — just reflecting on how restrictive eating can sometimes sound, especially when someone openly misses something they enjoy but still won’t let themselves have it. My intention was more to gently challenge the all-or-nothing mindset that can (not always) lead to unnecessary rigidity or even disordered eating and orthorexia.
As a practitioner, I’ve just seen many people swing too far in either direction — and while keto/carnivore can bring real benefits for some in specific targeted therapeutic cases, I’ve also seen cases where extreme restriction leads to longer-term imbalances, particularly hormonally. That’s where my concern comes from — not a lack of respect for your autonomy. I also know that the root cause of issues you have likely been dealing with (insulin resistance, I assume?) is not sugar/carbohydrate itself but rather a glucose metabolism problem and when you solve for the metabolic problem, people absolutely can and do enjoy a piece of apple pie when they feel like it and they can do so in a healthy way. I get that this is not where you are at in your belief system though and that is okay - I am not judging you if you are not missing the apple pie as much as you implied in your original post.
As for the alcohol comparison — I do think that’s a bit of a false equivalency. Food and substance addiction work differently, biologically and socially. For most people, enjoying something like pie in moderation doesn’t carry the same kind of risks. Comparing apple pie to alcohol implies a moral and addictive framing of a relatively very innocuous food, which I reject. But I respect that everyone has different thresholds, and if yours feels better with total abstinence, that’s your call to make.
At the end of the day, I believe health should support life, not replace it — and pleasure is a valid part of wellness. But there’s no one right path. I’m glad you’ve found something that works for you.
How do you make a Keto pie?
I use an almond flour crust that I like - it took me trying 4-5 different ones before I found one that tasted really good. I substitute a mix of allulose/stevia/monkfruit/erythritol for any sweetener. The first three are a 0 on the glycemic index (sugar is a 65 GI and maltodextrin is a 134!) and the erythritol is only a 1. I won’t use any other sweeteners but these. All the others are higher on the GI. I think malitol is at least a 34! Xylitol is a 7 I think so it’s not horrifically high like the others but I still don’t use it.
Most things in the rest of a pie are Keto friendly fats, creams, or fruits already. 😂 So I just need to contend with the crust.
I once loved a pretzel jello salad so much and I’ve found a replacement recipe that my entire family absolutely loves better than the original and the crust stays crispy for days in the fridge, unlike pretzels that get soggy. The crust is made with a Keto Graham cereal that I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy in a bowl of milk, but as a crust? Omg it’s out of this world. Yes there are still carbs but it’s about 1/5 or 1/6 what the original recipe has in a serving. The rest is sugar free jello, fresh strawberries, and cream cheese/whipped cream filling. I use the crust from that recipe to make other deserts that need a graham cracker crust and it works great there too.
I had significant trial and error my first year on this diet learning to work with almond and coconut flours, and while there are Keto flours on the market, I can’t stand the taste that exists in all of them. So then when I went back to almond flour or coconut flour they tasted so fresh and delicious, not like something created in a lab. It also helped that my body had detoxed from over processed grains and I no longer had a craving for them so I was able to learn to work with almond and coconut flours. But by the start of my second year I had it down and now we enjoy muffins and pancakes and even cookies using almond flour. Coconut flour sometimes.
What! Geez I just made homemade brownies!!
😂 my first thought was, cr** now I have to add bake a pie to my list today!?! 🥴
The responses are CLASSIC AMERICANA & I love it. LOL
Just happen to have some baking apples on hand, and crusts frozen. Hmm.
Just buy it from the bakery
I'd be happy to take them off your hands.
Ditto
@Kristi- so fry up an apple in brown sugar and butter.and put it on top of the brownies!
Chocolate chip cookies ☕️🍪😁
🤣lol. We prefer brownies too!
Not fussy, all of all the above, please!!
LOL
National Apple Pie Day? Time for some Dutch Apple Pie with crumb topping. Yum!
Jalapeño apple pie, my favourite
@George- what.....Oh, my. That sounds DELISH!!
!!!!!!
Can someone please explain the predilection some folks have for putting a slice of cheese on apple pie? Is it a regionally-rooted (I’m thinking Wisconsin) tradition or a daring move of culinary genius? I have the same thoughts about chicken and waffles… in any case, remember “Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie” (David Mamet). So participating in today’s observance is also good for one’s mental health. Bon appetite!
Hmm - Apple Pie does sound good, though an odd choice of days to put it with Apples traditionally a "Fall Harvest" fruit. Still - tasty. :)
No Such thing as a fall harvest fruit in Florida. Bananas maybe but we already have a bunch swelling up. So maybe June?
Apples are good with cheddar cheese. Apple pie is ruined by cheese. I consider myself an aficionado of apple pie, and I need Michele’s recipe because my quest in life is the successful creation of an apple pie by myself.
How in heck is Apple Pie day in SPRING?
Must have been invented by the big shippers to sell off their Controlled atmosphere stock before it turns to mush.
Otherwise it makes no sense.
But as a freaking MASTER of the crumble top apple pie, I wish you a Happy National Apple Pie Day as well!