Beech Tree News Network

As I have said many times, I am a reader. I enjoy learning things. During the winter weather last week, I read to entertain myself. I want to share three of the things I read about: washing foods, power outages and poll results.

First, I read an article that said people exposed to high levels of insecticides are more likely to die of cardiovascular disease, including the exposure of eating fruits and vegetables that have been sprayed with pesticides. Following that train of thought, I found a blog page (The Best Way to Remove Pesticides from Fruits and Vegetables — Tasting Page) that provided directions for washing foods to get rid of pesticides:

“My favorite way to clean vegetables is to fill my kitchen sink with filtered water, a splash of white vinegar, and some Real Salt and then add my fruits and veggies to soak. I try and soak for a minimum of 20 minutes….After your fruits and vegetables are clean and dry, then you’ll want to store them in the refrigerator as soon as possible. There’s no need to rewash any pre-packaged vegetables or snack mixes that are already labeled as cleaned….One final note - be sure to keep all of the surfaces that come into contact with your vegetables clean. That means the sink you’re soaking in, the cutting board you might be using to chop some of the stems off, and the counter you rest them on.” 

While washing, some fruits and vegetables may also need some scrubbing. Since research (Pesticides and human chronic diseases: evidences, mechanisms, and perspectives - PubMed (nih.gov)) also has linked pesticide exposure to increased susceptibility to cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and birth defects, I will be washing my foods much more carefully. 

Second, our recent winter storms resulted in power outages in Oregon, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, West Virginia and possibly some other states. Many states experienced rolling power outages as utilities struggled to cope with the strain on their systems. The Washington Post reported that some places in the Midwest were colder than Alaska. In Texas, the storm created big problems. A February 18th CNN newsletter stated, “As residents suffer, officials are pointing fingers: the power operator, wind turbines (falsely) and the Green New Deal (bafflingly) have all been targets of blame. But while the reality is complicated, the roots of the current situation lie in Texas' decision to isolate its energy grid from the rest of the country.” Matt Egan explained in a CNN Business article (“Texas produces more power than any other state. Here's why it went dark anyway”) that a lot of companies in Texas had not invested in cold-weather protection for power plants and natural gas facilities. Therefore, when the Texas power companies encountered cold-weather problems due to failure to invest in winterizing, the state was unable to obtain power from other states, and power failed. My sympathy is with the Texans who lost loved ones and property due to this failure.

Third, on February 15, I took part in a Microsoft News Poll. Because of that, I was able to see the results of the question. Please see those results below:

Question: Do you think former President Trump would lose should he try to run for president again?

Yes, I think he would lose – 79%

Maybe, I'm not sure – 8%