Friday, August 25, 2017

Medicine in the kitchen: Mum-of-two, 34, reveals the old family recipes she uses to cure her children’s common colds



Winter may almost be at it's end, but those common colds, flus, and coughs are still rearing their ugly head.

But now one Perth mum-of-two is sharing the old family recipes she uses to help keep her children healthy - with ingredients straight out of the pantry.

Carol Heaton, 34, first made one of these natural remedies when she was visiting family in Canada with her eight-month-old son Zavier in April.

He was sick with an ear infection, was very congested, and constantly coughing. But Carol's options for treatment were limited because of his age.

'As he was only six months old at the time, there wasn't much I was able to give him to alleviate his symptoms,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 

She put a baby balm on his chest and used a saline spray on his nose, but nothing was doing the trick.

Then her family insisted she try a natural cough syrup that they had been using for many years, and it only required two ingredients.

To create the Onion Sugar Syrup, Carol cut a peeled brown onion into large slices and simply sprinkled sugar over the slices.

She let the onions sit in small plate or bowl for a few hours, until the juice from the onion started to collect at the bottom.

Carol then fed a spoonful of the juice to Zavier every hour, storing it in the fridge.

Onion Sugar Syrup for Coughs

Ingredients:

-One large peeled brown onion

-Three heaped tablespoons of white granulated sugar

Method:

Cut the onion into large slices, sprinkle the sugar over the onions.

Let this sit on a small plate or a small bowl for a few hours until you see the juice from the onion start to collect at the bottom of the plate.

Give a spoonful to the child every hour, it has a nice sweet taste which babies love. It is best to make this syrup fresh every day and store in the fridge.

*Suitable for babies six months and up

Source: Walk In Pantry

'Honestly it started working very quickly,' she said. 'Within a few hours of taking it he was bringing up the phlegm.'

'The cough started to ease as soon as he started coughing up the phlegm, and then had stopped completely within three to five days.'

Although the combination may sound odd to some, Carol said her son loved the syrup because it tasted sweet.

And the onion, which Carol described as a 'humble ingredient but so powerful', is integral to the recipe.

'It's a natural expectorant so it helps thin out the mucus, making it easier for children to cough it up. And it aids in boosting immunity as well,' she said.

Carol loves using natural remedies and has a slew of family recipes, which her mother once used on her, that she has shared on her site Walk In Pantry. 

There is her Haldi Milk recipe, which combines turmeric powder, grated ginger, honey, and a cup of milk, to help soothe sore throats and help cold symptoms.

Carol said she often uses her Cayenne and Raw Honey Elixir to help her and her husband (pictured) when they have a cold    +5
Carol said she often uses her Cayenne and Raw Honey Elixir to help her and her husband (pictured) when they have a cold

HALDI MILK FOR COMMON COLD

Turmeric has strong anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties which helps soothe a sore throat    +5
Turmeric has strong anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties which helps soothe a sore throat

Ingredients

· ½ Tsp of Turmeric powder

· ½ Tsp of grated ginger

· Honey or sugar to sweeten

· 1 cup of milk (your choice)

Method:

In a saucepan combine the turmeric, honey or sugar, ginger, and milk.

Simmer over a low heat until all ingredients have been combined and the milk has been warmed through.

Strain any bits of ginger and drink immediately.

Source: Walk In Pantry

'I remember drinking the Haldi milk as a child, although I never appreciated its effect back then,' she said.

'I will always be grateful to my mum for giving this to us when we were young. And I plan to continue to use this for my children when they are sick.'  

Also included is the Cayenne and Raw Honey Elixir, meant for adults, which combines raw honey, cayenne pepper, garlic and turmeric to help cure coughs.

Carol said she often uses the honey elixir to help her and her husband when they have a cold, but her favourite is easily the onion syrup.

'As a mum you just want your kids to be healthy and happy, and this actually works which is a relief to them and me!' she said. 'And more sleep for us all.'

And Carol loves that she knows exactly what goes into each remedy, and that she can control the ingredients.

Carol hopes to inspire parents to look in their own pantries to find alternatives to over-the-counter medication, but recommends that they consult with their doctor before using any natural remedy on their children.

'Don't be scared to try something new,' she said. 'Do you research, as there are so many easy yet powerful natural remedies you can use for common illnesses.' 


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4821842/Mum-s-family-recipes-help-cure-children-s-colds.html

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

'I’m A Criminologist And I've Realised There Is A Psychopath In My Family'



Dr Xanthé Mallett

I have a female relative (who I won’t identify for obvious reasons) who I think may be a psychopath. We’ll call her ‘A’.

I should be upfront and say we don’t speak. Ever. From my perspective (which, I accept, is totally subjective) this is because she represents everything within the human condition I find abhorrent.

A is manipulative, loves causing trouble, lacks empathy or concern for others, and lives parasitically off her parents with no regard for how this may affect them even though they are now in their 70s.

I’m a criminologist and have spent my 10-year career trying to understand why people behave the way they do. Recently, I started to research and to learn about the psychological makeup of female psychopaths for a professional project. It suddenly struck me: after witnessing A’s disgusting behaviour over the years, could she be a psychopath?

OK, so what are the signs someone is a psychopath?

It’s estimated that between 1-3% of the general population show some symptoms of psychopathy. And while there isn’t that much scientific data on the percentage of female psychopaths, we’re now learning that there might be far more in the community than we thought.

Female psychopaths may be manipulative, deceitful, and exploitative but these traits may be expressed differently than from male psychopaths. For example, instead of being outwardly violent, there is a suggestion that female psychopaths may engage in more manipulative abuse or aggression. An example would be intentionally causing rifts within a family through spreading gossip and lies, or victimising and ostracising someone in their social circle for pleasure. Female psychopaths are also more likely to engage in self-harm than men with the same condition, and be jealous and verbally abusive.

And female psychopaths may wield words more viciously than most, as this is their main weapon.
So, is A a psychopath?

Well, she does live parasitically off her parents, lacks plans for the future, is verbally and sometimes physically violent, lacks empathy, does not feel guilt when she causes harm to others (she used to have a cat she fed chocolate, even though she knew chocolate was poisonous to cats. When I asked her why, she said she enjoyed it), and finds pleasure causing trauma in relationships. She is also highly manipulative and emotionally unstable.

She lives at home with her parents, the only family members she talks to, as she has pushed everyone else away over the years with her behaviour. She totally dominates the family unit, where everything is done her way or else. A doesn’t work and has never had a job, she has few, if any friends, and as a result is totally socially isolated. It appears she has no plans for the future, instead expecting to live of her parents forever.

I used to think that A couldn’t be a psychopath because they are often very superficially charming, and that psychopathy showed itself from childhood. These traits don’t fit A. But I recently learnt that these characteristics don’t hold for female psychopaths, who can develop the characteristics in adolescence and they are not generally charismatic (although they are often more than averagely attractive). This pattern fits A.
Can psychopathy run in the family?

Given that we believe psychopaths are born and not made – i.e. their brains are wired differently – it does concern me that there is an underlying genetic component to A’s behaviour. I share A’s genes, and because I overthink everything, I have considered whether I might be a psychopath. But, as I already know that psychopaths don’t worry about being psychopaths, as they simply wouldn’t care if they were, I have put my mind at ease.

After all of that, I am left wondering if psychopathy is less frequent in women than men, or are we just looking for the wrong signs and symptoms of the condition? Female psychopaths tend to show less criminal and overtly anti-social behaviours, so they may be hiding in plain sight, finding more shaded and elusive ways to cause harm.

I have talked to a few people within the family about A, as well as colleagues with an understanding of the implications of the disorder. But I have not shared my fears with A’s parents. She does not appear to be planning to leave home anytime soon, they are stuck with the situation regardless of a diagnosis.

The bottom line is that female psychopaths may present different behaviours from their male counterparts, but they are just as cunning, manipulative, and ultimately just as dangerous – maybe more so, as we may not initially recognise them for what they are.

How to tell if you might have a psychopath in the family

If you are concerned that you may have a female psychopath in your family, here is a list of traits to look for:

* Lacks a conscience and empathy,

* Is manipulative and cunning.

* Enjoys being cruel or causing trouble

* Is controlling and aggressive in relationships

* Is insecure and jealous,

* and prone to self-harm

Note: Of course, behavioural traits exist on continuums, and some people will have some but not all of those listed above – and that does not make them a psychopath


http://www.whimn.com.au/strength/mind/the-day-i-realised-there-is-a-psychopath-in-my-family/news-story/928467e75252777eccf7d85294434559

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Trinny Woodall now has breasts



One of the few advantages of aging. Perhaps in part because of her privileged background, Trinny led a most dissolute and racketty life in her youth. Yet she still looks more than half good in her 50s, including a nice set. It's a tribute to her genes. Life is not fair but it is genetic



She is often seen presenting the fashion segment on ITV's This Morning.

And Trinny Woodall made sure to showcase her sartorial excellence, as she headed out in Mayfair over the weekend - dazzling in not one but TWO chic ensembles.

The designer, 53, opted to go braless while visiting her favourite eatery Scott's on Saturday, stealing a look at her plentiful bust as she left the first few buttons of her pinstriped shirt dress unbuttoned.

Trinny's tailored number nipped in at the waist to accentuate her slender frame and she chose to wear a pair of white jeans underneath - protecting her modesty from the frock's thigh-high split

Appearing to ditch her lingerie, the TV personality flashed her assets as she exited the popular venue, hiding behind a retro pair of clear-framed sunglasses.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4786840/Braless-Trinny-Woodall-teases-bust-plunging-shirt-dress.html

Monday, August 14, 2017

The wit and the wisdom of Jacob Rees-Mogg







Jacob Rees-Mogg occupies a unique place in British politics. For the young Conservatives rallying behind semi-ironic online fan clubs such as Moggmentum and Middle Class Memes for Rees-Moggian Teens, he's quite simply the Conservatives' answer to Corbynmania: a darling of the activist grassroots whose exaggerated online persona provides both shield and lance in the joust of online debate.

According to Matthew Parris, this propensity to serve as both a joke and a serious proposition could well translate into genuine leadership prospects.

Responding in today's Telegraph, Rees-Mogg dispelled reports that he is planning to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party, while admitting that Parris' article has given the idea "a spurious veneer of respectability that it does not deserve".

The North East Somerset MP confirmed that he "want[s] to be the servant of the Conservative Party, not its master."

Serious stuff – but it would be wrong to assume the bookish Rees-Mogg is a policy wonk in a double breasted suit. As his various quips and witticisms over the years have shown, this is a man to listen to, whatever the subject of debate...

On the role of the state

“Basically I want people to be able to get on with their lives without the government bossing them about. I’m all in favour of nannies but not the nanny state.”

On Heathrow airport expansion

Rees-Mogg was praised for this riposte delivered to David Dimbleby in an exchange on the BBC's Question Time programme.

JRM: "Heathrow is the most convenient airport in London. I realise that in Slough this may not please everybody. I used to live not a million miles from Slough with the airplanes going over. I must confess they did not prove too bothersome there."

DD: "Eton, is that?"

JRM: "That's absolutely right. I was at school with your son."

On EU judges

“The requirement not to be rude about judges applies only to judges in this country. It does not apply to judges in the EU, so let me be rude about them. Let me indulge in the floccinaucinihilipilification of EU judges”.

The inclusion of this 29-letter word made headlines for being the then longest word ever recorded in Hansard. He later said of the word, “it’s not too bad, all it means is the action or habit of estimating as worthless.”

On Donald Trump

“He’s friends with Mr [Piers] Morgan and Mr Putin, so he keeps very fine company."

On Michel Barnier

Asked by Nigel Farage whether Monsier Barnier is “playing with a straight bat”, Rees Mogg retorted: “Well I very much doubt he’s a cricketer, and if he is he plays French cricket which is a rather mutated version of the real thing.”

On proposals for a new pro-EU centrist party

“What’s so peculiar about this new party is that it wants to call itself the Democrats and the first thing it wishes to do is overturn a democratic decision. Their proposed name ought to be the Oligarchs.”

On moving with the times

“The right to bear arms is in our own Bill of Rights, where there is the right to bear arms because of the need to maintain a Protestant militia—which fortunately has gone out of fashion in more modern times.”

On House of Commons etiquette

Rees-Mogg caused guffaws in Parliament earlier this year, when he politely took aim at the length of a Jeremy Corbyn speech: “He said about 10 minutes ago ‘in conclusion’,’” Rees-Mogg joked. “I fear as time goes past he may be in danger of inadvertently having misled the House.”

On entrepreneurialism

“How are we going to revive this economy if we do not encourage the small business man, and the tall business man, too?”

On his popularity with the public

“Popularity in politics is very much here today and gone tomorrow. What I think matters – and I might begin to sound like Tony Benn in this – is the issues and not the personalities."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/wit-wisdom-jacob-rees-mogg/

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Those Blasted Presbyterians: Reflections on Independence Day


 by Don Sweeting

“We are subject to the men who rule over us, but subject only in the Lord. If they command anything against him, let us not pay the least regard to it.” Book Four, Calvin’s Institutes

“I fix all the blame of these extraordinary proceedings upon the Presbyterians.”  So one colonist loyal to King George wrote to friends in England.

Around the same time, Horace Walpole spoke from the English House of Commons to report on these “extraordinary proceedings” in the colonies of the new world.  “There is no good crying about the matter,” he said.  “Cousin America has run off with the Presbyterian parson, and that is the end of it.”

The parson of which he spoke, was  John Witherspoon—a Presbyterian minister, as well as a descendant of John Knox.  At the time, Witherspoon was president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton).  He was also the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.

From the English perspective, the American revolution was often perceived as a “Presbyterian Rebellion.”  And its supporters were often disdained as “those blasted Presbyterians.”

The Presbyterian Revolution

Most American Christians are unaware of the fact that the American Revolution, as well as the new American state, was greatly shaped by Presbyterians and the Calvinism that was at its root.  Some modern-day  Presbyterians have moved light years away from the convictions of these early colonists.

An estimated three million people lived in the colonies at the time of the Revolutionary War.  Of that number, “900,00 were of Scotch or Scotch-Irish origin, 600,000 were Puritan English, while over 400,000 were of Dutch, German Reformed and Huguenot descent. That is to say, two thirds of our Revolutionary forefathers were trained in the school of Calvin.”  (Carlson, p. 19)

As one historian puts it, “When Cornwallis was driven back to ultimate retreat and surrender at Yorktown, all of the colonels of the Colonial Army but one were Presbyterian elders. It is estimated that more than one half of all the soldiers and officers of the American Army during the Revolution were Presbyterian.” (Carlson, p. 16)

To the man, Presbyterian clergy joined the Colonialist cause. It was said that many of them led the Revolution from the pulpit.  In doing so, they paid a heavy price for their support for independence.  Many lost family members or their own lives.  Some had their churches burned to the ground.

The Presbyterian Drive

We forget that many of the early American colonists had left England precisely because Presbyterian Christianity was rejected.  After its brief reign as the established church through the English Civil War and the work of the Westminster Assembly, Britain returned to Anglicanism.  Thousands of non-conforming Presbyterian ministers were then ejected from their churches.  Some, such as the Covenanters, were martyred in a period that came to be known as “the killing times.” Rigid laws of conformity drove many to seek a better life somewhere else.  After 1660, many Presbyterians began to make their way to the colonies in North America.  It was these individuals who brought a new strength to the colonies as they inched their way forward towards independence.

They had little loyalty, and often outright hostility, to the crown of England.  They were armed with the theology of John Calvin, mediated through John Knox, and solidified during the English Civil war. It was a theology which devalued the divine right of human kings, and elevated the worth and dignity of the individual under God.  This theology shaped the early American understanding of civil liberty.

It shaped our founding fathers. The idea of human equality which influenced John Locke, who in turn,  influenced our founding fathers, was learned from the Puritans. Locke’s father had been on Cromwell’s side during the English Civil war.

It also shaped the general population under the influence of the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening was a massive 18th century religious revival that shook the colonies. It was promoted by preachers such as Gilbert Tennent and George Whitfield who travelled up and down the coast calling for a return to a robust Christian and Biblical faith.  Emphasizing the new birth and a Calvinist theology, the Great Awakening had an immense influence on colonial sentiments in the generation just preceding the American Revolution.

Consider then, some of what was at work in the American consciousness preceding the revolution. There was the memory of their horrid experience in England. There was the worry that Anglicans would establish this same kind of church in the colonies. There was a persistent fear of the imposition of bishops who were viewed as “holy monarchs,”  (monarchy in any form was considered bad)!  There was a belief in the absolute sovereignty of God. God alone is Lord of all and the author of liberty. There was a corresponding belief in the absolute equality of individuals (king and peasant, clergy and laity) under God’s law. There was the belief that no human should be entrusted with absolute power, given our radically fallen human nature.  There was a belief that there should be a separation of powers in any new government that is established.  And because of their experience in England, there was the belief that religious freedom and freedom of conscience should be respected.

In other words, for these Presbyterians, liberty is affirmed, but it is not an absolute liberty. It is always to be lived out under the sovereign creator God. It was this theology, a theology rooted, not just in Calvin, but in the Bible, which ultimately gave the colonialist the will to resist.

The Presbyterian Legacy

So this year, as we celebrate our independence once again, and as we think of early American courage, and the genius of our founding fathers, let us not forget those blasted Presbyterians who sought to understand liberty in light of the Bible.  A liberty which conceived of a nation and its entire government under God.

http://donsweeting.com/2014/07/04/those-blasted-presbyterians-reflections-on-independence-day/