Pain, Pain, Go Away!

If I'd had to guess which states would lead the charge to stop SNAP benefits (taxpayer funded supplemental nutrition assistance program) from being used to buy candy and soda, I'd have guessed states with a culture of health and fitness: Hawaii, California and Colorado. California in particular likes regulation.  Photo from Pixabay . But West Virginia, Arkansas and Indiana--t hree of the unhealthiest states in America --came out of nowhere to reform their states' SNAP benefits. West Virginia's governor was first out of the gate when he  requested a waiver to restrict sodas in March, and today, the governors of Arkansas and Indiana requested waivers for not only soda but candy. "Taxpayers should not be subsidizing poor health on the front end and paying for it on the back end with skyrocketing healthcare costs and federal debt," said Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas. Gov. Mike Braun of Indiana said , "More SNAP money is spent on sugary drinks and ...

Physician-researcher Sabine Hazan had 26 yogurts and kefirs tested and found only three had bifidobacteria, despite advertising claims. She further found 16 out of 17 probiotic capsules she tested had bifidobacteria. One yogurt even contained bacillus cereus, a toxin that can cause vomiting. Dr. Sabine Hazan Finds Only 3 of 26 Yogurts Contain Bifidobacteria, Despite Advertising Claims Dr. Sabine Hazan, a top physician-researcher, uncovered a startling truth about yogurt and kefir. After drinking a gallon of kefir daily to boost her bifidobacteria—key for gut… pic.twitter.com/QMHR1mQRs4 — Camus (@newstart_2024) April 4, 2025 A solution? Make your own yogurt. It takes five minutes' hands-on time and three ingredients. 

Last Thursday, the sidewalk by a step-cracked building lifted up off the ground when the water main under it  broke .  I turned on my faucet and got nothing. All the water was running down the streets a few miles away, waist deep in some places.  Water main break, March 27, 2025. Source: Indianapolis Fire Department .  A man who supervises the building at the corner of the recent water main break in East Indianapolis shared a video with me, capturing the scale of the situation. Coverage on @93wibc pic.twitter.com/mUEkc2P78C — Ryan Hedrick (@suretocover) March 27, 2025 Later that day, after fixing the main, the water company issued a boil-water advisory for the next two days. If you wanted to drink it, cook with it, or wash your dishes in it, it had to be boiled.  As usual, I had a sink full of dirty dishes. No problem, I thought--I'll boil water in my canner. But it takes a long time to bring so much water to boil, then it has to cool down enough to put your h...

There's a push in Washington and ten states to ban soda (and other junk food) from SNAP, a program for low-income people to buy groceries. This seems like a no-brainer: the N in SNAP stands for nutrition, and soda doesn't have nutrients. It's liquid sugar, the last thing we need in a country full of diabetics. People can drink water for virtually nothing and save their SNAP money for actual food. Yet a number of posts from otherwise sensible accounts have opposed this.  Reporter Nick Sorter says that a company called Influenceable has been paying influencers to post these opinions. (Click on the link for the full thread.) 🚨🧵 EXPOSED: “INFLUENCEABLE” — The company cutting Big Checks to “influencers” on behalf of Big Soda Over the past 48 hours, several large supposedly MAGA-aligned “influencers” posted almost identical talking points fed to them, convincing you MAHA was out of line for not… pic.twitter.com/PpPwH9lHGe — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 22, 2025 Sorter adds...

 My latest video on YouTube: Real food is generally cheaper than junk food--the pictures prove it. I took these at Kroger and from their website in March 2025. Prices are either straight from the tags or calculated based on product weight.  Music: On We Go (ClipChamp)  First photo by AS Photography: https://www.pexels.com/photo/vegetables-stall-868110/

A lady recently went off about how little food $115 buys, complaining that the pile of (mostly) junk food she bought wouldn't make a week's worth of lunches and snacks for her children. Sad to say, but this looks like what I see in a lot of grocery carts.  Fat pic.twitter.com/qbM23ydaOq — shellshock (@shellshockkk) March 7, 2025 Coincidentally, I paid almost exactly the same amount today on groceries that would make lots of healthy lunches. It's filling food that won't leave you hungry every few hours for snacks. If we want to make America healthy again, this is the way.