Latest E. coli outbreak should prompt rethink of industrial agriculture By Tom Philpott Grist Victual Reality 21 Sep 2006: "The organic question distracts from the real story behind the outbreak: consolidation of production. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that California produces three-quarters of the spinach consumed in the United States -- and of that, fully three-quarters comes from Monterey County, which encompasses Salinas Valley.
Natural Selection Foods buys, processes, and packs salad greens for such giants as Dole, Trader Joe's, and Sysco, among others. The company's Earthbound Farm brand boasts on its website that it produces '[m]ore than 7 out of 10 organic salads sold in grocery stores' in the U.S.
In 1999, Salinas-based Tanimura & Antle, the largest U.S. fresh-vegetable grower and shipper, with 40,000 acres under cultivation in the United States and Mexico, bought a 33 percent stake in Natural Selection/Earthbound.
Given Natural Selection's scale, it's no surprise that an outbreak in a small region of California's central coast could repeatedly wreak havoc nationwide.
One possible culprit is tainted water, either through irrigation or washing in the processing plant. In a letter last year, an FDA official sounded an alarm about this problem, writing that 'creeks and rivers in the Salinas watershed are contaminated periodically with E. coli.' The rolling hills alongside the Salinas River support 'extensive cattle ranches,' according to the Watershed Institute [PDF] at California State University. Might manure from these operations be leaching into the watershed?
Other sorts of agricultural runoff certainly have, including nitrogen-based fertilizer, which is used heavily on conventional farms. The Waters"
Friday, September 22, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
massage for cancer patients
Bottom Line Secrets."In a three-year study of the effect of massage on more than 1,000 cancer patients -- the largest study to date of massage used for cancer patients -- patients rated their symptoms immediately before and after a single treatment of massage therapy.
Result: Anxiety declined by 52%... pain by 40%... fatigue by 41%... depression by 31%... and nausea by 21%. Massage was as effective as standard drug therapy for these symptoms.
Helpful: Insurance companies are more likely to pay for massage therapy if a doctor writes a referral to a certified therapist or if treatment is part of a hospital in-patient therapy.
To locate a massage therapist in your area, contact the American Massage Therapy Association, 877-905-2700, or visit www.amtamassage.org
Our inside source: Barrie R. Cassileth, PhD, chief, Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City."
Result: Anxiety declined by 52%... pain by 40%... fatigue by 41%... depression by 31%... and nausea by 21%. Massage was as effective as standard drug therapy for these symptoms.
Helpful: Insurance companies are more likely to pay for massage therapy if a doctor writes a referral to a certified therapist or if treatment is part of a hospital in-patient therapy.
To locate a massage therapist in your area, contact the American Massage Therapy Association, 877-905-2700, or visit www.amtamassage.org
Our inside source: Barrie R. Cassileth, PhD, chief, Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City."
Monday, September 18, 2006
For sale: US academic integrity, by Ibrahim Warde
For sale: US academic integrity, by Ibrahim Warde: "CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ON THE CAMPUS
For sale: US academic integrity
Private enterprise is much taken with education, especially the universities. In the United States the race to get hold of academic disciplines that bring in the money has already increased conflicts of interest between research and business. Under cover of a "marketplace of ideas," the logic of the market could turn academics into entrepreneurs and endanger the unity of our universities.
By Ibrahim Warde
In November 1998 the University of California at Berkeley signed a controversial agreement with Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant and producer of genetically engineered crops. In exchange for $25m to its Department of Plant and Microbial Biology (DPMB), the university would grant the firm first right to negotiate licenses on about one-third of the department's discoveries (including the results of research funded by state and federal sources). Novartis would also be represented on two out of five seats in the department's research committee, which determines how the money is spent.
About half of the faculty members of the College of Natural Resources, of which the DPMB is a part, expressed concern that the deal would erode Berkeley's commitment to 'public good research', and 60% feared it would impede the free exchange of ideas among scientists (1). California state senator Tom Hayden declared that the deal 'raises significant questions of whether biotechnology research primarily serves the interests of corporations and marginalises potential academic critics at the expense of free inquiry and unfettered research'.
Yet, by and large, the deal represents the new model of cooperation between corporations and universities. Since California's Proposition 13, which froze property tax and started a widesand started a widespread "tax revolt" in 1978, state funding for education has started to decline. Changes were afoot at the federal level, too. In 1980 the US Congress, concerned about declining productivity and rising competition from Japan, passed the Bayh-Dole act, which for the first time allowed universities to patent the results of federally funded research. Subsequent legislation further encouraged corporations to fund academic research - through tax breaks among other things - and universities to licence their inventions to corporations.
With the end of the cold war, universities suffered more public cuts. Thus in 1987 Berkeley, which was once funded almost entirely by the state of California, saw the share of public funding fall to 50% of its overall budget, and to 34% in 1999. Buildings erected in the 1990s, such as the one housing the business school, were financed exclusively by private donations. The Haas family (heirs to jeans makers Levi Strauss) was its most generous benefactor, and saw to it that the school bore its name. A number of major corporations endowed faculty positions. Even the dean holds the position of "Bank of America dean". The state-of-the-art building of the Haas School of Business is plastered with corporate logos and all its rooms - and even the tables and chairs - are adorned with plaques commemorating their donor - a company, an alumnus or a graduating class."
For sale: US academic integrity
Private enterprise is much taken with education, especially the universities. In the United States the race to get hold of academic disciplines that bring in the money has already increased conflicts of interest between research and business. Under cover of a "marketplace of ideas," the logic of the market could turn academics into entrepreneurs and endanger the unity of our universities.
By Ibrahim Warde
In November 1998 the University of California at Berkeley signed a controversial agreement with Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant and producer of genetically engineered crops. In exchange for $25m to its Department of Plant and Microbial Biology (DPMB), the university would grant the firm first right to negotiate licenses on about one-third of the department's discoveries (including the results of research funded by state and federal sources). Novartis would also be represented on two out of five seats in the department's research committee, which determines how the money is spent.
About half of the faculty members of the College of Natural Resources, of which the DPMB is a part, expressed concern that the deal would erode Berkeley's commitment to 'public good research', and 60% feared it would impede the free exchange of ideas among scientists (1). California state senator Tom Hayden declared that the deal 'raises significant questions of whether biotechnology research primarily serves the interests of corporations and marginalises potential academic critics at the expense of free inquiry and unfettered research'.
Yet, by and large, the deal represents the new model of cooperation between corporations and universities. Since California's Proposition 13, which froze property tax and started a widesand started a widespread "tax revolt" in 1978, state funding for education has started to decline. Changes were afoot at the federal level, too. In 1980 the US Congress, concerned about declining productivity and rising competition from Japan, passed the Bayh-Dole act, which for the first time allowed universities to patent the results of federally funded research. Subsequent legislation further encouraged corporations to fund academic research - through tax breaks among other things - and universities to licence their inventions to corporations.
With the end of the cold war, universities suffered more public cuts. Thus in 1987 Berkeley, which was once funded almost entirely by the state of California, saw the share of public funding fall to 50% of its overall budget, and to 34% in 1999. Buildings erected in the 1990s, such as the one housing the business school, were financed exclusively by private donations. The Haas family (heirs to jeans makers Levi Strauss) was its most generous benefactor, and saw to it that the school bore its name. A number of major corporations endowed faculty positions. Even the dean holds the position of "Bank of America dean". The state-of-the-art building of the Haas School of Business is plastered with corporate logos and all its rooms - and even the tables and chairs - are adorned with plaques commemorating their donor - a company, an alumnus or a graduating class."
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Consumer Reports Warns About Benzene Risk In Beverages
Consumer Reports Warns About Benzene Risk In Beverages: "Consumer Reports Warns About Benzene Risk In Beverages
Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
First posted: 8/30/2006 11:56:20 PM
You may want to look more closely at the labels in the beverage aisle.
A new report says some ingredients can combine to form a potential cancer causer.
Consumer Reports magazine, tested drinks containing 'sodium benzoate' and 'ascorbic acid,' which is vitamin C.
The magazine says if left out in heat and light, those compounds can create benzene.
Researchers found higher than normal benzene levels in Crystal Light Sunrise; Classic orange; Fanta orange and pineapple sodas; and Sunkist orange soda, after they sat in a warm, bright room. "
Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
First posted: 8/30/2006 11:56:20 PM
You may want to look more closely at the labels in the beverage aisle.
A new report says some ingredients can combine to form a potential cancer causer.
Consumer Reports magazine, tested drinks containing 'sodium benzoate' and 'ascorbic acid,' which is vitamin C.
The magazine says if left out in heat and light, those compounds can create benzene.
Researchers found higher than normal benzene levels in Crystal Light Sunrise; Classic orange; Fanta orange and pineapple sodas; and Sunkist orange soda, after they sat in a warm, bright room. "
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Teflon causes cancer. Perfluorooctanoic acid
Q: There have been recent reports that Teflon causes cancer. Should I discard my Teflon pans?
A: Teflon has not been found to cause cancer. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used in the synthesis of Teflon, has been labeled a "likely carcinogen" by a panel advising the Environmental Protection Agency. But Teflon pans do not emit PFOA when used properly.
Teflon cookware might emit a small amount of PFOA when heated to extreme temperatures -- for example, when a frying pan has been left empty on a heated burner for an extended period. Even then, it has not been established that overheated Teflon produces a dangerous amount of PFOA. Still, it wouldn't be unreasonable to dispose of a Teflon pan that has been left empty on a heated burner.
Approximately 95% of the population has some amount of PFOA in their bloodstream -- but most of this PFOA likely comes from stain- and water-repelling treatments used on carpets and fabrics. Grease-resistant food packaging, such as microwave popcorn bags and cardboard fast-food boxes, also might contain small amounts of PFOA. The fact that PFOA is in our bodies does not mean that we're all going to die from PFOA-related cancers. Individuals who have worked in factories where PFOA is produced, and perhaps some people who live in neighboring areas, seem to have the highest levels of PFOA.
Our inside source: Ronald L. Melnick, PhD, senior toxicologist with National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. He is currently conducting experiments on chemicals related to PFOA.
A: Teflon has not been found to cause cancer. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used in the synthesis of Teflon, has been labeled a "likely carcinogen" by a panel advising the Environmental Protection Agency. But Teflon pans do not emit PFOA when used properly.
Teflon cookware might emit a small amount of PFOA when heated to extreme temperatures -- for example, when a frying pan has been left empty on a heated burner for an extended period. Even then, it has not been established that overheated Teflon produces a dangerous amount of PFOA. Still, it wouldn't be unreasonable to dispose of a Teflon pan that has been left empty on a heated burner.
Approximately 95% of the population has some amount of PFOA in their bloodstream -- but most of this PFOA likely comes from stain- and water-repelling treatments used on carpets and fabrics. Grease-resistant food packaging, such as microwave popcorn bags and cardboard fast-food boxes, also might contain small amounts of PFOA. The fact that PFOA is in our bodies does not mean that we're all going to die from PFOA-related cancers. Individuals who have worked in factories where PFOA is produced, and perhaps some people who live in neighboring areas, seem to have the highest levels of PFOA.
Our inside source: Ronald L. Melnick, PhD, senior toxicologist with National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. He is currently conducting experiments on chemicals related to PFOA.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
FDA WARNING RE: RITALIN AND HEART ATTACK
At my children's school, it seems as if more and more kids are being put on methylphenidate (Ritalin) for so-called behavioral disorders. But in a dramatic reminder that Ritalin and related attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications are potent drugs with dangerous side effects, a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel has recommended that they carry a "black box warning" -- the FDA's highest level warning -- that they may increase the risk of death from heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. This advice came after 25 deaths and 54 serious cases of cardiovascular problems among children and adults taking these stimulants (methylphenidate or amphetamines) between 1999 and 2003. Pick your poison, eh?
TOO MANY DRUGS FOR TOO MANY CHILDREN
In recent years, there has been growing concern that too many children are being put on ADHD medications. Once reserved for kids with obvious and major symptoms (hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention), there seems to have been a kind of trickle-down effect. Now children who would formerly have been considered merely fidgety, impatient or inattentive are being pumped full of powerful drugs.
Is it just my perception or are parents using drugs to medicate behavioral and discipline issues? To learn more about this dilemma, I consulted advisory panel member Steven E. Nissen, MD, interim chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic and president of the American College of Cardiology. He told me that he hopes the new awareness of the risks will slow down the escalating number of prescriptions for ADHD.
All drugs have side effects, and should be prescribed only when absolutely necessary. This is especially true when it comes to powerful stimulants like Ritalin, which can cause adverse cardiovascular effects including high blood pressure, a racing heart, abnormal heartbeat or stroke.
Often a combination of strategies is best, along with a team approach ensuring that parents, physicians, therapists and teachers are all on the same page.
The bottom line: If you're the parent of a child with behavioral difficulties, rest assured that you're not alone, and there are many helpful treatment options. Don't let yourself be talked into giving your child powerful drugs with powerful side effects until you explore more healthful alternatives.
TOO MANY DRUGS FOR TOO MANY CHILDREN
Is it just my perception or are parents using drugs to medicate behavioral and discipline issues? To learn more about this dilemma, I consulted advisory panel member Steven E. Nissen, MD, interim chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic and president of the American College of Cardiology. He told me that he hopes the new awareness of the risks will slow down the escalating number of prescriptions for ADHD.
All drugs have side effects, and should be prescribed only when absolutely necessary. This is especially true when it comes to powerful stimulants like Ritalin, which can cause adverse cardiovascular effects including high blood pressure, a racing heart, abnormal heartbeat or stroke.
TRY NONDRUG APPROACHES FIRST
In Dr. Nissen's opinion, while there are still some children who need and benefit from Ritalin, this drug should be prescribed only after other approaches have been exhausted. Be certain that it truly is profound ADHD and not just a child overwhelmed by his/her overscheduled world or in desperate need of parental attention. Psychotherapy, behavior modification, social skills training and nutritional guidance have all met with some degree of success in controlling ADHD symptoms.Often a combination of strategies is best, along with a team approach ensuring that parents, physicians, therapists and teachers are all on the same page.
The bottom line: If you're the parent of a child with behavioral difficulties, rest assured that you're not alone, and there are many helpful treatment options. Don't let yourself be talked into giving your child powerful drugs with powerful side effects until you explore more healthful alternatives.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Integrity of science is in jeopardy
Asking researchers to declare conflicts of interest that might prejudice their work is not enough to safeguard the integrity of science, says Catherine DeAngelis, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Universities should do more to investigate staff who don't disclose relevant financial ties, she says.
JAMA and The New England Journal of Medicine both require authors to disclose links that could influence a study. Yet several researchers have failed to do so in work published in JAMA this year. In one case, when JAMA rejected a study because the authors refused to obtain an independent analysis of the data, the work was simply published in a different journal.
Even when researchers declare financial ties, readers still don't know how much the conflict has skewed the results, says Daylian Cain, a moral psychologist at Harvard University. Disclosure could even tempt researchers to exaggerate findings, in order to counter anticipated scepticism from readers, he says.
JAMA and The New England Journal of Medicine both require authors to disclose links that could influence a study. Yet several researchers have failed to do so in work published in JAMA this year. In one case, when JAMA rejected a study because the authors refused to obtain an independent analysis of the data, the work was simply published in a different journal.
Even when researchers declare financial ties, readers still don't know how much the conflict has skewed the results, says Daylian Cain, a moral psychologist at Harvard University. Disclosure could even tempt researchers to exaggerate findings, in order to counter anticipated scepticism from readers, he says.
Monday, July 31, 2006
The awakening of the public and the coming overthrow of evil
The awakening of the public and the coming overthrow of evil: "Many people recognize what's really happening in the world of health and medicine today: Increasing disease, unabated disease mongering, corporate exploitation of the people, environmental destruction, a decline in honest health journalism, skyrocketing health care costs, tens of millions of uninsured people and continued assaults on health freedom by the FDA and conventional medicine. These are just a few of the many challenges that concern the lucid, thinking people who now populate Internet blogs, chat rooms and websites. But along with these shared concerns, there is also emerging a consensus that our shared future does not have to follow the pattern of our recent past.
Together, we can create positive change, and it all starts from the day-to-day grind of observing what's happening in the world, applying some critical thinking, and sharing our thoughts, ideas, concerns and solutions with others. Each day that I have an opportunity to engage in this work, I feel deeply honored. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to humbly serve in this important role of taking part in a global paradigm shift that may yet allow us to find true freedom, health and prosperity. I also invite you to join this effort in any way that you are able: To become a blogger, a writer or a video commentator so that your voice may be heard and your ideas may encourage others to find their own voice"
As Albert Einstein famously said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
A time for real change is approachingThere is hope, however, to be found in a new mode of thinking that's now beginning to take shape across the "awakened" members of the Internet community. It's a recognition that exciting changes are now possible, and that the forces of evil that have been acting upon us for so long -- destroying our health, our environment and our freedom -- are poised to be overthrown.
We are all living it what may soon be viewed as a time of the most significant and rapid changes in recent human history. They will not be without difficulty, however, so be prepared for changes that may far exceed what you, or your parents, or even your grandparents ever witnessed.
Most importantly, stay engaged in the conversation. Stay informed. Independent news websites and blogs are now the only remaining sources of accurate information about what's really happening today. There are far too many to name, but I've listed a short selection of my favorites in the right column at www.NewsTarget.com
Be active in what's happening. Teach yourself to stay alert and be a critical thinker. Question what you are told, especially by those in positions of authority or apparent power. The bigger the organization from which any message emerges, the more likely it is to be corrupted by an ulterior motive (profit, public complacency, etc.) Trust the smaller, independent organizations like PR Watch, Commercial Alert, the Organic Consumers Association, the Government Accountability Project and others.
What you do is your own business, but if you want to be engaged in real solutions, turn off your television. Disconnect from cable and reconnect to books and informative Internet sites. Buy organic produce and avoid processed foods. Stop spending money on products made by unethical corporations. (Vote with your dollars.) Demand accountability from your elected officials and representatives (including Judges). Learn how to grow your own food, even if just a little. Get out of the city from time to time and reconnect with nature on a regular basis. Supplement with nutrients that enhance mental acuity, intelligence and presence of mind (I highly recommend supplements from the Life Extension Foundation at www.LEF.org). Practice a little yoga, Tai-Chi or Pilates. Train your body and your mind to be healthy and alert.
These are the things that make you a participant in life, rather than a spectator. These are a few of the things that ultimately help set you free. Stay alert, because you won't want to miss what's coming.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Monsanto's Secret Study Shows Health Hazards of New GE Corn
You don't even want to know how long this has been used and sold in the USA. Just try to find something WITHOUT corn Syrup... and don't even read the ladel on your dog food
Monsanto's Secret Study Shows Health Hazards of New GE Corn: "A Monsanto study on a new type of GM Bt maize shows significant harm caused to rats fed on the variety, called MON 863. The study shows kidney abnormalities and unusually high levels of white blood cells. It raises serious concerns about the impacts of GM foods on human health.
Of course, in spite of the irregularities in the health of the rats fed the GM maize, the Monsanto report concluded that these were irrelevant, and should not be attributed to the GM maize itself, even though the rats fed non-GM exhibited no such problems. Monsanto had tried to suppress their own study, although they had been obliged to hand it in to European regulatory bodies while they consider approval of the maize in Europe (to be decided by vote on this Friday the 24th June). Monsanto had claimed that their study could not be made public as it was "confidential business information."
The German government, alongside Greenpeace, contested Monsanto's claim. On Monday the 20th, a German court overruled Monsanto's appeal, and the data was finally made available to the public. Two scientists, Dr Arpad Pusztai and Prof Eric-Gilles Seralini, who had reviewed the study for the German and French governments, but who had been forbidden from speaking out about it, were finally able to break their silence and reveal their concerns about the safety of MON 863."
Monsanto's Secret Study Shows Health Hazards of New GE Corn: "A Monsanto study on a new type of GM Bt maize shows significant harm caused to rats fed on the variety, called MON 863. The study shows kidney abnormalities and unusually high levels of white blood cells. It raises serious concerns about the impacts of GM foods on human health.
Of course, in spite of the irregularities in the health of the rats fed the GM maize, the Monsanto report concluded that these were irrelevant, and should not be attributed to the GM maize itself, even though the rats fed non-GM exhibited no such problems. Monsanto had tried to suppress their own study, although they had been obliged to hand it in to European regulatory bodies while they consider approval of the maize in Europe (to be decided by vote on this Friday the 24th June). Monsanto had claimed that their study could not be made public as it was "confidential business information."
The German government, alongside Greenpeace, contested Monsanto's claim. On Monday the 20th, a German court overruled Monsanto's appeal, and the data was finally made available to the public. Two scientists, Dr Arpad Pusztai and Prof Eric-Gilles Seralini, who had reviewed the study for the German and French governments, but who had been forbidden from speaking out about it, were finally able to break their silence and reveal their concerns about the safety of MON 863."
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
USDA National Organic Program
This is the whole scam in a nut shell. Everyone knows gov. people are paid peanuts; they are "public servants" so just have great benefits instead. Well that really means is that they serve the public that $erves them so the only regulations enforced are just to keep money$ moving.
Production and Handling: Regulatory Text:
Subpart C - Organic Production and Handling Requirements
205.200 General. The producer or handler of a production or handling operation intending to sell, label, or represent agricultural products as '100 percent organic,' 'organic,' or 'made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s))' must comply with the applicable provisions of this subpart. Production practices implemented in accordance with this subpart must maintain or improve the natural resources of the operation, including soil and water quality.
205.201 Organic production and handling system plan.
(a) The producer or handler of a production or handling operation, except as exempt or excluded under
205.101, intending to sell, label, or represent agricultural products as '100 percent organic,' 'organic,' or 'made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s))' must develop an organic production or handling system plan that is agreed to by the producer or handler and an accredited certifying agent. An organic system plan must meet the requirements set forth in this section for organic production or handling. An organic production or handling system plan must include:
(1) A description of practices and procedures to be performed and maintained, including the frequency with which they will be performed;
(2) A list of each substance to be used as a production or handling input, indicating its composition, source, location(s) where it will be used, and documentation of commercial availability, as applicable;
(3) A description of the monitoring practices and procedures to be performed and maintained, including the frequency with which they will be performed, to verify that the plan is effectively implemented;"
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/archive/OFPA.html
Production and Handling: Regulatory Text:
Subpart C - Organic Production and Handling Requirements
205.200 General. The producer or handler of a production or handling operation intending to sell, label, or represent agricultural products as '100 percent organic,' 'organic,' or 'made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s))' must comply with the applicable provisions of this subpart. Production practices implemented in accordance with this subpart must maintain or improve the natural resources of the operation, including soil and water quality.
205.201 Organic production and handling system plan.
(a) The producer or handler of a production or handling operation, except as exempt or excluded under
205.101, intending to sell, label, or represent agricultural products as '100 percent organic,' 'organic,' or 'made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s))' must develop an organic production or handling system plan that is agreed to by the producer or handler and an accredited certifying agent. An organic system plan must meet the requirements set forth in this section for organic production or handling. An organic production or handling system plan must include:
(1) A description of practices and procedures to be performed and maintained, including the frequency with which they will be performed;
(2) A list of each substance to be used as a production or handling input, indicating its composition, source, location(s) where it will be used, and documentation of commercial availability, as applicable;
(3) A description of the monitoring practices and procedures to be performed and maintained, including the frequency with which they will be performed, to verify that the plan is effectively implemented;"
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/archive/OFPA.html
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Chemical child abuse
Greed and corruption have nothing to do with ethics and moral social service. I wonder how much this has to happen before people will wake up?
Here's more from ClinicalTrials.gov:
This is an 8-week open-label study aimed at assessing the effectiveness and tolerability of Quetiapine, in the treatment of preschool children aged 4 to 6 years with bipolar and bipolar spectrum disorder. This is an exploratory, pilot study, seeking to determine whether Quetiapine is efficacious and well tolerated in the treatment of preschoolers with pediatric bipolar and bipolar spectrum disorder in this age group.
Ages Eligible for Study:4 Years - 6 Years, Genders Eligible for Study: Both
Subject must be able to participate in mandatory blood draws.
Massachusetts General Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, United States; Recruiting
Joseph Biederman, MD, Principal Investigator
Chemical child abuseIn my view, this exploitation of young children for drug testing amounts to nothing less than chemical child abuse. What possible medical justification could these doctors, hospital staff and drug pushers have for prescribing mind-altering drugs to four-year-olds? Even the "disease" being treated here is entirely fictional. So-called "bi-polar disorder" was wholly invented by psychiatrists with strong financial ties to drug companies. The purpose of this disease is not to help children, but to sell drugs to anyone and everyone, including toddlers.
I often wonder when the rest of the country will wake up and notice that the mass-drugging of our nation's children has gone too far. Why isn't the mainstream media giving this front-page coverage? Why aren't lawmakers demanding an end to the chemical abuse of our children? Why isn't the FDA halting these trials on toddlers out of plain decency?
You already know the answer: Because they're all making money from this chemical assault on our nation's children. The doctors, hospitals, drug companies, psychiatrists and mainstream media all profit handsomely from the sales of mind-altering drugs to children. Ethics will never get in the way of old-fashioned greed, even when we're talking about the health and lives of four-year-olds.
Modern psychiatry, with all its false authority, drugging of children and rampant disease mongering, is an affront to all people who believe in honest medical science and basic human decency. Armed with the DSM-IV, on-the-take psychiatrists invent diseases out of thin air (like "bi-polar disorder"), then vote official treatment protocols into the reference books. Yet a recent review of such decision panels reveals that one hundred percent of the psychiatrists and doctors involved in such decisions have financial ties to the drug companies that coincidentally happen to manufacture the recommended drugs
Here's more from ClinicalTrials.gov:
This is an 8-week open-label study aimed at assessing the effectiveness and tolerability of Quetiapine, in the treatment of preschool children aged 4 to 6 years with bipolar and bipolar spectrum disorder. This is an exploratory, pilot study, seeking to determine whether Quetiapine is efficacious and well tolerated in the treatment of preschoolers with pediatric bipolar and bipolar spectrum disorder in this age group.
Ages Eligible for Study:4 Years - 6 Years, Genders Eligible for Study: Both
Subject must be able to participate in mandatory blood draws.
Massachusetts General Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, United States; Recruiting
Joseph Biederman, MD, Principal Investigator
Chemical child abuseIn my view, this exploitation of young children for drug testing amounts to nothing less than chemical child abuse. What possible medical justification could these doctors, hospital staff and drug pushers have for prescribing mind-altering drugs to four-year-olds? Even the "disease" being treated here is entirely fictional. So-called "bi-polar disorder" was wholly invented by psychiatrists with strong financial ties to drug companies. The purpose of this disease is not to help children, but to sell drugs to anyone and everyone, including toddlers.
I often wonder when the rest of the country will wake up and notice that the mass-drugging of our nation's children has gone too far. Why isn't the mainstream media giving this front-page coverage? Why aren't lawmakers demanding an end to the chemical abuse of our children? Why isn't the FDA halting these trials on toddlers out of plain decency?
You already know the answer: Because they're all making money from this chemical assault on our nation's children. The doctors, hospitals, drug companies, psychiatrists and mainstream media all profit handsomely from the sales of mind-altering drugs to children. Ethics will never get in the way of old-fashioned greed, even when we're talking about the health and lives of four-year-olds.
Modern psychiatry, with all its false authority, drugging of children and rampant disease mongering, is an affront to all people who believe in honest medical science and basic human decency. Armed with the DSM-IV, on-the-take psychiatrists invent diseases out of thin air (like "bi-polar disorder"), then vote official treatment protocols into the reference books. Yet a recent review of such decision panels reveals that one hundred percent of the psychiatrists and doctors involved in such decisions have financial ties to the drug companies that coincidentally happen to manufacture the recommended drugs
Saturday, April 22, 2006
New Scientist Breaking News - Another fundamental constant accused of changing
New Scientist Breaking News - Another fundamental constant accused of changing: "Another fundamental constant accused of changing
13:55 21 April 2006
Cosmologists claim to have found evidence that yet another fundamental constant of nature, called mu, may have changed over the last 12 billion years. If confirmed, the result could force some physicists to radically rethink their theories. It would also provide support for string theory, which predicts extra spatial dimensions.
This is not the first time fundamental constants have been accused of changing over the lifetime of the universe. Most famously, there was controversy over the fine structure constant, alpha (α), which governs how light and electrons interact. Some physicists claimed it is changing while others said it was not (see "Speed of light may have changed recently").
The ratio of a proton’s mass to that of an electron, known as mu, is among the most mysterious of constants. There is no explanation for why the proton’s mass should be 1836 times that of the electron.
The constant governs the strong nuclear force, which holds protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei, and is also responsible for binding the quarks – the building blocks which make up protons – neutrons and most other fundamental particles.
13:55 21 April 2006
Cosmologists claim to have found evidence that yet another fundamental constant of nature, called mu, may have changed over the last 12 billion years. If confirmed, the result could force some physicists to radically rethink their theories. It would also provide support for string theory, which predicts extra spatial dimensions.
This is not the first time fundamental constants have been accused of changing over the lifetime of the universe. Most famously, there was controversy over the fine structure constant, alpha (α), which governs how light and electrons interact. Some physicists claimed it is changing while others said it was not (see "Speed of light may have changed recently").
The ratio of a proton’s mass to that of an electron, known as mu, is among the most mysterious of constants. There is no explanation for why the proton’s mass should be 1836 times that of the electron.
The constant governs the strong nuclear force, which holds protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei, and is also responsible for binding the quarks – the building blocks which make up protons – neutrons and most other fundamental particles.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Microbial Fuel Cells Update
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Microbial Fuel Cells Update: "Microbial Fuel Cells Update Jamais Cascio
A Newly Electric Green Sustainable Energy, Resources and Design see all posts in this category
Back in February, we reported on research at Penn State creating microbial fuel cells -- MFCs -- which produced power by cleaning domestic wastewater. As is typical for such posts, we made sure to mention that this was early stage stuff, not yet ready for deployment, but with updates sure to follow.
Well, follow they have. Last week, the Penn State engineers reported that they've managed to boost the electricity output by nearly six times while cutting the cost by two-thirds. They also demonstrated MFCs in action by connecting a unit to a three milliwatt fan (video here, 5.2mb mpeg). In principle, the MFC could power the fan using less than a teacup of wastewater.
Every now and then we hit upon a story which really feels like a glimpse into the desired future. The idea of using microbes to simultaneously clean the water supply and generate power is almost too good to be true. But it's in the labs now, and it's getting closer to the real world every day.
Posted by Jamais Cascio at June 23, 2004 04:29 PM TrackBack
comments
This is interesting. I have been working on waste water treatment combined with energy production in the form of bioenergy. With modesty I have to admit that, I had been extremely successful. The data was not published as the sponsosring agencies of the project had planned to take up a patent on it. Nevertheless, clean, green energy is here to come and stay. Hope we will leave behind cleaner, greener and renewable environment to our children.
Wish to interact for more information exchange in this regard."
A Newly Electric Green Sustainable Energy, Resources and Design see all posts in this category
Back in February, we reported on research at Penn State creating microbial fuel cells -- MFCs -- which produced power by cleaning domestic wastewater. As is typical for such posts, we made sure to mention that this was early stage stuff, not yet ready for deployment, but with updates sure to follow.
Well, follow they have. Last week, the Penn State engineers reported that they've managed to boost the electricity output by nearly six times while cutting the cost by two-thirds. They also demonstrated MFCs in action by connecting a unit to a three milliwatt fan (video here, 5.2mb mpeg). In principle, the MFC could power the fan using less than a teacup of wastewater.
Every now and then we hit upon a story which really feels like a glimpse into the desired future. The idea of using microbes to simultaneously clean the water supply and generate power is almost too good to be true. But it's in the labs now, and it's getting closer to the real world every day.
Posted by Jamais Cascio at June 23, 2004 04:29 PM TrackBack
comments
This is interesting. I have been working on waste water treatment combined with energy production in the form of bioenergy. With modesty I have to admit that, I had been extremely successful. The data was not published as the sponsosring agencies of the project had planned to take up a patent on it. Nevertheless, clean, green energy is here to come and stay. Hope we will leave behind cleaner, greener and renewable environment to our children.
Wish to interact for more information exchange in this regard."
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Here we go....
"you a chance to tune into your deeper, more spiritual space. There is no need to work at such a frantic pace. You may even find that life slows down a little to enable you to get a rest at this time. Tuesday looks like "
All Is Fair in Love and...
On Saturday, April 8, the two warrior planets Mars and Pluto will face off. You may feel a build-up in intensity as the week progresses and these two hotheads form an exact opposition. Unresolved emotions, old anger, and pent-up passions are possible sources of explosion. If you know what the situation could be about, address it early in the week to avoid a huge eruption. Depending on your birth chart, this could affect relationships with family, a lover, or even a business partner. Consult the Tarot at this time to find out how to diffuse any possible conflicts in advance. It's worth it!
Need love and relationship advice? Consult the Love Tarot for answers!
Financial SurprisesThe Sun is in your mysterious twelfth house, eric, and is bringing you a chance to tune into your deeper, more spiritual space. There is no need to work at such a frantic pace. You may even find that life slows down a little to enable you to get a rest at this time. Tuesday looks like a good day to approach others and to enjoy a social gathering or a business meeting. Saturn turns direct on Wednesday in Leo which helps matters on the home front and gives you an opportunity to focus on a solution that may be beneficial to all. But you do need to take more care over your finances. Mars in your personal financial zone moves to oppose Pluto on Saturday, creating quite a powerful aspect that could indicate a challenge in this zone. If you know beforehand what this could be about, then try and diffuse any tension early on and get a head start at finding the right solution. It is possible that one area of your finances will need to be changed quite dramatically. Venus moves into Pisces on Wednesday and this is good news for your social life, which seems to be fairly active right now.
All Is Fair in Love and...
On Saturday, April 8, the two warrior planets Mars and Pluto will face off. You may feel a build-up in intensity as the week progresses and these two hotheads form an exact opposition. Unresolved emotions, old anger, and pent-up passions are possible sources of explosion. If you know what the situation could be about, address it early in the week to avoid a huge eruption. Depending on your birth chart, this could affect relationships with family, a lover, or even a business partner. Consult the Tarot at this time to find out how to diffuse any possible conflicts in advance. It's worth it!
Need love and relationship advice? Consult the Love Tarot for answers!
Financial SurprisesThe Sun is in your mysterious twelfth house, eric, and is bringing you a chance to tune into your deeper, more spiritual space. There is no need to work at such a frantic pace. You may even find that life slows down a little to enable you to get a rest at this time. Tuesday looks like a good day to approach others and to enjoy a social gathering or a business meeting. Saturn turns direct on Wednesday in Leo which helps matters on the home front and gives you an opportunity to focus on a solution that may be beneficial to all. But you do need to take more care over your finances. Mars in your personal financial zone moves to oppose Pluto on Saturday, creating quite a powerful aspect that could indicate a challenge in this zone. If you know beforehand what this could be about, then try and diffuse any tension early on and get a head start at finding the right solution. It is possible that one area of your finances will need to be changed quite dramatically. Venus moves into Pisces on Wednesday and this is good news for your social life, which seems to be fairly active right now.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
All Clinical Trials [NCCAM]
All Clinical Trials [NCCAM]: "M
Macrobiotic Diet
Magnesium
Magnetic Brain Stimulation
Massage
Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy
Meditation
Melatonin
Memory Disorders
Menopause
Micronutrient Therapy
Milk Thistle
Mind-Body
Mindfulness
Mistletoe
Moxibustion
Multiple Sclerosis
Music Therapy "
Macrobiotic Diet
Magnesium
Magnetic Brain Stimulation
Massage
Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy
Meditation
Melatonin
Memory Disorders
Menopause
Micronutrient Therapy
Milk Thistle
Mind-Body
Mindfulness
Mistletoe
Moxibustion
Multiple Sclerosis
Music Therapy "
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
USF COM Department of Psychiatry
USF COM Department of Psychiatry: "'Discovering how brain development affects the behavior of children Scientists and clinicians collaborating to understand the biological and Environmental factors responsible for disorders of thought, learning, communication and behavior, and translating this knowledge Into newer, more effective treatments. "
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Unity Method Patent
Abstract
This invention defines a Method for managing the psychological and physiological state of an individual person’s life. The Method is a conscious perception of the Unity of the universe that we live in; whereby all natural and physical laws are included to understand and solve problems. Utilizing this Method creates conscious control of all natural and physical laws ..... ooops, let the cat out lol er;-D))
This invention defines a Method for managing the psychological and physiological state of an individual person’s life. The Method is a conscious perception of the Unity of the universe that we live in; whereby all natural and physical laws are included to understand and solve problems. Utilizing this Method creates conscious control of all natural and physical laws ..... ooops, let the cat out lol er;-D))
peter senge and the theory and practice of the learning organization
when there is a will there is a way!!! lol...
peter senge and the theory and practice of the learning organization: "The dimension that distinguishes learning from more traditional organizations is the mastery of certain basic disciplines or component technologies. The five that Peter Senge identifies are said to be converging to innovate learning organizations. They are:
Systems thinking
Personal mastery
Mental models
Building shared vision
Team learning
He adds to this recognition that people are agents, able to act upon the structures and systems of which they are a part. All the disciplines are, in this way, concerned with a shift of mind from seeing parts to seeing wholes, from seeing people as helpless reactors to seeing them as active participants in shaping their reality, from reacting to the present to creating the future (Senge 1990: 69). It is to the disciplines that we will now turn."
Building shared vision. Peter Senge starts from the position that if any one idea about leadership has inspired organizations for thousands of years, ‘it’s the capacity to hold a share picture of the future we seek to create’ (1990: 9). Such a vision has the power to be uplifting – and to encourage experimentation and innovation. Crucially, it is argued, it can also foster a sense of the long-term, something that is fundamental to the ‘fifth discipline’.
When there is a genuine vision (as opposed to the all-to-familiar ‘vision statement’), people excel and learn, not because they are told to, but because they want to. But many leaders have personal visions that never get translated into shared visions that galvanize an organization… What has been lacking is a discipline for translating vision into shared vision - not a ‘cookbook’ but a set of principles and guiding practices.
The practice of shared vision involves the skills of unearthing shared ‘pictures of the future’ that foster genuine commitment and enrolment rather than compliance. In mastering this discipline, leaders learn the counter-productiveness of trying to dictate a vision, no matter how heartfelt. (Senge 1990: 9)
Visions spread because of a reinforcing process. Increased clarity, enthusiasm and commitment rub off on others in the organization. ‘As people talk, the vision grows clearer. As it gets clearer, enthusiasm for its benefits grow’ (ibid.: 227). There are ‘limits to growth’ in this respect, but developing the sorts of mental models outlined above can significantly improve matters. Where organizations can transcend linear and grasp system thinking, there is the possibility of bringing vision to fruition
peter senge and the theory and practice of the learning organization: "The dimension that distinguishes learning from more traditional organizations is the mastery of certain basic disciplines or component technologies. The five that Peter Senge identifies are said to be converging to innovate learning organizations. They are:
Systems thinking
Personal mastery
Mental models
Building shared vision
Team learning
He adds to this recognition that people are agents, able to act upon the structures and systems of which they are a part. All the disciplines are, in this way, concerned with a shift of mind from seeing parts to seeing wholes, from seeing people as helpless reactors to seeing them as active participants in shaping their reality, from reacting to the present to creating the future (Senge 1990: 69). It is to the disciplines that we will now turn."
Building shared vision. Peter Senge starts from the position that if any one idea about leadership has inspired organizations for thousands of years, ‘it’s the capacity to hold a share picture of the future we seek to create’ (1990: 9). Such a vision has the power to be uplifting – and to encourage experimentation and innovation. Crucially, it is argued, it can also foster a sense of the long-term, something that is fundamental to the ‘fifth discipline’.
When there is a genuine vision (as opposed to the all-to-familiar ‘vision statement’), people excel and learn, not because they are told to, but because they want to. But many leaders have personal visions that never get translated into shared visions that galvanize an organization… What has been lacking is a discipline for translating vision into shared vision - not a ‘cookbook’ but a set of principles and guiding practices.
The practice of shared vision involves the skills of unearthing shared ‘pictures of the future’ that foster genuine commitment and enrolment rather than compliance. In mastering this discipline, leaders learn the counter-productiveness of trying to dictate a vision, no matter how heartfelt. (Senge 1990: 9)
Visions spread because of a reinforcing process. Increased clarity, enthusiasm and commitment rub off on others in the organization. ‘As people talk, the vision grows clearer. As it gets clearer, enthusiasm for its benefits grow’ (ibid.: 227). There are ‘limits to growth’ in this respect, but developing the sorts of mental models outlined above can significantly improve matters. Where organizations can transcend linear and grasp system thinking, there is the possibility of bringing vision to fruition
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Gary Null Online Health Support - Lesson 3 Homework | Gary Null's Natural Living Website
Gary Null Online Health Support - Lesson 3 Homework Gary Null's Natural Living Website:
"Gary Null Online Health Support - Lesson 3 Homework
Homework 3: Detoxification for Total Health:
Please write your answers in your notebook
How have you integrated meditation into your life based on your life energy?
What areas do you need to study in order to master the protocol?
Which of the following do you need to develop?
Passion gives you purpose.
Discipline gives you focus.
Meaning gives you a goal.
How have you integrated exercise into your routine?
Note in your daily log at least 2 new foods that you have tried each week.
Reminder: For a clear understanding of life energies, read Who Are You, Really? "
"Gary Null Online Health Support - Lesson 3 Homework
Homework 3: Detoxification for Total Health:
Please write your answers in your notebook
How have you integrated meditation into your life based on your life energy?
What areas do you need to study in order to master the protocol?
Which of the following do you need to develop?
Passion gives you purpose.
Discipline gives you focus.
Meaning gives you a goal.
How have you integrated exercise into your routine?
Note in your daily log at least 2 new foods that you have tried each week.
Reminder: For a clear understanding of life energies, read Who Are You, Really? "
Friday, March 10, 2006
LiveScience.com - Hundreds of Human Genes Still Evolving
We're changing all the time of course... both by injesting so many GMO's like corn syrup which is a cheap sugar... or living with the increased radiation from TV and cell phones
LiveScience.com - Hundreds of Human Genes Still Evolving: "The new study links genetic changes to major events in the history of our species. There have been a lot of recent changes the advent of agriculture, shifts in diet, new habitats, climatic changes over the past 10,000 years,' said Jonathan Pritchard, a human geneticist at the University of Chicago who led the study.
Many genes were found to be evolving in all three of the human populations studied. The specific functions of many of the genes are not known, but the researchers were able to separate them into broad categories. These categories include:
LiveScience.com - Hundreds of Human Genes Still Evolving: "The new study links genetic changes to major events in the history of our species. There have been a lot of recent changes the advent of agriculture, shifts in diet, new habitats, climatic changes over the past 10,000 years,' said Jonathan Pritchard, a human geneticist at the University of Chicago who led the study.
Many genes were found to be evolving in all three of the human populations studied. The specific functions of many of the genes are not known, but the researchers were able to separate them into broad categories. These categories include:
- Olfaction: the researchers found many genes important for taste and smell
- Reproduction: involved in things like sperm mobility and egg fertilization
- Increasing brain size
- Bone development and skeletal changes
- Carbohydrate metabolism: positive selection was observed for genes involved in breaking down mannose in Yorubans, sucrose in East Asians, and lactose for Europeans. (Mannose is a sweet secretion found in some trees and shrubs, sucrose
is common table sugar, and lactose is a sugar found in milk.) - Disease resistance and pathogen protection
- Metabolism of foreign compounds, such as exotic plant proteins or animal toxins "
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Plants Eavesdrop for Defense Purposes - Yahoo! News
So talking to plants is all about smell... lol.... science is getting closer and closer... lol...
Plants Eavesdrop for Defense Purposes - Yahoo! News:
LiveScience Staff
LiveScience.com
Mon Mar 6, 2:00 PM ET
When sagebrush is damaged by insects, it broadcasts the predator's presence by releasing odors into the air. Other sagebrush pick up on the smells from their wounded brethren and get their defenses going. Turns out wild tobacco plants eavesdrop on these signals.
The tobacco uses the knowledge to fortify its own defenses. Then it waits to deploy the arsenal if and only if the insect attacks. By holding off on deployment, the tobacco retains vital energy for other important tasks.
The proteins and chemicals used for defense contain nitrogen and carbon, which also are needed to produce seeds. It's a classic guns vs. butter tradeoff.
'By priming its defense response the plant is not investing resources before it is actually attacked,' said Andre Kessler, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University. 'This could be a crucial mechanism of plant-plant communication.'"
Plants Eavesdrop for Defense Purposes - Yahoo! News:
LiveScience Staff
LiveScience.com
Mon Mar 6, 2:00 PM ET
When sagebrush is damaged by insects, it broadcasts the predator's presence by releasing odors into the air. Other sagebrush pick up on the smells from their wounded brethren and get their defenses going. Turns out wild tobacco plants eavesdrop on these signals.
The tobacco uses the knowledge to fortify its own defenses. Then it waits to deploy the arsenal if and only if the insect attacks. By holding off on deployment, the tobacco retains vital energy for other important tasks.
The proteins and chemicals used for defense contain nitrogen and carbon, which also are needed to produce seeds. It's a classic guns vs. butter tradeoff.
'By priming its defense response the plant is not investing resources before it is actually attacked,' said Andre Kessler, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University. 'This could be a crucial mechanism of plant-plant communication.'"
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Spirituality eBooks Offer Answers.
Downloaded this free e-book and I felt like DEE talking. Wow have I said that a million times, course then I also LIVE like Dougie going along where everything I need to do just opens up to me... lol... or CLOSES when necessary! I'm sending this to Indoma, Laura and Joyce, they might be able to publish there too... lol...
Spirituality eBooks Offer Answers.: " 'Message of Spirit' eBook Free
A manual for your mind! In this ebook, ten authors and mind power experts share their secrets to experiencing real, true freedom, health and happiness using spiritual tools. You'll want to share this free ebook with others as you discover different methods of healing all aspects of your life!
Read more and download the ebook here. "
Spirituality eBooks Offer Answers.: " 'Message of Spirit' eBook Free
A manual for your mind! In this ebook, ten authors and mind power experts share their secrets to experiencing real, true freedom, health and happiness using spiritual tools. You'll want to share this free ebook with others as you discover different methods of healing all aspects of your life!
Read more and download the ebook here. "
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean
Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean: "UPCOMING EVENTS
February 15:
'A Death Foretold in the Times of Cholera' (Lecture)
February 16:
'4 Ahaw Dates and Maya Creation Mythology: A View from Postclassic and Colonial Yucatec Maya Literature' (Lecture)
February 20 :
'The Maya Living Dead: Emerging from the White-Bone Snake ' (Lecture)
February 21 :
'Maya Caves and Cosmological Conceptions of Health & Illness: Not 'What' but 'Who'' (Lecture)
February 22 :
'State Power against Social Power in Bahia, Brazil' (Lecture)
The Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (ISLAC) forms part of International Affairs at USF. Our faculty and staff provide for an integrated and multi and interdisciplinary approach of current and historical environmental, economic, social, political and cultural traits and trends in the region, in the larger context of the Americas. The latter is seen as a complex geopolitical configuration, where its constituent populations (Indigenous, Euro-American, and African-American) interact in real and imaginary time and space.
Numerous units and programs on campus cover discrete parts of this selective interest pertaining to Latin American and Caribbean Studies: History, Anthropology, Government and International Affairs, Humanities, World Language Education, Economics, Arts, and many others. However, none of these study the area, or its populations, as an integrated ontological whole. Our mission is to provide for a common ground and intellectual/conceptual and epistemological meeting place to study the abovementioned phenomena."
February 15:
'A Death Foretold in the Times of Cholera' (Lecture)
February 16:
'4 Ahaw Dates and Maya Creation Mythology: A View from Postclassic and Colonial Yucatec Maya Literature' (Lecture)
February 20 :
'The Maya Living Dead: Emerging from the White-Bone Snake ' (Lecture)
February 21 :
'Maya Caves and Cosmological Conceptions of Health & Illness: Not 'What' but 'Who'' (Lecture)
February 22 :
'State Power against Social Power in Bahia, Brazil' (Lecture)
The Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (ISLAC) forms part of International Affairs at USF. Our faculty and staff provide for an integrated and multi and interdisciplinary approach of current and historical environmental, economic, social, political and cultural traits and trends in the region, in the larger context of the Americas. The latter is seen as a complex geopolitical configuration, where its constituent populations (Indigenous, Euro-American, and African-American) interact in real and imaginary time and space.
Numerous units and programs on campus cover discrete parts of this selective interest pertaining to Latin American and Caribbean Studies: History, Anthropology, Government and International Affairs, Humanities, World Language Education, Economics, Arts, and many others. However, none of these study the area, or its populations, as an integrated ontological whole. Our mission is to provide for a common ground and intellectual/conceptual and epistemological meeting place to study the abovementioned phenomena."
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Biomedical Research and the Environment - Presentation
USF Health Mission: Making Life Better
Biomedical Research and the Environment - Presentation: "Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a coalition of over 240 member organizations in more than 16 countries whose mission is to reduce the public health and environmental impacts of the health care industry without compromising patient safety or care. The campaign was developed in response to the observation that medical waste incinerators are among the leading sources of environmental dioxin and mercury emissions. Each of these environmental contaminants represents a threat to public health and wildlife at current exposure levels. Nearly all mercury containing materials in healthcare institutions can be substituted with non-mercury alternatives. Dioxin emissions may be substantially reduced by replacing polyvinylchloride (PVC) with non-PVC alternatives where available, removing PVC from the waste stream, eliminating non-essential incineration, and maximizing combustion conditions when incineration can not be avoided. Altered purchasing practices and materials reuse and recycling minimize the volume and toxicity of the waste stream. Waste segregation minimizes the volume of regulated medical waste and optimizes recycling opportunities, leading to substantial savings in disposal costs. HCWH has developed numerous educational and training materials designed to help community members and those working within the health care industry reduce the adverse impacts of the health care system on public health and the environment. "
Biomedical Research and the Environment - Presentation: "Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a coalition of over 240 member organizations in more than 16 countries whose mission is to reduce the public health and environmental impacts of the health care industry without compromising patient safety or care. The campaign was developed in response to the observation that medical waste incinerators are among the leading sources of environmental dioxin and mercury emissions. Each of these environmental contaminants represents a threat to public health and wildlife at current exposure levels. Nearly all mercury containing materials in healthcare institutions can be substituted with non-mercury alternatives. Dioxin emissions may be substantially reduced by replacing polyvinylchloride (PVC) with non-PVC alternatives where available, removing PVC from the waste stream, eliminating non-essential incineration, and maximizing combustion conditions when incineration can not be avoided. Altered purchasing practices and materials reuse and recycling minimize the volume and toxicity of the waste stream. Waste segregation minimizes the volume of regulated medical waste and optimizes recycling opportunities, leading to substantial savings in disposal costs. HCWH has developed numerous educational and training materials designed to help community members and those working within the health care industry reduce the adverse impacts of the health care system on public health and the environment. "
Board of Directors - The Nightingale Institute for Health and the Environment
Another Note for Dr. Klasko... maybe he should hear about what my Sustainability class is doing with the Entreprenuer class...
Board of Directors - The Nightingale Institute for Health and the Environment: "An endless flow of materials through medical facilities ends up in a large, diverse, and toxic waste stream, much of which is carried away to distant landfills or burned in incinerators that release hazardous substances into the air and onto the surface of the earth. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), medical waste incinerators are the second leading quantified1 source of environmental dioxin emissions and are responsible for about 10% of anthropogenic mercury emissions to the environment. Both dioxin and mercury biomagnify as they pass up the food chain and return to us in fish, beef, pork, dairy products, cheese, and breast milk. Each is particularly dangerous for the fetus and infant in extraordinarily small amounts that are similar to current exposure levels in some of the general population. Mercury damages the developing brain. Dioxin fundamentally alters many aspects of development, including the immune and reproductive systems. Dioxin is also a carcinogen. Wildlife, like loons and other fish-eating birds and mammals, are severely contaminated with mercury and dioxin, and resultant health effects have been demonstrated in many cases.
Intact ecosystems provide services essential for human and wildlife health, including clean air, water, and food, and waste recycling. Resource consumption, contamination of air, water, and soil with chemical and biological agents, stratospheric ozone depletion, global warming, acid rain, and eutrophication of fresh and coastal waters degrade those ecosystems. The medical-industrial complex directly contributes to each of these.
Unfortunately, until recently, with their focus on therapeutic medicine, heath care providers and institutions were largely unaware of the public health and environmental impacts of their practic"
Board of Directors - The Nightingale Institute for Health and the Environment: "An endless flow of materials through medical facilities ends up in a large, diverse, and toxic waste stream, much of which is carried away to distant landfills or burned in incinerators that release hazardous substances into the air and onto the surface of the earth. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), medical waste incinerators are the second leading quantified1 source of environmental dioxin emissions and are responsible for about 10% of anthropogenic mercury emissions to the environment. Both dioxin and mercury biomagnify as they pass up the food chain and return to us in fish, beef, pork, dairy products, cheese, and breast milk. Each is particularly dangerous for the fetus and infant in extraordinarily small amounts that are similar to current exposure levels in some of the general population. Mercury damages the developing brain. Dioxin fundamentally alters many aspects of development, including the immune and reproductive systems. Dioxin is also a carcinogen. Wildlife, like loons and other fish-eating birds and mammals, are severely contaminated with mercury and dioxin, and resultant health effects have been demonstrated in many cases.
Intact ecosystems provide services essential for human and wildlife health, including clean air, water, and food, and waste recycling. Resource consumption, contamination of air, water, and soil with chemical and biological agents, stratospheric ozone depletion, global warming, acid rain, and eutrophication of fresh and coastal waters degrade those ecosystems. The medical-industrial complex directly contributes to each of these.
Unfortunately, until recently, with their focus on therapeutic medicine, heath care providers and institutions were largely unaware of the public health and environmental impacts of their practic"
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Learn and practice Qigong
An avalanche of medical research shows that the human body is capable of remarkable feats of self-healing, which can happen automatically when you cultivate your body's innate powers.
How do you do it? Chinese medicine makes use of four simple techniques...
- Deep breathing
- Gentle movement
- Self-massage
- Meditation.
Put these techniques to work for just 10 to 15 minutes a day, and you'll be more energetic and alert... and less vulnerable to illness and the negative effects of stress.
Although you can do these techniques as often as you like, it's better to combine all four briefly first thing each morning.
Deep Breathing
Americans have forgotten how to breathe. We typically take very shallow breaths. This pattern of breathing constricts blood vessels, contributing to high blood pressure. Shallow breathing also impairs immune function. It does so by slowing the circulation of antibodies and immune cells throughout the body.
By making a conscious effort to breathe slowly and deeply, you can counteract these physiological disturbances. Try the following exercise right now...
- Take a slow, deep breath through your nose. Allow the lower portions of your lungs to fill, then keep inhaling until your lungs are fully inflated.
- Exhale slowly for 10 seconds. You can exhale silently and very slowly... or with an audible sigh of relief. Allow yourself to drift off into deep relaxation.
While even a single deep breath is beneficial, the accumulated effect of many such breaths is dramatic. Resolve to do two or three deep breathing sessions each day.
Do one session before getting out of bed in the morning, another just before you go to sleep at night.
Some people prefer to do deep breathing periodically throughout the day.
You might decide to take a deep breath each time the telephone rings... each time you stop at a red light... or each time you open the refrigerator. The point is to develop a habit of breathing deeply all day long.
Gentle Movement
Recent research confirms that easy, low-intensity exercise provides virtually all the disease-fighting benefits of vigorous exercise -- with far less risk of injury to both your muscles and joints. The "flowing technique" is very popular in China...
What to do: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and shoulders relaxed. Let your arms dangle at your sides. Bend your knees slightly... move your tailbone beneath your spine so as to "lengthen" your back... and lower your chin as if nodding "yes."
Rest briefly, begin to inhale slowly and turn your palms forward. Swing your arms forward and upward, slowly rising onto the balls of your feet as you do. Raise your hands (palms up) to shoulder height, keeping your elbows slightly bent.
Turn your palms downward. Slowly lower your arms and exhale. Return your heels to the floor. As your hands pass your legs, allow them to swing back slightly while gently lifting your toes.
Repeat 10 to 15 times, developing a gentle rhythm.
Self-Massage
What modern medical practitioners now call "therapeutic touch" has been a powerful healing tool in China for thousands of years...
- Hand massage. Using your left thumb, apply gentle pressure to the palm of your right hand. Place your remaining fingers on the back of the right hand for support. Increase the pressure gradually until you're exerting about the same pressure needed to squeeze a new tennis ball.
Massage your hand all over, noting any areas of tenderness. Massage the fingers as well -- all the way out to the tips. Finally, grasp each finger of your right hand on either side of the nail. Pinch gently.
Switch hands, and repeat. To conclude, return to any tender spots on either hand and knead them gently for a few additional minutes.
- "Energizing" the internal organs. Place your palms over the lower edge of your rib cage, near the sides of your body but still on the front. Rub your palms against your body in a circular motion, breathing easily and deeply as you do. Feel the warmth generated by your hands penetrating toward your organs.
Next, place one hand on your breastbone (sternum), the other on your navel. Rub in a circular motion with each hand.
Move both hands to your lower back, and repeat the process. The Chinese believe that sending warmth into the organs improves health and heals disease.
Meditation
Meditation reduces blood pressure, dilates blood vessels and stimulates the body's production of essential neurotransmitters and hormones.
One of the easiest and most powerful meditation techniques is mindfulness. Using this technique, you can free yourself of psychological and physical stress by focusing closely on a ingle bodily sensation.
Breath-awareness exercise: As you stand, sit or lie comfortably, focus all your concentration on the sensation of your breath as it passes through your nostrils. Your nostrils should feel cool as fresh air enters...and warm as you exhale.
You can do this mindfulness exercise for as briefly as a moment or as long as 20 minutes.
Notice that as long as you hold the focus on your breath, it's impossible to worry or think about stressful situations.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Helping Hands, Healing Hands
Helping Hands, Healing Hands
Virtually every culture other than those in the Western world embraces the concept of chi (also known as prana, qi and others) as an internal energy that has an important role in mental and physical well-being. Western medicine, of course, has been far removed from acknowledging chi, given that it isn't visible... and evidence of its presence and effectiveness is anecdotal. But now in what may be the beginning of a breakthrough on this stance, researchers at Duke University Medical Center and at seven other prominent medical centers around the country conducted a clinical trial to determine if employing internal energy forces and several other cultural norms, including prayer, might have a measurable effect in enhancing healing. The paper was recently published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet.
STUDY STRUCTURE
The study participants, 748 patients undergoing possibly life-threatening cardiac procedures, were put into one of four groups -- one received off-site prayer by congregations of various religions... one received MIT therapy (stands for soothing music, guided imagery and touch therapy -- more on that in a minute)... one group received both prayer and MIT... and one group received nothing. While neither patients nor staff knew who was in the prayer group, obviously the MIT patients knew that they were receiving the therapy because it was a bedside activity. The nurses administering MIT worked with the patients before the procedure to teach them abdominal breathing rather than shallow chest breathing, and they had them select from among three types of music (easy listening, soft country or classical) to listen to. They then chose from three selections of imagery that represented the most beautiful place they had been or could imagine. Finally, the specially trained nurses conducted a 20-minute session on touch therapy, which is a hands-on method for moving energy through the body to help patients relax and perhaps enhance healing.
I spoke with Mitchell W. Krucoff, MD, the lead author of the study, who says the study, results showed that patients having off-site prayer, bedside MIT or both prayer and MIT had comparable primary outcomes with regard to death, new signs of heart attack, rehospitalization and several other cardiac disease indicators. There was no difference between the control group versus MIT and prayer. But now it gets really interesting. Both groups of MIT patients, he says, did experience relief of preprocedural distress and at the secondary endpoint -- the second six months after procedure -- MIT patients were 65% less likely to die than those who did not receive it.
Dr. Krucoff stresses that in the statistical setting of multiple comparisons, these numbers are, he says, very interesting but also warrant cautious interpretation. Even so, he tells me that there are more analyses of long-term results to come. This study is just the beginning of further research to find whether such practices have a place for "promoting patient health in the modern medical setting."
Virtually every culture other than those in the Western world embraces the concept of chi (also known as prana, qi and others) as an internal energy that has an important role in mental and physical well-being. Western medicine, of course, has been far removed from acknowledging chi, given that it isn't visible... and evidence of its presence and effectiveness is anecdotal. But now in what may be the beginning of a breakthrough on this stance, researchers at Duke University Medical Center and at seven other prominent medical centers around the country conducted a clinical trial to determine if employing internal energy forces and several other cultural norms, including prayer, might have a measurable effect in enhancing healing. The paper was recently published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet.
STUDY STRUCTURE
The study participants, 748 patients undergoing possibly life-threatening cardiac procedures, were put into one of four groups -- one received off-site prayer by congregations of various religions... one received MIT therapy (stands for soothing music, guided imagery and touch therapy -- more on that in a minute)... one group received both prayer and MIT... and one group received nothing. While neither patients nor staff knew who was in the prayer group, obviously the MIT patients knew that they were receiving the therapy because it was a bedside activity. The nurses administering MIT worked with the patients before the procedure to teach them abdominal breathing rather than shallow chest breathing, and they had them select from among three types of music (easy listening, soft country or classical) to listen to. They then chose from three selections of imagery that represented the most beautiful place they had been or could imagine. Finally, the specially trained nurses conducted a 20-minute session on touch therapy, which is a hands-on method for moving energy through the body to help patients relax and perhaps enhance healing.
I spoke with Mitchell W. Krucoff, MD, the lead author of the study, who says the study, results showed that patients having off-site prayer, bedside MIT or both prayer and MIT had comparable primary outcomes with regard to death, new signs of heart attack, rehospitalization and several other cardiac disease indicators. There was no difference between the control group versus MIT and prayer. But now it gets really interesting. Both groups of MIT patients, he says, did experience relief of preprocedural distress and at the secondary endpoint -- the second six months after procedure -- MIT patients were 65% less likely to die than those who did not receive it.
Dr. Krucoff stresses that in the statistical setting of multiple comparisons, these numbers are, he says, very interesting but also warrant cautious interpretation. Even so, he tells me that there are more analyses of long-term results to come. This study is just the beginning of further research to find whether such practices have a place for "promoting patient health in the modern medical setting."
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy
My Mom once told me Atlantus was swallowed by the sea when God had to put a soul into something that they made that wasn't human... here we go again, I better boogie....
Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy: "Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy"
Maryann Mott
National Geographic News
January 25, 2005
Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras�a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal.
Maryann Mott
National Geographic News
January 25, 2005
Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras�a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal.
Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University in 2003 successfully fused human cells with rabbit eggs. The embryos were reportedly the first human-animal chimeras successfully created. They were allowed to develop for several days in a laboratory dish before the scientists destroyed the embryos to harvest their stem cells.
In Minnesota last year researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies.
And at Stanford University in California an experiment might be done later this year to create mice with human brains.
Scientists feel that, the more humanlike the animal, the better research model it makes for testing drugs or possibly growing 'spare parts,' such as livers, to transplant into humans.
Watching how human cells mature and interact in a living creature may also lead to the discoveries of new medical treatments.
Watching how human cells mature and interact in a living creature may also lead to the discoveries of new medical treatments.
But creating human-animal chimeras named after a monster in Greek mythology that had a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail has raised troubling questions: What new subhuman combination should be produced and for what purpose? At what point would it be considered human? And what rights, if any, should it have? "
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Articles
Articles: "Viewed from the perspective of spirit, cosmologically in light of a hypothetical Big Bang, or through the scientific lens of E=MC2, the statement that everything is energy transcends the empirical domain of fact and approaches the metaphysical realm of Truth.
This even involves human physiology. The outmoded view of the body as a machine that may use energy but is somehow distinguishable from it is fast giving way to undeniable evidence that we, too, are conscious energy. This growing awareness of humans as energy beings is not merely occurring on the metaphysical fringes; it is happening at the heart of materialism: science.
Enlightened individuals have known for eons that spirit precedes matter, not the other way around, and that energy (often called consciousness) is reality's fundamental building block. Lately, physics has begun to arrive at the same conclusion. The holographic model interprets the so-called physical universe as a product of intersecting electromagnetic frequencies that energetically project the illusions we call the world ... and ourselves!
The notion that humans possess a detectable bioenergy field, sometimes termed the aura, is indisputable. In their book Future Science, John White and Stanley Krippner point out that nearly a hundred different cultures refer to the aura with nearly a hundred different names. The aura appears as a halo around Christian saints in sacred texts; Kirlian photography has captured the aura for decades; and recently, Dr. Valerie Hunt, UCLA professor and author of Infinite Mind: Science of the Human Vibrations of Consciousness, has even measured the human aura with an EEG machine. "
This even involves human physiology. The outmoded view of the body as a machine that may use energy but is somehow distinguishable from it is fast giving way to undeniable evidence that we, too, are conscious energy. This growing awareness of humans as energy beings is not merely occurring on the metaphysical fringes; it is happening at the heart of materialism: science.
Enlightened individuals have known for eons that spirit precedes matter, not the other way around, and that energy (often called consciousness) is reality's fundamental building block. Lately, physics has begun to arrive at the same conclusion. The holographic model interprets the so-called physical universe as a product of intersecting electromagnetic frequencies that energetically project the illusions we call the world ... and ourselves!
The notion that humans possess a detectable bioenergy field, sometimes termed the aura, is indisputable. In their book Future Science, John White and Stanley Krippner point out that nearly a hundred different cultures refer to the aura with nearly a hundred different names. The aura appears as a halo around Christian saints in sacred texts; Kirlian photography has captured the aura for decades; and recently, Dr. Valerie Hunt, UCLA professor and author of Infinite Mind: Science of the Human Vibrations of Consciousness, has even measured the human aura with an EEG machine. "
Forthcoming Book on DNA Activation (Intro)
Forthcoming Book on DNA Activation (Intro): "Revolutionary new research in 'wave-genetics' reveals DNA can be activated--noninvasively--by radio and light waves keyed to human language frequencies. Studies by cell biologists further demonstrate that the genetic code can be stimulated through human consciousness--specifically, the unity consciousness associated with unconditional love--to heal not only the mind and spirit but the body as well. Benefits of DNA activation can range from allergy relief and increased energy to better relationships and even renewed life purpose. Since DNA regulates all physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of our being, the possibilities are endless!"
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Cleaner Rivers - On Paper
water quality is too bad for people, so let's lower our standards!!! Then it will be good enough for everyoneCleaner Rivers - On Paper: "TAMPA - Governments label the Hillsborough and Palm rivers 'impaired,' a way of saying they aren't suitable for swimming or fishing.
That unflattering description could be lifted soon - but not because the rivers are getting cleaner. Instead, state environmental officials may reduce required levels of dissolved oxygen - one component of a healthy river - to a point some scientists view as bad for fish, crabs and bottom-dwelling critters.
In other words, the state lowers the bar, and the rivers no longer are considered polluted.
Some environmental groups say changing the rules is a way for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to avoid setting pollution limits for the state's impaired waters, as required by the federal Clean Water Act. The limits are unpopular among polluters such as agriculture, paper mills and cities with sewage plants."
That unflattering description could be lifted soon - but not because the rivers are getting cleaner. Instead, state environmental officials may reduce required levels of dissolved oxygen - one component of a healthy river - to a point some scientists view as bad for fish, crabs and bottom-dwelling critters.
In other words, the state lowers the bar, and the rivers no longer are considered polluted.
Some environmental groups say changing the rules is a way for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to avoid setting pollution limits for the state's impaired waters, as required by the federal Clean Water Act. The limits are unpopular among polluters such as agriculture, paper mills and cities with sewage plants."
Sex Survey 'Eye-Opening' For Local Parents
Morals here In USA, since when... aren't our children taught about sex by the TV... certainly non one else teaches MoralsSex Survey 'Eye-Opening' For Local Parents: "The spring survey of more than 5,000 randomly selected Hillsborough students revealed other risky behaviors.
Among student-reported activity from four thick survey volumes compiled by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
�Nearly one-third of high school students said they were propositioned to buy or bought or sold drugs while at school.
�Condom use decreases with age, dropping from 78 percent in eighth grade to 61.4 percent for high school seniors.
�More male high school students - 16 percent - reported being physically hurt by their significant others than female students, at 11.8 percent.
�More than 9 percent of male and nearly 12 percent of female high school students said they were physically forced to have sex.
'I know that is happening, because my son constantly gets letters from girls who want to do sexual things to him,' said Paula Thomas, mother of five children ages 9 to 16. 'It starts in the sixth or seventh grade.'
At school, the Citrus Park mother said, 'They know to stay out of certain hallways because of the girls.'"
Among student-reported activity from four thick survey volumes compiled by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
�Nearly one-third of high school students said they were propositioned to buy or bought or sold drugs while at school.
�Condom use decreases with age, dropping from 78 percent in eighth grade to 61.4 percent for high school seniors.
�More male high school students - 16 percent - reported being physically hurt by their significant others than female students, at 11.8 percent.
�More than 9 percent of male and nearly 12 percent of female high school students said they were physically forced to have sex.
'I know that is happening, because my son constantly gets letters from girls who want to do sexual things to him,' said Paula Thomas, mother of five children ages 9 to 16. 'It starts in the sixth or seventh grade.'
At school, the Citrus Park mother said, 'They know to stay out of certain hallways because of the girls.'"
Friday, November 25, 2005
New Scientist Premium- How life shapes the brainscape - News
New Scientist Premium- How life shapes the brainscape - News: "How life shapes the brainscape
25 November 2005
Helen Phillips
Magazine issue 2527
From meditation to diet, life experiences profoundly change the structure and connectivity of the brain
OUR brains form a million new connections for every second of our lives. It is a mind-blowing statistic, and one that highlights the amazing flexibility of our most enigmatic organ. While the figure emphasises how much we still have to learn about brain structure, it also reveals the huge importance of our everyday experiences in making our brains what they are.
Anatomy, neural networks and genes are yesterday's hot topics. Today, neuroscientists are increasingly concentrating on how the way we live our lives creates profound and often long-lasting changes in the structure and connectivity of our brains. They are focusing on how influences as diverse as our emotions, environment, social interactions and even our spiritual lives help make us tick.
To reflect this shift, the Society for Neuroscience in Washington DC last week invited a leading religious figure to open its annual meeting for the first time. The Dalai Lama "
25 November 2005
Helen Phillips
Magazine issue 2527
From meditation to diet, life experiences profoundly change the structure and connectivity of the brain
OUR brains form a million new connections for every second of our lives. It is a mind-blowing statistic, and one that highlights the amazing flexibility of our most enigmatic organ. While the figure emphasises how much we still have to learn about brain structure, it also reveals the huge importance of our everyday experiences in making our brains what they are.
Anatomy, neural networks and genes are yesterday's hot topics. Today, neuroscientists are increasingly concentrating on how the way we live our lives creates profound and often long-lasting changes in the structure and connectivity of our brains. They are focusing on how influences as diverse as our emotions, environment, social interactions and even our spiritual lives help make us tick.
To reflect this shift, the Society for Neuroscience in Washington DC last week invited a leading religious figure to open its annual meeting for the first time. The Dalai Lama "
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Central Doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism
Auxilary to this?? Maybe it is that the emptiness mearly implies existance is based on the cooperation of all things. The only definition and separtion of one thing to the next is caused simply by all these things Being here. Mab has chosen to be separate. The nothingness of the mind, where we hold onto no particular reality creates the "space" for allowing other things to be, and subject their beingness onto the mind.... whereby we can know all things. So the nothingness brings the beingness of everything into us.... So "what we do an think in our own lives becomes of extreme importance as it affects everything we are connected to."*
Central Doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism: "The philosophical outlook of all four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism is the Mahayana doctrine of emptiness. On this view, all things and events are said to be devoid of any intrinsic and absolute existence. They come into being due to the aggregation of multiple causes and conditions. Not only is their material existence dependent upon other factors, even their very identity as they are is contingent upon other factors, such as language, thought and concepts that together make up worldly convention. This absence of intrinsic existence and intrinsic identity is what is referred to as 'emptiness' and is considered to be the ultimate truth of all things and events. One of the most profound implications of this theory of emptiness is that it suggests that all things and events come into being only by means of a process of dependent origination. They are dependent upon other factors, and this fundamental truth about the nature of reality is understood best through a language of interdependence and interrelationship of things."
*Lama, D., H.H. (2005). The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality (1 ed.). New York: Morgan Road Books.
Central Doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism: "The philosophical outlook of all four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism is the Mahayana doctrine of emptiness. On this view, all things and events are said to be devoid of any intrinsic and absolute existence. They come into being due to the aggregation of multiple causes and conditions. Not only is their material existence dependent upon other factors, even their very identity as they are is contingent upon other factors, such as language, thought and concepts that together make up worldly convention. This absence of intrinsic existence and intrinsic identity is what is referred to as 'emptiness' and is considered to be the ultimate truth of all things and events. One of the most profound implications of this theory of emptiness is that it suggests that all things and events come into being only by means of a process of dependent origination. They are dependent upon other factors, and this fundamental truth about the nature of reality is understood best through a language of interdependence and interrelationship of things."
*Lama, D., H.H. (2005). The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality (1 ed.). New York: Morgan Road Books.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
New Horizons for Learning: Transforming Education
New Horizons for Learning: Transforming Education: "The Power of Mindful Learning
by: Ellen J. Langer
Perseus Publishing, 1998
ISBN: 0201339919
Take everything you have ever been taught about education, and throw it out. Look at everything in a new light, a mindful state.
If the basics become second nature, then true learning stops taking place. Learners become so conditioned to seeing things a certain way, the ?right? way, that they don?t learn, don?t challenge, don?t question. Real learning takes place in a ?mindful? environment, one that provides a context for the subject we are studying and allows us to bring something of ourselves into the process.
When speaking about her book to teachers in the Edmonds School District this fall, Langer told the story of watching someone set the table and put the fork on the right. The RIGHT? What was that person thinking? Everyone knows that the fork belongs on the left; then, she stopped herself. She had overlearned this fact and no longer doubted that sacred place of the fork on the table. Why did it belong on the left? There could be benefits to placing the fork on either side of the plate. Langer argues that teachers must teach facts conditionally to allow for doubt and more learning to take place.
She further illustrates this point with a study of two groups of piano students, one taught through repetition and memorization of scales, while the other encouraged to respond to their own thoughts and emotions. The second group ended up being more competent and more creative. Langer challenges educators to use this knowledge to rethink teaching.
"
by: Ellen J. Langer
Perseus Publishing, 1998
ISBN: 0201339919
Take everything you have ever been taught about education, and throw it out. Look at everything in a new light, a mindful state.
If the basics become second nature, then true learning stops taking place. Learners become so conditioned to seeing things a certain way, the ?right? way, that they don?t learn, don?t challenge, don?t question. Real learning takes place in a ?mindful? environment, one that provides a context for the subject we are studying and allows us to bring something of ourselves into the process.
When speaking about her book to teachers in the Edmonds School District this fall, Langer told the story of watching someone set the table and put the fork on the right. The RIGHT? What was that person thinking? Everyone knows that the fork belongs on the left; then, she stopped herself. She had overlearned this fact and no longer doubted that sacred place of the fork on the table. Why did it belong on the left? There could be benefits to placing the fork on either side of the plate. Langer argues that teachers must teach facts conditionally to allow for doubt and more learning to take place.
She further illustrates this point with a study of two groups of piano students, one taught through repetition and memorization of scales, while the other encouraged to respond to their own thoughts and emotions. The second group ended up being more competent and more creative. Langer challenges educators to use this knowledge to rethink teaching.
"
Monday, October 10, 2005
Rational Spirituality
Rational Spirituality: "The Natural Systems Thinking Process (NSTP) is a methodology in applied ecopsychology. Webstring Science is a hypothesis of the attraction relationships that underlie the interconnected structure of reality. Webstring Science provides a framework for how the natural universe communicates its multi-sensory intelligence through the Web of Life. The scientific underpinnings are drawn from both current and ancient thought in the physical, natural and social sciences, and held together with current thinking in systems science.
When one examines the results of evidence from the above fields, the inescapable conclusion is that attraction relationships hold everything from sub-atomic particles to ecosystems to economic systems together.
The basis of the concept of Love on a Universal scale is that love starts as allurement, which is a form of attraction. This basic binding energy is found everywhere in reality. It is, for example, the beginning of the attraction sense of love of community. The activity of attraction is both the creation of being and the enhancement of life.
Attraction relationships can be seen as the manifestations of a 5th Force within quantum mechanics, what Ervin Lazslo refers to as the subtle field. This subtle energy field that guides the cosmological evolutionary lifeforce is a Nameless, Intelligent, Attraction Love known by its acronym NIAL within the NSTP. Webstrings, taken from the experiential Web of Life model used by environmental educators, are the attraction relationships that bond quarks and biosystems. NIAL is the underlying field itself.
As a method of psychologically therapeutic healing NSTP can have an extremely consciously profound effect and may even become a life altering experience for an individual. Some people express their experiences with Nature as a mental well-being with increased measures of self worth and esteem, others as a spiritual awakening or appreciation of Nature, of finding or sensing their Higher Power. Some people talk about experiencing a personal wholeness or a meaningful fulfillment in honoring the integrity and the unity of Nature. Others say they've learned that the greatest good can be simply to enjoy life and cause no undue harm, and then perhaps to take the next step: to constructively contribute to the community of all life in a harmonious actualization of balanced co-creative evolution."
When one examines the results of evidence from the above fields, the inescapable conclusion is that attraction relationships hold everything from sub-atomic particles to ecosystems to economic systems together.
The basis of the concept of Love on a Universal scale is that love starts as allurement, which is a form of attraction. This basic binding energy is found everywhere in reality. It is, for example, the beginning of the attraction sense of love of community. The activity of attraction is both the creation of being and the enhancement of life.
Attraction relationships can be seen as the manifestations of a 5th Force within quantum mechanics, what Ervin Lazslo refers to as the subtle field. This subtle energy field that guides the cosmological evolutionary lifeforce is a Nameless, Intelligent, Attraction Love known by its acronym NIAL within the NSTP. Webstrings, taken from the experiential Web of Life model used by environmental educators, are the attraction relationships that bond quarks and biosystems. NIAL is the underlying field itself.
As a method of psychologically therapeutic healing NSTP can have an extremely consciously profound effect and may even become a life altering experience for an individual. Some people express their experiences with Nature as a mental well-being with increased measures of self worth and esteem, others as a spiritual awakening or appreciation of Nature, of finding or sensing their Higher Power. Some people talk about experiencing a personal wholeness or a meaningful fulfillment in honoring the integrity and the unity of Nature. Others say they've learned that the greatest good can be simply to enjoy life and cause no undue harm, and then perhaps to take the next step: to constructively contribute to the community of all life in a harmonious actualization of balanced co-creative evolution."
Official Site of Dr. Bruce Lipton, cellular biologist and acclaimed speaker
Official Site of Dr. Bruce Lipton, cellular biologist and acclaimed speaker: "Author Dr. Bruce Lipton is a former medical school professor (University of Wisconsin) and research scientist (Stanford University School of Medicine).His experiments, examining in great detail the molecular mechanisms by which cells process information, have revealed that genes do not in fact control our behavior, instead, genes are turned on and off by influences outside the cell.
These influences include our perceptions and beliefs. He shows that our beliefs, true or false, positive or negative, affect genetic activity and actually alter our genetic code. Dr. Lipton's profoundly hopeful work, being hailed as one of the major breakthroughs in the New Sciences, shows how we can retrain our consciousness to create healthy beliefs, and by doing so create a profoundly positive effect on our bodies and our lives."
These influences include our perceptions and beliefs. He shows that our beliefs, true or false, positive or negative, affect genetic activity and actually alter our genetic code. Dr. Lipton's profoundly hopeful work, being hailed as one of the major breakthroughs in the New Sciences, shows how we can retrain our consciousness to create healthy beliefs, and by doing so create a profoundly positive effect on our bodies and our lives."
Thursday, September 29, 2005
MLRN Discussion ListI
Date:Thu, 29 Sep 2005 11:43:44 -0700
From:"Juan Carlos Marvizon" marvizon@ucla.edu
Subject:Re:[discussionlist] response to Wallace
To:discussionlist@lists.wisc.edu
I was greatly disappointed to read Allan Wallace’s response to George Johnson's review of the book by the Dalai Lama “The Universe in a Single Atom”. I have followed with great interest the Dalai Lama’s interaction with science, and I am looking forward to his lecture at the next meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Allan Wallace is one of the organizers of the Life & Mind meetings, one of which precedes the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience this year. These meetings present themselves as forum to discuss scientific research on topics like meditation. However, Wallace’s defense of reincarnation and a religious interpretation of consciousness has very little to do with the scientific enterprise. Furthermore, he seems to show a contempt for mainstream scientific views on the functioning of the mind that is going to make difficult any rational discussion of these topics. The scientific study of meditation has long been tainted by the efforts of groups with veiled religious affiliations to use it to validate their particular brand of practice. I now fear that the Life & Mind Institute is just one more of these groups, advocating ideas that have very little to do with science, like reincarnation.While I do not have the time to fully refute all of Wallace’s arguments, I would like to make a few points.
1. Neither Wallace nor the Dalai Lama himself have the authority to speak for all Buddhists. Tibetan Buddhism is just one among many Buddhist schools that have held different doctrines for thousands of years. In particular, some Buddhists do not believe in reincarnation or in some kind of immaterial “soul” able to move from body to body. In fact, such a belief flies in the face of central Buddhist teachings like that of impermanence and the absence of an immutable human soul.
2. The core of Wallace’s view of consciousness appears to be that there is some “subtle” part of it that is immaterial and therefore able to migrate from body to body after death. The scientific argument against such immaterial mind can be summarized as follows. For that immaterial mind to direct actions of the body, at some point it would have to change the firing of neurons in the brain. Since the firing of action potentials is a physical phenomenon that follows the laws of physics, the interference of something immaterial with it will violate the principle of conservation of energy. This is because energy would have to come out of something immaterial (“subtle consciousness”) to influence something material. Since the law of conservation of energy is a fundamental principle of science, supported by uncountable observations, there is a heavy burden of proof on whatever theory contradicts it.
3. The work of Ian Stevenson and Jim Tucker lending credibility to reincarnation does not appear to have been properly peer-reviewed or published in mainstream scientific publications. Therefore, I would consider it pseudoscience.
4. One reason the term “consciousness” is so hard to define is the effort of spiritualists like Wallace to muddle things up. It is clear to most scientists that consciousness can not be found in inorganic matter, in plants or even in most animals, as Wallace claims. Therefore, we are not overly worried by the fact that its presence can not be detected in these things by “scientific instruments”. Most scientists are perfectly happy to understand consciousness as one of the functions of the human brain.
5. It is true that science does not have a satisfactory theory of consciousness yet. Neither does it have a good explanation for the origin of life, on how to fully reconcile Quantum Mechanics with the Theory of Relativity, and many other unresolved questions. It may still take us scientists hundreds of years to come up with a complete explanation of the Universe. I, for one, am happy that this is the case, because it allows us scientists to continue to work on these challenges. However, this lack of knowledge is not a license to embrace whatever dogma is offered to us, nor it should be a excuse to abandon time-honored scientific methodology to follow introspective approaches that do not allow independent repetition of results. These methods have its place in individual spiritual search, but not in science.
Respectfully,
Juan Carlos Marvizon,
Ph.D.Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
UCLA
From:"Juan Carlos Marvizon" marvizon@ucla.edu
Subject:Re:[discussionlist] response to Wallace
To:discussionlist@lists.wisc.edu
I was greatly disappointed to read Allan Wallace’s response to George Johnson's review of the book by the Dalai Lama “The Universe in a Single Atom”. I have followed with great interest the Dalai Lama’s interaction with science, and I am looking forward to his lecture at the next meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Allan Wallace is one of the organizers of the Life & Mind meetings, one of which precedes the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience this year. These meetings present themselves as forum to discuss scientific research on topics like meditation. However, Wallace’s defense of reincarnation and a religious interpretation of consciousness has very little to do with the scientific enterprise. Furthermore, he seems to show a contempt for mainstream scientific views on the functioning of the mind that is going to make difficult any rational discussion of these topics. The scientific study of meditation has long been tainted by the efforts of groups with veiled religious affiliations to use it to validate their particular brand of practice. I now fear that the Life & Mind Institute is just one more of these groups, advocating ideas that have very little to do with science, like reincarnation.While I do not have the time to fully refute all of Wallace’s arguments, I would like to make a few points.
1. Neither Wallace nor the Dalai Lama himself have the authority to speak for all Buddhists. Tibetan Buddhism is just one among many Buddhist schools that have held different doctrines for thousands of years. In particular, some Buddhists do not believe in reincarnation or in some kind of immaterial “soul” able to move from body to body. In fact, such a belief flies in the face of central Buddhist teachings like that of impermanence and the absence of an immutable human soul.
2. The core of Wallace’s view of consciousness appears to be that there is some “subtle” part of it that is immaterial and therefore able to migrate from body to body after death. The scientific argument against such immaterial mind can be summarized as follows. For that immaterial mind to direct actions of the body, at some point it would have to change the firing of neurons in the brain. Since the firing of action potentials is a physical phenomenon that follows the laws of physics, the interference of something immaterial with it will violate the principle of conservation of energy. This is because energy would have to come out of something immaterial (“subtle consciousness”) to influence something material. Since the law of conservation of energy is a fundamental principle of science, supported by uncountable observations, there is a heavy burden of proof on whatever theory contradicts it.
3. The work of Ian Stevenson and Jim Tucker lending credibility to reincarnation does not appear to have been properly peer-reviewed or published in mainstream scientific publications. Therefore, I would consider it pseudoscience.
4. One reason the term “consciousness” is so hard to define is the effort of spiritualists like Wallace to muddle things up. It is clear to most scientists that consciousness can not be found in inorganic matter, in plants or even in most animals, as Wallace claims. Therefore, we are not overly worried by the fact that its presence can not be detected in these things by “scientific instruments”. Most scientists are perfectly happy to understand consciousness as one of the functions of the human brain.
5. It is true that science does not have a satisfactory theory of consciousness yet. Neither does it have a good explanation for the origin of life, on how to fully reconcile Quantum Mechanics with the Theory of Relativity, and many other unresolved questions. It may still take us scientists hundreds of years to come up with a complete explanation of the Universe. I, for one, am happy that this is the case, because it allows us scientists to continue to work on these challenges. However, this lack of knowledge is not a license to embrace whatever dogma is offered to us, nor it should be a excuse to abandon time-honored scientific methodology to follow introspective approaches that do not allow independent repetition of results. These methods have its place in individual spiritual search, but not in science.
Respectfully,
Juan Carlos Marvizon,
Ph.D.Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
UCLA
Friday, August 19, 2005
How Music Can Improve Your Health
How Music Can Improve Your Health
Suzanne B. Hanser, EdD
Berklee College of Music
veryone knows the soothing effect of listening to a favorite piece of music. But until recently, there was little scientific evidence to support its effectiveness in helping to combat specific health problems.Now: A growing body of research has found that music can affect key areas of the brain that help regulate specific physiological functions necessary for good health. The best choice of music and the time spent listening depends on an individual's needs and preferences. Medical conditions that can be improved by listening to appropriate music...
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
The hypothalamus helps control the autonomic nervous system, which regulates our breathing, heartbeat and other automatic responses in the body. It also is linked to emotional activity. How music helps: When a person listens to music that stimulates positive memories and/or images, the activity of the hypothalamus helps slow a person's heart and respiration rates as well as blood pressure.
Scientific evidence: In a study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology, 75 adults performed a stressful three-minute math problem. Afterward, they were randomly assigned to sit in silence or listen to classical, jazz or popular music. Those who heard classical selections had significantly lower systolic (top number) blood pressure levels than those who heard no music. Blood pressure did not significantly improve in people who listened to the other selections.
What to do: Observe how you respond to different types of music. Match your state of mind to the tempo and dynamics. Example: If you are agitated, listen to something with a strong, fast beat, then gradually switch to slower and softer music. This can reduce stress and lower blood pressure.
INSOMNIA
Although healthy adults typically fall asleep within 30 minutes, adults age 50 and older often have more trouble falling -- and staying -- asleep. How music helps: Soft, restful music can act as a sedative by reducing the amount of the stress-related neurotransmitter noradrenaline that circulates in the bloodstream.
Scientific evidence: Sixty people ages 60 to 83 who reported sleep difficulties took part in a study at Tzu-Chi General Hospital in Taiwan. After three weeks, researchers found a 35% improvement in sleep quality, length of sleep, daytime dysfunction and sleep disturbances in subjects who listened to slow, soft music at night. The most effective types of music used in the study were piano versions of popular "oldies," New Age, harp, classical and slow jazz.
What to do: Make sure your bedroom temperature is comfortable, then lie in bed at your usual bedtime, with the lights out (light interferes with the production of the sleep hormone melatonin) and your eyes closed while listening to music. Experiment with different types of music until you discover what's relaxing for you. If you wake during the night, try listening to music again.
PAIN
Listening to music does not eliminate pain, but it can help distract your brain by creating a secondary stimulus that diverts your attention from the feeling of discomfort.
Scientific evidence: In a 14-day study published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66 older adults with osteoarthritis pain sat quietly for 20 minutes daily, while another group listened to music. Those who listened to music reported a significant decrease in pain.
What to do: For pain reduction, it's important to identify music that engages you -- that is, it should elicit memories and/or make you want to tap your foot, sway or even dance. Singing, which requires deep breathing, or using a simple percussion instrument (such as chimes or a drum), which does not require playing specific notes, also helps.
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Bottom Line/Health interviewed Suzanne B. Hanser, EdD, chair of the music therapy department at Berklee College of Music in Boston and past president of the American Music Therapy Association and the World Federation of Music Therapy. She is a research associate at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, also in Boston, where she investigates medical applications of music therapy.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
7 Power Centers
Guided Tour - Part 2: "The concept of an invisible network linking us all together was once considered 'new agey' or 'way out.' In fact, for the first ten years I was sharing the concept with others, there was absolutely no scientific evidence documenting it -- just anecdotal and experiential evidence.
Now, however, scientists from all over the world, including Harvard University, Stanford Research Institute, and various other private institutions have recently documented its existence. The technical term most often used to describe it is 'The Zero Point Field.'
In my earlier work, I called it 'the invisible network,' but in the new 7 Power Centers of Life work, I also refer to it as 'The Field.'
Haven't there been times when you knew something was going to happen before it happened? There have been times when you knew who was calling before you picked up the phone, haven't there?
Maybe you've had the experience of knowing what someone else was thinking or what they were going to say before they said it. You've had "hunches" or insights you labeled as coming from intuition, sixth-sense, instinct, gut, etc. -- that proved to be accurate, haven't you?
Where do you think the knowledge in those situations came from?
Stare at anyone, even through a car window at a stoplight, and they'll turn to look directly at you. They'll "feel" you staring at them, and know exactly which way to turn their head to lock eyes with you. How do you think they know you're looking at them, which direction to turn their head, and where to focus their eyes?
7 Power Centers of Life Guided Tour - Part 5: "every course, interaction and 'touch point' with The Ultimate Lifestyle Academy: Humility and a true desire to serve. In other words, The Ultimate Lifestyle Academy is an 'ego free zone'
No fluff, nonsense, or hype -- just grounded and proven Truth that works and truly helps you transform your life
I want to change lives and empower people on a massive scale throughout the world. I want to have maximum impact on those whose lives I'm able to touch. "
"
Thursday, August 11, 2005
MS patients making positive improvements
"a study from the University of Florida tells us that resistance training also can help those whose muscles have been weakened by multiple sclerosis walk better and reduce fatigue.
In the study, eight patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) ages 25 to 55 participated in a program that focused on exercising the legs, the lower back and the abdomen. Sessions lasted for 30 minutes, two times a week, and there was at least a 48-hour rest between exercise sessions. Conventional weight machines, typical of those found in any gym, were used. Subjects were supervised by trained exercise physiologists during all sessions.
There were no negative outcomes to weight training and no MS flair-ups were reported during the study. At the end of the eight weeks, patients had significantly stronger leg muscles, as evaluated by a machine called the isokinetic dynamometer. All patients were able to walk better, walk longer and reported less fatigue. More than half of the participants continued weight training after the study, Lesley White, PhD, lead researcher, reported.
The good news is that it appears from this study that MS patients are capable of making positive improvements in muscle strength through exercise, just as nonimpaired persons are. To substantiate these findings, a four-month strength-training study is under way."
In the study, eight patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) ages 25 to 55 participated in a program that focused on exercising the legs, the lower back and the abdomen. Sessions lasted for 30 minutes, two times a week, and there was at least a 48-hour rest between exercise sessions. Conventional weight machines, typical of those found in any gym, were used. Subjects were supervised by trained exercise physiologists during all sessions.
There were no negative outcomes to weight training and no MS flair-ups were reported during the study. At the end of the eight weeks, patients had significantly stronger leg muscles, as evaluated by a machine called the isokinetic dynamometer. All patients were able to walk better, walk longer and reported less fatigue. More than half of the participants continued weight training after the study, Lesley White, PhD, lead researcher, reported.
The good news is that it appears from this study that MS patients are capable of making positive improvements in muscle strength through exercise, just as nonimpaired persons are. To substantiate these findings, a four-month strength-training study is under way."
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Go for it Dalai Lama They all need your help!!
“Davidson is a respectable scientist,” he says, “but he has put his respectability on the line with this.” Davidson defends his work as the first step in a new field. “Meditation research is in its infancy,” he says. He helped to arrange the Dalai Lama’s talk at the SfN meeting, to be held on 12–16 November. He says that criticism of the lecture on scientific grounds is misplaced, because the Dalai Lama is not claiming to be a scientist. “He merely wants to increase scientific attention on the topics that he thinks are important for human welfare,” Davidson says. The lecture is the first in a new series organized by the SfN, billed as “dialogues between neuroscience and society”.
Controversial HPV Vaccine Stirs Up Yet More Trouble
Controversial HPV Vaccine Stirs Up Yet More Trouble
Last year when I wrote about the HPV vaccine, developed to fight the human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer, I voiced concern about its safety and efficacy given that it was new and had been approved very quickly by the FDA (see Daily Health News, January 23, 2006). Many of these concerns remain, while new politically based controversies have arisen. Led by Texas (which since changed course), numerous states jumped to propose making the vaccination mandatory for all girls entering the sixth-grade. Given, however, that HPV is normally transmitted sexually, not through casual contact as is the case with other viruses (such as measles, mumps and rubella, for instance) in which childhood vaccines are mandated, this enthusiastic legislative response appears to be driven by politics and corporate greed rather than public health concerns, some speculate.
BIG PHARMA STRIKES AGAIN
Consumer advocacy groups and the news media are quick to blame Merck, manufacturer of the vaccine, for the tactics it employed in promoting the vaccine's use. First and foremost, the vaccine was tested in only a small sample of girls under 16 (fewer than 1,200) and as a new vaccine it has no track record for safety, I was told by Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), a national, non-profit, educational organization dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths. Secondarily, she adds, the majority of Americans do not want state governments forcing this kind of decision upon their families. There was clearly a groundswell of opposition to the mandated vaccine from all sides, hence the bill for it being overturned in the state of Texas. Some oppose it due to safety concerns... others because it tramples on parents' rights. A recent survey confirmed this opposition. In a University of Michigan Health System poll, only 44% of parents supported the mandatory HPV vaccine. The rest were neutral or opposed. Nonetheless, the manufacturers have succeeded in promoting their extraordinarily profitable materials as "necessary for the public's safety."
QUESTIONABLE MARKETING TACTICS
There's no doubt that vaccines mean big money for big business. In June 2006, pharmaceutical giant Merck received approval for its vaccine, sold under the name "Gardasil," from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after clinical trials showed very positive results, leading the FDA to speed its approval under its "priority review process." Shortly thereafter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a recommendation for its use in girls ages 11 and 12, followed within a few months by a huge advertising campaign from Merck, featuring young girls jumping rope and chanting "I want to be one less, one less" on TV and in magazines. Simultaneously, the company launched an aggressive behind-closed-doors lobbying effort in state after state to require the vaccination for all girls entering sixth grade or of middle-school age. The projected revenue for Gardasil should the mandates pass is hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Serious questions about a conflict of interest arose in Texas earlier this year. Literally the same day Governor Rick Perry's chief of staff met with Merck execs, the drug company made a significant contribution to Perry's campaign (as well as those of eight other Texas legislators). One of the Merck lobbyists in Texas is the governor's former chief of staff, and the governor is also closely aligned with Women in Government, a non-profit bi-partisan advocacy group of women legislators that receives money from Merck. Similar concerns have arisen in other states, including Florida, Virginia and Maryland, suggesting that Merck is more or less buying its way into the mandates.
Then there is the fact of Merck's recent poor track record for drug safety. Multi-million dollar lawsuits continue against the company for its osteoarthritis medication rofecoxib (Vioxx), abruptly pulled from the market in 2004 after causing heart attacks and stroke. It turned out that Merck had been aware of these cardiovascular risks for years, but covered them up. (Interestingly, Vioxx received a six-month priority review just as Gardasil did.) Now there are safety questions about another Merck drug, alendronate (Fosamax), which is used to treat osteoporosis. (For more on the dangers of Fosamax, see the January 18, 2007 issue of Daily Health News.)
SERIOUS HEALTH CONCERNS PERSIST
Politics aside, Fisher continues to have health concerns about the HPV vaccine, including...
- Insufficient study. In Fisher's opinion, Merck and the FDA have not been completely honest with the American people about the pre-licensure clinical trials. The HPV vaccine has been studied in fewer than 1,200 girls under age 16, yet is being recommended for all girls 11 and 12.
- Safety. There were 385 Gardasil adverse events reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) during the last six months of 2006. These included collapse into unconsciousness and seizures in the doctor's office after vaccination or in the next 24 hours. Two-thirds of those affected required additional medical care, and nearly one-third of all reports (where age was reported) were for girls 16 or younger. One out of four of these reactions occurred when Gardasil was administered along with other vaccines. As a result, NVIC is calling on the FDA and CDC to issue warnings that Gardasil should not be combined with other vaccines, and that girls be monitored for fainting, seizures, tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs for 24 hours after vaccination.
- Long-term effectiveness. At Merck's urging, the FDA agreed to fast-track the HPV vaccine in February 2006, and it was approved that June. Although testing was limited -- particularly in the age group for which the mandate is proposed -- some speculate it was in Merck's best financial interests to roll out the vaccine as soon as possible so that it could achieve market domination before GlaxoSmithKline introduced its own version. Rarely has a vaccine this new been granted such a rapid and sweeping mandate after FDA approval, observes Fisher. The process typically takes five to six years -- as it should, to verify there are no long-term health risks.
- Necessity. Fisher notes that cervical cancer causes less than one percent of all cancers and cancer deaths (between 3,000 and 4,000 US deaths annually). In contrast, tobacco is implicated in an estimated 438,000 American deaths each year.
So, I ask, if the government is going to legislate health, why not ban tobacco? Why instead mandate a controversial vaccine that impacts only a very narrow portion of the population, putting them at risk for side effects?
- Cost. At $360 for a three-shot regimen, Gardasil is unusually expensive and not all insurance plans may cover it. However, if the vaccine is mandated, insurance coverage is far more likely. Clearly that will make the people at Merck very happy. Fisher points out that because a competing HPV vaccine is in the pipeline, Merck is highly motivated to seize and dominate the market before a rival pharmaceutical firm steps in.
- Public health impact. There is no evidence that the HPV vaccines will eliminate all HPV strains or cervical cancer. The vaccine targets two high-risk HPV strains that are known to cause cervical cancer and two low-risk types that are know to cause genital warts. However, FDA and CDC officials have questioned whether other high-risk HPV strains will eventually replace those controlled by widespread use of the vaccine and continue to cause disease. It is not knownn if boosters will be needed and long-term safety is also unknown.
A PERSONAL DECISION
To find out whether legislation is under consideration in your state to mandate the HPV vaccine for young girls, visit the Web site of the National Conference of State Legislatures at www.ncsl.org/programs/health/HPVvaccine.htm. If you learn that a mandate may be instituted, most states allow exemption to vaccination for medical reasons and for sincerely held religious beliefs. Only about 17 states allow exemptions for personal or philosophical beliefs. This may mean that your daughter would be excluded from attending public school if you cannot obtain one of these exemptions.
In the long run, the HPV vaccine may or may not prove to be safe and effective. Only time will tell -- and I'd argue, we need to let more time pass before making such a big decision. In the meantime, meet with your physician, review its pros and cons from unbiased sources, and come to an independent decision about what's best for your family. Be careful though, since all sides have strong opinions. Most physicians are influenced by their specialty and state medical societies, while consumer organizations questioning the safety of vaccines are often influenced by personal experience with vaccine reactions. The complexities of this issue may make it difficult to get a clear answer from any single source. Ideally, this is a personal decision that you should be able to make without inappropriate government, social or medical interference.
Source(s):
Barbara Loe Fisher, President, National Vaccine Information Center, www.909shot.com
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov
US Food and Drug Administration, www.fda.gov
Sunday, August 07, 2005
All misdeeds great and small
I wonder who paid for this study...
Article 1: "Public trust in the integrity and ethical behavior of scholars must be maintained if research is to continue to play its proper role in our university and society.'
Item 2: The US Office of Research Integrity recently made changes to its ethics rules, including "reviewing" as part of its definition of misconduct--meaning a reviewer who plagiarizes an application for federal funding can be charged with misconduct. The change is apparently inspired by allegations of plagiarism in peer reviewers of applications for NIH funds.
Crisis? Again, no; again, vigilance is required and the occasional miscreants should be "named and shamed."
Item 3: A commentary with the tantalizing title 'Scientists behaving badly.' (3) This turns out not to be lewd tabloid revelations but a survey of the professional conduct of several thousand researchers. "US scientists engage in a range of behaviors extending far beyond falsification, fabrication and plagiarism (FFP)" the authors conclude. Actually the series of misdemeanors are less serious, than, not far beyond, FFP. But the collective admission of guilt is shockingly high. One-third of scientists admitted to at least one transgression from a list of 16 that range from questionable to intolerable. These included 15% who changed the design, methods, or results of their research under pressure from a sponsor, 12.5% who overlooked other scientists' use of flawed data or questionable interpretations, 7% who ignored "minor rules" involving research subjects, and, 6% who withheld data that contradicted their previous conclusions.
Crisis? It possibly is. The full extent of these questionable practices is unknown, their growth over time is unexplored, their impact is undiscovered and the proper response to them is unclear. Clearly more study is needed.
"The level of competition in science has absolutely skyrocketed," lead author Brian Martinson was quoted saying in one paper. "There is often a level of desperation that may lead people to behave badly." (4) But with no historical data, we can't blindly accept this as a recent and growing problem.
Re-education in ethics--especially for more senior scientists, who are more likely to offend--must be another priority. We may need a precise code of practice, along with enforceable penalties.
Article 1: "Public trust in the integrity and ethical behavior of scholars must be maintained if research is to continue to play its proper role in our university and society.'
Item 2: The US Office of Research Integrity recently made changes to its ethics rules, including "reviewing" as part of its definition of misconduct--meaning a reviewer who plagiarizes an application for federal funding can be charged with misconduct. The change is apparently inspired by allegations of plagiarism in peer reviewers of applications for NIH funds.
Crisis? Again, no; again, vigilance is required and the occasional miscreants should be "named and shamed."
Item 3: A commentary with the tantalizing title 'Scientists behaving badly.' (3) This turns out not to be lewd tabloid revelations but a survey of the professional conduct of several thousand researchers. "US scientists engage in a range of behaviors extending far beyond falsification, fabrication and plagiarism (FFP)" the authors conclude. Actually the series of misdemeanors are less serious, than, not far beyond, FFP. But the collective admission of guilt is shockingly high. One-third of scientists admitted to at least one transgression from a list of 16 that range from questionable to intolerable. These included 15% who changed the design, methods, or results of their research under pressure from a sponsor, 12.5% who overlooked other scientists' use of flawed data or questionable interpretations, 7% who ignored "minor rules" involving research subjects, and, 6% who withheld data that contradicted their previous conclusions.
Crisis? It possibly is. The full extent of these questionable practices is unknown, their growth over time is unexplored, their impact is undiscovered and the proper response to them is unclear. Clearly more study is needed.
"The level of competition in science has absolutely skyrocketed," lead author Brian Martinson was quoted saying in one paper. "There is often a level of desperation that may lead people to behave badly." (4) But with no historical data, we can't blindly accept this as a recent and growing problem.
Re-education in ethics--especially for more senior scientists, who are more likely to offend--must be another priority. We may need a precise code of practice, along with enforceable penalties.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
All this have consciousness
The begining of the mind research...
INDIGENOUS WEATHER MODIFICATION: "All Things Have Some Consciousness
The world view of Ifa differs from the world view of mainstream Western metaphysics in two ways; Ifa teaches that everything in nature has some form of consciousness called ori, and it teaches that the world is a multi-dimensional reality. Most forms of shamanism teach the idea that the visible world is influenced by invisible worlds that co-exist in the same dimensional space as the physical world. The invisible realms are usually called 'Spirit Worlds'. The word 'spirit' means 'essential nature' or 'essence'. From a shamanistic point of view Spirits are fundamental Forces in Nature that help shape the physical reality perceived by the senses in a non-altered state of consciousness.
Ifa teaches that all things in the world have some form of consciousness. The first step in developing the shamanistic skills of an Ifa initiate is to learn how to empathize with the consciousness of non human Forces in Nature"
INDIGENOUS WEATHER MODIFICATION: "All Things Have Some Consciousness
The world view of Ifa differs from the world view of mainstream Western metaphysics in two ways; Ifa teaches that everything in nature has some form of consciousness called ori, and it teaches that the world is a multi-dimensional reality. Most forms of shamanism teach the idea that the visible world is influenced by invisible worlds that co-exist in the same dimensional space as the physical world. The invisible realms are usually called 'Spirit Worlds'. The word 'spirit' means 'essential nature' or 'essence'. From a shamanistic point of view Spirits are fundamental Forces in Nature that help shape the physical reality perceived by the senses in a non-altered state of consciousness.
Ifa teaches that all things in the world have some form of consciousness. The first step in developing the shamanistic skills of an Ifa initiate is to learn how to empathize with the consciousness of non human Forces in Nature"
Friday, August 05, 2005
DNA modified foods and intestinal bacteria
SO WHAT ARE WE REALLY CREATING?
I TELL MY CELLS WHAT I WANT!
YOU CAN TOO
Google Groups : sci.bio.evolution: "Usually with a nice little creature called Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This
actually inserts a portion of its genome into a plant it infects, causing
the cells to become cancerious and, cleverly, to secrete a substance known
as octopine, which very few organisms can use a carbon source. Agrobacterium
is of course one of the few, so it enjoys a monopoly food supply.
By removing the tumour and octopine genes from the transfer DNA, and
inserting a gene of interest, we can genetically engineer plants, with a
certain amount of hassle getting the transformed cells to regenerate into
whole plants.
(If you are wondering how to genetically engineer Agrobacterium, that is
relatively easy. The DNA is on a plasmid which the bacteria can be induced
to take up with minimal hassles, for genetic engineering).
The problem is we don't know how to control the site of integration, and it
may be that DNA which has integrated is less stable than other DNA. Also for
technical reasons the DNA needs an antibiotic resistance marker gene. There
are new protocols for getting these out of the released plants, but they add
cost to the engineering procedure. There is a theoretical possibility of
these antibiotic resistance genes getting into bacteria. However the genes
originally came from the bacterial gene pool anyway, so it is not really a
very serious concern to most scientists, though the media have jumped on it
because genetically engineered superbug make a nice story. "
I TELL MY CELLS WHAT I WANT!
YOU CAN TOO
Google Groups : sci.bio.evolution: "Usually with a nice little creature called Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This
actually inserts a portion of its genome into a plant it infects, causing
the cells to become cancerious and, cleverly, to secrete a substance known
as octopine, which very few organisms can use a carbon source. Agrobacterium
is of course one of the few, so it enjoys a monopoly food supply.
By removing the tumour and octopine genes from the transfer DNA, and
inserting a gene of interest, we can genetically engineer plants, with a
certain amount of hassle getting the transformed cells to regenerate into
whole plants.
(If you are wondering how to genetically engineer Agrobacterium, that is
relatively easy. The DNA is on a plasmid which the bacteria can be induced
to take up with minimal hassles, for genetic engineering).
The problem is we don't know how to control the site of integration, and it
may be that DNA which has integrated is less stable than other DNA. Also for
technical reasons the DNA needs an antibiotic resistance marker gene. There
are new protocols for getting these out of the released plants, but they add
cost to the engineering procedure. There is a theoretical possibility of
these antibiotic resistance genes getting into bacteria. However the genes
originally came from the bacterial gene pool anyway, so it is not really a
very serious concern to most scientists, though the media have jumped on it
because genetically engineered superbug make a nice story. "
POWER FOR WHO : sci.bio.evolution
There are hundreds of ways to generate energy and power for our civilizations. However the power/oil monopy is secured all POLITICAL authority, and will continue to profit if no new methods are developed regardless of what science puts together..
Google Groups : sci.bio.evolution: "Scientists have been exploring the microbiology of deep-sea hydrothermal
vents - geysers that form along volcanic mid-ocean ridges - using submersible vessels for almost 30 years. Until now, life in this environment was thought to depend on chemotrophic bacteria, although the identification of low-level illumination in the form of 'vent glow' gave a tantalizing hint that photosynthesis was a possibility.
Beatty et al. investigated whether geothermal illumination could support photosynthesis by analysing samples taken from the effluent plume of a type of vent known as a black smoker located at the East Pacific rise. Enrichment culturing yielded a non-motile bacterium that has been named GSB1. Analysis of the absorption and emission spectra of intact GSB1 cells isolated in pure culture - with major peaks at 750 nm and 775 nm, respectively - indicated the presence of light-harvesting bacteriochlorophyll c.
Further analysis by electron microscopy revealed the presence of light-harvesting chlorosomes, structures that are commonly found in green sulphur bacteria. Light energy is transferred to the chlorosome reaction centre through the Fenna?Matthews?Olson (FMO) protein; PCR using FMO-specific primers amplified a 970-bp FMO segment from GSB1, and sequence analysis led the authors to conclude that GSB1 is a green sulphur bacterium related to the Chlorobium and Prosthecochloris genera. For growth, GSB1 requires anaerobic growth conditions, sulphur in the form of elemental sulphur or H2S, CO2 and light."
Google Groups : sci.bio.evolution: "Scientists have been exploring the microbiology of deep-sea hydrothermal
vents - geysers that form along volcanic mid-ocean ridges - using submersible vessels for almost 30 years. Until now, life in this environment was thought to depend on chemotrophic bacteria, although the identification of low-level illumination in the form of 'vent glow' gave a tantalizing hint that photosynthesis was a possibility.
Beatty et al. investigated whether geothermal illumination could support photosynthesis by analysing samples taken from the effluent plume of a type of vent known as a black smoker located at the East Pacific rise. Enrichment culturing yielded a non-motile bacterium that has been named GSB1. Analysis of the absorption and emission spectra of intact GSB1 cells isolated in pure culture - with major peaks at 750 nm and 775 nm, respectively - indicated the presence of light-harvesting bacteriochlorophyll c.
Further analysis by electron microscopy revealed the presence of light-harvesting chlorosomes, structures that are commonly found in green sulphur bacteria. Light energy is transferred to the chlorosome reaction centre through the Fenna?Matthews?Olson (FMO) protein; PCR using FMO-specific primers amplified a 970-bp FMO segment from GSB1, and sequence analysis led the authors to conclude that GSB1 is a green sulphur bacterium related to the Chlorobium and Prosthecochloris genera. For growth, GSB1 requires anaerobic growth conditions, sulphur in the form of elemental sulphur or H2S, CO2 and light."
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