Englewood Voices
Columns or blogs by Englewood people.
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Herb “Padre” Agee
By Herb “Padre” Agee
Englewood United Methodist Church
I’m sitting at home right now with the TV on. I came home for lunch and turned it on while I ate the three hot wings left over from last night. I needed more, by the way, because I love the Publix hot and spicy wings from the deli.
Anyway, CSI was on the Spike channel. Boy, is it ever easy to get hooked on that show. When one is over, they don’t even go to commercial, they move immediately into the next show to hook you for another hour, then another, and then another. I’m not saying I did that when I should have been working. But guess what? All of a sudden you realize you’ve watched several hours of CSI and been exposed to dozens of commercials, which, of course, is why they made the show in the first place. Or didn’t you know that?
Continue reading this story…The Code
Todd Tracy
By Todd Tracy
Just in case you weren’t able to attend the Community Redevelopment Area meeting on Thursday the 19th, at 1 o’clock at the Orange Street Park, I thought I’d write a quick review of the meeting for you.
First, our expected September ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Cherokee Park with its twin piers, one for fishing and the other for boat visitors to the street, is still languishing in the final stages of permitting. The really frustrating part of the whole convoluted process is that apparently there simply isn’t a rule book that our beloved environmental regulators have to play by. From my point of view, it appears that, quite literally, the government has the unwritten authority to make up obstacles as the game progresses. I had hoped that the economic slowdown would have improved our chances of getting Cherokee Park approved, thinking that smaller departmental budgets and fewer human antagonists would have resulted in a quick passage. Regrettably, slower times also mean fewer projects to review and fewer opportunities to justify a staffer’s worth.
New real estate scams are popping up
Dane Hahn
By Dane Hahn
The Realty Column
Recently I took a series of continuing education classes to renew my real estate license. In the middle of a class on mortgage lending, two FBI agents ran into the classroom, which, frankly, stunned most of us. But they were not there to take any of us away, they were there to tell us of some real estate scams that are being perpetrated on the banking industry — which they called mortgage fraud. It’s a huge deal and they are very serious about stopping it.
The FBI has found that fraudsters are evolving new ways to take advantage of lenders and hide their intent.
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Fatty liver
Carolyn Schoner
By Carolyn Schoner
Doctor of Oriental Medicine
A fatty liver is an accumulation of triglycerides in the liver. The causes include obesity, diabetes, excessive consumption of alcohol, sugar, IV drugs such as tetracycline and corticosteroids, and exposure to toxic substances, such as carbon tetrachloride and yellow phosphorus. Fatty liver can be reversed. A fatty liver is also a precursor to cirrhosis.
One of the most interesting things about a fatty liver is that it often starts in children that are overweight, especially those youngsters that are obese.
Fat cells are created from weight gain. When a person loses weight, the fat cells decrease in size but they do not disappear. Where are the toxins in the body stored? You guessed right — in the fat cells. The more weight, the more fat cells and the more stored toxins.
Unfortunately, the liver cannot break down every toxin, so toxins are stored in bones, fatty tissue and the brain. In a fatty liver, there are fat deposits. That fat hinders the liver from filtering the blood and then blocks blood circulation within the liver.
There is a direct relationship between sugar, triglycerides and fat. I have heard people say “I do not eat any sugar; I stay away from candy, cookies, cakes, and sodas.” Well, there are five types of sugars. Lactose is in milk, dairy, cheeses, creams, and ice cream. Fructose is in all fruits and some vegetables. Maltose is found in malts, beer, some grains, cereals, wheat, barley, hops, corn, yeast, bread, pasta, noodles, whiskey, scotch and alcohol that is made from any grain. Glucose is found in all starches, rice, noodles, some vegetables, corn, and fruits. Sucrose is simple sugar that is found in cane sugar, sorghum, beets, white and brown sugar. Sugars are polysaccharides, disaccharides, or monosaccharides. A carbohydrates will contain three or more molecules of simple carbohydrates thus polysaccharides. What happens when we make a dinner? We mix and combine different ingredients and the chemistry of food changes from a single sugar-monosaccharide to a polysaccharide.
For instance, lets examine macaroni and cheese. We use cheese (a lactose sugar), we add a little milk (a lactose sugar), butter (a saturated fat), add the macaroni (a maltose sugar depending what is in the macaroni); now you have three different sugars, different saccharides and complex carbohydrate. If you add a little applesauce you have added a fructose sugar. If you add a salad or a dessert or a beverage? For those people who say I never eat sugar,think again. Sugar is in most foods, and most foods have a combination of sugars.
What I am saying loud and clear is that a fatty liver is caused by too many sugars and carbohydrates that clog the liver and form fatty depositst can turned into cirrhosis and liver cancer.
I am a great proponent of doing a liver cleanse once a year, and sometimes twice if you have taken an antibiotic, or have gone through a stressfull period in your life. Fasting is good. Take a day and drink only water or juice. Liver likes foods that are sour, like lemons, limes and grapefruits, and teas such as red clover, nettle, dandelion and green.
The liver is the most important organ in our body because it affects all the other organs and their functions.
Remember, sugar is more than just a candy bar; sometimes there is less sugar in that candy bar than in some of the foods we eat.
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You may e-mail me with your comments and questions at food_as_medicine@yahoo.com
Carolyn Schoner is a doctor of Oriental Medicine. Her practice encompasses the use of Herbology, Homeopathy, CranioSacral Therapy, Visceral Manipulation Tui Na Massage, Moxabustion, heat therapy, Qua Sha, Gi Gong, vitamins and minerals, essential oils, Bach Flower Remedies, diet counseling, energy work, non-surgical face lifts and tummy tuck and acupuncture. She has been in practice for 10 years. She conducted undergraduate studies at Ohio State University, graduate studies at University or Arizona, Oriental Medicine at East West College, CranioSacral and Visceral Manipulation at Upledger Institute, blood chemistry and medical imaging at the University of Miami and Homeopathy and Homotoxicology/Women’s Health at the International Society for Homotoxicology.
A fond look back at The King’s film career
Jenna Lonsdale
By Jenna Lonsdale
Film & TV
It’s hard to believe that it has been 33 years since Elvis left the building on Aug. 16, 1977.
Thinking about it brought back memories of how I was introduced to The King by watching his films with my dad when I was very little. I’ve been an admirer ever since.
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When it comes to real estate, it’s all about rights
Dane Hahn
By Dane Hahn
The Realty Column
Real estate is all about rights. Who has the “right” to do something, and who has to withstand the other fellow’s rights.
Real estate rights are spelled out in the long and sometimes difficult-to-read documents that lawyers and Realtors always have in their briefcases.
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Created for love
Herb “Padre” Agee
By Herb “Padre” Agee
Englewood United Methodist Church
Have you ever wondered why God created us?
Of course you have, everybody has. We lie in bed at night and wonder stuff like that before we fall asleep, or it keeps us awake half the night. Isaiah 43 says that we were created for his glory. I think I remember being taught that he created us to worship him. That’s kind of what you get when you read “for his glory,” isn’t it? But I don’t think that, at all.
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Liver health
Carolyn Schoner
By Carolyn Schoner
Doctor of Oriental Medicine
According to Chinese medicine, the liver is the most aggressive of all the organs in our body. Anger is attributed to the liver. Any food that taste sour is soothing to the liver.
The spring of the year is the time for the liver; liver cleanses are most effective when taken in the spring, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot do a liver cleanse the rest of year. The Chinese believe that spring is the time of renewal, therefore, why not imitate Mother Nature by cleansing the most important organ in our body.
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