Khorason bread…

Last Wednesday I made my weekly bread with 50% wholemeal Khorason flour instead of the normal 50% wholemeal, and it was a seriously strange experience. Khorason, by the way, is an ancient strain of wheat that has remained unchanged for thousands of years – its origins are unknown, but it seems certain that it predates [...]

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Countering drug-induced constipation – linseeds update…

In my previous post I mentioned the problems of taking crushed linseeds, with water, to counter the constipation caused by opioid analgesics and enforced inactivity. As there was also a risk, given my respiratory problems, of at some point inhaling these, I needed to find a alternative delivery system. I have. (NB: Some people add [...]

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Pandemic survival…

Scientists say a pandemic could reduce the global human population to 100,000 – and

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Flu vaccine far less effective than claimed…

As regular readers may know, although I’m in a very high risk group, I have no fondness for the flu vaccine, as most years it causes more problems than would having the sodding flu (ME/CFS and the flu vaccine are a very bad mix), nor have I ever been entirely convinced of its usefulness. This [...]

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The Third Wolf…

There is a story about a Native American elder who was asked how she had become so wise, so happy, and so respected. She answered: “In my heart, there are two wolves: a wolf of love and a wolf of hate. It all depends on which one I feed each day.” Perhaps, but here, far [...]

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Countering drug-induced constipation…

I realise that for many people this is a distasteful subject. If that’s you, then spare a thought for those of us for whom this problem is purgatorial! *** As regular readers may be aware, a side effect of my array of chronic illnesses is drug-induced constipation, the worst offenders being opioid analgesics, though others [...]

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E-petition rejected for blatantly dishonest reasons…

Yesterday I submitted an e-petition request which said:- We call upon the government to compel Atos Healthcare to replace its current tick-box disability assessment system with one in which disabled claimants are properly assessed by qualified doctors as, indeed, was the case before Atos were appointed. The current system is demonstrably unfair and arbitrary. Today [...]

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Reduce the cost of disability – end pointless reassessments…

Someone on Twitter asks, when PiP is introduced, will the blind be left alone and not repeatedly reassessed. However, it affects very many more people than those who are registered blind. These days amputees are routinely reassessed, presumably in case limbs have magically grown back, as is pretty much anybody with an incurable and progressive [...]

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E-petitions – use them effectively…

Government e-petitions are, I strongly suspect, mainly giving a voice to rabid right-wingers and cretinous Daily Mail/Torygraph readers – almost a quarter of a million voting in favour of stripping convicted London rioters of their benefits being a classic example (and why only London?). Just how, exactly, will that do anything but render people homeless [...]

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Making vegetarian sausages…

This is the final, revised version of the recipe. It’s been my ambition, for a long time, to make a veggie sausage that is actually worth eating. As regular readers will know, I was a veggie for  the better part of 20 years, lapsing gradually over a period between the turn of the century and [...]

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