The average person looking at a wing cross-section would think it pushed down, not lifts up. Common sense would fail them there. And not wanting to be disagreeable, but I think common experience (emperical results), not common sense, guides most good gardening. We often don't know specifically why something works, at least in any rigorous sense, but we know what has worked reliably for others and ourselves. Reasonable, common sense solutions can sometimes lead us astray. Common sense might easily have all our pear pruning in the dormant season (as with most other deciduous fruits): practical experience shows that some summer pruning is often more effective. Common sense had us removing lawn clippings from the lawn ("leads to thatch buildup"): actualy experience (experiment) shows that leaving them is best apparently and has nothing to do with thatch. It is often hard to figure out when to defer to authority (whether university or neighbor) and when to go with the gut, with common sense. Fortunately in gardening, experimenting and failing occasionally has little risk.

Thank you, Dr. Henry, for that paper on toxic GM-effects on goats. Corn & soybean & canola & cottonseed are genetically modified, the Republic Magazine stated that other grains are safe: "Other than corn, no GM grains are sold on the market. Look for 100-percent wheat pasta, couscous, rice, quinoa, oats, barley, sorghum, and dried beans (except soybeans). Most GM ingredients are products made from the “Big Four:” corn, soybeans, canola, and cottonseed. Sugar beets and 50% of Hawaii papaya are genetically modified." **** from Straw: That's why I buy sugar-cane products, rather than sugar made from beets. I fed my kid those Pepperidge Farm cookies (made from cottonseed oil) and she broke out in rashes and scratched herself bloody. I ate those cookies and had the worst hayfever: runny nose & sneezing. Went shopping yesterday: They had strawberries for $2.50 versus organic strawberries for $3.45. I sniffed both: the organic strawberries was more fragrant, versus the regular with a slight chemical scent. After sniffing both for several times, my nose was in pain (I stuck my nose too close). I realized that it's the pesticides sprayed on that inflamed my nose. My nose burned for hours afterwards Two years ago I tasted grape at the store, and had a tummy ache. Strawberries is known for the most pesticides I'm very sadden by UK’s Daily Mail report that an estimated 125,000 farmers in India have committed suicide because of crop failure and massive debt since planting GM seeds. Recent Center for Human Rights and Global Justice report: "Indian farmers bought genetically modified Bollgard Bt cotton seeds from the Gates Foundation-backed Monsanto corporation ... 85 percent of cotton grown in India being Monsanto-controlled Bt cotton by 2009. However, the seeds were expensive, and spiralling prices (coupled with planting restrictions from the multinationals selling the seeds) led farmers to hefty loans. Almost 300,000 cotton workers have committed suicide to date, some of them by drinking the same insecticides they were sold by multinationals." From Straw: Years ago I watched a documentary film "Seeds of deception" where Mexican agriculture scientists voiced concern with GM seeds corrupting the bio-diversity of local seeds, which are well-adapted to drought and adverse local conditions. Dr. Frank Lipman, from http://www.drfranklipman.com/basic-questions-on-gmos/ stated, "The major benefit of all commercial GMO’s is that they are bred to either tolerate direct application of herbicides and/or have the ability to produce their own pesticides. They have not been bred to increase yield, become drought tolerant, improve nutrition or to have any other benefit to the consumer. So at present they have no health benefit, their benefits are purely economic." *** From Straw: It's about power, money, and control. Politics and economic factors are factors, besides ill health. The vindictive dirt-throwing, defamation attacks against international scientists, and bullying tactics of big corporations made me more sick than the ill-effects of GM-foods. We are saved from our wheat being genetically-modified, thanks to the farmers voicing concerns that our wheat can't be exported, if genetically modified. More from Dr. Lipman: "In Europe, over 175 regions and over 4500 municipalities have declared themselves GM-free zones. And in 2009, Germany along with France, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Austria, Poland and Romania banned Monsanto’s MON 810 GM corn because of its documented dangers to biodiversity and human health. Additionally, states in Australia, regions in New Zealand and Brazil and the countries like Venezuela, Zambia, Sudan, Angola and others, all want to be GM-free.The balanced reporting of the press in Europe of the dangers of GMO’s made a significant contribution to the decision to reject GMO’s. Below link is a detailed list from Republic Magazine on which foods are GM-tainted: Here is a link that might be useful: List of GM foods vs. non-GM This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sat, Mar 1, 14 at 15:06

Sally2, I went and checked my son's other allergies. Regarding the cobalt allergy, it's easy to avoid clothes that have rivets and metal zippers and when it's not avoidable you can cover the metal with clear nail polish. Toluene free, preferably. And I forgot to mention the BIG one that he's allergic too: Fragrance. Fragrance is not always listed as Fragrance, sometimes it is listed are Parfum. I don't know why the French spelling is in otherwise English language labelling, but there you are. As an aside, there are chemicals called Pthalates that are the carrier for the fragrances. Pthalates are bad for you, I think they are petrochemical based and carcinogenic too, you want to avoid them even if you aren't allergic. They are in most personal care and scented home products. For cleaning more often than not I used organic Dr. Bronner's with either the Peppermint or Tea Tree essential oil. You can even use this as a body wash and some people brush their teeth with it, it's that safe.

I am not really answering your subject question (sorry), but regarding buying pet food on a budget, I have found that buying in bulk online to be a tremendous money saver. Often websites will offer free shipping if you purchase over a certain dollar amount (usually $50 or $60), and the internet prices are lower than at stores, and you won't pay sales tax. I feed my cats both canned and dry food. I buy 2 cases of canned food (24 cans/case) and 3 4-lb. bags at a time. Although for dry food, I don't like to buy the bigger bags than 4 lbs., cause they'll get stale before they are finished. I am then set for months. While you may feel $50 or $60 is a lot, do the math on what a similar amount would cost at a brick-and-mortar store, and you'll see the savings. Since you will then be set for months, it's a time saver. Another advantage is that it would be shipped to your door, and since you don't have a car, that would make life easier for you. Foods like the the pouched Whiskas you mention are very expensive. You are paying for all that packaging, and there's an awful lot of dressing and filler, but not much meat. Your cat will need to eat more of it to meet nutritional needs. If you're on a budget, that is a poor choice. As to giving cats people food, I feel that any meat or fresh fish is great. Cats are carnivores, and should be eating meat. My vet feels that the astounding increase in cat diabetes in the last 30 years (diabetes was very rare in cats before that) is due to the large percentage of carbs in packaged cat food, and carbs is an unnatural diet for cats. I have a 16-year-old cat in great health, and my other cat lived to 17; they both had fresh meat added to their food their whole lives, so I can attest that it seems to be good for them. So, e.g. whenever I am making hamburger, chicken, or as you say, extra turkey, I give some to my cats. I just put it on a little plate, and they gobble it down; it's heaven for them. If your cat is unfamiliar with fresh cooked meat, it make take a few tries, and some wasted food, for him to enjoy it. Eventually, he'll "get it". If the meat is still warm, it'll be very much more attractive to him.