To ban or not to ban......that is the question

Just stumbling all around the web today and came across a really interesting article on a seemingly dangerous chemical that made my hair stand up.  Luckily for us there are coalitions out there trying to get this substance banned.

Read below:

Dihydrogen monoxide:

• is called "hydroxyl acid", the substance is the major component of acid rain.
• contributes to the "greenhouse effect".
• may cause severe burns.
• is fatal if inhaled.
• contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
• accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
• may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
• has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:

• as an industrial solvent and coolant.
• in nuclear power plants.
• in the production of Styrofoam.
• as a fire retardant.
• in many forms of cruel animal research.
• in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
• as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.

And some more information:

What is Dihydrogen Monoxide?

Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is a colorless and odorless chemical compound, also referred to by some as Dihydrogen Oxide, Hydrogen Hydroxide, Hydronium Hydroxide, or simply Hydric acid. Its basis is the highly reactive hydroxyl radical, a species shown to mutate DNA, denature proteins, disrupt cell membranes, and chemically alter critical neurotransmitters. The atomic components of DHMO are found in a number of caustic, explosive and poisonous compounds such as Sulfuric Acid, Nitroglycerine and Ethyl Alcohol.

Are you freaked out yet?

Here's a tad more:

Should I be concerned about Dihydrogen Monoxide?

Yes, you should be concerned about DHMO! Although the U.S. Government and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) do not classify Dihydrogen Monoxide as a toxic or carcinogenic substance (as it does with better known chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and benzene), DHMO is a constituent of many known toxic substances, diseases and disease-causing agents, environmental hazards and can even be lethal to humans in quantities as small as a thimbleful.

Research conducted by award-winning U.S. scientist Nathan Zohner concluded that roughly 86 percent of the population supports a ban on dihydrogen monoxide. Although his results are preliminary, Zohner believes people need to pay closer attention to the information presented to them regarding Dihydrogen Monoxide. He adds that if more people knew the truth about DHMO then studies like the one he conducted would not be necessary.

A similar study conducted by U.S. researchers Patrick K. McCluskey and Matthew Kulick also found that nearly 90 percent of the citizens participating in their study were willing to sign a petition to support an outright ban on the use of Dihydrogen Monoxide in the United States.


So how did something like this get swept under the rug for so long?  The truth - the truth is that this was a high school science experiment and became very famous due to the results it produced.  Every element on earth (and perhaps in space) has a chemical name and Dihydrogen Monoxide is the chemical name for water!  I was tricked the first time I read about this awful chemical too, I stopped just short of starting a campaign myself to get this guy off the streets.

So why is this on my blog?  Simple, it was a good lesson to teach ME to do my homework before jumping to any conclusions because there are a lot of people out there who will take advantage of the fact that we are not chemists and long complex chemical names instantly make us uncomfortable even if they are only talking about water.

I no longer believe everything I read, almost to a fault, but at least I sleep well at night knowing I did all I could to not be tricked by someone with an agenda.

Now go on you!  Pour yourself a nice cool glass of dihydrogen monoxide!

Ta
~CM

PS- I almost forgot, this hoax has such hype that there is a whole web site built just for it!  Can you believe that?!?

http://www.dhmo.org/

Shout Out To An Awesome Blog

Hi again,
I know it's been awhile but not because I have not wanted to write.  Life has been a bit of a whirlwind and I am a little behind.  Anyway I was cruising around on the net today and came across some lovely ladies who have their own awesome blog.  Since I love to connect with great people I wanted to pass this forward for your reading pleasure as well.

Now, just because I shared this link doesn't mean you can permanently abandon me!   The site I found today is all about the truth - since I dig and search for the truth like a hound doggie looking for a fox I found them to be right up my alley.  The web site I called Personal Care Truth and it is run by a group of professionals in the health and beauty industry.  It has great articles about what is going on in the industry from anything like legislation to speaking out on ingredient scares (which is becoming more and more common) and is truly frustrating.

Of course most of you know that I take this very personally because it misleads people into thinking some products are dangerous to use when really there are no conclusive studies and someone created the "scare" to help their own bottom line. 

As with all things in life I want to be able to make an educated decision based on research that has not been adulterated.  This site seems to be of the same mindset which is going to be a great resource for me.

Here is the link:  http://personalcaretruth.com/

Happy hunting!


~CM

How Does Our Garden Grow Part II

How INDEED!  We have had some not so agreeable weather lately which kind of prohibited us from venturing out back, fortunately for the plants, it was mostly rain (and one VERY awful wind storm) and that made them very happy.  Our garden is lush and green, very very green.  We have accumulated a (ahem) few weeds which will be appropriately "whacked" but our other plants are seemingly thriving.  We even have a rose growing on a rose bush that we were not sure was going to make it.  Also, our snail population has been revived!  I still cannot figure out where they get their shells from, very curious.  The tomatoes are looking good, they are about 1 foot tall and our peppers and celery are also doing great!  Also my mint is thriving but sadly our basil "bush" went onto the big green garden in the sky.

 The garden.....just a tad overgrown.

 

Our beautiful rose, hopefully with more to come.

The darling pansies.

The mint is just going wild!

The other basil and chives are doing just fine.

The front plants are peppers, doing quite well and the pot on the left, 

also peppers, the pot on the right is celery, 

looks like i will have to transplant it to the ground soon!

Last but not least the tomato plant, 

I cannot wait to taste what these 

plants will yield later in the summer.

Well Ta for now, hopefully We will be getting more good weather so that we can continue to enjoy our garden amidst the urban jungle.

~CM

How Does Our Garden Grow????

SO we did it!  We pestered our landlords enough and they finally gave in and let us use the backyard!  As you can guess we are like two kids in a candy store, we have eaten dinner outside every evening so far and today we planted veggies and flowers, it was a GREAT day!!!  Also, strangely enough, we caught enough snails to make any frenchman jealous.......what we will do with them remains to be seen but i am pretty convinced that there is a fairly large "snail-gasm" going on in the mason jars we created a little habitat in for them.  Interesting fact about snails, 1. they are hermaphrodites and 2. their sex organs are the little pointy things that stick out of the sides of their heads.  Should that ever come up in trivia - you'll be ready. (pictured right)

But I digress - we had a massive amount of clean up to do and how rewarding it was when we cleared away old branches and crap that has just been sitting there to find these tiny violet sprouts poking their heads up out of the ground along with what I believe is a rose bush, i pruned it a bit, we will see if it flowers or not.  We also were able to salvage a table and 4 chairs that with a little scrubbing were declared usable.  There are two large trees in the back yard, one in each back corner which provides the perfect amount of shade and breeze.  Today we planted some of our herbs that we have been growing hydroponically (yes the basil bush has moved outdoors) so has some mint and some cilantro and thyme which may not make it, we shall see.  We also bought a couple of tomato plants, some jalapeno pepper plants, celery plants and a half flat of pansies too, oh, also ivy (we have an ugly fence and very little privacy and some sort of flowering bush that seems like it will look nice.

My good friend is a gardner in NJ and has been taking pics of her garden an posting them, i like the idea, it's kind of an online journal and will help me remember what i did next year and what worked and what failed.  Below are the pics i took today, enjoy :)

our little pansies (see the ugly fence???)
Planted 4-11-10

Three Beefsteak Tomatoes (mmmmm)
Planted 4-11-10

Our Jalapeno Pepper plants
Planted 4-11-10

Celery
Planted 4-11-10

More Jalapenos
Planted 4-11-10

The left is the basil "tree" and the right is my Cilantro, Thyme and Mint (left to right)
Moved outdoors 4-11-10

Close up of the pansies, they are so cute!
Planted 4-11-10














I guess i should mention one last tidbit.  The neighborhood we live in, Greenpoint, was the sight of the largest oil spill that ever happened in the U.S. (yes, bigger than exxon valdez).  Although I feel that our soil is most likely fine we are going to send it in to a lab to be tested mostly out of curiosity but I suppose it would be the better to know than not know.  Once we have the results I will be posting them here :)

ok i have to run

~City Mouse.........or should I say......COUNTRY MOUSE??????

;)

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Yes, the basil tree is still alive and well.  Yesterday I had to remove it from my hydroponic garden and put it into dirt.  I did not have a pot big enough so he ended up in a delivery container and even that is probably not big enough.  The root system on this plant is phenomenal it is probably 1" in diameter and as deep as the pot itself.  We have other plants who are doing great as well, the basil was blocking them and i did not even know that they were alive.  Yesterday I transplanted cilantro, mint, thyme, chives and a second basil plant.  I was unaware of the existence of the cilantro or mint so that was fun to find.  


What shall we do with all of these herbs???  I really do not know, with the warm weather coming we are hoping to get back to basics and focus on our old eating habits which were much healthier than what we are currently doing.  Regardless, they make the kitchen smell wonderful and I love having plants in the house, the next things we are working on growing is salad greens, it would be so much fun to just pick my salad greens from the "salad bar."  we shall see how that goes perhaps I should try for tomatoes too.....


Well here's to the salad bar I suppose.


~CM