MANY SPICES, OR THEIR ACTIVE CHEMICAL INGREDIENTS, CAN KILL BACTERIA OR INHIBIT THEIR GROWTH. FOUR COMMON FLAVORINGS, ONION, GARLIC. OREGANO AND ALLSPICE, KILLED OR INHIBITED EVERYONE OF UP TO 29 COMMON FOOD BORNE BACTERIA FOR WHICH THEY WERE TESTED. (FOR OTHER FOODS AND SPICES THAT CAN KILL BACTERIA OR VIRUSES, OR HELP PREVENT CERTAIN DISEASES YOU CAN SEARCH THE WEB. THERE ARE A LOT OF GOOD WEBSITES WHICH CONTAIN INFORMATION SUCH AS THIS.)

I HEARD ON THE RADIO 10/6/00 THAT A STUDY IN EUROPE DEMONSTRATED THAT SNORING KILLS BRAIN CELLS. (I ASSUME THAT THEY ARE REFERRING TO SLEEP APNEA, A CONDITION IN WHICH THE SNORING IS CAUSED BY A COLLAPSE OF THE SOFT TISSUE OF THE THROAT. THIS CAUSES BREATHING TO CEASE FOR 10-15 SECONDS UNTIL THE PERSON WAKES UP AND ROLLS INTO A NEW POSITION.) THIS IS THE ADULT VERSION OF MONSTERS UNDER THE BED WHO GET US IF WE FALL ASLEEP.

MARILYN VOS SAVANT, IN A RECENT (10/00) PARADE MAGAZINE COLUMN, SAID THAT SHE CHECKED WITH SOME FOOD PROCESSORS GROUP WHO SAID THAT IT IS NO LONGER NECESSARY TO REFRIGERATE MAYONNAISE AFTER OPENING. THAT PROBLEM HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OFF IN THE WAY THEY MAKE MAYONNAISE THESE DAYS.

AP IN THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC NEWSPAPER: NATIONWIDE, SCHOOL KILLINGS IN THE U.S. DROPPED TO 13 IN 1999, DOWN FROM A HIGH OF 52 IN 1991. (I HAVE PREVIOUSLY READ ELSEWHERE THAT THESE SCHOOL KILLINGS HAVE GONE DOWN EACH YEAR SINCE 1991, EVEN INCLUDING THE COLUMBINE SHOOTINGS.)

USA TODAY AS REPORTED IN THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC 10/00: CRIME ACROSS THE U.S. WAS DOWN FOR THE EIGHTH STRAIGHT YEAR IN 1999, RESULTING IN THE LOWEST RATES FOR MURDER AND VIOLENT CRIME IN DECADES, ACCORDING TO A NEW FBI REPORT. THE VIOLENT CRIME RATE WS THE LOWEST SINCE 1978. THE MURDER RATE WAS THE LOWEST SINCE 1966.

ARIZONA REPUBLIC 10/18/00: STARTING SATURDAY, ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARK IN THE NATIONAL FOREST SURROUNDING SEDONA WILL HAVE TO BUY A "RED ROCK PASS." PASSES ARE NOT NECESSARY FOR INCIDENTAL ACTIVITIES SUCH AS QUICK STOPS FOR PICTURES OR TRAVEL THROUGH THE AREA. PASSES COST FROM $5 FOR ONE DAY TO $40 FOR ONE YEAR. THEY CAN BE PURCHASED AT THE FOUR RED ROCK CENTERS AND AT SEVERAL SEDONA-AREA BUSINESSES. U.S. FOREST SERVICE OFFICIALS SAY IT HAS BECOME MORE DIFFICULT TO KEEP UP WITH THE MAINTENANCE AND PRESERVATION WORK NEEDED TO KEEP UP WITH THE IMPACT OF 4 MILLION VISITORS EACH YEAR. FORESTS IN AND AROUND SEDONA WILL RECEIVE 95% OF ALL FUNDS COLLECTED FROM PASS SALES.
(THIS MEANS THAT CAMPING OR EVEN PARKING AT ALL TRAILHEADS WILL COST YOU $5 PER DAY. THIS FEE WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE "FEE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM" WHICH CONGRESS PASSED IN 1996 AND RENEWED IN 1999. THIS LAW ALSO DOUBLED THE ENTRANCE FEES IN SOME NATIONAL PARKS AND DRASTICALLY INCREASED THE CAMPING FEES AT MOST NATIONAL FOREST CAMPGROUNDS. MANY NATIONAL FORESTS NATIONWIDE NOW CHARGE FOR HIKING THE TRAILS IN OUR PUBLICLY OWNED NATIONAL FORESTS. IN THESE TIMES OF HUGE BUDGET SURPLUSES, CONGRESS STILL REFUSES TO PROPERLY FUND EITHER THE NATIONAL PARK OR NATIONAL FOREST SERVICES. EVEN THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT HAS GOTTEN INTO THE ACT OF CHARGING FEES FOR ACTIVITIES ON PUBLICLY OWNED LAND. THIS IS A TAX INCREASE DISGUISED AS A "USER FEE". WE ARE TAXED AND THEN CHARGED TO USE FACILITIES WE ALREADY OWN. (CALM DOWN, JIM, BEST YOU STOP RIGHT HERE.))

A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO I READ AN ARTICLE IN THE NEWSPAPER WHICH SAID THAT THE WHO (WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION) HAD CONDUCTED AN EXHAUSTIVE STUDY ON THE MODERATE USE OF MARIJUANA. THEIR CONCLUSIONS WERE THAT THERE WERE NO HARMFUL EFFECTS FROM THE MODERATE USE OF MARIJUANA AND THAT MARIJUANA USE WAS MUCH LESS HARMFUL THAN ALCOHOL OR CIGARETTE USE. THE RELEASE OF THESE FINDINGS TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC WAS SUPPRESSED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE. (THE WAR ON DRUGS IS A GROWTH INDUSTRY AND IS USED TO KEEP THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN A FEARFUL STATE SO WE WILL ASK THE GOVERNMENT TO INTERVENE EVEN IF IT MEANS ABROGATING SOME OF OUR INDIVIDUAL LIBERTIES. N.B. THE ANTIGUN LOBBY IN VIEW OF THE DRASTIC REDUCTION IN CRIME IN THE LAST DECADE.)
WITHIN THE LAST YEAR I READ IN THE NEWSPAPER THAT 1/2 OF ALL PRISONERS IN JAIL IN AMERICA ON ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT WERE THERE FOR DRUG RELATED OFFENSES. WE HAVE A GREATER PERCENTAGE OF OUR POPULATION IN PRISONS THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, INCLUDING RUSSIA AND CHINA.

4-13-01 (AP) ARIZONA REPUBLIC GUN DEATHS IN THE U.S. DROPPED MORE THAN 25% DURING THE MID 1990'S TO THE LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1966, THE GOVERNMENT SID THURSDAY. GUN-RELATED INJURIES FELL BY NEARLY HALF DURING THAT SAME FIVE YEAR PERIOD. (EXCERPT)

11/24/00 (NEWSDAY) ARIZONA REPUBLIC THE BRAIN OF A FEMALE INDIVIDUAL WHO LIVED PERHAPS 400,000 YEARS AGO IS SO SIMILAR TO HUMANS' THAT SCIENTISTS BELIEVE SHE HAD THE CAPACITY FOR SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMPLEX THOUGHT. DOUG BROADFIELD AND HIS COLLEAGUES AT MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN NEW YORK CITY REPORTED THAT ANALYSIS OF THE NEARLY COMPLETE CRANIUM AND BRAIN DETERMINED THAT THEY BELONGED TO AN ANCESTOR OF MODERN HUMANS, EVEN THOUGH THE FEMALE LIVED AMONG A SPECIES WHOSE FOSSILS HAVE NOT REVEALED SUCH BRAIN SPECIALTY. BASED ON THIS SKULL, BROADFIELD SAID, "HOMO ERECTUS PROBABLY POSSESSED A DEGREE OF COGNITIVE SPECIALIZATION AND A FACULTY FOR LANGUAGE APPROACHING THAT OF OUR OWN SPECIES." THE SPECIES HOMO ERECTUS GOES BACK 1.8 MILLION YEARS, AND INDIVIDUALS DISAPPEARED ABOUT 100,000 YEARS AGO. HOMO SAPIENS EVOLVED AFTER HOME ERECTUS. THE BRAIN ITSELF IS ABOUT HALF THE SIZE OF A MODERN HUMAN BRAIN. "THE SIZE OF THE BRAIN ISN'T WHAT WE LOOK FOR," BROADFIELD EXPLAINED. "IT'S HOW THE BRAIN IS ORGANIZED. THIS BRAIN IS CONTAINED IN TWO LOBES OF TISSUE THAT IS ASYMMETRICAL, MUCH MORE HUMAN-LIKE THAT ANYONE HAD EVER EXPECTED. WE DON'T SEE THOSE ASYMMETRIES UNTIL HOME SAPIENS EVOLVED." (EXCERPT)

JANUARY, 2001 (AP) ARIZONA REPUBLIC A TEAM OF FRENCH AND KENYAN SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED FOSSILIZED REMAINS OF HUMAN ANCESTORS THAT THEY BELIEVE ARE 1.5 MILLION YEARS OLDER THAN PREVIOUS FINDINGS. THE REMAINS INCLUDE PIECES OF JAWS WITH TEETH, ARM, LEG AND FINGER BONES. THEY WERE FOUND IN CENTRAL KENYA BEGINNING OCTOBER 25. RESEARCHERS WHO DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE DISCOVERY SAID THE FOSSILS ARE THE OLDEST EVIDENCE YET OF THE BASE OF THE HUMAN FAMILY TREE. THE BONES STRUCTURE SHOULD OFFER NEW EVIDENCE OF THE ORIGINS OF BIPEDALISM, OR UPRIGHT WALKING--A FEATURE THAT SEPARATES EARLY MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY KNOWN AS HOMINIDS FROM APES. THE FOSSILS WERE FOUND IN LAYERS BETWEEN TWO STRATAS THAT HAVE BEEN DATED TO BE 6 MILLION YEARS OLD. THE PREVIOUSLY OLDEST HOMINID REMAINS WERE FOUND IN ARAMIS, ETHIOPIA, AND WERE DATED TO BE 4.5 MILLION YEARS OLD. (EXCERPT)

APRIL 14, 2001 STEVE WILSON FOR THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC PRESIDENT BUSH AND HIS ENERGY-ENVIRONMENT BRAIN TRUST (MOTTO: "OIL RULES!") BACKED OFF CAPPING CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS AND SUSPENDED A TIGHTER LIMIT ON ARSENIC IN DRINKING WATER. SO IT IS NO BIG SURPRISE THEY'RE ROLLING BACK A HIGHER EFFICIENCY STANDARD FOR AIR-CONDITIONERS. THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT UNDER BILL CLINTON ISSUED RULES TO REQUIRE NEW CENTRAL AIR-CONDITIONERS AND HEAT PUMPS TO USE 30% LESS ELECTRICITY, STARTING IN 2006. BUT THE AIR CONDITIONING AND REFRIGERATION INSTITUTE, THE INDUSTRY'S TRADE GROUP, BALKED AND ASKED FOR NO MORE THAN A 20% CHANGE. ON FRIDAY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AGREED AND SETTLED FOR 20%. TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE THE SAVINGS HAS LONG BEEN ON THE MARKET. ALSO: (1) FEDERAL RESEARCH TO HELP AUTO MAKERS DEVELOP "NEW GENERATION" VEHICLES WITH BETTER FUEL ECONOMY HAS BEEN TARGETED FOR A 27% REDUCTION (IN FUNDING). (2) RESEARCH PROGRAMS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY, INCLUDING SOLAR AND WIND POWER, ARE LOOKING AT 50% CUTS. (3) A 49% REDUCTION WAS PROPOSED FOR HYDROGEN FUELS RESEARCH. (EXCERPT)

NOVEMBER 19,2000 (AP) ARIZONA REPUBLIC A MACHINE THE SIZE OF AN OFFICE COPIER COULD ONE DAY BRING HEAT AND LIGHT TO THOUSANDS OF HOMES IN THE WEST AT LOCATIONS SO REMOTE THEY ARE OUT OF REACH OF POWER TRANSMISSION LINES. FUEL CELLS, ESSENTIALLY BATTERIES THAT DON'T GO DEAD, RUN ON OXYGEN AND HYDROGEN. THE FUEL CELL HAS A STEADY-STATE CAPACITY OF THREE KILOWATTS AND CAN HANDLE PEAK LOADS OF FIVE KILOWATTS--THE POWER DEMAND OF AN AVERAGE HOME. FUELED WITH METHANOL, IT IS SUPPOSED TO LAST INDEFINITELY, THOUGH THAT IS STILL TO BE DETERMINED. AT $25,000 EACH, THESE MACHINES ARE NOT YET PRICED FOR MOST HOMEOWNERS. BUT THE COST PER UNIT IS EXPECTED TO DROP EVENTUALLY TO THE $5,000 TO $7,000 RANGE. THE FIRST FUEL CELL WAS BUILT IN 1839, BUT SERIOUS INTEREST IN IT AS AN ELECTRICITY GENERATOR BEGAN IN THE 1960'S WITH NASA"S APOLLO SPACE PROGRAM. (EXCERPT)

IT HAS BEEN PROVEN BY GEOLOGISTS THAT THE SPHINX WAS CARVED AT LEAST 10,000 YEARS AGO. EROSION PATTERNS ON THE SPHINX COULD ONLY HAVE OCCURRED BY LONG PERIODS OF RAINFALL. EGYPT HAS NOT HAD A CLIMATE OF RAIN FOR OVER 10,000 YEARS. IT HAS LONG BEEN ASSUMED THAT THE SPHINX WAS BUILT 4,500 YEARS AGO MERELY BECAUSE OF A PLAQUE STATING THAT PHARAOH (?) REFURBISHED IT AND HE LIVED 4,500 YEARS AGO.

HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT WHEN THE RETAIL PRICE OF GASOLINE GOES UP THAT THE MAJOR OIL COMPANIES REPORT PROFITS DOUBLE THAT OF THE SAME QUARTER OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR? THIS HAPPENED IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2000. RETAIL PRICE INCREASES WERE BLAMED ON HIGH CRUDE PRICES. DUH! THEN WHY THE RECORD PROFITS?

IN AN ARTICLE I READ IN THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC RESEARCHERS REPORTED THEY HAD CONDUCTED A HOSPITAL STUDY IN WHICH PATIENTS WERE PLACED INTO TWO GROUPS MATCHED FOR AGE, IMPAIRMENT, SERIOUSNESS OF CONDITION, ETC. A GROUP OF STRANGERS WAS ASKED TO PRAY FOR THE RECOVERY OF ONE GROUP AND NOT THE OTHER. THE PATIENTS IN THE GROUP WHICH RECEIVED THE PRAYERS RECOVERED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY MORE QUICKLY AND MORE COMPLETELY THAN THE PATIENTS IN THE GROUP WHO WERE NOT PRAYED FOR.

BILLINGS GAZETTE - MAY, 2001 (AP) EARLY HUMAN BEINGS ATE LOTS OF FISH AND SEAFOOD 20,000 YEARS AGO, A DIETARY CONCENTRATION QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE RED MEAT PREFERRED BY THE MORE PRIMITIVE NEANDERTHAL, A STUDY SHOWS.
RESEARCHERS ANALYZING THE CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BONES FROM NEANDERTHALS AND FROM EARLY MODERN HUMANS IN EUROPE FOUND THAT FISH, SHELLFISH, AND WATERFOWL WERE A MAJOR PART OF THE DIET OF THE MODERN HUMANS, EVEN THOSE WHO LIVED INLAND.
A REPORT ON THE RESEARCH APPEARS TUESDAY IN THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
OTHER RESEARCHERS SUGGEST THAT THIS FINDING SUPPORTS THE IDEA THAT A CONCENTRATION ON FISH FOOD HELPED TO BOOST THE BRAIN POWER OF MODERN HUMANS. SUCH FOOD IS KNOWN TO CONTAIN HIGH LEVELS OF DHA, A FATTY ACID PROVEN TO ENHANCE BRAIN AND EYE DEVELOPMENT.

USA WEEKEND MAGAZINE - NO 10-12, 2000 APPLE EATERS ARE LESS PRONE TO HAVE POOR LUNG FUNCTION, CERTAIN CANCERS, STROKES AND DEADLY HEART ATTACKS.
A NEW BRITISH STUDY OF 2,500 MIDDLE-AGED MEN SHOWED THAT THOSE WHO ATE 5 OR MORE APPLES A WEEK HAD NEARLY FOUR TIMES BETTER BREATHING CAPACITY AND LUNG FUNCTION THAN NON APPLE EATERS--EVEN AMONG CURRENT AND FORMER SMOKERS.
HIGH APPLE CONSUMPTION CUT THE RISK OF LUNG CANCER BY 40% IN A NEW UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII STUDY AND BY 60% IN A RECENT FINNISH STUDY OF 10,000 MEN AND WOMEN. FURTHER, FINNS WHO ATE THE MOST "FLAVENOIDS" - A TYPE OF ANTIOXIDANT CONCENTRATED IN APPLES - WERE 20% TO DEVELOP ANY CANCER.
THOSE WHO ATE THE MOST APPLES WERE THE LEAST LIKELY TO SUFFER A BLOOD-CLOTTING STROKE OVER A 28 YEAR PERIOD, FINDS RESEARCH BY FINLAND'S NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE. EVEN EATING HALF AN APPLE A DAY CUT THEIR RISK BY ABOUT 40%.
WOMEN WHO ATE THE MOST APPLES WERE 43% LESS APT TO DIE OF HEART DISEASE THAN THOSE WHO ATE THE LEAST. APPLE FIBER, NOTABLY PECTIN, TENDS TO LOWER BAD LDL CHOLESTEROL.
NEW TESTS FIND APPLES ARE SUPER SOURCES OF ANTIOXIDANTS, WHICH ARE MORE CONCENTRATED IN THE SKIN THAN IN THE PULP.

KANSAS CITY STAR 8-13-01 THE WASHINGTON STATE BOARD CHARGED WITH EVALUATING COLLEGE DEGREE PROGRAMS LAST YEAR APPROVED A BACHELOR'S AND MASTER'S DEGREE CURRICULUM IN "ASTROLOGICAL STUDIES" FOR THE KEPLER COLLEGE OF ASTROLOGICAL ARTS AND SCIENCES IN SEATTLE.
ACCORDING TO THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, ONLY 20 OF THE 31 INITIAL ENROLLEES MADE IT THROUGH THE FIRST YEAR. KEPLER PRESIDENT ENID D. NEWBURG SAID, "MOST PEOPLE WEREN'T USED TO A COLLEGE LEVEL OF STUDY."

BILLINGS GAZETTE 8-2-01 HAVE YOU NOTICED SINCE WE HAVE BEEN GETTING THESE AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS OUR GRASS HAS BEEN GETTING GREENER, GREENER THAT IF WE JUST PUT THE SPRINKLER OUT. THAT'S BECAUSE OF THE LIGHTNING. THE LIGHTNING DISCHARGES CREATE ABOUT 100 MILLION TONS OF FIXED NITROGEN COMPOUNDS ANNUALLY. THE LIGHTNING BREAKS DOWN THE AIR WHICH IS COMPOSED OF, ROUGHLY, FOUR PARTS OF NITROGEN TO ONE PART OF OXYGEN. THE NITROGEN IS DEPOSITED INTO THE SOIL BY RAIN DROPS AND ACTS AS A VERY GOOD FERTILIZER.

BILLINGS GAZETTE 7-30-01 (PARAPHRASED) A $15 MILLION DEMONSTRATION PLANT WILL TAKE THE WASTE FROM CONAGRA'S BUTTERBALL TURKEY PLANT AND TURN IT INTO OIL WHICH CAN BE REFINED INTO GASOLINE. THE ONLY BYPRODUCT WILL BE WATER.
IT CAN USE DEAD BIRDS, GUTS, SLAUGHTERHOUSE WASTE AND MANURE. THEY ARE ALSO WORKING WITH MAJOR HOG PRODUCERS TO SEE IF THEY COULD BUILD A PLANT WHICH WOULD RUN ON THE MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF HOG WASTE WHICH SITS IN LAGOONS ACROSS THE MIDWEST.
THE OIL INDUSTRY IS SUPPORTIVE OF THIS IDEA AS IT WILL BE ABLE TO REFINE THE OIL INTO GASOLINE AND OTHER PRODUCTS.
IF THEY USED ALL OF THE AGRICULTURE WASTE IN AMERICA THEY COULD MAKE 12 BILLION BARRELS OF OIL PER YEAR. AMERICA USES ABOUT 19.4 MILLION BARRELS PER DAY.