Saturday, April 28, 2018

WATCH THOSE STRAWBERRIES!!!

How to Grow Strawberries

Story at-a-glance 

  • Strawberries can be grown in containers or in your garden bed, and can produce for up to five years if well-tended. They can even be grown in a reusable shopping tote
  • Common strawberry varieties and general growing guidelines for matted rows and hills systems are included
  • Strawberries are high in immune-boosting nutrients such as vitamin C, anthocyanins, ellagitannins, flavonols, terpenoids, phenolic and ellagic acids that help fight infections. They also contain manganese, folate, potassium and copper
  • Commercial strawberries are heavily contaminated with pesticides and there’s no guarantee that organic strawberries are truly organic when bought at the grocery store
  • While an organic grower will not use chemical fumigants, the nurseries where the plants are started do. These plants are then sold to both conventional and organic growers, and despite their toxic start, they qualify for organic certification when harvested on an organic farm
By Dr. Mercola
Strawberries, a symbol of love, also have a lot to offer those passionate about their health. High in immune-boosting nutrients such as vitamin C, anthocyanins, ellagitannins, flavonols, terpenoids, phenolic and ellagic acids, strawberries help fight infections. They’re also packed with manganese and folate, potassium with its co-factoring enzyme, superoxide dismutase, and minerals like copper for the healthy development of red blood cells.
A culinary favorite and summer staple among people of all ages, strawberries are best grown at home, seeing how commercial strawberries are heavily contaminated with pesticides and the fact that there’s no guarantee that organic strawberries are truly organic when bought at the grocery store. 
While an organic grower will not use chemical fumigants, the nurseries where the plants are started do. These plants are then sold to both conventional and organic growers, and despite their toxic start, they qualify for organic certification when harvested on an organic farm.1,2

Grow Your Own Strawberries

Strawberries are easy to grow either in a garden bed, or in pots as small as 10 inches in diameter.3 Hanging planters provide the added advantage of keeping slugs and other critters away from the precious berries. When using a planter, make sure the pot drains well. Loam potting mix is recommended to ensure good drainage, and Day neutrals (see strawberry selections below) tend to be the best for container growing.
You can even grow strawberries in a reusable shopping bag — a $10 project that will take less than 20 minutes. All you need is six to eight plants, one unused reusable shopping tote, one 32-quart bag of organic potting mix, a bottle of organic tomato food, and a sturdy outdoor table. Rodale’s Organic Life provides the details.4
“[Cut] drainage holes in the bottom of your bag. Cut a horizontal slit about 2 inches long in the center of the bag's front and … back. Next, cut similar slits in the two long sides of your bag … Make the first slit a few inches above the base and the second slit at least 6 inches above the first … 
Now fill your bag with potting mix to the level of the lowest slits … Pick up the bag and thump it down firmly to settle the soil. Then, working from inside the bag, poke the leaves and the crown (the thick center section between the roots and the leaves) of one plant out through each slit and spread the roots out inside … continue filling the bag with potting mix up to the next level of slits, and repeat step 4. 
Fill the remainder of your bag with potting mix to within 2 inches of the top … Spread out the roots of your last two plants on top of the mix, and cover the roots with mix, filling the bag within one-half inch of the top. Just make sure the crown of each plant is out of the potting mix and its roots are completely covered.
Water until the potting mix is evenly moist. Water every two or three days to keep the soil evenly moist … Rotate your bag 180 degrees every two to three days, so all the plants get sun exposure. Once a week, feed the plants with the organic fertilizer according to the label directions.”

Strawberry Selections

The three basic varieties of strawberry plants you can choose from are:
• June bearing, which produce a single large spring crop per year. Most will bear fruit in early summer, around June, although there are also mid- and late-season varieties. To extend the time of your harvest, plant a couple of each. Varieties include the following. For a more comprehensive list, see The Spruce strawberry growing guide:5
◦ Allstar (late-season and resistant to red stele and verticillium wilt)
◦ Annapolis (midseason; resistant to red stele; grows well in mid-Atlantic area)
◦ Cornwallis (midseason, resistant to red stele) 
◦ Cavendish (midseason, resistant to red stele and verticillium wilt) 
◦ Northeaster (early-season with some resistance to red stele and verticillium wilt)
• Everbearing, which produce up to three harvests per year during spring, summer and fall. Popular varieties include:
◦ Fort Laramie 
◦ Quinault
• Day neutral, which produce smaller quantities of fruit throughout the growing season. The size of the berries is also smaller than the June bearing varieties. Day neutral varieties include:
◦ Seascape (continental U.S.) 
◦ Selva (California and Florida) 
◦ Tribute (suitable for cooler climates) 
◦ Tristar (suitable for cooler climates)
As a general rule, strawberry plants need between eight and 10 hours of sunlight during the day and well-draining soil with a pH between 5.8 and 6.2. In cooler climates, strawberries are best planted in early spring, while fall plantings are better in warmer areas like California and Florida. 
If you’re rotating crops, which is a core strategy in organic gardening, avoid planting your strawberries in an area where you’ve previously grown raspberriestomatoespotatoespepperseggplant — or previous batches of strawberries. This will cut down the risk of verticillium wilt. 

General Planting Guide: Matted Rows System

There are two different ways to plant strawberries in your garden: matted rows and hills. Regardless of the method you choose, amend the soil before you start by working 1 to 2 inches of compost into the soil. June bearing plants, with their profusion of runners, work best in matted rows, which is done as follows:
Create several 2-foot rows. Place two plants in each row, spaced about 18 inches apart. Space rows at least 4 feet apart. 
Apply a balanced organic fertilizer (10-10-10) at the time of planting, and again after renovation (see below). Avoid adding fertilizer late in the season so as not to promote new growth that will be prone to frost damage.
Mulch between plants to cool the soil, promote water retention and deter weed growth. Mulching will also prevent the berries from rotting when they touch the ground.  
Be sure to give the plants 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
During the first year, remove all flowers on June bearing varieties to encourage vigorous growth and runners. While this means you will not get a harvest the first year, you’ll get greater yield in the years to come. 
As the runners appear, train them so that they start filling in the row, making sure to space them about 6 to 9 inches apart. To do this, simply press the runner into the soil and either cover with a small amount of soil or a small rock to keep the runner in place until the roots form. Do not cut the runners from the mother plant. Eventually, all of these runners will form a mat that covers each row.
In cooler climates, add several inches of mulch over the plants during winter if temperatures drop below 20 degrees F to protect the crowns. Straw is ideal.
To ensure vigorous production for up to five years, renovate the bed annually. After you’ve harvested all the berries, cut the plants down to a height of about 3 inches and add a balanced organic fertilizer
Till the area between the rows. Narrow each row to 18 inches by removing the older plants growing on one side of the row. (By training the plant runners along one side, you can alternate the row sides during renovation, leaving the youngest plants to continue growing each year.) Thin plants in the remaining row so they’re spaced about 6 to 9 inches apart. 

General Planting Guide: Hill System 

The hill system is best for Everbearing and Day neutral varieties as they do not send out a lot of runners. Here’s how:
Create a raised bed about 8 inches high and 2 feet wide. Staggering the plants, place them in double rows, spaced about 1 foot apart. 
Apply a balanced organic fertilizer (10-10-10) at the time of planting, and again during the second harvest. Avoid adding fertilizer late in the season so as not to promote new growth that will be prone to frost damage.
Be sure to give the plants 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
Mulch between plants to cool the soil, promote water retention and deter weed growth. Mulching will also prevent the berries from rotting when they touch the ground.
Remove all runners and flowers that appear before July 1 in the first year.
While both Everbearing and Day neutral will produce berries for several years, plants should be replaced once their vigor slows — typically after three years or so.
In cooler climates, add several inches of mulch over the plants during winter if temperatures drop below 20 degrees F to protect the crowns. Straw is ideal.

Avoid Poison Berries by Growing Your Own

As mentioned, strawberries are ideally grown at home if you want to avoid toxic pesticides and other chemical exposures. Each year the Environmental Working Group (EWG) publishes a Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce,6 and this year, strawberries are at the top yet again. According to the EWG:
California data show that in 2015, nearly 300 pounds of pesticides were applied to each acre of strawberries — an astonishing amount, compared to about 5 pounds of pesticides per acre of corn, which is considered a pesticide-intensive crop.”
Tests done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2015 and 2016 revealed an average of nearly eight different pesticides per strawberry sample, compared to just two for other produce. Ninety-nine percent of samples had detectable levels of at least one pesticide, and 1 in 5 samples had residues of 10 or more chemicals. The most contaminated sample had 22. 
Combined, no less than 81 different pesticides were found in the samples, which came from growers in the U.S., Mexico and the Netherlands. Among the most hazardous of these pesticides are carbendazim, a hormone-disrupting fungicide linked to male reproductive damage, and bifenthrin, a pyrethroid insecticide classified as a possible human carcinogen. 
Disturbingly, 40 of the 1,174 samples contained pesticides that are actually illegal for use on strawberries. Conventional strawberry growers also use large amounts of toxic fumigants to sterilize the ground before planting, and nurseries fumigate their soil as well. So, unless the organic grower is also starting their own seedlings, chances are they’ve purchased starter plants from a nursery that used fumigants. 
So, if you buy organic strawberries, make sure the grower can guarantee the starter plants were purchased from an organic nursery, and is using crop rotation and anaerobic soil disinfestation7 — the organic alternative to soil fumigation for strawberries that allows the grower to control soil borne pathogens without the use of toxic fumigants. 

Friday, April 27, 2018

NORTH and SOUTH KOREA....FRIENDLY MEETING!!!

NORTH  AND  SOUTH  LOREA
LEADERS  MEET  WITH  HAND-SHAKE……APRIL 27 - 2018.

AND  WHAT  LOOKS  LIKE   WARM  FRIENDLY  VISIT.

IT  MAY  BE  THE  START  OF   DIFFERENT  BONDING….WHICH  THE  WOLRD  IS  HOPING  FOR,  WITH  PRESIDENT  TRUMP  OF  THE  USA  MEETING  WITH  “ROCKET  BOY”  VERY  SOON.

ONE  THING   CAN  TELL  YOU,  AS   HAVE  ALREADY  IN  THE  PAST,  NORTH  KOREA  IS  NOT  GOING  TO  START   WAR.  NORTH  KOREA  IS  NOT  MENTIONED  IN  BIBLE  PROPHECY,  AND  CERTAINLY  NOT  TO  START   WAR  WITH  THE  USA.

SO   SAY  AGAIN  EVERYONE  CAN  RELAX  WHEN  IT  COMES  TO  NORTH  KOREA.
……….

Friday, April 20, 2018

BIG AND GETTING BIGGER...NEAR SIGHTEDNESS

YA MY EYES WERE GOOD TILL I WAS STUDYING FOR 3 YEARS FROM 18 TO 21, EVERY MINUTE I COULD, HOURS A DAY, PUT MY EYES INTO NEAR-SIGHTENNESS EVER SINCE...... SURE IT'S A FACT IT WILL FOR MORE AND MORE IF THEY DO NOT REGULATE THEMSELVES.....IMPORTANT TOPIC

Sunday, April 15, 2018

STARING AT SCREENS..... Modern Technology and YOU

Documentary — Stare Into the Lights My Pretties

Story at-a-glance 

  • In the beginning, there were only a few ways to get new technology funded, known as the ABCs. “A” for armed forces, “B” for bureaucracy and “C” for corporate power; social engagement is the new driver of technology that has taken off more so in recent years
  • The environmental stimuli that come through screens may be keeping us permanently distracted, such that we’re unable to engage in deep thinking and knowledge
  • While the internet is viewed as a way to bring the world to our fingertips, there are those who say it’s actually a tool for amplifying the voice of corporate control
  • We tend to think about the internet as this medium where we can connect to everything and anyone, but in actuality most of the information is flowing through a couple of major gatekeepers, such as Google
  • You can customize and filter what you see, but how these things are architected actually may keep you in a carefully constructed bubble
By Dr. Mercola
Technology didn’t come about by accident, it’s a reflection of human will, or so claims the intriguing documentary, “Stare Into the Lights My Pretties.” Yet, with the rate of technological development continuing to grow exponentially, it’s unclear if anyone envisioned how society would become obsessed with staring at screens, such that our waking hours are dominated by them in one form or another.
In the beginning, there were only a few ways to get new technology funded, known as the ABCs. “A,” for armed forces, included ARPA, the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which commissioned the work that started the internet. “B,” for bureaucracy, refers to innovations such as government sites intended to deliver information and services, including online tax returns. “C,” or corporate power, made up the third arm, which drove the development of new products to draw in new markets.
According to Lelia Green, a professor and senior lecturer at the school of communications at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia, who is featured in the film, “Google would offer many examples of corporate power driving development.”1 Yet, social engagement is the new driver of technology that has taken off more so in recent years. Green notes that distributed collaborators and everyday innovators are now an important driver of technology.
“The acknowledgement of distributed networks of collaborators allows recognition of the creative power of ‘harnessing the hive;’ the community of people engaged in a shared activity,” she says. “We see these alliances of enthusiasts working creatively and productively in gaming contexts, in wikis and on fan fiction sites — to name but a few,” but what does all of this mean, and what will happen if this technological culture is left to continue unchecked?

Are Machines Running Our Lives?

At the foundation of the documentary is the unsettling question of who’s really in control: the machines or us? The film gives some unsettling statistics of how integrated technology has become in our 21st century lives:
  • Over 3.8 billion people have access to the internet
  • There are 2 billion active Facebook users every month
  • The average adult spends more than eight hours a day with screens (more time than sleep)
  • Within the first 15 minutes of waking up, 4 out of 5 smartphone users check their phones
  • By the time the average person reaches 70, they will have spent the equivalent of 10 to 15 years of their life watching television, more than four years of which was just for the ads
What does this mean for your brain? “As a neuroscientist, I know that the human brain is changing. I know that it’s highly plastic … it’s very dynamic, it will adapt to the environment,” says Susan Greenfield in the film. But the environmental stimuli that come through screens may be keeping us permanently distracted. You read an article online, then see an instant message pop up or go to check an email. 
Then you click on an advertisement, and suddenly are watching a video about an entirely unrelated topic. It’s easy to get swept away into the internet bubble, which can have both benefits and risks. Greenfield explained:
“I’ve often spoken about the benefits of screen culture being one of agile processing, but how that mustn’t be confused with content … it could be linked to high IQ, because the skills that you rehearsed when you play video games are similar to the skills required to do well on an IQ test. 
You don’t need a lot of facts or infrastructure … but you have to be very agile at looking at patterns and connections and getting to an answer in a very fast time frame … just because, as many claim, we’re seeing an increase in IQ scores in many societies, we’re not seeing an increase in empathy and understanding.”
In a meta-analysis of 116 studies published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience,2 for example, which set out to determine what effects gaming has on your brain, the evidence suggests that video games may benefit attention, and video game players show improvements in selective attention, divided attention and sustained attention, as well as areas of cognitive control and visuospatial skills.
The downside may be their effects on reward processing areas of your brain. Many such areas have been shown to be affected in people with video game addiction, “an impulse-control disorder with psychological consequences, not unlike other addictive disorders, especially nonsubstance addictions such as pathological gambling,” the study noted.3 “On the one hand, yes it’s very good for mental processing, fluid intelligence,” Greenfield said, “ … but that’s not the same as understanding. Information is not knowledge.”

Are Screens Leaving Us Incapable of Deep Thinking, Addicted to Constant Scrolling?

Nicholas Carr, author of the books, “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains” and “Utopia Is Creepy,” has found that with rising use of digital devices, millennials are experiencing even greater problems with forgetfulness than seniors.4 This is the “dark side” of neurological plasticity that allows your brain to adapt to changes in your environment. 
This type of plasticity is one way your brain recovers after a stroke has permanently damaged one area. However, the consequences to children growing up in the digital era could be devastating. Carr said in the film:
“The human brain is particularly malleable when you’re young. If a person is brought up looking at screens … and being bombarded by information, then the question is will the brain circuitry necessary to do things like deep reading and deep thinking, will they ever come into being … or will they be wired for internet type of thinking? 
I think the big fear is that we will end up with a generation of people who are very good at using the net and finding information very quickly but don’t really have a capacity for contemplativeness, concentration or deep engagement with information.”
There are concerns about addiction as well, with 40 percent of the participants in one study admitting they had some level of an internet-related problem and acknowledging they spent too much time online.5 Participants reportedly spent an average of five hours each day on the internet and 20 percent spent over six hours a day. By far the most common reasons for engaging online were social media and shopping.
Yet, overall social media use, and especially nighttime use, has been associated with poorer sleep quality, lower self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety and depression among 12- to 18-year-olds, according to research presented at a British Psychological Society conference.6 Greater social media use among young adults (those aged 19 to 32 years) was also significantly associated with disturbed sleep in a Preventive Medicine study.7
Further, a study of more than 1,000 people in Denmark further revealed causal evidence that “Facebook affects our well-being negatively.”8 Facebook users who took a one-week break from the site reported significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and a significantly improved emotional life, the study revealed.

Is Technology Amplifying the Voice of Corporate Control?

While the internet is viewed as a way to bring the world to our fingertips, there are those who say it’s actually a tool for amplifying the voice of corporate control. We tend to think about the internet as this medium where we can connect to everything and anyone, but in actuality most of the information is flowing through a couple of major gatekeepers, such as Google. 
You can customize and filter what you see, but how these things are architected actually may keep you in a carefully constructed bubble. By customizing and individualizing your feed, you won’t even know what’s being kept out. But what happens to our communities, our relationships and our culture if we’re all existing in this “filter bubble,” this world of screens, designed primarily to get people to click more and view more pages? 
It’s important to understand that, online, you are the product and corporations are seeking to gain more views of their content. Facebook, for instance, isn’t content to have the average user spend “just” 50 minutes a day. They’d rather it become a platform that’s on all day to become basically a background for your life. As The New York Times reported:9
Facebook, naturally, is busy cooking up ways to get us to spend even more time on the platform. A crucial initiative is improving its News Feed, tailoring it more precisely to the needs and interests of its users, based on how long people spend reading particular posts
For people who demonstrate a preference for video, more video will appear near the top of their news feed. The more time people spend on Facebook, the more data they will generate about themselves, and the better the company will get at the task.”
Facebook actually uses a sophisticated algorithm to track your interests, who you talk with and what you say, and includes information about your age, gender, income level and a phenomenal number of other specifics that allow advertisers to target exactly who they believe will click on their ads.10 In the case of smartphone devices, these companies are contributing to programing your actions, and how you think and feel. 
This is how companies satisfy their advertisers, who are paying for the privilege of your eyes on their ads. Some programmers call this process “brain hacking,” as they incorporate more information from neuropsychology into the development of digital interfaces that increase your interaction with the program. 
For instance, getting likes on Facebook and Instagram, the “streaks” on Snapchat or cute emojis on text messaging, are all designed to increase your engagement and desire to return. Technology companies are in the business of manipulating your behavior, and there are privacy concerns as well.
Rebecca MacKinnon of Global Voices Citizen Media Network said in the film, “Surveillance is much more present in our online than our offline lives, and I think most people in the United States … are not aware of that because when police officers come into your house … and go through your cabinets and desk, it’s obvious. If they do the equivalent in your email, your online storage systems or your Facebook … you don’t even know. So you’re not going to raise a fuss about it.”
The fact remains that people are putting intimate details of their lives online without regard for those who could be using that information negatively. The film also points out that personal details you share online — from religious affiliations to sexual preferences to information about your family — could one day be used against you or in a way that could bring you harm.

Screens Expose You to Blue Light

Another little talked about variable when it comes to exposure to screens is blue light. Exposure to LED-backlit computer screens or TVs at night significantly suppresses melatonin production and feelings of sleepiness. When your brain “sees” blue light at night, the mixed message can add up to serious health issues. 
In 2011, for instance, researchers found that evening exposure to LED-backlit computer screens affect circadian physiology. Among 13 young men, exposure to five hours of an LED-lit screen at night significantly suppressed melatonin production along with sleepiness.11
The issue extends far beyond sleep, however. LEDs have virtually no beneficial infrared light and an excess of blue light that generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), harming your vision and possibly leading to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in the U.S. LED lights may also exacerbate mitochondrial dysfunction leading to chronic conditions ranging from metabolic disorders to cancer.
If you view screens at night, it’s therefore essential to block your exposure to blue light while doing so. In the case of your computer, you can install a program to automatically lower the color temperature of your screen. Many use f.lux to do this, but I prefer Iris softwarefor this purpose. In addition, when watching TV or other screens, be sure to wear blue-blocking glasses after sundown.

Are Machines More Important Than the Real World?

Ultimately, the documentary forces you to take a step back and think about the way technology has inevitably invaded your life. On the upside, it also offers the chance to make changes in how much it influences your daily activities. For some, taking a social media break may be the eye-opening change that’s needed, particularly if you find you feel worse after a browsing session. 
You may also want to keep track of how much time you lose while getting distracted online — and devote that time to offline endeavors instead. If you find your life has become more focused on technology than relationships, now’s the time to make changes for the better, before it’s too late. As stated in the film, the risks can be steep:
Do you touch plastic or human flesh more often? How many machines do you have daily relationships with, compared to how many wild animals do you have relationships with? If you have relationships with machines, you can come to think that they’re more important than the real world.”