Just feel like it.

I don't know, maybe I just feel like talking and there is no one to talk to right now- so you are it.
So what is going on.......
Working, reading, family, friends, herbalife, CIndy Crawford workout video, Naturopathic, Traditional Medicine, Integrative medicine,Conventional Medicine, Homeopathic medicine, anthroposophical medical practice; the combination, Tru Blu Catering, Cafe, Coffee, Spice, Bonterra, getting older, aging gracefully, fighting it, trying to stay involved with my children, trying to give them wings, praying, interceding locally, internationally, considering issues of social justice and the impact of one, loving my God. Loving the process, loving the journey, loving my husband, children, patients and friends. SO to breathe and focus.

For a long time I had complicated views that seemed to be congested more than productive. I am learning how to decongest through clarification and combining my self vision and mission that combines all of those things and then some.

With a little lot of help from some that I admire and some that inspire me I have formulated the beginnings of a Personal Vision and Mission.

Vision: To restore or create healing, nourishing and loving atmospheres in every area of life that affect whole communities.

Mission: I choose to be proactive in the Family, Health, Social Justice, Political Scenes and Marketplaces of my life in order to advocate for the prevention of injuries potential and actual suffered by inaccessibility to environments of healing: spiritually, emotionally and physically.

My Goals fall under subheadings of Family, Integrative Medical Practice, Restaurant/Bistro, Yoga, School Health Advisory Committee, ANA, AANP, TRA, Intercession, Backpacks, CCRC, Freedom Stones, Cambodian Hope, World Concern, Mission Trips, Westin A. Price Foundation.

I am in the process of furthering each of those subheadings with steps or daily rowing toward accomplishment.
This is so much more fun to see it laid out.

You know- I have a friend. A beautiful young lady that thought she was shallow after looking at what I think about. I told her that I was 12 years older and did not think like this then. I also have no desire to do the things that she feels she is supposed to focus on. We all have unique qualities and abilities. Never have shopper's cart envy for another's gifts. We can all do all things through Christ who strengthens us! If all he wants anyone of us to do right now is love two or three people and bring them closer- then be obedient. Changing the world is a gift for those called. Make sure that it is the voice of God that calls you to do more than you ought. The reward is the same in heaven if you are changing a diaper or saving children from mass destruction and demise. This is advice I heard on a podcast and it stuck- I reiterate for my own benefit as well. I tend to want to go faster.

So what are you up to? Where are your thoughts of late?

p.s. I like pastels, making cool presents for people and long walks on the beach and traveling!!!!Going to Chicago soon - yay!

Woman Beautiful

Beauty of a woman
is multiplicity divine
many faceted loveliness
in the light she finds
her hands full of plenty
love and hopes and dreams
assurance of the treasure
drawing strength from that unseen

Fullness of a woman
overflowing life
draws one near the fountain
of the thirsting mind

Creation of a woman
splendid and refined
gives portions of herself
made over
glory to glory binds
Present in her presence
Engaging in her gaze
flowing are her words of silk that cover every haze

Beauty of a woman
From babe to timeless youth
ever refreshing is the hand of her
whose heart is wise
from loves sweet truth.

SO Much

SO much has happened it is hard to keep up. I have thought of writing, recording so much, sooo many times but I have failed to keep up, so I just let it pass me by. We started community garden, stopped community gardening, had a few garden "parties" then stopped that too. We have plans to open a restaurant. I have plans to open a special exercise studio, cafe/retail store that will fund the resource center as a functional resource center: Vaccine for children program, Branch for Alliance for women and children, a local counseling center, and Bob's Pantry. I hope this really happens.

Joel and I have been excited about Blank Canvas project. It is about getting people motivated to actually do part of what God has called us to do on this Earth. Get Busy feeding his sheep- however that looks in your heart, in whatever capacity you are capable at this point in time. It will expand. It will grow- we just have to be faithful. It is first getting some paint on the wall as a sign of transformation and unity in the community. A commitment to see Clyde become the city we all dream of as we lock arms and place our hand prints on the wall of the CCRC. Prophetic Art so to speak.

My kids are good. Mia is moving to Abilene. She is going to go to Cisco for a while and see what happens. She has a boyfriend she loves and he is coming here with her. They grow up so fast. Bella is going to seventh grade. Wow. She made student council. I am so proud.She will also be in athletics. Nash is going back to Clyde- intermediate after a year at Cornerstone. It was wonderful, but we feel that with all of our restaurant endeavors, as well as projects we need to keep it local to maintain peace and quality of life. He will not be in football. Nash is going to take piano and Violin lessons, maybe martial arts. I am trying to learn the guitar on my own. Joel is going to Cambodia again. August 12 through the 21st. He is going to accompany Wayne Hester as he looks for a job and a place to live in Cambodia. He beat us to the punch. We would love to do that, but God called us to live in Clyde and He is not releasing until we accomplish what he has for us here.

I haven't talked about work in a long time. It has been two years since I graduated and started doing this NP thing. Thanks to those of you that have supported me. It has not been an easy road. I have learned so much. I am not the best, I am not the worst. And I actually have some patients that really love me. I have to say that I have decided that I want to move toward holistic health care. Not just medical. I work in a medical office. The approach is different. I have to treat people medically. It is difficult in my current line of naturopathic thinking. Anyone who is listening..................................................................................................... FOURTH MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH 7:00 P.M. at the United Way office downtown...................................................................... Westin A. Price Foundation meetings. you don't know who Westin A. Price is you say.........www.westinaprice.org

This meeting changed my life. It is all about food, fresh food, good food. Eating the way God intended, the way animals are to be treated. The way humans were designed to eat said animals. Understanding our dilemma in this country just a little better. I ultimately want to have a wellness center that teaches and preaches the good life. Anyway. I will try to update for those few tried and true. I guess I better get to bed. I have to work a million hours as one of my doctors is on vacation.

TTFN

Light Creative

Grains of wood
Life rings
Annual seasons
Drought and abundance
Cycle of life
Ebb and flow
Enter QUENCH
Enter fullness
Enter water park, waterfall
River ride white water rapids safe
Rapids wild exhilarating
Breath taking soul shaking
Earth quaking quivering
Delivering
Delivering you
Into the shoes of the chaser
Of the presence and essence of His omniscience of love
Eternal wave
As feet sink and pull into depths of the ocean
And arms up in the splash of glory
Smacking up them down and down then up
And out of the flush of life's drain
And into the grains of cedar scented
Jesus lined heaven reality
Climb
Lose the mime
Hands of time
Spoken now to shout
The manifest destiny
Rise to high tide
And be the Living God
Indwelling your light creative and powerful
To the World!

What if

What if I looked at every person
As an opportunity to display the goodness of God
What if every day I asked God to show me who
I am sure that every person of everyday could not have
captured the attention of Jesus
What if I focused on here and now instead of when
What if I began dreaming of meeting every person
Where they are and then work toward the next goal
Whatever it may be
Together
What if I became a great mother and awesome friend
And even better wife
What if it was a joy to be in my own home
And yet have the ability to go wherever, whenever
What if
This really became a place where transformation
Became reality
And I beamed kindling for the fire of a catalyst

Haven Safe

White Paint like 2% Milk
Paintbrushes like hairs of a porcupine
Cement mixed bricks
I am hot and sticky with the humidity
But I am happy
Not jump up and down happy
Not 'Happy meal' happy
But I am happy
I stand on a bunk bed with a thin board across the top
The bunk bed was fashioned on site
Sprayed black
Maybe harsh, at home
But here
It is hope
It is security
It is a place to sleep and dream and grow and be
Everything Amazing
And I feel happy
Oh so happy
I might jump happily, but the board might crack for my big American body
So my soul smiles instead
I think of my guardian Angel that my mommy told me about
And the lighted print framed and placed by my bed
Made me feel safe
Even in bad times
Safe
And I paint another stroke to cover the cold gray cement bricks
And think of the child
That looks up to the top of the wall and
Feels safe
Even in bad times
Because they have a home
A Haven Safe in the Lover of their souls
And I am so happy, oh so happy
To sweat and stink and be half way around the world standing on an metal bed
painting milky white strokes inefficiently over they gray
Bricks interlaced and crowned with peace
Rocks are being moved outside
Gates are being welded tight
Walls are secure
The Water Tower will go up today
And I am happy as I can be
To proclaim to the broken babes
What is growing and flowing out of the core of me
What is good and right
What is love and light
In the stroke of white as moonlight at dusk
If only I could be a whisper in the night
As they enter and settle
Lay down to rest
Sleep, grow and be
Blessed with a crown of glory
May angels appear
To settle you dear
As you have been chosen
For this time
To be happy
Oh so happy

What to say

Me with my precious face painting assistant Len, she was so adorable the way she spoke with her hands and helped me. I loved her!

Rachel, as Vanna White, now she can have two celebrity associations! Notoriety is coming your way Rachel!

More Kid pictures, I never get tired of seeing these kids having fun!

I have been kinda holding off on blogging about Cambodia mostly because Rachel is much more of a detail person than I am and I know she will fill you in on all the details. So what I will do is give you snippets of happenings and thoughts. Sound like a plan?

Yes, I too have been waking up at 3 or 4 every morning. It is actually not a bad thing because I get time alone with God something I have grown increasingly dependent on for daily living. Prior to this trip I read FACE to Face Bill Johnson. I have since developed a taste for the desire to feel the presence of God in an amazing way. I prayed, pleaded and practically begged for 'a little taste of the Glory!' Ha. But seriously, It has been a big deal to me to have one of those transforming No One but God Shocking experiences. Well guess what- it almost happened.

As some of you know I have been obsessed with the Song of Songs for a few months now. I thought I would lead a Bible study through it, and I will at some point. Well God started showing me some very specific parts having to do with how to see those that have not yet learned to love Christ passionately. Song 8:8-9 For what shall we do with the little sister, and as yet she has no breasts? What shall we do on the day she is spoken for? If she is a wall we will build on her a battlement of silver, but if she is a door we will barricade her with boards of cedar.

Okay so what does that mean? Little sisters with no breasts speak of those that do not have the ability to nurture others yet, they are still needing to be nurtured. The thing to do with them is to look at them like you would your children and see what their talents are....are they teachers, evangelists, intercessors, apostles? That would be like door ministries so you pray that they are barricaded with boards of cedar* the scent of the "God's Dwelling place" in Solomon's temple, the scent of Christ! They get attacked and the scent of cedar or of holiness with preserve them.. If they show signs of being pastors or prophets or people than stand for justice then they should be built upon with a battlement of silver. Back in the day they had towers to protect cities, these towers were made of stone and had holes to shoot arrows at the enemy. Well, in this case if your calling to is protect others, raise others up, watch for injustice or the intruder then an embattlement of silver would pay the price of redemption and protect you as you protect others- too cool huh?

Well anyone that would listen I would share this with cause I was obsessed. I also realized that might be why my boobs are so huge, I am a nurturer- ha. I still want a reduction , but not for prophetic reasons.
Back to the point, I started to see Chomno- the leader of Cambodian Hope Organization as one that protects and stands for justice. I also see him as a great composer, kinda like August Rush. He has a grace on him like I have never seen before. He moves swiftly and continually. He accomplishes so much with so little. It is amazing. His dream is to build this Safe Haven,to protect women and children from trafficking and educate them, and raise them up to be leaders of Cambodia. Wow. No small vision there. He even wants to build a University. He is going for it. No red tape, just gangbusters. He is so effective in his programs that the Government is coming to him for advice. Would you train 800 teachers to teach creatively, because your school on the mat program is so effective that the children are literate after one year, whereas, the Cambodian public school takes 4-5 years. ( I think) I don't want to slander Cambodian public schools, but that is what I was told. (Not admissible in a court of law.)

Again, back to the point, I also noticed that Rachel had a little obsession of her own- watching the kids from the window of our hotel, there were stories in those excerpts of observation.

Well, I fell asleep and had what I could describe as a mini-dream, it had basically a prophetic picture of why Rachel and I were obsessed with different things. I woke up when Rachel walked in and I told her that she would write the book Joel told her she would write, we all knew she would write a book , but God showed me a book. I closed my eyes and began to have an amazing experience with God , and as I followed this train of understanding, it was like God saw me following His plan and let me look at His Beauty and I had hours of power surges through my body followed by tears of joy and laughter. I could think, but not really move. I only moved when I was jerked. It was weird. I thought I would disturb Rachel, but she told me that she slept just fine. By the way can I just say that Rachel is the easiest most gracious roomie ever!
Anyway, in the morning I thought maybe I would have some kind of special powers. It didn't happen, I thought I would be healed of every anxiety and even be instantly skinny, that did not happen either. SO I began to press God for why, He started to show me things that I really thought I had dealt with and wrong thinking and He told me he could not give me more right now. Wow, over the next couple of days stuff kept bubbling up and I was not okay. I thought God moments were supposed to change you for the better, I know it will in the long run, but for now I have some very specific tasks, I will tell you about later.

I guess I have kept you long enough. I will write more later. xoxoxooo

Graham Cook: The Nature of God, Part 1

It is 10 minutes of Yes.

Cotton Eye Joe Tutorial

Here's to you Rachel!

Just an update

Let's see.........Our bathroom is 99% complete, good thing. It is beautiful. I will have pictures up soon. We have painted and rearranged and Mia is home. But along with Mia we have another young lady. She is 18 and has a one year old boy. I know you think I am crazy. But obviously it means a lot to me to help single parents. I am still trying to figure out a way to make that happen other than a grassroots way. Work is good, I am actually getting better, or at least more efficient. I am pretty situated at the offices I am in currently. I am content on most days. But something in me longs for more than content. I want to be passionate about what I do. I have not figured that out yet.

If you have not heard yet, I am definitely going to Cambodia again. Here is a copy of the letter I will be sending out. Let me know what you think.

This year, I will be taking part in an outreach trip. I have been invited to join a group of short-term missionaries from Fountaingate Fellowship in Abilene, Texas. We are traveling to Bangkok, Thailand, and Cambodia. We will be spending a week working in Cambodia . We will take part in outreach ministries with Cambodian Hope Organization (CHO). Please visit this site for more details about the organization. http://www.cambodianhope.org/

This area has become an area of passion and calling for both my husband and myself. Having witnessed after effects of the devastation on a nation that endured a genocide during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, we felt the need to partner with the hope of Jesus Christ. Joel has been to this region many times and is never the same after each visit. His accounts of the transformation of a nation are amazing. CHO does so much with so very little. They truly are the hands of God as they reach out to love the discarded and abused.

We will be visiting the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is a highly trafficked area, where many women and children are sold into prostitution. Many of the things you use day to day are made by hands of children that are trafficked in the Golden Triangle area. It is hard to believe that these children, who should be going to kindergarten, are exploited for prostitution and manual labor. The Cambodian Hope organization is building a safe haven for these children. We are going to support this process and help build a fence around the grounds of the safe haven complex.

I am very excited about this trip, and I know that God has called me to be a part of it. The nature of a trip like this is expensive, and I would like for you to pray and consider supporting me financially. The total cost is $2500, which includes flights, transportation, lodging, meals, and administration costs. The trip is March 15th - 25th.

If you choose to support me financially by check, please do NOT put my name in the pay to order spot for Tax purposes. Any monetary gift is considered a Tax deduction. Please make checks payable to Kingdom Advance with my name in the memo or attach a note with the check. The deadline for money to be in is by March 10th. Any financial support you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

In addition to my need for money, I also need your prayers. This mission trip has great potential to open the eyes and hearts of hundreds of people in Cambodia to the truth of God for the first time in their lives: however, it would be of no value unless are we covered in prayer. You are the key to the success of my trip with your financial support and prayers. I cannot wait to see God move on this nation.
Thanks for considering partnering with us as we extend hands of love and hope in Christ. Please feel free to email or call me with any questions you may have about the trip or supporting me. patriciatrueblood@me.com

In Christ,



Trish Trueblood

I feel like being edgy

I think 2009 might be the year of edginess for me. I mean what do I have to lose? I have been irritated bout this for quite some time... maybe I am wrong, I do not speak for all, so don't take it that way. I speak for me on being brown..olive-skinned or anything other than white.

Shades of brown

When you look at me what do you see?
A woman
Emotion
A position
A label

Or do you see the color of my skin
My eyes
Is she Mexican?
Is she Latino
Is she Indian
Maybe Persian or Middle Eastern

Whatever you think
It is
Is probably wrong

There is no political correctness

If
I
Never hear the words
Not you
But 'those mexicans'
Or
If I never hear another joke about
Motivation by burritos
Or if I NEVER see a dog with a gold plated "grill" emailed around the country by biggoted christians
It would be too soon

I am
All shades of brown
Love it or leave it
Face your prejudice or live it out loud
But don't disguise it with passive aggressive remarks about "them"
"We" have ears and all of the senses and abilities you were born with
We add flavor to the American melting pot
We are the majority
So build your fences
Tighten your security
Those of us that know the difference
Realize that we are
All that God intends
And I am an American

In all of my glorious shades of brown

trishmunoztrueblood

Warning- rated R blog ahead

What on earth is she thinking?

If that is what your first inclination is then I already know your position.

I wonder what the general consensus of my few readers would be regarding the position of marijuana use in this country....
Hemp as source of fiber and protein, etc. ........
Or how about the use of marijuana by professing christians?
Hmmmmm......
There is actually a Christians for Cannabis group.
I am just curious where my peers are on the subject.

Some reading for you: Feel free to skim or skip if you want to, just thought I would pass this info on.

4. Marijuana is not a lethal drug and is safer than alcohol. It is established scientific fact that marijuana is not toxic to humans; marijuana overdoses are nearly impossible, and marijuana is not nearly as addictive as alcohol or tobacco. It is unfair and unjust to treat marijuana users more harshly under the law than the users of alcohol or tobacco.

3. Marijuana is too expensive for our justice system and should instead be taxed to support beneficial government programs. Law enforcement has more important responsibilities than arresting 750,000 individuals a year for marijuana possession, especially given the additional justice costs of disposing of each of these cases. Marijuana arrests make justice more expensive and less efficient in the United States, wasting jail space, clogging up court systems, and diverting time of police, attorneys, judges, and corrections officials away from violent crime, the sexual abuse of children, and terrorism. Furthermore, taxation of marijuana can provide needed and generous funding of many important criminal justice and social programs.

2. Marijuana use has positive attributes, such as its medical value and use as a recreational drug with relatively mild side effects. Many people use marijuana because they have made an informed decision that it is good for them, especially Americans suffering from a variety of serious ailments. Marijuana provides relief from pain, nausea, spasticity, and other symptoms for many individuals who have not been treated successfully with conventional medications. Many American adults prefer marijuana to the use of alcohol as a mild and moderate way to relax. Americans use marijuana because they choose to, and one of the reasons for that choice is their personal observation that the drug has a relatively low dependence liability and easy-to-manage side effects. Most marijuana users develop tolerance to many of marijuana's side effects, and those who do not, choose to stop using the drug. Marijuana use is the result of informed consent in which individuals have decided that the benefits of use outweigh the risks, especially since, for most Americans, the greatest risk of using marijuana is the relatively low risk of arrest.

1. Marijuana users are determined to stand up to the injustice of marijuana probation and accomplish legalization, no matter how long or what it takes to succeed. Despite the threat of arrests and a variety of other punishments and sanctions marijuana users have persisted in their support for legalization for over a generation. They refuse to give up their long quest for justice because they believe in the fundamental values of American society. Prohibition has failed to silence marijuana users despite its best attempts over the last generation. The issue of marijuana's legalization is a persistent issue that, like marijuana, will simply not go away. Marijuana will be legalized because marijuana users will continue to fight for it until they succeed.

1a) What is hemp?

For our purposes, hemp is the plant called `cannabis
sativa.' There are other plants that are called hemp, but
cannabis hemp is the most useful of these plants. In fact,
`cannabis sativa' means `useful (sativa) hemp (cannabis)'.

`Hemp' is any durable plant that has been used since
pre-history for many purposes. Fiber is the most well known
product, and the word `hemp' can mean the rope or twine
which is made from the hemp plant, as well as just the stalk
of the plant which produced it.




1b) What is cannabis?

Cannabis is the most durable of the hemp plants, and it
produces the toughest cloth, called `canvass.' (Canvass was
widely used as sails in the early shipping industry, as it
was the only cloth which would not rot on contact with sea
spray.) The cannabis plant also produces three other very
important products which the other hemp plants do not (in
usable form, that is): seed, pulp, and medicine.

The pulp is used as fuel, and to make paper. The seed is
suitable for both human and animal foods. The oil from the
seed can be used in as a base for paints and varnishes. The
medicine is a tincture or admixture of the sticky resin in
the blossoms and leaves of the hemp plant, and is used for a
variety of purposes.




1c) Where did the word `marijuana' come from?

The word `marijuana' is a Mexican slang term which became
popular in the late 1930's in America, during a series of
media and government programs which we now refer to as the
`Reefer Madness Movement.' It refers specifically to the
medicine part of cannabis, which Mexican soldiers used to
smoke.

Today in the U.S., hemp (meaning the roots, stalk, and stems
of the cannabis plant) is legal to possess. No one can
arrest you for wearing a hemp shirt, or using hemp paper.
Marijuana (The flowers, buds, or leaves of the cannabis
plant) is not legal to possess, and there are stiff fines
and possible jail terms for having any marijuana in your
possession. The seeds are legal to possess and eat, but
only if they are sterilized (will not grow to maturity.)

Since it is not possible to grow the hemp plant without
being in possession of marijuana, the United States does not
produce any industrial hemp products, and must import them
or, more often, substitute others. (There is a way to grow
hemp legally, but it involves filing an application with the
Drug Enforcement Administration and the DEA very rarely ever
gives its permission.) This does not seem to have stopped
people from producing and using marijuana, though. In many
of the United States, marijuana is the number one cash crop,
mostly because it fetches a very high price on the black
market.




2a) How can hemp be used as a food?

Hemp seed is a highly nutritious source of protein and
essential fatty oils. Many populations have grown hemp for
its seed -- most of them eat it as `gruel' which is a lot
like oatmeal. The leaves can be used as roughage, but not
without slight psycho-active side-effects. Hemp seeds do
not contain any marijuana and they do not get you `high.'

Hemp seed protein closely resembles protein as it is found
in the human blood. It is fantastically easy to digest, and
many patients who have trouble digesting food are given hemp
seed by their doctors. Hemp seed was once called `edestine'
and was used by scientists as the model for vegetable
protein.

Hemp seed oil provides the human body with essential fatty
acids. Hemp seed is the only seed which contains these oils
with almost no saturated fat. As a supplement to the diet,
these oils can reduce the risk of heart disease. It is
because of these oils that birds will live much longer if
they eat hemp seed.

With hemp seed, a vegan or vegetarian can survive and eat
virtually no saturated fats. One handful of hemp seed per
day will supply adequate protein and essential oils for an
adult.




2b) What are the benefits of hemp compared to other food crops?

Hemp requires little fertilizer, and grows well almost
everywhere. It also resists pests, so it uses little
pesticides. Hemp puts down deep roots, which is good for
the soil, and when the leaves drop off the hemp plant,
minerals and nitrogen are returned to the soil. Hemp has
been grown on the same soil for twenty years in a row
without any noticeable depletion of the soil.

Using less fertilizer and agricultural chemicals is good for
two reasons. First, it costs less and requires less effort.
Second, many agricultural chemicals are dangerous and
contaminate the environment -- the less we have to use, the
better.




2c) How about soy?
Is hemp competitive as a world source of protein?

Hemp does not produce quite as much protein as soy, but
hemp seed protein is of a higher quality than soy.
Agricultural considerations may make hemp the food crop of
the future. In addition to the fact that hemp is an easy
crop to grow, it also resists UV-B light, which is a kind of
sunlight blocked by the ozone layer. Soy beans do not take
UV-B light very well. If the ozone layer were to deplete by
16%, which by some estimates is very possible, soy
production would fall by 25-30%.

We may have to grow hemp or starve -- and it won't be the
first time that this has happened. Hemp has been used to
`bail out' many populations in time of famine.
Unfortunately, because of various political factors,
starving people in today's underdeveloped countries are not
taking advantage of this crop. In some places, this is
because government officials would call it `marijuana' and
pull up the crop. In other countries, it is because the
farmers are busy growing coca and poppies to produce cocaine
and heroin for the local Drug Lord. This is truly a sad
state of affairs. Hopefully someday the Peace Corps will be
able to teach modern hemp seed farming techniques and end
the world's protein shortage.





3a) How can hemp be used for cloth?

The stalk of the hemp plant has two parts, called the
bast and the hurd. The fiber (bast) of the hemp plant can
be woven into almost any kind of cloth. It is very durable.
In fact, the first Levi's blue jeans were made out of hemp
for just this reason. Compared to all the other natural
fibers available, hemp is more suitable for a large number
of applications.

Here is how hemp is harvested for fiber: A field of closely
spaced hemp is allowed to grow until the leaves fall off.
The hemp is then cut down and it lies in the field for some
time washed by the rain. It is turned over once to expose
both sides of the stalk evenly. During this time, the hurd
softens up and many minerals are returned to the soil. This
is called `retting,' and after this step is complete, the
stalks are brought to a machine which separates the bast and
the hurd. We are lucky to have machines today -- men used
to do this last part by hand with hours of back-breaking
labor.





3b) Why is it better than cotton?

The cloth that hemp makes may be a little less soft than
cotton, (though there are also special kinds of hemp, or
ways to grow or treat hemp, that can produce a soft cloth)
but it is much stronger and longer lasting. (It does not
stretch out.) Environmentally, hemp is a better crop to
grow than cotton, especially the way cotton is grown
nowadays. In the United States, the cotton crop uses half
of the total pesticides. (Yes, you heard right, one half of
the pesticides used in the entire U.S. are used on cotton.)
Cotton is a soil damaging crop and needs a lot of
fertilizer.




4a) How can hemp be used to make paper?

Both the fiber (bast) and pulp (hurd) of the hemp plant
can be used to make paper. Fiber paper was the first kind
of paper, and the first batch was made out of hemp in
ancient China. Fiber paper is thin, tough, brittle, and a
bit rough. Pulp paper is not as strong as fiber paper, but
it is easier to make, softer, thicker, and preferable for
most everyday purposes. The paper we use most today is a
`chemical pulp' paper made from trees. Hemp pulp paper can
be made without chemicals from the hemp hurd. Most hemp
paper made today uses the entire hemp stalk, bast and hurd.
High-strength fiber paper can be made from the hemp baste,
also without chemicals.

The problem with today's paper is that so many chemicals are
used to make it. High strength acids are needed to make
quality (smooth, strong, and white) paper out of trees.
These acids produce chemicals which are very dangerous to
the environment. Paper companies do their best to clean
these chemicals up (we hope.) Hemp offers us an opportunity
to make affordable and environmentally safe paper for all of
our needs, since it does not need much chemical treatment.
It is up to consumers, though, to make the right choice --
these dangerous chemicals can also be used on hemp to make a
slightly more attractive product. Instead of buying the
whiter, brighter role of toilet paper, we will need to think
about what we are doing to the planet.

Because of the chemicals in today's paper, it will turn
yellow and fall apart as acids eat away at the pulp. This
takes several decades, but because of this publishers,
libraries and archives have to order specially processed
acid free paper, which is much more expensive, in order to
keep records. Paper made naturally from hemp is acid free
and will last for centuries.




4b) Why can't we just keep using trees?

The chemicals used to make wood chemical pulp paper today
could cause us a lot of trouble tomorrow. Environmentalists
have long been concerned about the effects of dioxin and
other compounds on wildlife and even people. Beyond the
chemical pollution, there are agricultural reasons why we
should use cannabis hemp instead. When trees are harvested,
minerals are taken with them. Hemp is much less damaging to
the land where it is grown because it leaves these minerals
behind.

A simpler answer to the above question is:

Because we are running out! It was once said that a
squirrel could climb from New England to the banks of the
Mississippi River without touching the ground once. The
European settler's appetite for firewood and farmland put an
end to this. When the first wood paper became a huge
industry, the United States Department of Agriculture began
to worry about the `tree supply.' That is why they went in
search of plant pulp to replace wood. Today some
`conservatives' argue that there are more forests now than
there ever were. This is neither true, realistic nor
conservative: these statistics do not reflect the real
world. Once trees have been removed from a plot of land, it
takes many decades before biological diversity and natural
cycles return to the forest, and commercial tree farms
simply do not count as forest -- they are farm land.

As just mentioned, many plant fibers were investigated by
the USDA -- some, like kenaf, were even better suited than
cannabis hemp for making some qualities of paper, but hemp
had one huge advantage: robust vitality. Hemp generates
immense amounts of plant matter in a three month growing
season. When it came down to producing the deluge of paper
used by Americans, only hemp could compete with trees. In
fact, according to the 1916 calculations of the USDA, one
acre of hemp would replace an entire four acres of forest.
And, at the same time, this acre would be producing textiles
and rope.

Today, only 4% of America's old-growth forest remains
standing -- and there is talk about building roads into that
for logging purposes! Will our policy makers realize in
time how easy it would be to save them?




5a) How can hemp be used as a fuel?

The pulp (hurd) of the hemp plant can be burned as is or
processed into charcoal, methanol, methane, or gasoline.
The process for doing this is called destructive
distillation, or `pyrolysis.' Fuels made out of plants like
this are called `biomass' fuels. This charcoal may be
burned in today's coal-powered electric generators.
Methanol makes a good automobile fuel, in fact it is used in
professional automobile races. It may someday replace
gasoline.

Hemp may also be used to produce ethanol (grain alcohol.)
The United States government has developed a way to make
this automobile fuel additive from cellulosic biomass. Hemp
is an excellent source of high quality cellulosic biomass.
One other way to use hemp as fuel is to use the oil from the
hemp seed -- some diesel engines can run on pure pressed
hemp seed oil. However, the oil is more useful for other
purposes, even if we could produce and press enough hemp
seed to power many millions of cars.




5b) Why is it better than petroleum?

Biomass fuels are clean and virtually free from metals
and sulfur, so they do not cause nearly as much air
pollution as fossil fuels. Even more importantly, burning
biomass fuels does not increase the total amount of carbon
dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. When petroleum products
are burned, carbon that has been stored underground for
millions of years is added to the air; this may contribute
to global warming through the `Greenhouse Effect', (a
popular theory which says that certain gases will act like a
wool blanket over the entire Earth, preventing heat from
escaping into space.) In order to make biomass fuels, this
carbon dioxide has to be taken out of the air to begin with
-- when they are burned it is just being put back where it
started.

Another advantage over fossil fuels is that biomass fuels
can be made right here in the United States, instead of
buying them from other countries. Instead of paying oil
drillers, super-tanker captains, and soldiers to get our
fuel to us, we could pay local farmers and delivery drivers
instead. Of course, it is possible to chop down trees and
use them as biomass. This would not be as beneficial to the
environment as using hemp, especially since trees that are
cut down for burning are `whole tree harvested.' This means
the entire tree is ripped up and burned, not just the wood.
Since most of the minerals which trees use are in the
leaves, this practice could ruin the soil where the trees
are grown. In several places in the United States, power
companies are starting to do this -- burning the trees in
order to produce electricity, because that is cheaper than
using coal. They should be using hemp, like researchers in
Australia started doing a few years ago. (Besides, hemp
provides a higher quality and quantity of biomass than trees
do.)





6a) How can hemp be used as a medicine?

Marijuana has thousands of possible uses in medicine.
Marijuana (actually cannabis extract) was available as a
medicine legally in this country until 1937, and was sold as
a nerve tonic -- but mankind has been using cannabis
medicines much longer than that. Marijuana appears in
almost every known book of medicine written by ancient
scholars and wise men. It is usually ranked among the top
medicines, called `panaceas', a word which means `cure-all'.
The list of diseases which cannabis can be used for
includes: multiple sclerosis, cancer treatment, AIDS (and
AIDS treatment), glaucoma, depression, epilepsy, migraine
headaches, asthma, pruritis, sclerodoma, severe pain, and
dystonia. This list does not even consider the other
medicines which can be made out of marijuana -- these are
just some of the illnesses for which people smoke or eat
whole marijuana today.

There are over 60 chemicals in marijuana which may have
medical uses. It is relatively easy to extract these into
food or beverage, or into some sort of lotion, using butter,
fat, oil, or alcohol. One chemical, cannabinol, may be
useful to help people who cannot sleep. Another is taken
from premature buds and is called cannabidiolic acid. It is
a powerful disinfectant. Marijuana dissolved in rubbing
alcohol helps people with the skin disease herpes control
their sores, and a salve like this was one of the earliest
medical uses for cannabis. The leaves were once used in
bandages and a relaxing non-psychoactive herbal tea can be
made from small cannabis stems.

The most well known use of marijuana today is to control
nausea and vomiting. One of the most important things when
treating cancer with chemotherapy or when treating AIDS with
AZT or Foscavir, being able to eat well, makes the
difference between life or death. Patients have found
marijuana to be extremely effective in fighting nausea; in
fact so many patients use it for this purpose even though it
is illegal that they have formed `buyers clubs' to help them
find a steady supply. In California, some city governments
have decided to look the other way and allow these clubs to
operate openly.

Marijuana is also useful for fighting two other very serious
and wide-spread disabilities. Glaucoma is the second
leading cause of blindness, caused by uncontrollable eye
pressure. Marijuana can control the eye pressure and keep
glaucoma from causing blindness. Multiple Sclerosis is a
disease where the body's immune system attacks nerve cells.
Spasms and many other problems result from this. Marijuana
not only helps stop these spasms, but it may also keep
multiple sclerosis from getting worse.





6b) What's wrong with all the prescription drugs we have?

They cost money and are hard to make. In many cases,
they do not work as well, either. Some prescription drugs
which marijuana can replace have very bad, even downright
dangerous, side-effects. Cannabis medicines are cheap,
safe, and easy to make.

Many people think that the drug dronabinol should be used
instead of marijuana. Dronabinol is an exact imitation of
one of the chemicals found in marijuana, and it may actually
work on a lot of the above diseases, but there are some big
problems with dronabinol, and most patients who have used
both dronabinol and marijuana say that marijuana works
better.

The first problem with Dronabinol is that it is even harder
to get than marijuana. Many doctors do not like to
prescribe dronabinol, and many drug stores do not want to
supply it, because a lot of paperwork has to be filed with
the Drug Enforcement Administration. Secondly, dronabinol
comes in pills which are virtually useless to anyone who is
throwing up, and it is hard to take just the right amount of
dronabinol since it cannot be smoked. Finally, because
dronabinol is only one of the many chemicals in cannabis, it
just does not work for some diseases. Many patients do not
like the effects of dronabinol because it does not contain
some of the more calming chemicals which are present in
marijuana.




7) What other uses for hemp are there?

One of the newest uses of hemp is in construction
materials. Hemp can be used in the manufacture of `press
board' or `composite board.' This involves gluing fibrous
hemp stalks together under pressure to produce a board which
is many times more elastic and durable than hardwood.
Because hemp produces a long, tough fiber it is the perfect
source for press-board. Another interesting application of
hemp in industry is making plastic. Many plastics can be
made from the high-cellulose hemp hurd. Hemp seed oil has a
multitude of uses in products such as varnishes and
lubricants.

Using hemp to build is by no means a new idea. French
archeologists have discovered bridges built with a process
that mineralizes hemp stalks into a long-lasting cement.
The process involves no synthetic chemicals and produces a
material which works as a filler in building construction.
Called Isochanvre, it is gaining popularity in France.
Isochanvre can be used as drywall, insulates against heat
and noise, and is very long lasting.

`Bio-plastics' are not a new idea, either -- way back in the
1930's Henry Ford had already made a whole car body out of
them -- but the processes for making them do need more
research and development. Bio-plastics can be made without
much pollution. Unfortunately, companies are not likely to
explore bio-plastics if they have to either import the raw
materials or break the law. (Not to mention compete with
the already established petrochemical products.)

There is a part two if you are interested.

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/drugs/hemp-marijuana/

Watch Out Emeril! Move Over Chef Joel!

There is a new chef in town. Chef Evan. As some of you know, I have had the pleasure of occasionally keeping the Laughlin boys....I have discovered a hidden talent in of one of them. Feast your eyes on this Pioneer Woman Lovers.....


Here he is on butter saute!



Adding the Marshmallows!


Mixing the Mallows!


Adding the Krispies!



Patting the Treats!



Jaxon trying to help!


Ouila! White and milk chocolate chips added at the end, a Chef Evan original secret!

Post to post

Just because I did not want to see Merry Christmas after New Year's. I am entering a note. I agree with Brandi. 2008 was a hard year for me. I even got really depressed as it winded down. I am not depressed now. I am excited about changes. I am hopeful for 2009. I have started some projects that are going to be completed and I declare happiness, health, harmony, hope, highs, heaven on earth, honor and honest abundance for us all. Blessings to you my friends.