Monday Moaning

With the world’s population growing at an exponential rate, so too are the uses of nature’s resources and we are running out.

Are we looking at another case of the tail wagging the dog?

We are trying to stem the population growth rate by preventing births, when in fact the problem is we have achieved such medical breakthroughs that not enough people are dying. But, that’s a separate issue

To me the obvious problem is consumerism.

We have become such a consumer society that each day our hunger for ‘more’ and ‘new’ has become outrageous. Our hankering for the ‘lastest’, ‘biggest’ and ‘fastest’ has driven our utilisation of resources beyond the levels of sustainable.

As a society our ethos has to change.

The existing paradigm is not working.

We are giving our kids the wrong message, they give their kids an even worse message, the problem is exacerbated with every generation.

Read a great message on: Stiff Kitten’s Blog a definition of what we have become.

Think about the useless products that are created that people don't need. If you can't crack an egg, stay out of the kitchen

With each new product, we have production increases, more materials used, more pollution, more problems with transport, more and more we find ourselves in the predicament of how do we dispose of the extra rubbish generated. The trash is the packaging and the the advertising. The advertising is polluting our media and the internet, sign boards are polluting our vision, light is polluting our skies, so that we can’t even see the stars at night in the cities. Then there is the dilemma of the disposal of outdated products and worn out components.

Society has to change. We have got to control our cravings. Our mentality is totally screwed up.

The scale of consumerism is closely linked to corporate greed. The corporations want to make more money, so they make more products; to sell the products they have to brainwash the consumer into needing them. The cycle is vicious and never-ending.

It is essential that we tackle consumerism before population control. We have to get the dog back in control of its tail.

 

 

Nature Ramble

When we speak of animals species becoming extinct, we imagine big animals, pandas, snow leopards and the like. But, it is not only the big ones, more often it’s the small ones.

We never hear about them. They are none less important to our ecology and ecosystems.

Great Ramshorn Snail – Planorbarius corneus

Is a case.

Magnificent ramshorn snails aren’t one of those high-profile endangered species that the conservationists community love to rally behind.

Think one person can’t make a big difference? Don’t tell that to the ramshorn snail, the entire species of which may well have been saved from extinction thanks to the tireless work of North Carolina scientist Andy Wood. Relying largely on a kiddie-pool as an aquarium, Wood has spent decades giving the snails safe haven while their natural habitat has dwindled.

Source: MYOO

Read more on TreeHugger

 

Saturday Satire – Ping!

Make you Fink on Friday

If microwaves (cellphones) and electromagnetic radiation have no adverse on health…

Then explain this:

Full protective clothing for those working near microwaves

Are we fighting a loosing battle?

Cambodian environmental campaigner shot dead by police

Chut Wutty is said to have angered many influential people while campaigning for Cambodia's forests

A leading Cambodian environmentalist who investigated illegal logging has been killed in a confrontation with police, officials say.

Chut Wutty was shot dead while travelling in a threatened forest region in the south-west.

Details of the incident are unclear, but police say an officer was also killed in the exchange.

Mr Wutty had been helping indigenous people organise protests against the exploitation of protected forests.

Chut Wutty was driving through a remote area of Koh Kong province with two journalists from the Cambodia Daily newspaper at the time of the incident.

The BBC’s Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh says there have been suggestions that military police ordered the reporters to delete images from their cameras and that Mr Wutty objected.

Precisely what happened next is unclear, but shots were fired, and the environmental activist was fatally wounded.

A military police commander said one of his officers was also killed, while “doing his duty”.

Outspoken

Mr Wutty was one of the most outspoken activists in Cambodia. One of his colleagues told the BBC that he had angered many influential people.

He had received death threats in the past and sometimes carried an AK-47 rifle in his car.

The campaign group Global Witness says he had been one of the “few remaining Cambodian activists willing to speak out against the rapid escalation of illegal logging and land grabbing”.

It says that corruption and violence around Cambodia’s forests have been “well documented”, and that the killing of Mr Wutty’s demonstrates that “those who take on these vested interests face intimidation and even death”.

Source: BBC News Read more

Opinion:

There are so many incidents like this, many that don’t make international headlines. Here in Brazil it happens with an alarming frequency.

There are so few who are prepared to stand up and fight.

Just another example of money talks. It must be obvious to all, that the police were doing the bidding of the criminals. Why else would they stop and question a journalist who was doing THEIR job?

Change the World Wednesday- 25th April..

See, it happened again. The week disappeared. This week was abetted by Monday being a public holiday to celebrate St George, just so confusing.

Today, I am cooking lunch again while posting. An inch-thick pork chop marinated with rock salt and soya sauce.

This week’s CTWW from Reduce Footprints:

This week plant a vegetable or herb. And then, tell us what you decided to grow and where (your yard, a container, a pot on the window sill, etc.).

Or … If you are a gardening guru and plant veggies each year, please offer us any tips, ideas and advice. We’d like to know if you plant in containers or till the soil … how do you fertilize your garden … and what about keeping pests away. We want to know it all!

I have, at least, I did. About four weeks ago, I potted a sickly looking cayenne pepper plant in a pot and it is thriving, slowly, but thriving. It was planted wild by seeds from the mouldy peppers that I had discarded during the drying process. It is my first indoor pot plant.

But, I felt that was cheating, because I didn’t plant it specifically for the CTWW. So I got an egg tray, composted earth and dropped a couple of salsa (parsley) seeds in each part. The photo is terrible, but at least I managed to coax the camera into behaving like a camera, sort of. If and when I get results, I’ll keep you posted.

The salsa isn’t the kind of curly parsley that most westerners are used to. It has a plain leaf, still tastes like parsley, but not as strong. I have been looking for curly parsley and there is only one place I know of that sells the seeds, and that is in Barra da Tijuca and involves a lot of walking from bus to superstore. Barra da Tijuca is not pedestrian-friendly, it is designed for the car-owners. In other words, people who have money… not English teachers.

Mission: Completed!

You’ll notice the dead LCD behind the plant. Evidence of products that are designed to die within months of the end of the guarantee; in this case two months. R$400 (USD350) destined to become an expensive picture frame (recycling). It cannot be repaired. The part to repair is costs about R$30, but is unavailable, supplied only to assembly plants. So when your LCD breaks down, you are forced to buy a new one.

The pork chop was delicious. Served with a knob of garlic & rosemary butter, boiled potatoes and garlic steamed spinach. Not a microwave in sight!

That’s it for this week…

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Tinkering Around on Tuesday

Apparently, it doesn’t matter how green your car is; it creates more pollution to make it, from the mine pits to the sales room, than it will ever create in its lifetime.

Maybe we are barking up the wrong tree… again.

We should be more concerned with the pollution created in making cars, than the pollution the cars themselves produce.

Par for the course. Another case of the tail wagging the dog.

Monday Moaning

The Soviet Union banned the use of microwaves in 1976 for a reason.

Why?

Experiment: Microwaved Water Killed The Plants In Just Days

by Marco Torres

“f you’re a regular reader of any type of website that thrives to educate on natural and toxic-free living, then you probably disposed of your microwave long ago. If you still use a microwave and just stumbled on this information, pay close attention as all the information on this page will eventually lead you to throw out your nuker and get back to old fashioned heating methods which are far more effective for your long-term health.In a science fair project, Arielle Reynolds a secondary school student in Sussex, demonstrated the effects of microwaved water fed to two genetically identical plants over a period of nine days. In the home experiment, she took filtered water and divided it into two parts. In the first part she heated to boiling in a pan on the stove, and the second part she heated to boiling in a microwave. Then after cooling she fed each of the microwaved water and pan heated water to two identical plants to see if there would be any difference in the growth between the normal boiled water and the water boiled in a microwave. Her thinking was that the structure or energy of the water may be compromised by microwaves. As it turned out, even she was amazed at the difference.

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This was not a double blind experiment, so she knew which plant was receiving each water. According to Arielle, she also wanted the microwaved ones to do poorly, and although most scientists would dismiss the idea, it is possible that her thoughts toward each plant had an effect as well. Regardless, the results are interesting and duplicate the results that others have reported in other plant experiments using microwaved water. My question is, if a 6th grade science fair project could produce these results, why have no other studies come forth, especially better controlled and double-blind which could validate these results to the scientific community? I hate to answer my own question, but it’s because they don’t want people to know.

Microwaves use a non-ionizing form of radiation which is not as cancerous as ionizing radiation but it is still very damaging to human health. The Soviet Union banned the use of microwaves in 1976 for a reason. They are lethal in every sense. Microwaves leaking radiation is a serious issue. Serious enough for the FDA to set legal limits on the leakage permitted by every microwave manufacturer. However, the only way to completely eliminate the radiation dangers associated with microwaves is not to use one. Microwave radiation has been known to cause cataracts, birth defects, cancer and other serious illnesses.

In Dr. Lita Lee’s book, “Health Effects of Microwave Radiation – Microwave Ovens,” and in the March and September 1991 issues of “Earthletter,” she stated that every microwave oven leaks electro-magnetic radiation, harms food, and converts substances cooked in it to dangerous organ-toxic and carcinogenic products.

In “Comparative Study of Food Prepared Conventionally and in the Microwave Oven,” published by Raum & Zelt in 1992, at 3(2): 43, it states: “Artificially produced microwaves, including those in ovens, are produced from alternating current and force a billion or more polarity reversals per second in every food molecule they hit. Production of unnatural molecules is inevitable. Naturally occurring amino acids have been observed to undergo isomeric changes (changes in shape morphing) as well as transformation into toxic forms, under the impact of microwaves produced in ovens.”

There are no atoms, molecules or cells of any organic system able to withstand such a violent, destructive power for any extended period of time, not even in the low energy range of milliwatts. Microwaves quickly destroy the delicate molecules of vitamins and phytonutrients (plant medicines) naturally found in foods. One study showed that microwaving vegetables destroys up to 97% of the nutritional content (vitamins and other plant-based nutrients that prevent disease, boost immune function and enhance health).

Dr. Hertel was the first scientist to conceive and carry out a quality clinical study on the effects microwaved nutrients have on the blood and physiology of the human body. His small but well controlled study showed the degenerative force produced in microwave ovens and the food processed in them. The scientific conclusion showed that microwave cooking changed the nutrients in the food; and, changes took place in the participants’ blood that could cause deterioration in the human system. Hertel’s scientific study was done along with Dr. Bernard H. Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University Institute for Biochemistry.

Of all the natural substances – which are polar – the oxygen of water molecules reacts most sensitively. This is how microwave cooking heat is generated – friction from this violence in water molecules. Structures of molecules are torn apart, molecules are forcefully deformed, called structural isomerism, and thus become impaired in quality. This is contrary to conventional heating of food where heat transfers convectionally from without to within. Cooking by microwaves begins within the cells and molecules where water is present and where the energy is transformed into frictional heat. The following is a summary of the Russian investigations published by the Atlantis Raising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon:

– Microwaving prepared meats sufficiently to insure sanitary ingestion caused formation of d-Nitrosodienthanolamines, a well-known carcinogen.
– Microwaving milk and cereal grains converted some of their amino acids into carcinogens.
– Thawing frozen fruits converted their glucoside and galactoside containing fractions into carcinogenic substances.
– Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.
– Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants, especially root vegetables.

Russian researchers also reported a marked acceleration of structural degradation leading to a decreased food value of 60 to 90% in all foods tested. Among the changes observed were:

– Deceased bio-availability of vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin E, essential minerals and lipotropics factors in all food tested.
– Various kinds of damaged to many plant substances, such as alkaloids, glucosides, galactosides and nitrilosides.

According to Dr. Lee, changes are observed in the blood chemistries and the rates of certain diseases among consumers of microwaved foods. The symptoms above can easily be caused by the observations shown below. The following is a sample of these changes:

a. Lymphatic disorders were observed, leading to decreased ability to prevent certain types of cancers.
b. An increased rate of cancer cell formation was observed in the blood.
c. Increased rates of stomach and intestinal cancers were observed.
d. Higher rates of digestive disorders and a gradual breakdown of the systems of elimination were observed.

Decrease in Food Value: Microwave exposure caused significant decreases in the nutritive value of all foods researched. The following are the most important findings:

1. A decrease in the bioavailability [capability of the body to utilize the nutriment] of B-complex vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, essential minerals and lipotropics in all foods;
2. A loss of 60-90% of the vital energy field content of all tested foods;
3. A reduction in the metabolic behavior and integration process capability of alkaloids [organic nitrogen based elements], glucosides and galactosides, and nitrilosides;
4. A destruction of the nutritive value of nucleoproteins in meats;
5. A marked acceleration of structural disintegration in all foods.

Biological Effects of Exposure: Exposure to microwave emissions also had an unpredictably negative effect upon the general bio-logical welfare of humans. This was not discovered until the Russians experimented with highly sophisticated equipment and discovered that a human did not even need to ingest the material substance of the microwaved food substances: that even exposure to the energy-field itself was sufficient to cause such adverse side effects that the use of any such microwave apparatus was forbidden in 1976 by Soviet state law.

The following are the enumerated effects:

1. A breakdown of the human “life-energy field” in those who were exposed to microwave ovens while in operation, with side-effects to the human energy field of increasingly longer duration;
2. A degeneration of the cellular voltage parallels during the process of using the apparatus, especially in the blood and lymphatic areas;
3. A degeneration and destabilization of the external energy activated potentials of food utilization within the processes of human metabolism;
4. A degeneration and destabilization of internal cellular membrane potentials while transferring catabolic [metabolic breakdown] processes into the blood serum from the digestive process;
5. Degeneration and circuit breakdowns of electrical nerve impulses within the junction potentials of the cerebrum [the front portion of the brain where thought and higher functions reside];
6. A degeneration and breakdown of nerve electrical circuits and loss of energy field symmetry in the neuroplexuses [nerve centers] both in the front and the rear of the central and autonomic nervous systems;
7. Loss of balance and circuiting of the bioelectric strengths within the ascending reticular activating system [the system which controls the function of consciousness];
8. A long term cumulative loss of vital energies within humans, animals and plants that were located within a 500-meter radius of the operational equipment;
9. Long lasting residual effects of magnetic “deposits” were located throughout the nervous system and lymphatic system;
10. A destabilization and interruption in the production of hormones and maintenance of hormonal balance in males and females;
11. Markedly higher levels of brainwave disturbance in the alpha, theta, and delta wave signal patterns of persons exposed to microwave emission fields, and;
12. Because of this brainwave disturbance, negative psychological effects were noted, including loss of memory, loss of ability to concentrate, suppressed emotional threshold, deceleration of intellective processes, and interruptive sleep episodes in a statistically higher percentage of individuals subjected to continual range emissive field effects of microwave apparatus, either in cooking apparatus or in transmission stations.

How Do You Heat Your Food The Healthy Way? This is kind of a misnomer because there is truthfully, with perhaps the exception of dehydration, no way to heat food and maintain its structural and nutritional value. However, gently heating food in a cast iron pan over the stove may be the healthiest alternative to nuking it. This is the old fashioned way and it never failed our ancestors. If you really try and maintain a healthy diet, you should never have to reheat food in the first place because you simply will not have leftovers. If you can strive to consume at least half of your diet from raw foods, that is a huge step in the right direction to maintain their nutritional value. My mother always used to tell me that if food comes from a package, or has to be heated to be eaten, there’s a good a chance it’s low in nutrition. She was right for the most part, so keep that in mind when venturing the aisles at the grocery.”

– http://beforeitsnews.com/

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My Source: Running ‘Cause I Can’t Fly

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Marco Torres is a research specialist, writer and consumer advocate for healthy lifestyles. He holds degrees in Public Health and Environmental Science and is a professional speaker on topics such as disease prevention, environmental toxins and health policy.

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Related: “Is Your Microwave Nuking Your Health?”

http://naturalbias.com/is-your-microwave-nuking-your-health/

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Opinion:

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I have always had a mistrust of microwaves. Even when my mother had one, I used it only for heating water for my instant coffee. Sure, I experimented a few times with food, I remember making scrambled eggs, reheating pizza and thawing frozen food, but I was never enamoured with the device. So much so, that when I eventually married (already well versed in cooking), I wouldn’t have one in the house. Even later in life when I designed two different restaurant kitchens, my bosses both asked if I wanted a microwave, and I refused them. One of my bosses was a very highly qualified chef and he agreed with my culinary reasoning, the other wasn’t and simply agreed because it saved him money.

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I have since read adverse reports on microwaves, but none as damning as this exposé.

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I agree with the article, “if a 6th grade science fair project could produce these results, why have no other studies come forth, especially better controlled and double-blind which could validate these results to the scientific community? I hate to answer my own question, but it’s because they don’t want people to know.”

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This story: “he told me that he wanted to bring the water to boil [for coffee]. When the time shut the oven of, he removed the cup from the oven. As he looked into the cup, he noted that the water in the cup was not boiling, but instantly the water in the cup “blew up” into his face. The cup remained intact until he threw it out of his hand but all the water had flown out into his face due to the build up of energy. His whole face is blistered and he has 1^st and 2^nd degree burns to his face, which may leave scarring. He also may have lost partial sight in his left eye. While at the hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is a fairly common occurrence and water (alone) should never be heated in the microwave oven.” – Rosemary’s Book Corner

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Now, go to the link and read General Electric’s and a scientists resposes.

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Sure enough, the world is full of rising cancer numbers and the increase of mental and social problems. We read about them every time the governments look at a health budget. There’s no denying that something is amiss.

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Just what aren’t we being told, and by whom?

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My guess is the industry, lobbying the government. Once again, we have profits before the people.

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This brings us to the point, how long are we going to wait to retake control of our lives from the inept and incompetent governments? Or are we just happy to roll along and accept that our lives are being treated as fodder for the corporate giants?

Nature Ramble

How wildlife is thriving in the Korean peninsula’s demilitarised zone

The forces that lock humans out of the DMZ have allowed other species to thrive. Could a remnant of violent conflict become the symbol of a greener, more peaceful future?

Manchurian cranes with their distinctive black and white feathers fly low over fields in Chulwon valley, just south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Photograph: AP

DMZ

A thin green ribbon threads its way across the Korean Peninsula. Viewed from space, via composite satellite images, the winding swath clearly demarcates the political boundary between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Its visual impact is especially strong in the west, where it separates the gray, concrete sprawl of Seoul from the brown, deforested wastes south of Kaesong. In the east, it merges with the greener landscapes of the Taebaek Mountain Range and all but disappears.

Amur leopard cat, Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus - Image: Scientific American

From the ground, the narrow verdant band manifests as an impenetrable barrier of overgrown vegetation enclosed by layers of fences topped by menacing concertina wire and dotted with observation posts manned by heavily armed soldiers. That a place so steeped in violence still teems with life seems unimaginable. And yet, the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, is home to thousands of species that are extinct or endangered elsewhere on the peninsula. It is the last haven for many of these plants and animals and the centre of attention for those intent on preserving Korea’s rich ecological heritage.

Once known as the “land of embroidered rivers and mountains”, the Korean Peninsula has experienced almost continual conflict for over 100 years, resulting in a severely degraded natural environment. International competition for control over the peninsula’s resources left Korea in a precarious position at the start of the twentieth century. The Japanese occupation between 1905 and 1945 brought with it radically increased exploitation of mineral and other resources, resulting in massive deforestation, pollution and general environmental decline.

Since at least the 1940s, deforestation for fuel wood and clearing for agricultural land has caused significant erosion of the area’s mountains and hills and contributed to the siltation of its rivers, streams and lakes. The 1950 to 1953 war ranged across the entire peninsula, subjecting it to widespread devastation that destroyed cities, roads, forests and even mountains. And, in the 1960s and 1970s, unchecked industrialisation further undermined the peninsula’s ecological health, causing air, water, and soil pollution.

The relative health of the DMZ now stands in stark contrast to the failing ecosystems in both North and South Korea.

White Napped Crane - Image: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS

Created in 1953 during tense armistice negotiations, Korea’s DMZ is at once one of the most dangerous places on earth and one of the safest. For humans, its thousands of landmines and the millions of soldiers arrayed along its edges pose an imminent threat. But the same forces that prevent humans from moving within the nearly 400 square miles of the DMZ encourage other species to thrive. Manchurian or red-crowned cranes and white-naped cranes are among the DMZ’s most famous and visible denizens. Nearly 100 species of fish, perhaps 45 types of amphibians and reptiles and over 1,000 different insect species are also supposed to exist in the protected zone.

Scientists estimate that over 1,600 types of vascular plants and more than 300 species of mushrooms, fungi and lichen are thriving in the DMZ. Mammals such as the rare Amur goral, Asiatic black bear, musk deer and spotted seal inhabit the DMZ’s land and marine ecosystems. There are even reports of tigers, believed extinct on the peninsula since before Japanese occupation, roaming the DMZ’s mountains.

Much of the biodiversity in the DMZ is speculative, extrapolated from spotty scientific studies conducted in the Civilian Control Zone (CCZ) that forms an additional protective barrier along the DMZ’s southern edge. Approximate though these studies are, the DMZ’s ecological promise is great enough to spur many people to action.

Source: The Guardian Read more

South Korea Seeks to Protect Endangered Species in Demilitarized Zone

Saturday Satire