We've received a good number of letters asking us to change our font, change our background, and hey, how the heck do you print this page so that it all shows up on paper?

Black on white is the preferred color scheme. Our font is large enough so that most anyone can read it. If you are having problems, please find out how to change the Text Size in your browser.

In Microsoft's Internet Explorer, click on View (at the top, left), choose Text Size in the drop-down menu, then choose a larger text size. Mine is set to Largest.

To print any site (that we've updated--please be patient, this will take some time), click on the Printer Friendly Page link at the top of the article, go to that page and print.

The newsletter will now be published whenever we've got something to publish. This means it will be smaller, and sent out irregularly. There will always be a link at the top to read the archives in case you've missed something, and a link to the subject index in case you are searching for a specific subject.

Our home page has changed a bit too. We are no longer the Wellness Directory of Minnesota; we are the International Wellness Directory. We are producing a directory of wellness practitioners from around the globe.

Additionally, we've held off for a long time from incorporating a variety of web tools at our site so that everyone can read the material. We have now found a happy medium. We now have some java script (such as our main menu on the home page) but for those who cannot see the menu (for whom java script just doesn't work in their browser) all links are provided at the bottom of every page we create. You can still get around the entire website, just go to the bottom of the page.

You will also notice some scrolling text (the links in the text do operate like normal links) that will update you to what's new at this site.

At the top is a Flash animation. As we learn more how to use Flash animations, we'll be adding them to the site to make your visit a bit more exciting. However, if your browser does NOT use flash, you're not going to miss out on anything. The pages will appear to you like everyone else. The only thing you won't get is the animation.

We hope you like our new format, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us: info@mnwelldir.org.

Some of you might wonder how in the world these organic standards affect you. I realize that many of you do not eat organic foods. So, how does this affect you? The history of farming on this planet has been thus: use up the land and then move on. This is historical fact. I’m not sure of the latest figures, but while I was in college, I learned that 192 acres a day in California turn to desert and will not grow a thing, because of conventional farming techniques. The Sahara grows, last I heard, by 25,000 square miles each year. Additionally, fifty acres a minute of oxygen-producing plants are eaten away by some circumstance every minute of every day. The best figures, (gained from the Union of Concerned Scientists, Institute of Science in Society, and various other scientific organizations) indicate that land degradation claims 12-17 million acres of farmland each year. Land all over the world turns into desert (desertification) because we’ve overused it and stretched its capacity to sustain life beyond its limits. Organic farmers are stewards of the land. They practice “sustainable” farming practices. For this alone, we all must support them and support the standards they’ve established. Profitability I’m sure you’ve all noticed that organic foods are expensive. So have the factory farms, the agribusinesses. They want some of that profit. Imagine them being able to create organic foods and sell it for less. Imagine how much they’d rake in. I purchased a red pepper the other day that sold for over seven dollars a pound. Imagine agribusinesses selling their “organic” red peppers for three dollars a pound. People would jump at that; but sadly, the red pepper would not be organic. It is organic only due to lowered standards. Instead of them adopting the organic standards and growing organic foods, the big money in the food industry exerts a powerful influence on the government to modify the organic standards so that factory farms can call their food “organic.” In the end, the consumer thinks s/he is buying organic food and thinks s/he is supporting sustainable farming techniques, when we are actually just buying the same old crud that the conventional agribusinesses have been producing all along -- only now they’re allowed to call it Certified Organic. Profits Be Damned Normally the USDA will publish that they are considering modifying organic standards and await the response from the public. This time, Congress tried to slip one by us by burying the organic standards changes in the middle of an unrelated bill. This is proof of the profitability of the organic food market, when the monied interests pressure Congress to change the standards so they can join in—without having to change their methods. Our letters to Congress quashed the bill, at least for now. Senate lawmakers were surprised at the number of letters, calls, and faxes they got asking them to uphold the standards. The pressure caused the Senate to back off. For now, the newly diluted standards will have to wait while the Secretary of Agriculture (who does not personally eat organic foods nor has he supported organic standards) studies this issue further. From the Health Action Center we got: Although we’ve neutralized the threat in the Senate, proponents of the rider still have the ability to submit the compromising language during House/Senate conference committee sessions.  That’s why we need you to keep up the pressure. Tell your Senators and Representatives “hands off organics” during conference negotiations When we sent out our action alert last week, we asked you to send a letter to your Senator, telling him or her to oppose any amendment that would weaken organic standards.  As the Agriculture Appropriations Bill heads into conference committee, I ask you to send another letter, this time to your U.S. Representative, who until now may not have heard from his or her constituents about the threat to organic standards. Send a letter today We’re almost there.  With your help, we will send a powerful message to our elected officials and government agencies that we organic consumers value our food and are willing to fight for it. Go ahead, click the links above and send a letter. And please read the next article and learn how you can be notified immediately when our health standards are being attacked. Keep in mind that the current administration has doled out loans, grants, and tax breaks to corporate agribusiness, but has completely overlooked the small farmer who cares for the earth by employing sustainable farming methods. From the Organic Consumers Organization: UPDATE: STOP THE SNEAK ATTACK ON ORGANIC STANDARDS Over the past month, Organic Consumers Association (OCA) network members have deluged Congress with over 170,000 letters, asking policymakers to reject an industry sponsored stealth "rider" to the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. The rider would weaken organic standards and allow hundreds of synthetic substances in organic production without prior review or public participation. Feeling the heat from their constituents, the U.S. Senate stalled the rider vote and forwarded it on for discussion in the House/Senate Conference Committee. Thanks to all of you for contacting your Congresspeople! Unfortunately we are up against powerful lobbyists from giant food processors such as Kraft as well as supermarket chains. If you have not taken action, please send an email to Congress. If you have already emailed or called your Senators and Representative, thank you. Please consider forwarding this action alert on to your friends and colleagues. We hope to generate more than 250,000 letters to stop this rider from being passed by Congress. TAKE ACTION: http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm   Do everything you can to stop this; the stewardship of farmable land is all our responsibility. This Just In! Action Alert! October 25, 2005 (this alert expires 11/15/2005) Stop Factory Farm Dairy Feedlots from Labeling Their Products as "USDA Organic" Click here to sign an important petition to the USDA: http://www.organicconsumers.org/usda.htm Apologies for the unusually high number of emails from us right now. Typically, you can expect only one email from the OCA every two weeks, but the national organic standards are currently under siege, as never before. As our SOS Action Alerts and newsletter, Organic Bytes, have pointed out over the past month, there is currently an industry-sponsored Sneak Attack on organic standards in the U.S. Congress. We've kept you updated about this Sneak Attack, involving an industry rider that would greatly weaken organic standards by allowing hundreds of synthetic substances to be used in organic production without proper review by the National Organic Standards Board and the organic community. We will keep you posted on that issue, and appreciate the more than 200,000 individual emails the OCA network of consumers has generated to Congress on that issue. We need a similar response from you on the following, equally serious issue... THE PROBLEM: Under pressure from big agribusiness, the USDA is deliberately refusing to take action against factory farm dairy feedlots who are unethically selling their products as "organic." This blatant labeling fraud is compounded by a loophole in federal organic regulations that is allowing unscrupulous organic dairy farms to import young calves from non-organic conventional farms (where the animals have been weaned on cow blood, injected or medicated with antibiotics, and fed genetically engineered corn, soybeans and cotton seeds, laced with slaughterhouse waste and tainted animal fats). These confinement and feeding practices are inhumane, unhealthy, environmentally unsustainable, and unfair to the majority of organic dairy farmers, who follow strict organic principles on pasture access and animal feed, and do not import animals into their herds from conventional farms. Take action here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/usda.htm WHERE DOES YOUR ORGANIC MILK COME FROM?   Actual photo of cows "grazing" at an "organic" factory farm. Photo of cows grazing at an organic family farm.   Some of the factory farms that currently confine thousands of cows in close quarters are operated by leading organic dairies such as Dean Foods (Horizon Organic) and Aurora Organic Dairy (producer of store brand organic milk to chains such as Wild Oats, and supplier to Horizon).   THE SOLUTION: On November 16, in Washington, DC, organic consumer and farm representatives will attend the National Organic Standards Board meeting to urge the USDA to stop allowing giant intensive confinement dairy feedlots to illegally market their milk as "organic." The OCA will be presenting a petition with thousands of signatures, which you can sign online right now: http://www.organicconsumers.org/usda.htm For four years, the USDA has ignored requests from its own National Organic Standards Board to clarify standards on organic dairy farms. These clarifications would assure that animals have access to pasture, fresh air, and water, and that a considerable portion of their diet is pasture grass, as opposed to grains and other highly processed feeds used in confinement feedlots. In addition, OCA and organic advocates want the USDA to put an end to the practice of allowing organic dairies to increase their herd size by importing young calves from conventional farms. OCA and the public interest Cornucopia Institute need your help right now to pressure the USDA to stop these outrageous practices. Click here to send a petition to the USDA: http://www.organicconsumers.org/usda.htm   Despite these attacks on organic integrity, OCA is confident that we can "Keep Organic Organic," just as we've done before in 1998, 2002, and 2004--when the USDA and corporate agribusiness tried to degrade organic standards by permitting genetic engineering, food irradiation, sewage sludge, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and non-organic animal feed to be allowed under the "USDA Organic" label. But to preserve organic integrity, we need your continued vigilance, energy, and financial support. For more information, see the "Safeguard Organic Standards" section of the OCA website, which is updated daily. Donate Here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/donations.htm For Organic Integrity, Ronnie Cummins National Director Organic Consumers Association An article worth reading: CODEX is NOT Going Away.

Vitamins, supplements, and organic foods are under attack. CODEX is winning everywhere. You don’t think it can happen here? Oh yes, it can.

Many of us never thought America would violate international law and start a preemptive war.  We were wrong.   

It can happen here, and it will happen here if we do not stand together; if we do not act proactively and keep our leaders in Washington deluged with our demands. Our demands are very simple: Health Freedom.

In Australia, they are trying to pass a law that will put you in jail for up to 5 years for using a non-standard, non-approved therapy -- on yourself.

Yes, if the law passes, you can go to jail for ordering some oleander extract off the internet, or you can go to jail for taking the oleander plant that grows on your front porch and drinking an extract you made from it. It’s happening in Australia, and it can happen here.

You must read this article from Australia: Therapeutic Goods Administration Amendment Bill 03150.

Here are two very interesting articles from Down Under written by a health freedom fighter there:

http://www.evehillary.org/health.freedom.info.htm

http://www.evehillary.org/corp.med.1.html

To be informed immediately so that you can inform others and begin a letter writing campaign, write to me here: info@mnwelldir.org or go to our Home Page and join there. When action is needed, you'll be notified immediately.

* * *

CONGRESS SET TO PASS LAW ELIMINATING LIABILITY FOR VACCINE INJURIES

Here is what the bill will purportedly do:

• If the Burr bill passes, "all economic incentives to insure mandated vaccines are safe will be removed and the American people are facing a future where government can force them to take poorly regulated experimental drugs and vaccines labeled as "countermeasures" or go to jail."

• BARDA The federal agency which will be in charge will be allowed: "to operate in secret, exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, insuring that no evidence of injuries or deaths caused by drugs and vaccines labeled as "countermeasures" will become public."

Here is a site where you can sign a petition to reject the Senate bill S.1873 (Biodefense & Pandemic Vaccine & Drug Development Act). 

But you must also write your representatives in Washington.

Most people writing to us who ask about our affiliates and our income sources are antagonistic. We've been accused of taking big bucks from companies to promote their wares. One recent letter from a reader told me that he had visited the Consumer Labs web site and looked up the study of probiotics we referenced in our article: Digestion Part II. He attacked us for publishing a lie and said that the probiotics we had reviewed (by Sedona Labs) weren't even listed.

Luckily most of our readers can actually read. The full study was not published on the page he sent to us, only a sampling. We got the full study from Consumer Labs in return for linking to their site. It even states on the page this character read that what was listed there are "some" of the results of the study. This reader told us he could never trust us again. Oh well.

Do we have to give Full Disclosure to our readers? No, we don't. We've got nothing to hide (except our incompetence) and we're not only not afraid to let the world know how we survive here, we're quite proud of how we've done it.

Keep in mind that we are NOT a charitable organization because we would have to keep immaculate records. I am not a good businessperson. I have a disability that affects my memory and ability to do math, etc. I spend a lot of my time looking for things that were just in my hand. It recently took me four days to get some checks mailed to the bank because I kept misplacing them, losing the deposit slip, and then when I had it all in the envelope, I lost the envelope. Last week, I found a check on my desk that was sent to us 14 months ago. You really don't want me running your business, I'm sure.

So, here goes:

We are just a tad over $50,000.00 in debt. Half of that ($24,000.00) is owed to creditors. What are our expenses? We have $17,000.00 in printers, and a $9,000.00 computer system (and software) that is backed up to external drives. There is some 20+ years of research on our computer system that we do not wish to lose. Until recently, we were paying just under $90.00 per month for internet access (Satellite and AOL), but we now have DSL which brought down the costs significantly.

Sadly, I have to report that the company selling us our printers really put it to us. Before we had printed 200,000 pages on the printer, we were told that it was now obsolete and that we might have problems finding parts. We still owed $14,000.00 on the printers. 

Research is not free. We subscribe to many journals and newsletters, and as often as we can, we purchase a DVD that costs us nearly $300.00 and helps us to locate practitioners for our directory and for people seeking a practitioner who won't poison, burn, or slash them to death. We ask for donations when we find someone a practitioner, but not everyone pays and we don't turn anyone down.

As to where we get our funding, first off, I must preface that I do NOT recall the exact percentages we get from our affiliates. I'm not good with numbers and I'm not about to waste my time looking up every minuscule percentage we get; suffice it to say, just read on and I'll tell you as much as I know.

Barnes & Noble: this was our first affiliate. We get a minuscule percentage from them for each purchase -- anywhere from 25 to 70 dollars a year, although I do not recall getting a check from them in ages.

Amazon Dot Com: we have the same relationship with Amazon as we have with Barnes & Noble. We've never received a check from them yet. Our book links are through either Barnes & Nobel or Amazon. If you wish to purchase from them, fine; if not, that's your decision.

Buy Dot Com: same as above. I don't recall receiving a check from them in over two years.

Wild Divine: this is a really great program, but I'm not sure how much we can make being an affiliate for them. We've not received a thing from them so far.

Wilderness Family Naturals: this is one of our newest affiliate links. We get a slightly larger percentage than the first three listed, but then again, it's based upon actual sales from our links. If you go there through our link, we get a percentage; if you return, but do NOT go through our link, we get nothing. We've earned about $12.00 a month since becoming their affiliate. Apart from that, this is where I order all my coconut products and I really like these people and want to support their efforts.

Simply the Best: A lot of people have asked about our connection to Simply the Best. It's very simple. I helped them get started. The main idea was to support our work, support the small companies that produce great products, get people (especially our readers) the products at a discount, and hire the disabled. I am a part time volunteer for them, downloading their figures at the end of the month to bring to an accountant at the end of the year. I answer letters at times, and help to put out forest fires. However, the business is not going well. The shipper has made a few mistakes (he's recovering from a brain injury), there were a lot of returns (which the company supplying the product would not stand behind), and some bad luck involving bad checks and undelivered products. Were they making a profit, we'd be receiving some of it. But so far, their contribution has been rather small. We're just glad that they now have some good products, that they give discounts to our readers, and that the companies they support are doing well.

Learning Strategies: this is a local company that produces CDs, DVDs, and video/audio tapes. Their products are top quality and we do get a hefty percentage of each sale. I think it's greater than 25%. We've gotten about $300.00 in the past two years from them. They make one of the best Qigong packages we've ever seen. Additionally, they produce some of the best CDs and audio tapes for meditation. Well, it's not really your normal meditation. They are called Paraliminal CDs and tapes. They really are unique. I've been using them since 1991 when I first discovered them. You really should check them out: Paraliminal CDs and Tapes.

Ultimate Immune: is our latest affiliate. We've used their products for over a year now (when needed) and have sent many readers to their site. We will soon review their products for you, but in the meantime, you can go there to purchase  immunosupportive products to be ready for the cold and flu season. We've received nothing from them yet, and their affiliate percentage is quite small. But their products are the best and we will review them for you in the near future.

Our longtime readers know that we maintain the highest standards of integrity here. When the Masters Miracle people split with the originator of the company, we ripped every reference to their products off our website and promoted the original product, Miracle II, instead. Master's Miracle had been a big source of income; Miracle II gives us nothing.

It is not uncommon for readers to find references to products suddenly absent at our site. It's very simple: if a person or company is not straight with us; if their business ethics are less than perfect, they will not find any support at our site. I really don't care if they've discovered a cure for death. In this life, the only thing we have that we can truly call our own is our integrity.

We are all volunteers here. Not a one of us earns a dime from our work. When we go to print, we do pay the advertising salespersons a commission, which is expected. If you have trouble believing any of this, then you should read this letter from our accountant. You can even give her a call (her phone number is on the letter).

We do not "exchange" links with other sites. If they have a good product we will review it and then link to them. Daily, webmasters come to us asking if we will exchange links. We won't.

As to reviews, if you have something out there you want reviewed, just write and we will contact the manufacturers, distributors, or author and try to get a review copy. We've only been turned down a few times, but that has been their loss, as many of the companies whose products we've reviewed will tell you.

Lastly, if you've made it this far, you probably remember that I said, above, that half of our debt is owed to creditors. This begs the question, "To whom is the other half owed?" It's simple; it's owed to the management of this company. We've all put our own money into keeping this ship afloat. Perhaps one day we'll get it back, perhaps we won't. The important thing is that we're going to do this until we can no longer do it.

Keep in mind that we sell none of the products we write about. We do sell promotional items and our books. Some people assume that this must be profitable, but because we give away more books than we sell, no publishing company will take on our books, and we've lost money on most of our publications. When we finally sat down to figure out our profits from our second edition of the directory, we discovered that we had lost $4.00 on each book we sold, putting us $12,000.00 into debt.

We will continue selling our books, asking for donations, and selling promotional items that will pay our debts. This month we are selling a t-shirt that is quite unique. We've only got a few left, so if you want one, you'd better order soon.

In the future, since publishing companies have finally been knocking at my door concerning my fiction, we've decided to publish a collector's edition of that fiction. Each book will be handmade, the dedication page will contain whatever the purchaser wishes to have printed there, along with its "printing number" out of 100, and my signature. It will sell for $200.00. It will be covered in hand made paper (from weeds and cattails and the like). This book will be something very special. After each short story, you will find an essay on how the story was written. If you have any interest, it would be best to write and tell me, since once we do this (by next summer) we're pretty sure they'll go fast. You'll have a unique book, and we'll be able to pay our creditors off.

Additionally, since my reputation as a photographer is growing, we sell numbered prints of my photos for $200.00 each now. Again, if you want a copy, numbered and signed, you must write to me.

We apologize if our newsletter seems a bit commercial with links everywhere to buy products, but that's life. We have to pay our bills and we support only the best companies out there. That's how we do it and that's how we'll continue doing it.

And if you want to support our efforts, keep in mind that 99% of the time when you re-order from one of our affiliates, you have to go through a link at our site in order for us to get credit.

We've touched upon probiotics (acidophilus being one most people are familiar with) in the past, especially in our Digestion Articles (Part Two), but felt that we really needed to get into more depth on this subject since it is of such importance. We've found some amazing new research into the role of probiotics in our immune system.

Since we've focused in depth in this issue on the Avian Flu (scare), much of what we have learned comes down to this: your preventive program MUST contain probiotics.

So we've updated the Digestion articles with this new information. You can find it right here: Probiotics.

And if you are looking for probiotics, the best we've found (the best Consumer Labs has found) are from Sedona Labs and are on sale to our readers at Simply the Best.

Simply the Best is having an unadvertised sale that only YOU will know about: Buy 4 and get 1 free of any Sedona Labs product at the site. This is a spectacular discount. I did the math on this one and they're barely making a profit on this sale. You will NOT find any information at the site on this discount, simply order 4 of one Sedona Labs product and you will get a notification that you will be receiving 5 in your shipment. If not, write me and I'll check this out.

We are in shock. The Russians know something we've not yet caught on to: a healthy population makes for a stronger democracy.

How can people who are sick and exhausted fulfill their responsibilities or their obligations as guardians of a democracy?

In a democracy, the president is a leader and a servant. He is a servant to the people. The people hold the power.

How much power can an ailing population hold?

Democracy demands we all participate. It takes a healthy people to participate fully.

This is why Russia outlawed microwaves. Microwave ovens are slowly killing us. Microwave ovens create food that was never meant to enter our bodies.

As we fill our bodies with microwaved poisons, we slowly fill up with inflammation and all the various diseases inflammation brings on: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue, MS, fibromyalgia, and the list goes on, and on, and on.

We've written about microwaves in a previous newsletter. One of the first links ever at this site is Hidden Hazards of Microwave Cooking, the report of an actual study that was blocked from publication.

I was asked by a reader what I thought of Kevin Trudeau’s book,

I told him I hadn’t read it, and probably wouldn’t. So, that reader went out, bought it and sent it to me. I read it.

If you know anything about Kevin Trudeau, you’ll know he spent time in a federal penitentiary for credit card fraud and has been investigated by practically everyone over some scheme.

However, I never hold anyone’s past against them. Let’s face it, St Augustine was a sinner long before he became a saint.

Having said that, I can judge Trudeau’s book, Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About in and of itself.

First off, there are NO secrets in medicine, only things you’ve not yet heard of.

Second, no one from the pharmaceutical industry cares one whit about what you know or don’t know. The pharmaceutical industry is not spending a dime trying to suppress information.

The pharmaceutical industry is spending billions to keep alternative health products away from you. They want to own the vitamin and supplement industry too, and overcharge you for that like they’ve overcharged for their drugs. They want to make sure that cheap alternatives are outlawed. THIS is how they are spending their money, and they are doing a bang up job. Read the articles about what is going on in Australia.

Don’t buy into the hype.

Trudeau’s book is chock-full of information. It is presented plain and simple. There is no depth to his research. In fact, his research is not really research, but simple plagiarism. He hardly gives credit to anyone or tells you where he found the information. It’s as if he bought a few books on natural cures, garnered information from the web and slapped this together. Which, in my opinion, is exactly what he did.

I, too, could have created a web site that same way, if my goal had been to make money. However, my goal was to heal and help others to heal. And I won’t just write out something that I do not understand fully. I try to make the difficult, obscure and complex a bit less difficult, obscure, and complex to my readers. I try to simplify without oversimplifying.

Trudeau’s book is designed to make money only. He is not the consumer advocate or the expert he claims to be, but he is an expert at separating people from their money.

His book is one huge advertisement for his web site and his newsletter for which you can buy a lifetime subscription at the minuscule cost of $495.00.

Or, you can come to our web site for free. [What am I doing wrong?]

Here’s some further reading about Trudeau and his schemes:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art36180.asp
http://www.mlmsurvivor.com/felon.htm

So, when you get something in the mail about this hidden secret or this secret ingredient, don’t believe it. It’s not a secret.  Many common substances are sold under "new names" in order to generate bigger profits. If you really want to know the truth about something, you can write to us and ask. If we don’t know about it, we will look it up.

Continuing our examination of the history of medicine, we have found an extraordinary woman who served the Union army as the first female surgeon the military had ever employed.

For those of you who missed the Civil War article from our last newsletter, written by a surgeon and medical historian, Dr Julius Prestigiacomo Bonello, here you go: Civil War Medicine.

For the rest of us, let's take a look at this Dr Mary Edwards Walker.

Dr Garry Gordon's book, The Omega-3 Miracle is the most thoroughly researched and delightfully presented book on these miracle fats I've ever read. In fact, I was given two books on the same subject and the other was so eclipsed by this one, I refuse to hurt the author by publishing that review here. Click here to read our review of The Omega-3 Miracle.

This entire story is amazing. The discovery, the battle over the discovery, the tests and further studies, and finally the simple fact that our arteries have another enemy that came from nowhere. Click here to read our review of The Calcium Bomb.

Dr Bruce Fife loves our little web site. He sent me two more review copies of his latest coconut books. They are a must in every kitchen and first aid kit. Click here to read our review of Coconut Cures, and click here to read our review of Cooking with Coconut Flour.

Note: GasAway has been discontinued because their new digestive enzymes called NextZyme contain those gas fighting enzymes. Read about