friedhawk

[Sean OMara MD, JD @DrSeanOMara]

Fermented foods grew microbial species in the gut that were not even present in the food before it was consumed. They function as biological fertilizers. What's more, almost every inflammatory marker improved.

You can access these benefits today:

1. Buy kimchi, sauerkraut, and kefir from any grocery store.
2. Eat a serving of fermented food with every meal.
3. Stop thinking of these as condiments. They are the most important item on your plate.
4. Cut the sugar that feeds the pathogenic bacteria competing with your healthy microbes.
5. If you cannot stand the taste, stick a butter knife in a jar of kimchi and swirl it in a glass of water. You will not taste a thing. The microbes still get delivered.
6. Commit to at least 10 weeks.

Costs less than your daily coffee.

[friedhawk @friedhawk]

@molsjames @meca3x Surgery was 8am Thursday and I was home 3hrs away by noon on Friday. He said that patients recover better in the apartment.

[friedhawk @friedhawk]

@molsjames @meca3x I had a great post op experience at Mayo. They took 14” of my small intestine out and I went home the next day. I was discharged to a suite that was connected to the clinic. It was an apartment and my wife could stay there.Great experience. The Dr made sure I had protein for rec

[Insurrection Barbie @DefiyantlyFree]

In September of 1814, America was once again in trouble.

The young republic was only thirty-eight years old. The War of 1812 had gone badly. British troops had marched into Washington, burned the Capitol, set the White House ablaze, and now turned their sights toward Baltimore. If Fort McHenry fell, the harbor would be open, the city would likely follow, and another devastating blow would be dealt to the fragile nation.

Amid this uncertainty, a young American lawyer named Francis Scott Key sailed under a flag of truce to the British fleet. He had come to negotiate the release of a friend, a physician the British had captured.

He succeeded.

The British agreed to free the doctor.

But there was a catch.

Because Key and his companions had seen too much of the British fleet and learned too much about its plans, they were not allowed to return to shore. Instead, they were detained aboard a ship in the harbor and forced to watch the coming battle from behind enemy lines.

On the morning of September 13, the bombardment began.

For the next twenty-five hours, British warships unleashed somewhere between 1,500 and 1,800 bombs and rockets upon Fort McHenry. These were the “bombs bursting in air” and the “rockets’ red glare” of the song—not poetic embellishments, but terrible realities.

Key stood on the deck through the endless day and the long, terrifying night. Every explosion lit the darkness for a fleeting instant before the smoke swallowed everything again. Somewhere beyond that wall of fire stood the fort. Somewhere beyond it flew an American flag if it still flew at all.

He could not see.

He could only listen.

As long as the guns continued firing, there was reason to hope. The British would not waste ammunition on a fort that had already surrendered.

Then, just before dawn…

The guns fell silent.

For the first time all night, there was only stillness.

It was the most frightening sound of all.

Had the fort finally fallen? Had the defenders surrendered? Had the flag been torn down in the darkness while no one could see?

There was nothing to do but wait.

As the first light of September 14 slowly pushed back the smoke, Francis Scott Key strained his eyes toward the distant fort.

Then he saw it. Not a British flag.

The American flag. Still there. Still flying.

That flag was no ordinary banner. Months earlier, the fort’s commander had commissioned a Baltimore flagmaker, Mary Pickersgill, to sew a flag so enormous “that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance.” It measured roughly thirty by forty-two feet, carried fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, and was so large it had to be assembled on the floor of a brewery because no ordinary room could contain it.

That was the Star-Spangled Banner.

The very flag Key saw through the morning mist.

The very flag that still survives today in the Smithsonian.

Overcome by what he had witnessed, Key reached into his pocket, pulled out an envelope, and began writing. The words came from a heart that had spent an entire night fearing his country might disappear with the dawn.

He first titled the poem Defence of Fort M’Henry.

Within days it was printed and circulating throughout the country. Before long, people began singing it to a melody they already knew—an old British tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven,” originally written for a London social club. There is something beautifully ironic in that: America’s most beloved patriotic song borrowed the melody of the very nation it had just survived. It also explains why the anthem is so notoriously difficult to sing. It was never written for ordinary voices gathered in stadiums or school assemblies.

The song spread quickly and became one of America’s favorite patriotic hymns, but it would wait more than a century before receiving official recognition. Not until 1931 did Congress declare “The Star-Spangled Banner” the national anthem of the United States.

[Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47]

.@VP: "You will hear a couple small but loud voices today speak obsessively not of our national greatness, but of our national imperfections... They will tell you that America is just another country where the weak struggle against the strong, and if they acknowledge that there is anything to be proud of in our history, they’ll say it’s the fact that sometimes the powerless have won a zero-sum battle. They’re wrong..."

"What I’d ask you to do, my fellow Americans, on our 250th birthday, is to reject the two dimensional view of your fellow citizens, and reject the two dimensional view of your country. Reject that America is a place for zero-sum thinking, because it is not. Our history is one of people carving a great civilization out of the wilderness. Reject the view of your nation that sees only its sins, but not its grace and its greatness." 🇺🇸

[The Courier @wcfcourier]

The math is correct: the Columbus Catholic boys’ soccer team has two sets of brothers, totaling seven players who started for the Sailors this spring. And here is the most interesting fact, it is not the first time multiple Hasselbrook and Pranger broth... https://t.co/BkYlrOBgjW

[Mundelein Seminary @MundeleinSem]

Join us in praying for Dcn. Peter Binder, Dcn. Jacob Francois, Dcn. Thiet Hoang, and Dcn. Joshua Krischel, from @DBQArch, as they prepare for their upcoming Priesthood Ordination at the Cathedral of St. Raphael on May 23! #MundeleinSeminary #Vocations #PriesthoodOrdination

[friedhawk @friedhawk]

@RaphaelEivots They just need to wait 5 minutes and it will change

[friedhawk @friedhawk]

@RaphaelEivots Amen

[Xavier Catholic Schools @Xavier_Catholic]

A very special homecoming at All Saints today as Staff Sgt. Chris Hennessy of the Iowa National Guard returned home after being stationed in Syria for 330+ days to surprise his two sons, Jameson and Nathan. Prayers of thanks to have the Hennessy family reunited again!

[JJ Watt @JJWatt]

Like many others, been saying it for years.

Anyone who discourages your child from playing multiple sports does not have your child’s best interests in mind.

Period.

[friedhawk @friedhawk]

@RaphaelEivots Truth

[friedhawk @friedhawk]

@jeje66 Sorry for your loss Jeff. Eternal rest grant unto to her.

[friedhawk @friedhawk]

@mikeroweworks Happy Anniversary, what an awesome role model for all of us

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

Look at that lineup of Iowa farmers who showed up (during their busiest time of the year) to help a friend that was tossed by a 1200 lb. steer and has 7 fractures.

Since he can't harvest, his friends did it. They brought 8 combines and 10 semis - plus wagons and tractors. The local restaurant provided lunch and in a few hours, His harvest was complete so he can concentrate on healing. I LOVE these stories of community so much more than all the other junk going on in the world. Great job, There are still great people around us!

[St. Maximilian @Totvs_tuus51320]

"Take Christ's hand in one of yours and Mary's in the other; now even if you are in darkness you can go forward with the Confidence of a Child guided by his parents."

-𝑺𝒕. 𝑴𝒂𝒙𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝑲𝒐𝒍𝒃𝒆.

[Father Christopher @FChristopher77]

I asked the iron: Are you the strongest?
And it replied: No, fire can break me!

Then I asked the fire: Are you the strongest?
The fire replied: No, water can quench me!

Then I asked the water: Are you, perhaps, the strongest?
The water replied: No, the sun can evaporate me!

Then I asked the sun: So, you are the strongest, aren’t you?
The sun replied: No, for the clouds can cover me!

I went to the clouds: Are you the strongest?
The clouds laughed and said: Go to the wind, it can scatter us!

I asked the wind: Are you, perhaps, the strongest?
The wind replied: No, the mountains can stop me!

I climbed a mountain and asked: So, you are the strongest?
The mountain replied: No, man has conquered me!

Meeting a man with great power and many under his command, I asked: Man, are you the strongest?
But the man replied: No, for death can take everything from me.

I asked death: So, you are the strongest?
And death, sorrowfully, replied: No, for Christ has conquered me.

So I said to Jesus: Lord, then You are the strongest…
And He replied with a gentle and humble voice:
Yes… But I let Myself be conquered by the prayer that comes from a repentant and humble heart.

[Dr. Maalouf ‏ @realMaalouf]

Christians are being massacred, and their women kidnapped, raped, and forcibly converted daily in Nigeria.

This year, more Christians have been killed in Nigeria than Palestinians in Gaza.

And yet, not a single protest for them!

[friedhawk @friedhawk]

@FarmerCrafted Sorry for your loss. May God’s comfort and grace be with you and your family

[Cary Kelly @CaryKelly11]

I have a surplus of cookbooks lying around so I'm going to give away 3 signed copies of Carnicopia: The Meat-Based Cookbook Your Doctor Doesn't Want You To Read.

Retweet for a chance to win. You must be following me. Winners must be in the continental US.