By: Andrew Fazekas, 10/15/2013

Mars and Regulus. Looking high east at dawn on Wednesday, October 16, check out Mars as it pairs up with Regulus, the lead star of the constellation Leo the lion.  The contrast in color between the orange-hued planet and the sparkling white, 79-light-year distant star is particularly striking with the naked eye or binoculars. What makes it so eye-catching is that the pair will appear to be separated by less than two degrees—equal to only four full moons side by side.

Regulus points to ISON.  Skywatchers with backyard telescopes can easily hunt down the much-talked about comet ISON in the pre-dawn skies of October 16 as it passes only two degrees north of the brilliant star Regulus.

Nytimes, By: Mark Bittman, 10/15/2013

Big Ag uses 70% of agricultural resources to produce 30% of world’s food; small landholders produce the remaining 70% using only 30% of the resources. If we want to ensure that poor people eat and also do a better job than “modern” farming does at preserving the earth’s health and productivity, we must stop assuming that the industrial model of food production and its accompanying disease-producing diet is both inevitable and desirable. I have dozens of friends and colleagues who say things like, “I hate industrial ag, but how will we feed the poor?”

Let’s at last recognize that there are two food systems, one industrial and one of small landholders, or peasants if you prefer. The peasant system is not only here for good, it’s arguably more efficient than the industrial model. According to the ETC Group, a research and advocacy organization based in Ottawa, the industrial food chain uses 70 percent of agricultural resources to provide 30 percent of the world’s food, whereas what ETC calls “the peasant food web” produces the remaining 70 percent using only 30 percent of the resources.

By: The Watcher, 10/15/2013

The highly infectious norovirus, or stomach flu bug, causes a very common illness, affecting hundreds of millions of people who come into contact with it through contaminated food, water, surfaces or other people every year. Now, scientists have discovered that copper and its more than 300 different alloys don't just fight norovirus - copper destroys it. Simulating contamination via touch, researchers found that norovirus could not survive on any dry surface containing more than 60% copper. The findings do not apply solely to norovirus either but to a range of various fungi and bacteria. Armed with this knowledge, lead study author Sarah Warnes noted that copper-rich antimicrobial surfacing in high-traffic public areas, especially care facilities, could reduce norovirus exposure and significantly cut down how many people get sick.

Waking Times, By: Debbie West, 10/14/2013

The part of the person that is one’s ego is a construction of self arising from external views or perceptions of who we are. The ego measures us against others and competes for a greater sense of self and fulfillment, bound by ideas of what we have done in the past and what we will do in the future and limited to a single dimensional aspect of self. Ego therefore is a unique tasking system of analyzing, judging and labeling, thus creating in your mind who you think you are. The ego can never be satisfied, and, because is exists on the outward surface, it can never attain a connection to universal cosmic awareness of self and others. To get beyond our ego self, we must manifest a new orientation towards a greater awareness and a connection to soul self. All of our fears, judgments, thoughts and emotions are part of ego. Beneath the ego is the soul where we can process the world though love and compassion and a sense of unity to all of the cosmos.

False Ego vs. Cosmic Ego

Naturalsociety, By Christina Sarich, 10/13/2013

Many of the vitamins sold in grocery stores and health food stores by large companies source their vitamin C from ascorbic acid, and this comes from GMO crops. Amla, also known as Amalaki (Emblica officinalis) is a vitamin C-packed fruit found all over India and used in popular Ayurvedic formulas called Triphala and Chyawanprash. It might just be a good substitute, along with non-GMO, organic foods, to supplement vitamin C.

The vitamin C antioxidant itself is a vital nutrient that activates cell metabolism, stimulates the immune system, and composes the connective tissues of our bodies. It also helps to deactivate free radicals and has even been shown to help with radiation poisoning, a growing concern with the latest Fukushima disaster.