The Culture of Immobility

Dec 8, 2009

The Snow as a Complementary Feature of the Culture of Immobility and Fear which Permeates the Retirement Communities of an Aging Society. by Howard Sachs, MD, PhD

I’m 83 years old, a retired neurologist, living in a retirement facility in Easthampton, Massachusetts, where most of the residents are widows between the ages of 68 to 98. The two major activities here are engaging in eating and sitting immobile near the fire, engaging in gossip.

The first snowflakes serve as reinforcement to the above activities since the beautiful site of the snow outdoors is terrifying to the residents who regard stepping outdoors, regardless of the amount of snow as unthinkable. I personally love walking in the snow as long as pushing my walker through it is manageable and not treacherous.

I do have a great pair of cleated boots, but admittedly, it would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to push a wheeled walker. I do recall the ease of walking with ski poles along the desert of snow in Antarctica, or on the trail in the Nepali Himalayas. Nevertheless, I feel grateful to Ram Das, who in his book, “Still Here” reminds us not to dwell in the past.  For certain, I will never revisit those places again.

But certainly, the ploughed parking lot outside of this “Inn” is hardly comparable, and simply provides a little exercise and lovely cold fresh air. Nevertheless, it’s understandable why the elderly women with their osteoporotic bones fear walking in the snow and falling. However, I do resent it when the staff places me in the same category as these decaying souls. Although no longer a college football player, the years of hitting the ground and training did build a sturdy bone structure, not easily perturbed by a fall in the snow.

[Via http://hmsachs.wordpress.com]

USDA Puts "Spent Hens" In School Lunches

Just how bad does a product have to be if McDonald’s, KFC and other fast food chains refuse to use it?  Pretty bad.  Afterall they have no reservations about using high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, carcinogenic binders and a ton of genetically modified corn (the Chicken McNugget is more GM corn than chicken).  But even the Colonel and the Clown draw the line at using “spent hens.”

The USDA, however, claims that spent hens are safe enough to feed to your children.  To prove it they have spent 145 million of your tax dollars so they could put 77 million pounds of spent hens into your child’s school lunch.  That’s right the USDA, whose Strategic Plan Framework states their goal of  “enhancing food safety by taking steps to reduce the prevalence of foodborne hazards from farm to table,”  is feeding your kids food that even McDonald’s will not.

So what are spent hens?  Good question.  Spent hens are laying hens that no longer produce eggs.  Once they stop producing they are of no use to the producer; they are simply a living, breathing financial liability.  Commercial laying hens spend their lives crammed into tiny battery cages unable to walk freely.  As a result they suffer from osteoporosis.  These brittle bones prevent them from retiring to a farm in the country.  They simply would not survive.

Consequently it is these same conditions that make them hazardous for human consumption.  Their fragile bones splinter quite easily while being processed often making them a choking hazard even in a “boneless” form like a patty or nugget.  Also, one study shows spent hens are four times as likely to be contaminated with salmonella.  Children are very susceptible to salmonella poisoning.

So why does the USDA take such reckless chances with your child’s health?  Could it be because of this government organization’s unholy union with biotech and agribusiness giants like Monsanto and the Biotechnology Industry Organization?  Perhaps their indifference to human life has rubbed off on the USDA?  It would be hard not to conform, afterall much of the department’s leadership is made up of agribusiness moles.

Take Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, a strong proponent for genetically modified corn (which has been proven to be the root cause of every e coli outbreak on record).  In 2001 he was awarded the title Governor of the Year by the aforementioned Biotechnology Industry Organization.  On January 21, 2009, Vilsack was appointed by President Barack Obama as the 30th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The fox guarding the proverbial hen-house.

For more on the issue I suggest reading the article by Blake Morrison, Peter Eisler and Anthony DeBarros for USA Today.

For more about the dangers of GM foods take a few hours to watch the movies The Future of Food and Food Inc.

Photo courtesy of Farm Sanctuary.

[Via http://wannabetvchef.wordpress.com]

Standing Pilates to strengthen your hips

Hi there!   

I have a lot of clients who have osteoporosis and I teach them this exercise so that they can train for balance, stability and strength in their hips.   It’s always surprising that one hip is so much stronger than the other so do a few more reps of this exercise on your weaker side.      You can also download this exercise from my website – the exercise changes monthly so check back at the beginning of each month!

Exercise of the Month for December 2009

www.PersonalizingPilates.com

Joan Breibart, head of the PhysicalMind Institute in New York, created this exercise and included it in her book “Standing Pilates”.  I love this exercise because it can be done just about anywhere, anytime.   It’s great for mobilizing the hip joint and for strengthening the muscles that support the hips.  This exercise is fantastic if you have osteoporosis because it’s weight bearing and I’ve included in my Personalizing Pilates/osteoporosis workout.   It’s also in the Runners workout since runners need strong hips and balance because there is always just one foot on the ground when running.

• Stand with your weight on the four corners of your right foot (base of big and baby toes, inner and outer heels). 
• Place your left heel on top of your right foot.  
• Your hips will be facing forward (a) and your eyes will be on your horizon.  
• Inhale and slide your right hip out to the right side (b). 
• Exhale and slide it back underneath you (a). 
• Repeat six or eight times and switch sides.

 

Start position

 

Slide your hip

[Via http://personalizingpilates.wordpress.com]