Humor is the great thing, the saving thing.  The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place.

Mark Twain


Just reading this made me smile.  I had to share. 
Keep smiling.  Good for the soul...
Some days I'm in a consistent state of wonder at my good fortune.  I love that.

By Dr. Mercola

This article continues and is well worth the read.  Click on Dr. Mercola's name for the rest. 

As unbelievable as it sounds, current law makes it illegal for food producers to share certain types of scientific information with you.
So when Diamond Food relayed health information about the omega-3 fats in walnuts on product packaging and also on their Web site, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) attacked.
Even though the information was entirely true, and backed by peer-reviewed scientific research.

If a Food Can Prevent a Disease, it Must be a Drug

This is the backward thinking that goes on at the FDA, where regulations currently prohibit manufacturers of dietary supplements or producers of food from referring to any scientific study documenting the potential effect of the substance on a health condition, punishable by large fines and even jail.
Disclosure about the benefits of a dietary supplement or food, no matter how credible, places the food in the category of an "unapproved drug."
In other words, if a product makes a medical claim, it's automatically classified as a drug.
This is how the FDA got away with sending Diamond Food a warning letter¹, stating:

"… we have determined that your walnut products are promoted for conditions that cause them to be drugs because these products are intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease.

The following are examples of the claims made on your firm's website under the heading of a web page stating "OMEGA-3s... Every time you munch a few walnuts, you're doing your body a big favor … "

These claims are backed by science², but it doesn't matter under FDA rules, which are so counter to rationality and logic that it boggles the mind.

 Wow.  How true.
Today's world, more than ever before, is a world where critical thinking is a survival necessity.  yet our ability to do so is not only not developed and exercised - but the opposite!  The curriculum I've been fortunate enough to discover and hone my own abilities to be discerning, is so comprehensive, with such integrity, it's a monument of human achievement.  Years ago, a colleague who was head of SUNY Albany Chemistry Department described it perfectly, in my opinion:  Pristine.  The trademarked name of this technology is Rational Inquiry - again, a perfect description.  An extraordinary human, Keith Raniere, is the source of this scientific discovery.  It has influenced my life more than any other single thing, other than being born.  No exaggeration.  Forever indebted and eternally grateful for the benefits I enjoy daily, I spend much of my time doing what I can to somehow use the tools as a small tribute for what I'm enjoying.

Life is so astonishing.
There are moments when things seem so dark to me...yet within the hour I reflect on that intense dark madness with wonder at where it came from...last night, home with my dog friends, I had such moments...

This morning I found a poem by Rumi that expresses it so well:

SOMETIMES
I FORGET COMPLETELY
WHAT COMPANIONSHIP IS.
Unconscious and insane
I spill sad energy everywhere.
My story gets told in various ways:
a romance, a dirty joke,
a war, a vacancy.
Divide up my
forgetfulness
by any number,
it will go around.

These dark suggestions
that I follow,
are they part of some plan?

Friends,
be careful.
Don't
come near me
out of curiosity
or sympathy.

A BLACK SKY
HATES
THE MOON.
I am that dark
nothing. I hate those
in power.
I'm invited in from the
road to the house
but I invent some excuse.
Now I'm angry
at the road.
I don't need love.  Let
someone break me.
I don't want
to hear anyone's trouble.
I've had my chance
for wealth and position.
I don't want those.
I am iron resisting
the most enormous magnet
there is.

-Rumi

Do yourself a favor today and buy the book called The Illuminated Rumi.  Translations by Coleman Barks and illustrations by Michael Green.  Food for the Soul.

Ask any of my friends; it's best not to get me started on certain people or things I'm passionate about.  Case in point: Leonard Cohen.  I have every DVD, CD and book available on or by him; yes, I was on the waiting list for 6 months for his latest one, Old Ideas.  My friend Lauren Salzman reblogged an article from New Yorker on his new release. I love her blog.  http://juanasadiccion.tumblr.com/page/2
  
Four years ago, he had just begun his first tour in over 15 years.  My friend, Pam Cooley, another big Leonard fan, notified me of this exciting news.  Pam's brother, Charlie Cooley, an exceptional Canadian drummer, actually was in the band with Leonard for some televised performances.  He secured us outrageously good tickets in a beautiful theater in Kitchener, Canada just outside of Toronto.  A HIGHLIGHT of my life!  I cried when Leonard walked out on stage...

I have a habit of falling in love with people for their extraordinary expression, deciding I MUST see them or meet them somehow, only to discover they recently left their bodies and this option is no longer available.  I'm not kidding.  This happened with Edgar Cayce, Ayn Rand, Frank McCourt - just to name a few.  I was thrilled to have that NOT be the case with either the Dalai Lama or Leonard Cohen.  So were they, I bet.  Coleman Barks is next - planning for the upcoming summer.  I can't meet Rumi, but Coleman, yes.

Today I'm sharing one of my big favorites of Leonard's on YouTube for all of you romantic souls who "love to love" as Bette Midler said in The Rose...I promise you'll enjoy it.  :))

Another favorite...by another favorite human:

A human being is a part of the whole called by us "universe," a part limited in time and space.  he experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

Albert Einstein

 A couple of gems mined from chapter beginnings in the book Dune Messiah.  As the author of the Dune Chronicles, Frank Herbert deserves great tribute for the giant effort of thought required to write this series.  It stands as a monument in the landscape of science fiction, therefore a classic in human philosophy.   The quotes that begin each chapter are written as relative historical comments to the times of these worlds and their humans (or other life forms).

There exists no separation between gods and men; one blends softly casual into the other.
   - Proverbs of Muad'dib

The convoluted wording of legalisms grew up around the necessity to hide from ourselves the violence we intend toward each other.  Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree.  You have done violence to him, consumed his energy.  Elaborate euphemisms may concealyour intent to kill, but behind any use of power over another the ultimate assumption remains: "I feed on your energy."

- Addenda to Orders in Council
  The Emperor Paul Muad'dib

Whoever said dogs don't have emotions hasn't heard Tucker sing the blues.  I laughed so hard I cried the first time I watched this - then I watched it another 10 times or so.  Yes, I like to laugh.  It's only 60 seconds.  I hope you enjoy (perhaps again ;)