Mercury in our silver amalgam fillings

When Nikki Tate was visiting in February, we were having tea with my friend Edda when the conversation came around to Nikki's mom Helga, and the rare and terrible form of dementia she's suffering from. Edda mentioned that it's unknown what causes dementia; is it environmental, genetic, or caused by mercury used in silver amalgam fillings. Nikki and I both sat upright when Edda said this, as we both have silver amalgam fillings. Since there are so many health concerns about mercury, I started thinking it wasn't such a great idea to have it in my body, especially since some of my teeth with fillings have hairline fractures and the mercury must be leaking out. I called my family dentist to talk about my concerns but he didn't feel there was any cause for alarm; he said he could lose his licence if he removed silver-mercury amalgam fillings for health concerns. Unconvinced, I made an appointment with Edda's highly recommended holistic mercury-free dentist in Victoria. At my appointment, I was given an armload of reading material about the hazards of mercury from silver amalgam fillings and was muscle tested for heavy metal toxins. I tested very high, which is not surprising since I practically grew up in, and worked for a few years at my father's printing shop that used lead for typesetting, and the inks and solvents were toxic. My new dentist recommended that I immediately start on a heavy metal detox program which I have been on now for over three weeks, and this week I'm back to Victoria to get half of my silver amalgam fillings removed in the safest method possible. I've polled quite a few people and am amazed how many have had their silver-mercury fillings removed.

April Fools!

This morning when Gus and Jim came into my office to say good morning, Gus (Jim) told me that they'd made me a special dessert for breakfast. Wow! I was so happy (because I have a sweet tooth) and I envisioned something yummy like apple crumble waiting for me back at the house, an event I might add, that has never happened since I'm the dessert-maker in our house. Then Gus (Jim) said: "April Fools, Mom, ha ha ha!" They got me, and good!

Learning about Mauritania, Africa

Wanting to learn more about Mauritania, Africa, where Hameimida, the eight-year-old girl I sponsor through World Vision lives, I've been following the writings of Jay Davidson, a 56-year-old Peace Corps volunteer from San Francisco. Jay is volunteering for two years in Nouakchott, the capital city of Mauritania, Africa. I'm learning all sorts of interesting information from reading his weekly website postings; this is one interesting fact I've learned:

"Here's another bit of trivia (or maybe it is NOT so trivial) that we learned: the entire Peace Corps annual budget, $295 million [U.S.], is equivalent to the cost of ONE B-2 bomber plane. Looks like some people are much more concerned about appropriating revenues to the armed forces than to the unarmed forces."

If you're interested in reading about what it's like volunteering for the Peace Corps in a third world country, here's Jay's website: Jay Davidson. You need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on: Why the Peace Corps? I highly recommend it!