Squashed by a Big Thumbprint

I buy raw milk from four different sources.

One of those sources told me yesterday that he has stopped selling raw milk because his insurance company told him they would no longer insure him if he continued to sell and produce the product.

I then told this farmer from whom I have been buying raw cow's and goat's milk for the past 18 months: "What if I absolve you of any potential liability in order to keep purchasing the product?" In other words: "Can I buy this wonderful product of yours on the side?"

At that point he said, "You don't understand."

What his insurance company told him was: "If you continue to sell raw milk we won't insure any part of your operation." In other words: no coverage on his pigs, cows, chickens, eggs, buildings, equipment, etc. No coverage - period.

Of course, this farmer has been selling his raw milk for years to dozens of satisfied customers like me. But that doesn't matter. When you've got a one-size-fits-all food system you've got to expect it will spawn its co-equals - one-size-fits-all health care, regulatory, economic, and insurance systems.

How predictable. And how dull. We are all the poorer for it - and we are no less safe. In fact, the reverse is true. Under such a regime our health is more at risk - as is our liberty.

Cholesterol - How Could We Have it so Wrong?

Cholesterol has been characterized as a killer. In fact, it's a healer; one of the most vital and protective substances in the body.

High levels of cholesterol are often signs that the body is acting to counter assaults brought on by poor diet and other stressors. Specifically, high cholesterol often signals poor thyroid function, which can, in turn, be a marker for cardiovascular disease and cancer - the number one and number two killers of Americans, respectively.

As Sally Fallon writes in Nourishing Traditions: "When thyroid function is poor, often the result of a diet high in sugar and low in nutrients, the body floods the blood with cholesterol as an adaptive and protective mechanism, providing a superabundance of the materials needed to heal tissues and produce protective steroids.

"Just as a large police force is needed in a locality where crime occurs frequently, so cholesterol is needed in a poorly nourished body to protect the individual from a tendency to heart disease and cancer. Blaming coronary heart disease on cholesterol is like blaming the police for murder and theft in a high crime area."

If You Want to Get Better Don't Go to the Doctor

The leading cause of death in America is cardiovascular disease. The second leading cause is cancer.

These observations would come as no surprise to most people, but they might be startled to learn that the third leading killer is, as reported by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), none other than mainstream medicine itself.

In 2000 JAMA reported that 225,000 deaths per year were caused by doctors through the adverse effects of prescription drugs and surgery, errors in medical judgment, and by hospital-induced infections.

One is better off, when at all possible, avoiding mainstream medicine because its ideal patient is a chronically ill one. This person is "dis-eased." He is unable, unprepared, or unwilling to enlist his body in the healing process. And so he is trapped in the healthcare system.

This person then becomes a customer for life - and often an ideal one, as some hapless third party (you and me) ends up footing the bill.

This reality will bankrupt our healthcare system, which, in turn, will bankrupt our country.