Anita Burns -

Whether or not the law on the ballot for labeling Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) passes in California or not, you might not want to eat foods with GMOs if they can be avoided. My guess is that it will be a very long time before we really know which foods have been modified and which have not.

The scary part is that GMOs are so prevalent, it is nearly impossible to avoid them all. If you buy into Monsanto's motto that GMOs are save, then go ahead and eat them. At least you won't be stressed by trying to figure out how to not eat them.

I personally don't believe that they are safe. Too many tests from independent (read, not affiliated with Mosanto) have warned us about them. The Institute for Responsible Technology is one. http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers. Their website cites infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in our internal organs and the gastrointesitnal system as effects of eating GMO foods. There's a lot more from other organizations and even the FDA repeatedly warned that GMO foods cause dire problems. They wanted more study, but Monsanto dismissed that recommendation in a fit of hissy and went ahead with dollar signs in their eyes.

If genetically modified foods are so safe, why are they spending billions of dollars trying to keep from labeling products that contain the evil little buggers?

So what can you do? Learn which products are modified.

One of the main offenders is corn. GMO Corn is rampant. It is in so many things it's impossible to list them all. Even some vinegars are distilled from GMO corn. It is in animal feed so if you eat anything but organic, grass-fed meat, you are probably getting GMOs. According to the FDA, 73 percent of U.S. corn crops are genetically modified.

August

Editor's Thoughts

It's August already! Jeesh, were did the time go. Years go by in a flash. I still remember Y2K as if it was yesterday. What a debacle that was, dire predictions of every computer system in the world going down at the first second of the year 2000. It seems to me that as a nation, we really like to play up the drama of anything that has even the remotest possibility of being a "big deal." Y2K fizzled out like a wet fire cracker. The world didn't come to an end, nor did all the first born male children die a horrible death.

An easy to follow, no nonsense guide to improving your life through the age-old method of candle magick. It Really Works!

A Book From the Editor: Anita Burns

As the Christian Bible says, it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a mustard seed, but it’s pretty small. What does this really mean? The mind is a powerful force and it can work for us or against us. 

The power of focused thought has been recognized by many religions and philosophies throughout time. 

Today the power of the mind is being studied and measured with some amazing results. The more scientists probe into the world of matter the more they discover what mystics have known for centuries—everything, including thought, is united as energy forces.

Faster than a Speeding Bullet, Able to Leap Tall Buildings. It's a Bird. It's a Plane. No. It's the Internet.

I was thinking earlier today about the Internet. I know that a lot of people in my age group are computer-phobes, gripe and groan about "the good old days" and how the evil Internet is destroying life as we know it. To that, I say "Balderdash!" and "Harrumph!" 

This came to mind today when I was reading one of this month's articles. A few days ago, I happened to read, I think on Twitter, a wonderful article by Simon Hay from his blog. I was impressed enough with what he had to say that I asked if I could reprint his article in the Messenger this month and if he would share more with us.

Anita Burns--

I received a beautiful email from Nancy Senior about her gratitude for 2013. I love Nancy's sense of humor blended with inspirational, thought-provoking goodness. It started me thinking. I have a tendency to be a bit acerbic at times and I have been known to rant about things I feel are important. What is so easy to push into the background are the good things, large and small.

Nancy mentions a Gratitude Jar. I'm not sure if she meant this literally or figuratively, but I am going to take it literally. Today, I am putting a large jar on my kitchen counter labeled, "Gratitude." I'll leave a sticky-note pad and pencil on top. Every time something happens that I feel good about, grateful for, or inspired by happens, or a miracle comes into my life, I will note it, date it, and put it into the jar. At the end of the year, I will look at and, probably write about them.

I think I might also have a Gripes and Rants jar. I will put into it all the disgruntlements, not-for-polite-society rants about the way things are. I might also put in my hurts, griefs, and sadness.

If I had done this in 2012, I know I would have written a tome about my feelings when my mother died and my favorite kitten died. But those are double-edged issues. Both sadness, grief, guilt, and anger coupled with relief, gratitude, and other mixed emotions.

As I write this my Tech-head self is suggesting virtual jars on my computer. "You know you won't actually take the time to write with a pencil, in long hand. What are you thinking? Use the computer. Who ARE you anyway? Have I taught you nothing?"

Tech-head has a point. I am more likely to keep it up for 12 long months if I can type it instead of write it.

Then again, the Get Real part of myself is yelling  in my head, "Don't listen to Tech-head. She is just lazy. The act of writing it out with your fingers wrapped around an actual pencil will make it more real, more valued. Be a woman. Write it out and see the jars filling up. Much more satisfying."

My head parts are fighting. I think I will have an actual jar but type out the entries and print them. Then I can cut them apart and place them into the appropriate jars. "Okay Tech-Head and Get Real? Will that do?"

"Yes."

So the first thing going into my jar is Nancy Senior for her email that inspired me. Thanks, Nancy.

Happy 2013 to Everyone.

Anita Burns
anitaburns.info
metastudies.com
anitasrealfood.com
rehutek.com

As I look out at you,

I am really looking in at my belief about you.

Maybe you don't exist at all in the way I think.

I've been fooled before by my fickle brain,

So hoping for a perfect match to my hallucination of life.

Only time will tell as you teach my brain to color you in different ways,

Ways that you decide.