The Writer's Life: The Writer's Life 2/16 Remedies, A Song, Books, Infidelity

Here are controversial disease fighting remedies, gleaned from an article at listverse.com, edited by yours truly: Proponents claim vitamin B17, which contains low amounts of cyanide and is found in apricot kernels, bitter almonds and bean sprouts, has anti-carcinogenic properties and is harmless when ingested sparingly... A by-product of paper manufacturing, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an unlikely miracle drug. Thousands worldwide attest to the smelly gel’s capacity to reduce pain, accelerate healing and even cure cancer... Raymond Rife was ridiculed in the early 20th century for suggesting targeted electromagnetic fields of certain frequencies were capable of combating cancer. These days they are used for healing fractures, reducing pain and jump-starting the heart during cardiac arrest... Recent studies confirm that simple dietary changes such as ingesting certain vitamins and minerals commonly found in herbs will not only prevent cancer but fight existing tumors... The ingestion of large amounts of fresh fruit juices have an anti carcinogenic effect... Kratom, a dried and powdered leaf of a tree, has been used for centuries in Southeast Asia to reduce pain, fight fatigue, and alleviate anxiety. The FDA considers it an opioid... Kava has been used in the South Pacific for centuries with no reports of adverse effects. To this day natives ingest the plant to improve mood and relieve stress. It has been used in the West for at least 100 years as a treatment for social anxiety. In 2002 the FDA warned of the potential danger it poses to the liver.

There's an annual controversy in Maryland regarding its state song. Here's a summary of an article from Yahoo's Odd News, edited by yours truly: Maryland, My Maryland, set to the tune of O,Tannenbaum, was written in 1861 by James Ryder Randall and adopted in 1939. It calls for Maryland to secede from the Union at a time before the Civil War when many residents sympathized with the Confederacy. He wrote it while distraught about a friend shot during a melee when Union troops marched through Baltimore on their way to Washington. It begins with a hostile reference to President Lincoln: "The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland! His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland!" It ends with a call for the state to stand up to the Union: "She is not dead, nor deaf, or dumb — Huzza! She spurns the Northern scum!" Given the lyrics, one would expect the song to have been adopted in 1869, not 1939. The politicians are trying to decide whether to tweak or replace it. In case you've never heard the entire Empire State anthem, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptdQUJEEpyM

My thanks to Ira, who bought Just Say Nu: Yiddish for Every Occasion (When English Just Won't Do) by Michael Wex, and to the woman who purchased The Secret to Teen Power by Paul Harrington and a book in Russian; and to the gentleman who selected a thriller in that language; and to the woman who did a one for one swap of books in Russian. Special thanks to the gentleman who pulled his SUV to the curb and dropped off a cache of popular novels, many of recent vintage. Even that wasn't the highlight of the session. I finally sold one of the many vinyl albums I have by Mordechai Ben David, a modern classical composer known worldwide. A gentleman who moved from secular to Orthodox Jew purchased it and said he once studied to be a cantor under the tutelage of the artist's father. He laments that he wasn't able to master it and blamed his ADD. He also did some private detective work for a friend who suspected his wife of infidelity. He charged $100 an hour. Fortunately for the man who hired him, the evidence was secured within two hours. The woman was followed from her home in Seagate to - where else in Brooklyn? - the notorious Golden Gate Motor Inn, which, according to yelp.com, is now an Islamic day school. Divorce ensued.