Blogs

As of the beginning of May 2013, our Facebook seminar is at Chapter 10 of How to Die.

New people are welcome to join our Facebook Group at any time. 

You can even comment on chapters that were discussed earlier by the other members of the Group.

If you will probably read this book in any case, here is your opportunity to read it while it is still being revised.

See the course description above for complete details about how to join us.

Yours,

James Leonard Park,

advocate of the right-to-die with careful safeguards.

The U.S. Senate now has a long bill before it.
Our cyber-seminar will begin discussing
the pros and cons of each element of these proposed reforms.

In order to be included in these discussions,
you should join the Facebook Group linked below,
in the next blog entry.

Yours,
James Park, EXCO facilitator

In light of that fact that people are staying away from this class in droves,
the beginning has been postponed until June 2013 at the earliest.
Do you know of any ready-made group that would like to discuss these themes?
If so, perhaps so-sponsorship would help to gather enough seekers
to make this a meaingful discussion.

Write to me directly:
James Park
[email protected]

Hi all,

Trentin suggested the following Ted Talks:

http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change.html
This film deals with reversing desertification through the mass movement of grazing animals.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la.html
This one deals with the effects of a garden plot in the inner city.

Thanks for letting us know about these videos!

Tonight was the second class. We discussed different labels and certifications, including "organic," "raised without antibiotics," "cage-free," "free range," and Global Animal Partnership labels.

Next week, we will be discussing the health affects of different foods, comparing grass-fed beef to grain-fed, organically grown food to conventionally grown food, etc. We'll also be exploring the health affects of genetically modified foods, and investigating whether vegetables grown in different soils (under different conditions) have the same nutritional value.

For those of you who couldn't make it tonight, please pick a topic to research related to the health or nutritional value of food. Some topics that have not yet been taken include:

-- Sugars and sweeteners: What is the difference between natural sweeteners and artificial sweeteners, like aspartame or splenda? What negative affects do artificial sugars have on the body? What are the differences between high fructose corn syrup, white sugar (made from beets), cane sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup, turbinado sugar, stevia, etc? Does it matter (for our health) what kind of sweetener we use?

-- Food additives / preservatives: What research exists on the health affects of preservatives, artificial flavorings, and other food additives? What kinds of things are found in chicken nuggets and other processed foods that are bad for us? What are some of the most common food additives? Have there been studies on the impact of these additives on human or animal health? How do preservatives (or ingredients added "to maintain freshness") affect the nutritional value of food or the bioavailability of nutrients?

-- Raw milk vs. pasteurized milk: What is the debate around raw milk vs. pasteurized milk? What are the health differences between the two? What is the difference between A1 and A2 milk? What about the difference between cow milk, goat milk, camel milk, and other types of milk?