Newsworthy

What was that about a $680 billion war bill and unlawful civilian deaths in Pakistan? Hmm, not too sure about those... but I do know that President Obama certainly played up to his heroic role as a Nobel Peace Prize recipient today by lifting a travel ban imposed on people living with HIV. It's about time we stopped treating sick people like criminals!

Happy [Healthy] Halloween!

What's a better holiday to bring out the childish side of our spirits than Halloween? This time of year has come to represent a good-natured indulgence in folly and imagination for all of those who aren't too proud to play dress up and run through corn mazes. We all throw rationality to the wind as we delight ourselves with spooks and stories which, just for a moment, we decide to believe. And of course, we eat tasty treats and make art work out of pumpkins, and the child inside of us smiles.

But Halloween also has a tendency to promote corn syrup snacks in wasteful wrappers and tons and tons of unnecessary plastic crap. Just walk into any CVS or Walgreens, you'll see it there: the disposable plates and napkins with Halloween-themed images, the packages of plastic and disposable trick-or-treat bags, the cauldrons, the spiderwebs, the tombstones, etc., etc. etc. It's a pretty frightening scene, especially when you consider that these are all things that could be made at home, or substituted with sustainable alternatives. And as for the snacks, well... it's tough to convince a child not to eat candy, sure. But there are so many healthy, tasty treats that would make their tummies just as full! Here are some tips on how to have a happy, healthy Halloween:

Decor

For me, the best aesthetic for a fall-themed holiday would be an array of different colors, sizes, and shapes of pumpkins and gourds bought at a local farmers market. These can be painted, stenciled, carved, and cut, and are thus very versatile- they can become whatever you'd like them to be! And collecting the bountiful, beautifully colored fall leaves is quite opportunistic for DIY craft ideas such as wreathes and collages. These projects are fun and formative for everyone, as they employ the use of our creative sides, and produce a rewarding end result. For some family craft ideas, check here. And if time is really an issue for you, Green Planet Parties sells Halloween decorations made from sustainable and non-harmful materials.

Treats

Now, pumpkins are not exclusively for display. In fact, the rich and tender pulp inside of both pumpkins and gourds are highly nutritious and variant. There is an excellent array of pumpkin recipes on vebweb.com, check them out for some inspiration! Remember that every part of the pumpkin can be used! The seeds can be baked, or given to birds. And once your jack-o-lantern has wilted, the entire shell can be composted! Other seasonal foods, like apples, are also very diverse and tasty and can be used in a variety of ways. To fill up those bags, try nuts, trail mix, honey sticks, and raisins. They are all great [sealed!] treats for the kids, and besides being super tasty, they are really good for you! And if sweets are the only way to go, then try organic chocolate with a high percentage of cacao, organic fruit snacks, or other natural candy options.

Tricks

It's simple and easy enough: reusable bags! And enjoy the time to stroll around your neighborhood from house to house. Walking is incredibly good for your body, and is a pastime that we often take for granted. Trick-or-treating is a great opportunity to take in the beautiful fall weather, explore your neighborhood, and meet your neighbors.

Costumes

Make your own! Be creative! Instead of going for that pre-packaged French Maid costume, or a stinky Obama mask, be the only one at the party with an original and interesting costume idea! If you're not into sewing, try shopping at your local thrift shop, or check out craigslist and freecycle for costume bulk.

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Halloween is a great opportunity to celebrate the fall, and to indulge ourselves in the bizarre, imaginative behavior that we took for granted as kids but that can be so nourishing and entertaining. It is a time for us to be creative and silly, and to express ourselves in ways that we don't normally get to in our daily lives. The costumes, the treats, and the traditions can all be carried out without excessive waste, and can actually prove to be a health way of celebrating! Between eating healthy seasonal foods, having an excuse to walk around the neighborhood, exercizing our minds in different crafty ways, and allowing ourselves to be free and a bit silly... Halloween may actually be quite beneficial to your health! So, Got Halloween? ;-)

Phew!

...that was close! For a few weeks it seemed as if hydraulic fracturing could be coming to NYC's backyard, bringing chemicals and contamination to a faucet near you. But fortunately, thanks to the pressure put on by outspoken groups and individuals, the natural gas drilling company Chesapeake Energy Corporation has announced that it has no further plans to drill in the New York City Watershed. As the New York Times put it in their story, the company was "bowing to intense public pressure."

Hurray! That is great news for us. Especially since earlier this month, the New York City Department of Environmental Conservation gave the o.k. for fracturing to take place within our watershed, and imposed very few constraints on the energy companies to be doing so. Activists and water enthusiasts alike protested loudly and immediately, citing allegations and investigations into the dangerous nature of such drilling taking place within close proximity to sources of drinking water. While the energy companies argued that increased extraction was necessary due to the exceptional state of economic affairs, their opponents questioned whether increased profits were worth the potential cost of human safety.

And in a rare case of corporate concession, it seems as if the concerns of the people have been recognized and respected. As Aubrey C. McClendon of the Chesapeake Energy Corporation stated, "We're not going to develop these leases, and we're not taking any more leases, and I don't think anyone else in the industry would dare to acquire leases in the New York City Watershed." No, they wouldn't dare. Because New Yorkers are nothing if not truculent, and once we've set our minds to something, well... there's no messin' with us!

Still, the willingness of this large corporation to back down without facing government pressure brings to light the very absence of that same government pressure. The New York City Watershed provides drinking water to 15 million people, and the contamination of that resource puts each and every one of us at risk. So, why hasn't the D.E.C. stepped in with harsher regulations on fracturing? Better yet, why has it not outlawed fracturing all together in the watershed area? After all, even though the watershed is made up of nearly 1 million acres, it comprises only 8.5% of the drillable land in upstate New York. So it needs to be off-limits all together: not only to the energy companies, but to any and all developers. We in New York City pride ourselves on our clean, safe public drinking water. And we'd like for it to stay that way!

Water: Good for the Soul

A new report issued by a research group at Chicago University is posturing that water may have the same calming effect on human emotional well-being as those foods which we think of as comfort foods. On the same level as mac n' cheese, a tub of ice cream, and that heavenly bar of chocolate... is water! Good for your soul! Who woulda thought?

The researchers found that rats, after being exposed to a level of heat which caused slight pain and discomfort, had displayed the same amount of pain aversion whether they had been given water or sugar as a remedy. This is a sign that it is the simple act of ingestion, not the absorption of sugar, that has a calming effect on the body.

While it's a common remedy for most of us to ease the blues with a little bit of chocolate and sugar, the emotional over-eating of rich, unhealthy foods on a regular basis may lead to such problems as obesity. However, perhaps not so surprisingly, it may be possible for us to achieve the same pain-numbing reaction by simply drinking water, and avoiding all of the unecessary calories.

And after all, the healing effects of water are evident and multifarious. We are all bound to water, we are made of water, so it follows that we may be naturally healed and cleansed by the very element that shapes our lives. It seems ubiquitous to the human experience: when we are feeling overwhelmed, sitting nearby a river or stream has a soothing, meditative power that reaches into our soul and heals us. When we ache, we bathe ourselves in hot water to relax our muscles and our mind. And when we are restless... listening to the soundtrack of the ocean's powerful tides, we are calmed and inspired simultaneously, often lulled into a deep, rejuvenating sleep. So why not, when we are feeling emotional pain, can we not drink water to help us heal!

There are so many reasons to drink more water to maintain a healthier lifestyle. Our bodies and our minds alike are detoxed by its cleansing power. This is yet another example of the healing power of water, and why it is essential to all of us! That is not to say that a little chocolate doesn't make put a smile on my face once in a while, but for a true calming effect... next time perhaps choose water.

Flower of the Week

A Nasturtium found in a Washington, D.C. Victory Garden. Not only is this flower quite lovely to behold, but it's also edible! Try it in a salad for its peppery accent. Enjoy!

Good News..?

At first it would seem like a hoax: an exorbitant movement of great symbolic power that swells with a righteous sense of justice in the name of the people. Then it is deemed as sinister: yet another intrusion on the part of the government into matters that are technically considered private. Either way, it sparks controversy and debate, and a slight feeling of discomfort that leaves the mind to wonder what has really happened after all.

It was an assertion today made by the Obama administration that will call for pay cuts from 25 of the top-earning employees of recently bailed-out industries. These 25 individuals have been singled out for their paychecks, and for the extravagance that they have gained through the exploitation of loan borrowers, home owners, and other Americans just trying to get by.

The financial institutions have been making record profits, and posting record salaries and bonuses less than a year after our tax dollars bailed them out for the economy's sake. But putting billions into a localized, private pocket did not benefit us all, no matter how they might have tried to convince us that the trickle would fall.

And though a few tiffs have been launched about the government over-stepping its role in cutting executive pay, this is not an issue of technicality. It goes beyond large scale theorems of laissez-faire liberties and big government intrusions, to progress to a paradigm that is concerned with moral responsibility, social justice, and retribution for those whose wounds have not yet healed from predatory loans and mortgages, rising credit card rates, and continued obligatory debt.

There is an intuitive issue of fairness here. These executives whose pay is being cut have earned far more than they've needed to earn, and they have done it in part by breaking the backs of the working classes. There is such a thing as too much wealth, and these bullies have it. Perhaps it's about time that big brother steps in and defends his battered brothers and sisters. And although the move is largely allegorical and hardly resolves any of our immediate plights, it is something which resembles a victory of principle, and for that I'm glad.

Undernourished, Overfed

The statistics are terrifying.

Two hundred million Americans are overweight and 100 million are obese. More than 75 million Americans have high blood pressure. 24 million people are diabetic. Heart disease remains the no.1 cause of death for men and women, followed by stroke and obesity-related cancers. Obesity is about to overtake tobacco as the no. 1 cause of preventable deaths in the United States.

60% of bankruptcies are caused by what has become known as "medical debt."

Fast food, fast medicine, fast news and fast lives have turned many Americans into sick, uninformed, indebted, "processed" people. ~from the film "Processed People"

We have come to believe that being healthy is the ability to successfully manage sickness, that public health can be addressed with blanket vaccines, and that individual health can be sustained by swallowing pills.

But health is more than just the absence of symptoms. It is a feeling of holistic wellness and vitality, a feeling that we get when we nourish our bodies with fresh foods rich in beneficial nutrients, when we exercise, and when we maintain health relationships with ourselves and those around us. It is a feeling that connotes being truly alive, thriving instead of simply putting off death.

Preventative medicine is not just a last resort. In fact, it is a choice that we all can make every day. We can avoid the hospitals, the chemicals, the needles & pricks of our trillion dollar health care system, which stands to profit when we become sick. All it takes is fresh fruit, vegetables, sunshine, some time spent outdoors, some time spent with family. These things might not seem like medicine in the way that we have been conditioned to think about it, but they are. They are the purest and simplest ways of healing our bodies and our minds.

The choices that we have made in our personal lives TODAYcan ensure that we enjoy health and happiness in the future. We can spend our extra cash on local, organic food now, instead of spending it on hospital bills later. We can choose to exercise every day, if not on a treadmill than on a walk, so as to not spend that time later in life bound to a sick bed. We can choose to enjoy the outdoors at every given chance, to cleanse our bodies with fresh air and sunshine. We can choose to nourish our bodies, and not fill it with empty calories pumped up with sugar and artificial flavor.

It is never too late for anyone to become truly and holistically healthy. We all have that power to take care of ourselves without pills and pricks, we can take our bodies back for ourselves, and take our funds back for farmers, not pushers.

I choose to be physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy. Every day. How about you?

peace.