The Charismatic Deacon Jones

            Deacon Jones was the most colorful and one of the most dangerous NFL players to ever take the field. To say he redefined the defensive end position was an understatement. He was a powerful man and a humorous entertainer. His death this week has ripped a hole in the fabric of the football world.

            When Deacon entered a room, the room was his. He was the most vocal member of the Fearsome Foursome. Merlin Olsen was a quiet, gentle man, Rosey Grier was a humble, peaceful man. Lamar Lundy was humble, peaceful and quiet. Deacon, who nicknamed himself after the Rams drafted him, was neither quiet nor humble.

            But he had the right to brag.

            When Tony Cordasco of Red Bull and I helped promote his Living Legends of Sport roast in May 1998, taped for broadcast on ESPN from the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, we had the honor of sitting in a suite with the Fearsome Foursome for hours. The room held just the six of us, and we watched them sign autograph after autograph meticulously and with pride. They truly loved one another and cared about each others physical health long after they retired.  We sat and listened to the four of them tell story after story. Olsen was the statesman, Rosey the reverent one and Lundy the personable one. Deacon was constant generator of passion and fire. His motor never stopped after he played. Even then he couldn't sit still for long and dodged in and out of the suite.

            Cordasco and I also hired Deacon to be the guest star at our 1996 Super Bowl Party at Vegas' famed Drink, And Eat Too club owned by the Morton's near the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. We picked him up at the airport for the Steelers-Cowboys game and he earned every penny we paid him with stories and antics for all who came. He also had the right side that day when Neil O'Donnel threw two big second-half interceptions that won Deacon a boatload of cash. His winning made the day more special, more vibrant. He was a winner in life and a winner of respect from his peers.

            Jones told outrageous stories, and if they were unembellished, they reflected his life in a way no biography could match. He didn't need a large audience; the breakfast table provided enough of one. Everywhere he went, Deacon was an imposing figure.

            The creation of the headslap was his idea and the NFL banned it due to its devastating impact upon an offensive lineman's head.

            One of his favorite tales was about the headslap. Some crazy fool asked Deacon to demonstrate it for him. Deacon told him how he got an offensive lineman to lean one way with his way and then come across with a forearm slap to the side of his head. When  Jones did that in a game, he would often break or crack an old helmet made in the 1960s. But the verbal description wasn't enough for this guy. He wanted Deacon to show him more. Deacon said "go get on a helmet and I'll show you what it felt like." The guy said he didn't have a helmet and he wanted the full impact. Deacon obliged him.

            Jones was the motivational and spiritual leader of the Rams' Fearsome Foursome from 1961-71. He also played for San Diego for two seasons before finishing his career with the Redskins in 1974. George Allen call him the best defensive end ever. No one argued with Allen. Jones was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and made the league's 75th anniversary all-time squad. He provided the entertainment for football fans during Miller Lite commercials after he left the game and inspired troops overseas. He also used his Deacon Jones Foundation to raise money for poor inner-city kids.

            Olsen died in March 2010 at age 69 and Lundy died in February 2007 at 71. Grier, who is 80, is the only surviving member of the Fearsome Foursome.

            The Rams' stats show Jones with 159.5 sacks for them and 173½ for his career -- all unofficial because the sack was not a recognized league stat back then. Jones also was one of the most durable players, missing just five games in 14 seasons.

            Now the NFL has created an award in his honor, going to the player with the most sacks each season. Well deserved.

            The outpouring of affection and respect after his death was moving. His impact and his stories live on.

 

Energy Healing Today

            Reiki Energy healing has gained tremendous credibility in the medical and holistic health worlds in the past 10 years. Healing with your hands and with your mind has created quite the buzz.

            Reiki energy healers are abundant worldwide. They were unknown 40 years ago in the United States and those who participated in this healing art in the 1980s were considered lawbreakers -- those who healed without a medical license -- and often jailed for using it.

            However, after years of research much of it provided by grants by the National Institute of Health and the United States Army, Reiki practitioners are now welcomed in hospitals and cancers centers across America and throughout the world.

            Even though Reiki has been given a Japanese name meaning "light energy," the healing art emanates from Tibet, India and the Himalayan region where its roots are traced back thousands of years. Reiki treatments can be given with hands-on treatments, above-the-body treatments, and through distance healing treatments using visualization and ancient symbols.

            Energy healing requires a specific band of frequency that is referred to as white light. This pure energy, which takes on characteristics of heat and vibration, accelerates the body's healing process. It's called Reiki across the globe but will soon take on the more generic term of energy healing. 

            This ancient art is now embraced by the Western medical world and is used in more than 150 hospitals in the U.S. This form of cell rejuvenation is dispensed in treatments by trained energy healers, who most often are trained in Reiki.

            Energy healing causes no harm. At the very least, it enables the body to relax. When we relax, the body heals. When we sleep, the body rejuvenates. Reiki pratitions dispensed energy waves of frequencies that range from 1 to 30 hz.

            Reiki workers are "attuned" to this energy when they are formally trained. This ancient healing art originated in Tibet and was introduced at a free clinic in Japan by Dr. Mikao Usui in the early 1900s. Although he was not a medical doctor, he trained medical doctors to use it before his death in the mid-1920s. Reiki began making its way west after World War II in Hawaii through Hawayo Takata, who was healed of cancer by Dr. Hijiro Hayashi in Japan in the late 1930s.

            The cost of classes then was far more than it is today. Prices for Reiki I, learning hands-on healing, range fro $70 to $150. Prices for Reiki II, distance healing and the use of visualization, are $150 to $250. Reiki Master classes start at $250.

            The use of Reiki is common among nurses, massage therapists, chiropractors and other holistic healers. Doctors have also seen the light and now embrace it. At Swedish-American Hospital in Rockford, Ill., all admitted patients are offered Reiki treatments for free. At cancer wellness centers, including Healing Pathways in Rockford and The Caring Place in Las Vegas, Nevada, also offer treatments for free. Insurance groups are now reimbursing some clients who are recommended treatments by doctors and psychiatrists.

            Even though the Midwest is one of the last regions that Reiki has become popular, it is available in numerous settings: college classrooms, health and wellness centers and through private instruction. Some of the more prestigious allopathic centers using Reiki include Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute, the Baltimore Trauma Center,  Integrative Therapies Program for Children in New York, and many others.

            What can it help? There are six clinical trials under way that are funded by the U.S. government in the areas of stress, prostate cancer, fibromyalgia, AIDS and painful neuropathy (see www.clinicaltrials.gov and use "Reiki" as a keyword search). Reiki has had an effect on cancer and multiple sclerosis patients and is used as an integrative therapy to Eastern and Western modalities.

            As a proponent, advocate and a 27-year teacher, Reiki has been an integral part of my life. The results of its use have been what some consider miraculous. The key to learning this art is taking instruction from a longtime teacher who knows all the intricacies of its scientific roots as well as how it affects the body, mind and spirit.

            Where to find it? Reiki is offered in classes at wellness centers, community colleges in continuing education, massage centers and privately. There are also nonprofit groups that can recommend Reiki and that do research, including Reiki Energy International nonprofit group in Illinois and Equilibrium in Chicago.

 

Hershberger Acquitted of 3 of 4 Charges

         Vernon Hershberger, the Mennonite farmer from Loganville, Wis., was acquitted of three of four charges Saturday in the raw milk/dairy farm co-op saga that has garnered attention across the United States and Canada.

Hershberger was convicted by a jury of violating a holding order the state put on his farm store after a raid on his property back in 2010. He was acquitted of operating a dairy farm and a dairy retail outlet without a license and operating a retail store without a license.

         These acquittals are big. First, the jury found that his farm co-op was legitimate and that his store was merely a pickup point and a place of work for members. I have been a member of the co-op and can verify that it is indeed for members only. The state was vigorously trying to prosecute Hershberger to make an example of him. After the state raided his farm, they put yellow crime scene tape over his coolers. He broke the seal and said he couldn't let food go to waste, that it was against his religious beliefs. The judge ruled against his pretrial motions and the jury agreed with the defense.

         "This is a victory for the food rights movement," said one member of Hershberger's defense team, Elizabeth Rich.

         Wisconsin farmers can't sell unpasteurized milk directly to consumers and the state's daairy lobby is standing behind the state to help prosecute Hershberger. He said he was pleased with the outcome, but he has to be careful about what he says until the sentencing, which carries a maximum of a year in jail and a $10,000 fine.

         Cleary, taking down some yellow tape doesn't deserve either a stiff fine and surely not a jail sentence for a man who is trying to bring organic food to consumers who travel long distances to be part of his club. Loganville is located west of Baraboo and Hershberger delivers food weekly to Madison as a dropoff point. He consistently sells a lot of raw milk to people who have a right to drink it. How can the state punish a man who brings a product to the public that has been around a lot longer than pasteurization?

We'll see what the sentencing brings. No date has been set.

         Following the verdict, which came at 1:30 Saturday morning, May 25, Hershberger told supporters:

        

“I am extremely grateful to the almighty God that I have been acquitted from the first 3 criminal counts that were filed against me: operating a retail food establishment without a license, operating without a milk producer’s license and operating without a dairy plant license. I am very proud of the people in Sauk County who served on the jury for sending the message to the state and DATCP that it is absolute nonsense and a complete waste of tax dollars to interfere with peaceful peoples’ natural right to peacefully assemble to procure the foods of their choice from the producer of their choice. The 4th count, violating the holding order, which I was found guilty of, carries a penalty of 1 year in jail and up to $10,000 fine and to pay the state the value of all the products moved that were under the holding order. The maximum penalty is still a small price to pay compared to the price of a guilty conscience because of letting good food spoil while families with small children are in need of it. I consider it a great honor to suffer for the cause of the truth and the good of my community.”

        

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, of which Hershberger is a member, retained attorneys Glenn Reynolds and Elizabeth Rich to represent him at trial. Rich called the verdict "a victory for the food rights movement."

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund defends the rights and broadens the freedoms of family farms and artisan food producers while protecting consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods. Those concerned can support the FTCLDF, a U.S. based 501(c)(4) nonprofit, by joining or donating online at www.farmtoconsumer.org or by calling 703-208-FARM (3276).

         The Wisconsin state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection officials who raided his farm in June 2010 and intentionally destroyed 2,000 pounds of milk should have been the ones on trial.

 

 

 

The Fight Against Monsanto, GMOs, Comes To Rockford

Despite less-than-ideal weather, approximately 250 protestors gathered in downtown Rockford, Ill., on Saturday to protest the existence of Monsanto Corp. and genetically modified foods.

            This is somewhat monumental for Rockford, a city full of poverty and apathy and one not known for organics. There aren't more than five restaurants in the county that profess to be organic. There are no Trader Joe's or Whole Foods stores here. You can count nearby organic farmers on both hands.

            The rally, which was official down to the city permit and police escort. was actually covered by the local media. The was shocking for a holiday weekend.

            The protest was part of the worldwide anti-GMO protests. Only 700 people gathered in Chicago, making the Rockford turnout organized on Facebook significant.

            Monsanto, of course, claims they are trying to produce better food for us. But GMOs are filled with empty calories and weed killer. I believe GMOs and a toxic water supply are the two most significant factors in generating a world full of obesity. GMO foods force us to eat more and make us fat.

            The only solution to GMOs is to not eat them. Hard to do, but we must start somewhere.

            What was encouraging to see in the Rockford protest is that there were people under 50 years old there. Many who carried signs were young, meaning some parents are educating their children on how to live a healthy life. Nearly all the people who marched were thin in a city overrun by obesity.

            This was an encouraging sign, but the movement needs to exist on a daily basis. The many countries that demand GMO labeling and the ones that don't allow GMO planting are far ahead and far healthier than the United States.

            We must take a stand against the greedy. Feel free to join in at any time.

How Obese Rural American Women Can Lose Weight

          I took our organic beauty products and biodegradable suncare products to one of the largest outdoor flea markets in the area last weekend. I spent two days at Pec Thing in Pecatonica, Ill., to educate the public on chemical-free sunscreens and insect repellent.

          I was shocked at what I subjected myself to for 18 hours over two days.

          Rural America is profoundly fat, particularly the women.

          I spent two days trying to convince people that they should take care of themselves, only to watch them cart away junk just for decorating their front yards. The constant onslaught rolling past me was hard to stomach.

          The rural men who were still working age seemed to be fairly fit. Working in the fields, in the barns and as tradesmen keep them relatively trim.

          So how can they trim the fat? First, let's examine how they got that way. One thing common to all is that we drink water. Well water has too much nitrite runoff and therefore stores in the fat cells. Little exercise keeps it there. Also, eating GMO foods provides fewer nutrients and make people want more food instead of less. If they don't feed their cows grass, there's no CLAs and more fat, antibiotics, growth hormones and on and on and on.

That's more empty calories. Then they pollute their skin with harmful sun rays.

          Then they give up and don't care what they look like.

          The solutions are easy: grass-fed meat and free-range poultry. Organic eggs, organic veggies and filtered water. Exercise daily. And cleanse your organs with citrus to help purge the obesegens stored in your fat cells.

          For more info on how to take care of and detoxify your skin, see www.enfuegoproductions.net

Are organic plants being eliminated for the common grower?

             Went to the reliable garden store, Village Green, locally based in Rockford, Ill., to buy some organic plants today. No such luck. there weren't any. Only seed packages. Were they sold out? No. Never had any. Went to Menard's, Home Depot and another local greenhouse. Nothing. One greenhouse operation reported people were having trouble finding organic products to support growing their own.

            I found this to be disheartening. Down right disturbing.

            I have been an organic grower for years. Sometimes from seed, sometimes from plants. It's important that organic growing begins with organic seed. Yes, it takes organic soil, the proper organic nutrients and clean water. Water is where people often fail. It's hard to deliver water free of pollutants, free of volatile organic chemicals, heavy metals, prescription drugs, herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones, e-coli and other nasty microbes and viruses.

            The water I use in gardening comes from a whole-house water filtration system that preserves calcium and magnesium. Using purified water is using water without any useful nutrients that plants thrive on. I also use a mix of organic compost, coffee grounds, organic egg shells and other organic compost material when planting. I even went so far to build a large garden box this year to better control the soil. I never use lawn mulch that has been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides.

            But what about the plants we start out with to plant? I realize that it takes a lot to get the USDA Certified Organic stamp on a product. I know it takes a long time to certify the soil used. I also know that in Illinois, as well as other states, the GMO-based farms dominate the land and every time farmland goes on sale here that is organic, a GMO-based farmer is quick to buy it. The land is disappearing, as so are the plants it seems.

            This is also a portend of the future of organic meat. No land, no grazing room for cows, chickens, turkeys and pigs.

            I have visited many organic farms, both vegetable growers and producers of organic meats. I always hesitate to tell people where I get my organic meat because I know there isn't much of it around Illinois and Wisconsin to meet the need. When more people are wanting to buy and less of it to be had, prices will soar.

            Now the GMO machine is taking plants away. Why bother to legislate GMO food when there is no alternative in the store?

            What's are the alternatives? We could moves to Europe, Mexico, Australia. Organics are a way of life in those places. The United States is controlled by big agri-business and powerful lobby groups. The alternatives here are disappearing.

            There is only one way out if you want to live in America. Grow your own, learn how to preserve your foods in glass and stock up on organic seed.

Raw Milk Farmer's Religous Beliefs Dismissed By Judge

            Vernon Hershberger's attempt to use his religious beliefs to escape prosecution for his sale of raw milk and organic food sales in a co-op situation in Wisconsin has failed and he will proceed to trial.

            A judged ruled Monday that the Loganville dairy farmer’s religious beliefs do not absolve him of certain legal responsibilities. His attempt to use Christianity as a way to circumvent legal action has failed and he will proceed to a jury trial May 20.

            Hershberger, a Mennonite farmer who has run his co-op for many years, was charged with five counts, including unlicensed food and raw milk sales stemming from a raid on his farm in 2010.

            “None of (the religious tenants cited by Hershberger) prohibit, on their face, the exercise of any secular rights,” said Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Guy Reynolds.

            In June 2010, state inspectors with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection raided Hershberger’s farm and sealed coolers of food. They ordered him to discontinue sales. He did not heed that order and said it would be against his beliefs to waste food. One of the charges alleges that he violated that hold order.

            Hershberger’s attorneys claimed his religious tenants would have constituted an act of aggression and therefore contradicted his religious beliefs. Reynolds ruled Hershberger and his attorneys had not provided sufficient evidence for their argument and that even if such tenants do exist, it does not appear that Hershberger has relied on them in the past.

            "The Judge ruled against us in everything that he ruled on," Hershberger said Tuesday. "This is all the more reason for everyone who wants this food to drop everything and come out during the week of the trial. This will get us to rely more on God for strength as we face the trial. He alone can bring out the truth which He has done so many times in the past. We do not know if it will be revealed to us at the trial or not but we know what the Truth is and no matter how long it takes, it always has and it always will come out on top!!"

            The state discovered that Hershberger was listed as a defendant in a 2007 civil case that involved an automobile crash with a horse-drawn planter. Hershberger used a legal defense in that case and filed a motion to have the case dismissed.

            “There’s no evidence in that motion that deals with any such religious tenant,” Reynolds said. “I think this really goes to the sincerity of the religious beliefs asserted here.”

            The state is out to show who's boss and intends to prosecute to the fullest possible extent of existing law that is meant to shut down raw milk sales and organic co-ops.