Introduction
Forgiveness offers wings to prayer, to make its rising easy and its progress swift. Without its strong support it would be vain to try to rise above prayer's bottom step, or even to attempt to climb at all. Forgiveness is prayer's ally; sister in the plan for your salvation. Both must come to hold you up and keep your feet secure; your purpose steadfast and unchangeable. Behold the greatest help that God ordained to be with you until you reach to Him. Illusion's end will come with this. Unlike the timeless nature of its sister, prayer, forgiveness has an end. For it becomes unneeded when the rising up is done. Yet now it has a purpose beyond which you cannot go, nor have you need to go. Accomplish this and you have been redeemed. Accomplish this and you have been transformed. Accomplish this and you will save the world.
I. Forgiveness of Yourself
No gift of Heaven has been more misunderstood than has forgiveness. It has, in fact, become a scourge; a curse where it was meant to bless, a cruel mockery of grace, a parody upon the holy peace of God. Yet those who have not yet chosen to begin the steps of prayer cannot but use it thus. Forgiveness' kindness is obscure at first, because salvation is not understood, nor truly sought for. What was meant to heal is used to hurt because forgiveness is not wanted. Guilt becomes salvation, and the remedy appears to be a terrible alternative to life.
Forgiveness- to-destroy will therefore suit the purpose of the world far better than its true objective, and the honest means by which this goal is reached. Forgiveness- to-destroy will overlook no sin, no crime, no guilt that it can seek and find and "love." Dear to its heart is error, and mistakes loom large and grow and swell within its sight. It carefully picks out all evil things, and overlooks the loving as a plague; a hateful thing of danger and of death. Forgiveness- to-destroy is death, and this it sees in all it looks upon and hates. God's mercy has become a twisted knife that would destroy the holy Son He loves.
Would you forgive yourself for doing this? Then learn that God has given you the means by which you can return to Him in peace. Do not see error. Do not make it real. Select the loving and forgive the sin by choosing in its place the face of Christ. How otherwise can prayer return to God? He loves His Son. Can you remember Him and hate what He created? You will hate his Father if you hate the Son He loves. For as you see the Son you see yourself, and as you see yourself is God to you.
As prayer is always for yourself, so is forgiveness always given you. It is impossible to forgive another, for it is only your sins you see in him. You want to see them there, and not in you. That is why forgiveness of another is an illusion. Yet it is the only happy dream in all the world; the only one that does not lead to death. Only in someone else can you forgive yourself, for you have called him guilty of your sins, and in him must your innocence now be found. Who but the sinful need to be forgiven? And do not ever think you can see sin in anyone except yourself.
This is the great deception of the world, and you the great deceiver of yourself. It always seems to be another who is evil, and in his sin you are the injured one. How could freedom be possible if this were so? You would be slave to everyone, for what he does entails your fate, your feelings, your despair or hope, your misery or joy. You have no freedom unless he gives it to you. And being evil, he can only give of what he is. You cannot see his sins and not your own. But you can free him and yourself as well.
Forgiveness, truly given, is the way in which your only hope of freedom lies. Others will make mistakes and so will you, as long as this illusion of a world appears to be your home. Yet God Himself has given all His Sons a remedy for all illusions that they think they see. Christ's vision does not use your eyes, but you can look through His and learn to see like Him. Mistakes are tiny shadows, quickly gone, that for an instant only seem to hide the face of Christ, which still remains unchanged behind them all. His constancy remains in tranquil silence and in perfect peace. He does not know of shadows. His the eyes that look past error to the Christ in you.
Ask, then, His help, and ask Him how to learn forgiveness as His vision lets it be. You are in need of what He gives, and your salvation rests on learning this of Him. Prayer cannot be released to Heaven while forgiveness- to-destroy remains with you. God's mercy would remove this withering and poisoned thinking from your holy mind. Christ has forgiven you, and in His sight the world becomes as holy as Himself. Who sees no evil in it sees like Him. For what He has forgiven has not sinned, and guilt can be no more. Salvation's plan is made complete, and sanity has come.
Forgiveness is the call to sanity, for who but the insane would look on sin when he could see the face of Christ instead? This is the choice you make; the simplest one, and yet the only one that you can make. God calls on you to save His Son from death by offering Christ's love to him. This is your need, and God holds out this gift to you. As He would give, so must you give as well. And thus is prayer restored to formlessness, beyond all limits into timelessness, with nothing of the past to hold it back from re-uniting with the ceaseless song that all creation sings unto its God.
But to achieve this end you first must learn, before you reach where learning cannot go. Forgiveness is the key, but who can use a key when he has lost the door for which the key was made, and where alone it fits? Therefore we make distinctions, so that prayer can be released from darkness into light. Forgiveness' role must be reversed, and cleansed from evil usages and hateful goals. Forgiveness- to-destroy must be unveiled in all its treachery, and then let go forever and forever. There can be no trace of it remaining, if the plan that God established for returning be achieved at last, and learning be complete.
This is the world of opposites. And you must choose between them every instant while this world retains reality for you. Yet you must learn alternatives for choice, or you will not be able to attain your freedom. Let it then be clear to you exactly what forgiveness means to you, and learn what it should be to set you free. The level of your prayer depends on this, for here it waits its freedom to ascend above the world of chaos into peace.
II. Forgiveness- to-Destroy
Forgiveness- to-destroy has many forms, being a weapon of the world of form. Not all of them are obvious, and some are carefully concealed beneath what seems like charity. Yet all the forms that it may seem to take have but this single goal; their purpose is to separate and make what God created equal, different. The difference is clear in several forms where the designed comparison cannot be missed, nor is it really meant to be. In this group, first, there are the forms in which a "better" person deigns to stoop to save a "baser" one from what he truly is. Forgiveness here rests on an attitude of gracious lordliness so far from love that arrogance could never be dislodged. Who can forgive and yet despise? And who can tell another he is steeped in sin, and yet perceive him as the Son of God? Who makes a slave to teach what freedom is? There is no union here, but only grief. This is not really mercy. This is death.
Another form, still very like the first if it is understood, does not appear in quite such blatant arrogance. The one who would forgive the other does not claim to be the better. Now he says instead that here is one whose sinfulness he shares, since both have been unworthy and deserve the retribution of the wrath of God. This can appear to be a humble thought, and may indeed induce a rivalry in sinfulness and guilt. It is not love for God's creation and the holiness that is His gift forever. Can His Son condemn himself and still remember Him?
Here the goal is to separate from God the Son He loves, and keep him from his Source. This goal is also sought by those who seek the role of martyr at another's hand. Here must the aim be clearly seen, for this may pass as meekness and as charity instead of cruelty. Is it not kind to be accepting of another's spite, and not respond except with silence and a gentle smile? Behold, how good are you who bear with patience and with saintliness the anger and the hurt another gives, and do not show the bitter pain you feel.
Forgiveness- to-destroy will often hide behind a cloak like this. It shows the face of suffering and pain, in silent proof of guilt and of the ravages of sin. Such is the witness that it offers one who could be savior, not an enemy. But having been made enemy, he must accept the guilt and heavy-laid reproach that thus is put upon him. Is this love? Or is it rather treachery to one who needs salvation from the pain of guilt? What could the purpose be, except to keep the witnesses of guilt away from love?
Forgiveness- to-destroy can also take the form of bargaining and compromise. "I will forgive you if you meet my needs, for in your slavery is my release." Say this to anyone and you are slave. And you will seek to rid yourself of guilt in further bargains which can give no hope, but only greater pain and misery. How fearful has forgiveness now become, and how distorted is the end it seeks. Have mercy on yourself who bargains thus. God gives and does not ask for recompense. There is no giving but to give like Him. All else is mockery. For who would try to strike a bargain with the Son of God, and thank his Father for his holiness?
What would you show your brother? Would you try to reinforce his guilt and thus your own? Forgiveness is the means for your escape. How pitiful it is to make of it the means for further slavery and pain. Within the world of opposites there is a way to use forgiveness for the goal of God, and find the peace He offers you. Take nothing else, or you have sought your death, and prayed for separation from your Self. Christ is for all because He is in all. It is His face forgiveness lets you see. It is His face in which you see your own.
All forms forgiveness takes that do not lead away from anger, condemnation and comparisons of every kind are death. For that is what their purposes have set. Be not deceived by them, but lay them by as worthless in their tragic offerings. You do not want to stay in slavery. You do not want to be afraid of God. You want to see the sunlight and the glow of Heaven shining on the face of earth, redeemed from sin and in the Love of God. From here is prayer released, along with you. Your wings are free, and prayer will lift you up and bring you home where God would have you be.
III. Forgiveness- for-Salvation Forgiveness- for-salvation has one form, and only one. It does not ask for proof of innocence, nor pay of any kind. It does not argue, nor evaluate the errors that it wants to overlook. It does not offer gifts in treachery, nor promise freedom while it asks for death. Would God deceive you? He but asks for trust and willingness to learn how to be free. He gives His Teacher to whoever asks, and seeks to understand the Will of God. His readiness to give lies far beyond your understanding and your simple grasp. Yet He has willed you learn the way to Him, and in His willing there is certainty.
You Child of God, the gifts of God are yours, not by your plans but by His holy Will. His Voice will teach you what forgiveness is, and how to give it as He wills it be. Do not, then, seek to understand what is beyond you yet, but let it be a way to draw you up to where the eyes of Christ become the sight you choose. Give up all else, for there is nothing else. When someone calls for help in any form, He is the One to answer for you. All that you need do is to step back and not to interfere. Forgiveness- for-salvation is His task, and it is He Who will respond for you.
Do not establish what the form should be that Christ's forgiveness takes. He knows the way to make of every call a help to you, as you arise in haste to go at last unto your Father's house. Now can He make your footsteps sure, your words sincere; not with your own sincerity, but with His Own. Let Him take charge of how you would forgive, and each occasion then will be to you another step to Heaven and to peace.
Are you not weary of imprisonment? God did not choose this sorry path for you. What you have chosen still can be undone, for prayer is merciful and God is just. His is a justice He can understand, but you cannot as yet. Still will He give the means to you to learn of Him, and know at last that condemnation is not real and makes illusions in its evil name. And yet it matters not the form that dreams may seem to take. Illusions are untrue. God's Will is truth, and you are one with Him in Will and purpose. Here all dreams are done.
"What should I do for him, Your holy Son?" should be the only thing you ever ask when help is needed and forgiveness sought. The form the seeking takes you need not judge. And let it not be you who sets the form in which forgiveness comes to save God's Son. The light of Christ in him is his release, and it is this that answers to his call. Forgive him as the Christ decides you should, and be His eyes through which you look on him, and speak for Him as well. He knows the need; the question and the answer. He will say exactly what to do, in words that you can understand and you can also use. Do not confuse His function with your own. He is the Answer. You the one who hears.
And what is it He speaks to you about? About salvation and the gift of peace. About the end of sin and guilt and death. About the role forgiveness has in Him. Do you but listen. For He will be heard by anyone who calls upon His Name, and places his forgiveness in His hands. Forgiveness has been given Him to teach, to save it from destruction and to make the means for separation, sin and death become again the holy gift of God. Prayer is His Own right Hand, made free to save as true forgiveness is allowed to come from His eternal vigilance and love. Listen and learn, and do not judge. It is to God you turn to hear what you should do. His answer will be clear as morning, nor is His forgiveness what you think it is.
Still does He know, and that should be enough. Forgiveness has a Teacher Who will fail in nothing. Rest a while in this; do not attempt to judge forgiveness, nor to set it in an earthly frame. Let it arise to Christ, Who welcomes it as gift to Him. He will not leave you comfortless, nor fail to send His angels down to answer you in His Own Name. He stands beside the door to which forgiveness is the only key. Give it to Him to use instead of you, and you will see the door swing silently open upon the shining face of Christ. Behold your brother there beyond the door; the Son of God as He created him.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Closed Ecological Life Support System
CELSS TRANSFORMATIONS
CELSS (Closed Ecological Life Support System) is a "living machine" which, ideally, provides it's inhabitant(s) with 100% of their life support (organic food, fresh oxygen-rich air, clean water) by recycling the waste products generated by the inhabitant(s) and by the CELSS itself. We call that "closing the loop". As it has been said, "the devil is in the details". CELSS is relatively new in the world. Now, of course, the planet-wide life supporting biosphere it a large scale CELSS. By studying what nature does to recycle we may apply these principles on a much smaller personalized scale. It helps to design for the worst possible scenario in the harshest environments (like Mars) and then it becomes easier and simpler to build robust systems for kinder climates. So, to start, imagine we have landed on a barren planet with no air, water, or food to eat except what we brought with us. Here's what we have to work with (this can get gross):
MATERIAL INPUTS
1) HUMAN BODY: feces, urine, farts, belches, vomit, snot, spit/saliva, phlegm, sweat, tears, earwax, milk, sperm/semen, smegma, menstrual blood, blood, pus, nail clippings, hair, dead skin, water vapor, CO2, trace gasses, heat, medicine residues, and (if someone dies) dead bodies and body parts
2) PLANTS: unused biomass, garbage, plant oils, O2, CO2, ethylene and other trace gasses, water vapor
3) ANIMALS: much the same as what humans output
4) MATERIALS & PROCESSES: oils, soaps, worn out clothing (composed of natural fibers/dyes only), laundry & wash (gray) water, out-gassings (solvents/trace gasses from materials used in the CELSS shell construction and other items inside the CELSS).
That's what we have to work with in the "hermetically sealed version". Of course, on Earth or anywhere there are some useful outside resources, our task would be easier. Yet, if we design the hermetically sealed version, I`m sure, on the way to the final design, we will cover just about any condition or environment we can imagine. While we are brainstorming this "ultimate CELSS" we need to be aware of the amount of energy required to make the whole thing work. The less energy required the better. Also, technologically complex systems tend to break down faster than simple systems. We adhere to the engineering principle of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). We don't want to design anything which requires a lot of repairs, maintenance, or spare parts. The number of human hours spent per day keeping the system fully operational should also be considered. We're not into this to work ourselves to death. We shouldn't have to spend more than a hour or so a day doing our chores in an optimal system. Remember, we're on a planet's surface so we have gravity on our side. In space we would have to spin the whole thing to simulate gravity. For now, let's stay grounded and focused on the transformations.
The MATERIAL INPUTS listed above must be transformed into the following:
1) nutrient rich water and soil for plants, fungi, and symbiotic micro-organisms
2) CO2 and trace gas-rich air for the plants, fungi, and symbiotic micro-organisms
3) clean water for humans and animals
4) oxygen rich air with few trace gasses (ethylene, methane, carbon monoxide, and other exotics) for humans and animals
5) continuously and regularly producing organic food supply for humans and animals
Get the picture? What goes around comes around. There is a dynamic relationship between humans, animals, plants, fungi, and symbiotic micro-organisms. What we are trying to do is optimize this relationship by building containment vessels which provide optimal conditions for each of the above. We want to make everyone and everything involved very comfortable and in a state of being nurtured at all times. We also want to do this in a way which prevents pathogens from thriving. We're aiming for a high oxygen level (aerobic) conditions throughout the CELSS. Anaerobic conditions (such as found in septic systems) are to be avoided because they breed disease and poisonous gasses like hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg odor) and methane. Plants out-gas ethylene which is, at certain concentrations, a growth inhibitor for the plants. It too needs to be converted or a hermetically sealed system will die.
How large should a fully operational CELSS be? As small as possible and small is possible. Here are some optimistic figures from the CELSS life support research community:
ESTIMATED GROW SPACE REQUIRED PER PERSON
(may be stacked into multiple levels for more efficient operation)
14 m2 - Gitalson
56 m2 - Bios3
20-30 m2 - Cullingford & Schwatekopf
13-50 m2 - Bugsbee & Salisbury
56.9 m2 - Oleson & Olson
8-20 m2 - MacElroy & Averner
15-20 m2 - Eckhart
24 m2 - Hoff
15 m2 - Vasilyew
As you can see, the above figures are tiny compared to the amount of space the average human being requires for life support in both hunter/gatherer and agriculture- based civilizations. Since the Earth's "carrying capacity" is already exceeded because of the rapidly expanding human population, anything we do to reduce an individual's "footprint" (space/resource required to keep a person alive) is a step in the correct direction. Lab work (NASA Ames) has already proven that all the air, water, and food for one person can be grown in a 16' x 16' space under optimal conditions with controlled atmosphere, temperature, lighting, and nutrients. Of course this was a highly engineered "hydroponics" style system which required considerable electricity for the lighting, pumps, and climate control plus an outside source of plant nutrients. So, it cannot really be called a CELSS but it sure is an encouraging experiment. I bet we can do pretty good together too!
That's enough for the moment. Read through the above a few times and start dreaming of how you might turn each of the MATERIAL INPUTS into what we need to get in return. If you have any ideals fleshed ot in some detail, please share them with the group. My job here is to facilitate the "think tanking" and keep us on course to building a functioning CELSS. I'm going to be poking and prodding so don't take it personally when I question you input or put a new twist into the puzzle. Doing so is part of my job facilitating this group. One thing I'm going to be stressing is INTEGRATING FUNCTIONS. If one piece of hardware can do 3 things simultaneously, I'm probably going to suggest it.
Looking forward to working with you all! - Terry Ryan Kok (aka: Jade)
CELSS (Closed Ecological Life Support System) is a "living machine" which, ideally, provides it's inhabitant(s) with 100% of their life support (organic food, fresh oxygen-rich air, clean water) by recycling the waste products generated by the inhabitant(s) and by the CELSS itself. We call that "closing the loop". As it has been said, "the devil is in the details". CELSS is relatively new in the world. Now, of course, the planet-wide life supporting biosphere it a large scale CELSS. By studying what nature does to recycle we may apply these principles on a much smaller personalized scale. It helps to design for the worst possible scenario in the harshest environments (like Mars) and then it becomes easier and simpler to build robust systems for kinder climates. So, to start, imagine we have landed on a barren planet with no air, water, or food to eat except what we brought with us. Here's what we have to work with (this can get gross):
MATERIAL INPUTS
1) HUMAN BODY: feces, urine, farts, belches, vomit, snot, spit/saliva, phlegm, sweat, tears, earwax, milk, sperm/semen, smegma, menstrual blood, blood, pus, nail clippings, hair, dead skin, water vapor, CO2, trace gasses, heat, medicine residues, and (if someone dies) dead bodies and body parts
2) PLANTS: unused biomass, garbage, plant oils, O2, CO2, ethylene and other trace gasses, water vapor
3) ANIMALS: much the same as what humans output
4) MATERIALS & PROCESSES: oils, soaps, worn out clothing (composed of natural fibers/dyes only), laundry & wash (gray) water, out-gassings (solvents/trace gasses from materials used in the CELSS shell construction and other items inside the CELSS).
That's what we have to work with in the "hermetically sealed version". Of course, on Earth or anywhere there are some useful outside resources, our task would be easier. Yet, if we design the hermetically sealed version, I`m sure, on the way to the final design, we will cover just about any condition or environment we can imagine. While we are brainstorming this "ultimate CELSS" we need to be aware of the amount of energy required to make the whole thing work. The less energy required the better. Also, technologically complex systems tend to break down faster than simple systems. We adhere to the engineering principle of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). We don't want to design anything which requires a lot of repairs, maintenance, or spare parts. The number of human hours spent per day keeping the system fully operational should also be considered. We're not into this to work ourselves to death. We shouldn't have to spend more than a hour or so a day doing our chores in an optimal system. Remember, we're on a planet's surface so we have gravity on our side. In space we would have to spin the whole thing to simulate gravity. For now, let's stay grounded and focused on the transformations.
The MATERIAL INPUTS listed above must be transformed into the following:
1) nutrient rich water and soil for plants, fungi, and symbiotic micro-organisms
2) CO2 and trace gas-rich air for the plants, fungi, and symbiotic micro-organisms
3) clean water for humans and animals
4) oxygen rich air with few trace gasses (ethylene, methane, carbon monoxide, and other exotics) for humans and animals
5) continuously and regularly producing organic food supply for humans and animals
Get the picture? What goes around comes around. There is a dynamic relationship between humans, animals, plants, fungi, and symbiotic micro-organisms. What we are trying to do is optimize this relationship by building containment vessels which provide optimal conditions for each of the above. We want to make everyone and everything involved very comfortable and in a state of being nurtured at all times. We also want to do this in a way which prevents pathogens from thriving. We're aiming for a high oxygen level (aerobic) conditions throughout the CELSS. Anaerobic conditions (such as found in septic systems) are to be avoided because they breed disease and poisonous gasses like hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg odor) and methane. Plants out-gas ethylene which is, at certain concentrations, a growth inhibitor for the plants. It too needs to be converted or a hermetically sealed system will die.
How large should a fully operational CELSS be? As small as possible and small is possible. Here are some optimistic figures from the CELSS life support research community:
ESTIMATED GROW SPACE REQUIRED PER PERSON
(may be stacked into multiple levels for more efficient operation)
14 m2 - Gitalson
56 m2 - Bios3
20-30 m2 - Cullingford & Schwatekopf
13-50 m2 - Bugsbee & Salisbury
56.9 m2 - Oleson & Olson
8-20 m2 - MacElroy & Averner
15-20 m2 - Eckhart
24 m2 - Hoff
15 m2 - Vasilyew
As you can see, the above figures are tiny compared to the amount of space the average human being requires for life support in both hunter/gatherer and agriculture- based civilizations. Since the Earth's "carrying capacity" is already exceeded because of the rapidly expanding human population, anything we do to reduce an individual's "footprint" (space/resource required to keep a person alive) is a step in the correct direction. Lab work (NASA Ames) has already proven that all the air, water, and food for one person can be grown in a 16' x 16' space under optimal conditions with controlled atmosphere, temperature, lighting, and nutrients. Of course this was a highly engineered "hydroponics" style system which required considerable electricity for the lighting, pumps, and climate control plus an outside source of plant nutrients. So, it cannot really be called a CELSS but it sure is an encouraging experiment. I bet we can do pretty good together too!
That's enough for the moment. Read through the above a few times and start dreaming of how you might turn each of the MATERIAL INPUTS into what we need to get in return. If you have any ideals fleshed ot in some detail, please share them with the group. My job here is to facilitate the "think tanking" and keep us on course to building a functioning CELSS. I'm going to be poking and prodding so don't take it personally when I question you input or put a new twist into the puzzle. Doing so is part of my job facilitating this group. One thing I'm going to be stressing is INTEGRATING FUNCTIONS. If one piece of hardware can do 3 things simultaneously, I'm probably going to suggest it.
Looking forward to working with you all! - Terry Ryan Kok (aka: Jade)
Friday, January 16, 2009
Biodynamic Food and Farming
Biodynamic Food and Farming: "Biodynamics is part of the work of Rudolf Steiner, known as anthroposophy - a new approach to science which integrates precise observation of natural phenomena, clear thinking, and knowledge of the spirit. It offers an account of the spiritual history of the Earth as a living being, and describes the evolution of the constitution of humanity and the kingdoms of nature.
basic principles of Biodynamics
Broaden Our Perspective
Just as we need to look at the magnetic field of the whole earth to comprehend the compass, to understand plant life we must expand our view to include all that affects plant growth. No narrow microscopic view will suffice. Plants are utterly open to and formed by influences from the depths of the earth to the heights of the heavens. Therefore our considerations in agriculture must range more broadly than is generally assumed to be relevant."
basic principles of Biodynamics
Broaden Our Perspective
Just as we need to look at the magnetic field of the whole earth to comprehend the compass, to understand plant life we must expand our view to include all that affects plant growth. No narrow microscopic view will suffice. Plants are utterly open to and formed by influences from the depths of the earth to the heights of the heavens. Therefore our considerations in agriculture must range more broadly than is generally assumed to be relevant."
Tip: Growing Organic Food Inside Your Home Year-Round
Tip: Growing Organic Food Inside Your Home Year-Round: "Tip: Growing Organic Food Inside Your Home Year-Round
* Windowsill Gardening
By Pauline Lloyd
Growing Green International 9, 2/22/2008
Straight to the Source
Don't worry if you haven't got a garden or allotment! For a surprising amount of food can be produced indoors, vegan organically, either on your windowsill or on a well-lit kitchen surface.
The following plants will all do well indoors:"
* Windowsill Gardening
By Pauline Lloyd
Growing Green International 9, 2/22/2008
Straight to the Source
Don't worry if you haven't got a garden or allotment! For a surprising amount of food can be produced indoors, vegan organically, either on your windowsill or on a well-lit kitchen surface.
The following plants will all do well indoors:"
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Healthier Whole Grain Products
In spite of all that healthful fiber, whole grains and foods made from whole grain flour can be surprisingly difficult for many people to digest. The good news is there is a way around all of this -- sprouted whole grain flour. Where whole grain flours are milled from a dried seed, this type of flour is made from seeds that have sprouted (think grass, but a tiny sprout) before being dried and milled into flour. The sprouting process increases the nutrients and makes them more easily digested and absorbed. Since they are allowed to grow into a plant, the body digests sprouted whole grain flour as a vegetable -- which, of course, is a plant.
Organic whole-food educator Janie Quinn, who helped develop sprouted whole grain flour, is the founder of a food company called Essential Eating (Scranton, Pennsylvania), and author of several nutrition-related books including her latest, Essential Eating Sprouted Baking. She told me that most people are unaware that whole grains are actually seeds whose "destiny" is to sprout and thus "burst into an alive food." Because the digestive tract has difficulty breaking down traditional (i.e. non-sprouted) whole grains and flours, they pass through the body with many of their nutrients locked in and unabsorbed. While losing none of the fiber, sprouted whole grains allow the nutrients to blossom. A University of Minnesota study reported that sprouted whole wheat has higher amounts of bioavailable levels of vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B5 and vitamin C, along with substantially more biotin and folic acid when compared with non-sprouted whole wheat.
Essential Eating manufactures sprouted flours from both wheat and its close cousin, spelt. They can be substituted for all-purpose flour, though the taste is somewhat different -- the sprouting process adds a more mellow flavor.
Since sprouted flours are made from a plant, not a starch like traditional flours, most people (including those who are starch sensitive) can digest them with ease. However, it's not a solution for people who are gluten sensitive. Though sprouting reduces gluten content and changes its form, and spelt is naturally lower in gluten than wheat, some gluten remains present.
BRINGING IT HOME
Breads made from sprouted flour are beginning to appear in supermarkets. A chain in the Northeast called Wegmans carries them and on the national front, Whole Foods Market has started selling it as well. Read the label carefully to be sure a bread or other baked product is truly made from sprouted flour, cautions Quinn. Since the FDA does not regulate the word "sprouted" on food labeling, a product can be called sprouted even when it contains only a small amount of sprouted flour. Look to see that the word "sprouted" appears in front of any flours, such as whole wheat or spelt.
To make your own baked goods, you can purchase the flour online at the Essential Eating Web site, where sprouted whole grain flour pretzels and a number of baking mixes for cookies, butterscotch brownies and other goodies are also for sale. Go to www.essentialeating.com. Quinn's book explains how to adjust cooking time, ingredients and expectations when you substitute sprouted grain flour for regular flour, and offers many recipes as well.
Source(s):
Janie Quinn, founder, Essential Eating, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Miracle Mineral
Miracle Mineral: "The answer to AIDS, hepatitis A,B and C, malaria, herpes, TB, most cancer and many more of mankind's worse diseases has been found. Many diseases are now easily controlled. More that 75,000 disease victims have been included in the field tests in Africa. Scientific clinical trials have been conducted in a prison in the country of Malawi, East Africa.
Separate tests conducted by the Malawi government produced identical 99% cure results. Over 60% of the AIDS victims that were treated in Uganda were well in 3 days, with 98% well within one month. More than 90% of the malaria victims were well in 4 to 8 hours. Dozens of other diseases were successfully treated and can be controlled with this new mineral supplement. It also works with colds, flu, pneumonia, sore throats, warts, mouth sores, and even abscessed teeth (it's the only thing that controls and cures abscessed teeth)."
Separate tests conducted by the Malawi government produced identical 99% cure results. Over 60% of the AIDS victims that were treated in Uganda were well in 3 days, with 98% well within one month. More than 90% of the malaria victims were well in 4 to 8 hours. Dozens of other diseases were successfully treated and can be controlled with this new mineral supplement. It also works with colds, flu, pneumonia, sore throats, warts, mouth sores, and even abscessed teeth (it's the only thing that controls and cures abscessed teeth)."
Tibetan Exercise of Paradox
Instructions for The Tibetan Exercise of Paradox
(Version October 2002) Cynthia Rose Young Schlosser
Background:
In previous angel messages reference is made to an ancient exercise which allows the brain to do four things at once.
History indicates that this exercise was a state secret in ancient Tibet and that highly trained Tibetan rulers in Nepal were required to do this exercise as a matter of state security.
Doing four things at once is necessary to develop whole brain functioning for enlightenment and mastery. In whole brain consciousness a person is in a state of pure being and will, Delta brainwaves, at the same time they are in deep inward thought, Theta brainwaves, feeling, flowing, psychically sensing and changing in Alpha brainwaves while being aware of the five senses, logic, and memory of Beta brainwaves.
In enlightenment the four brainwave patterns alternate in perfect rhythm.
Energy shifts between WILL-THOUGHT and FEELING -SENSATION, or between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Two at a time fire, the Delta and Theta, and then the other two, Alpha and Beta in a rhythmic manner in a similar manner of REM [rapid eye movement] in dream patterns.
The four levels of whole brain thinking are:
Delta brainwaves which produce a state of pure being, very slow oscillations, roughly 1 to 4 oscillations per second [abbreviated as ops]. This is the seat of WILL, or desire. This is the dominant brain state of infants.
Theta brainwaves which produce a state of deep inward thought, approx. 4 to 6 ops. This is dominant in small children.
Alpha brainwaves which produce emotions and feelings and receives emotions and feelings from others, approx. 6 to 12 ops. All psychic activities are in this range. This brainwave is dominant in adolescents.
Beta brainwaves which produce the five senses, memory, rational linear thought and language, approx. 12 ops and up. This brainwave is dominant in adults.
The following physical and imaginative exercises lead up to the final exercise in which all four parts of the brain fire at the same time, and with even a little practice the brain gets used to working in this manner automatically.
The purpose of step one is to perform a simple physical movement with total focus and awareness of all bodily sensations.
It is important to become ACUTELY AWARE of the bodily sensations of this movement.
If you are working in a restricted area, you may substitute the featured activity of fencing thrusts with another activity that requires less space. If you must use another activity, read over these exercises and apply them accordingly to your chosen activity. The use of fencing thrusts is the actual exercise used by Tibetan Rulers.
We are going to do a double fencing thrust.
Get something that represents a sword or just imagine that you are holding one. Now make a sudden forward thrust to the right, just as if you are practicing the art of fencing.
Pay close attention to every sensation that your body experiences. You will need a clear bodily memory of these sensations later. Now spin around. Make a fencing thrust to the left.
Do not hurry through these movements. The idea is to pay close attention to your body sensations in making these movements. The five senses or beta brainwaves are activated.
Now repeat and turn. Thrust again to the right. Deliberately, carefully, paying attention to every sensation.
Turn. Lunge to the left. Turn. Lunge to the right .
Repeat until you have the clear sensation of lunging in each direction perfectly familiarized and remembered on a sensate bodily level.
******* Remember the sensations from the beta wave level above.
[Beta wave= memory, and the five senses]
This time when you do a fencing thrust to the right, IMAGINE and feel that your body is lunging to the left.
This imaginary state of lunging in the opposite direction of the one your body is doing activates the alpha wave level as you FEEL the imagined sensations and the Theta wave level of brainwave activity as you PICTURE them.
The imagined action of thrusting to the left while the physical body is lunging to the right is repeated often with so vivid an imagination that it feels actually more real to you than what the actual physical body is doing.
The two bodies [ solid and imagined] lunging in opposite directions form a V if a camera could capture both the imagined action and the action of the physical body.
Now turn. Let your physical body lunge to the left, While you IMAGINE that you are lunging to the right.
Your attention is so completely focused on your imaginary body, which is making a fencing thrust to the right, that it is much more real to you than what your physical body is doing, which is making a fencing thrust to the left.
Your mind is fully engaged in the sensation and concept of the imaginary body experience while the physical body is doing the opposite direction.
The physical body is operating on its own like it does in a mechanical activity such as typing or driving a car.
Many variations of this theme can be done in confined spaces. Any double action, like moving the pencil to the right while you imagine moving it to the left, works for this part of whole brain exercise.
Move your mental eyes one way while your physical eyes move the other. Or try lowering your head while in your imagination you are lifting it. Try facing and walking in one direction while imagining you are facing and walking in the other.
The blood supply to the brain greatly increases with this type of exercise.
Step two:
Summary
In the last exercise we learned how to vividly imagine and feel ourselves performing an action that is the mirror image of one that the physical body is performing at the same time. This allowed the brain to do two things at once.
NEXT EXERCISE:
**********
Again, we will do two things at once. This time walk four steps forward.
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BODY SENSATIONS WITH EACH STEP.
[Activates Beta brainwaves of the five senses.] Do not turn around.
Still facing the same way, take four steps backward. Pay attention to each physical sensation as you do this. Now again walk forward four steps.
Now backward four steps. Do this until you have it clearly imprinted.
Remember, you are facing the same way the whole time, but half the time you are walking forward and half the time you are walking backward.
You are now ready for the next step:
Now IMAGINE and FEEL yourself walking four steps backwards, AT THE SAME TIME that your physical body is walking four steps forward. [Activated alpha and theta brainwave states.]
Then IMAGINE yourself walking four steps forward WHILE YOUR PHYSICAL BODY IS WALKING FOUR STEPS BACKWARD.
Repeat this until the imagined action is more real to your awareness than what your physical body is doing and you can do this easily.
In your imagination, you will pass yourself coming and going.
You may feel lightheaded at first because the brain is getting an increased blood supply.
Remember that the imagined you must feel more real and vivid to you than the physical you.
If you have this part mastered, the rest will be easy. At the end of the next installment, your brain will be doing four things at once.
Just like learning how to ride a bicycle, you will never forget or lose this skill. Practice regularly.
Once your brain gets used to doing four things at once, it will be easy for you to apply this to the meditations of the divine virtues in which you produce Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta brainwaves consciously at the same time .
This means that you will be able to feel oneness with Universal Consciousness in the Pure Being of the Delta brainwave state, create deeply in your inner world in the Theta brainwave state, feel in the alpha brainwave state, and be fully active in the five senses, memory, and logic of the Beta brainwave state all at the same time without effort.
Step three.
This is last phase of the ancient Tibetan Exercise of Paradox.
You are now adding two more movements to the one that you learned in part two.
Hold both of your palms in front of you with elbows bent, as if you were pushing .
Move both palms in slow clockwise circles while you take four steps forward.
Continue going four steps forward while moving your palms in clockwise circles until you can do it automatically and easily , remembering vividly all the sensations and feelings of it .
When you have done this a number of times, practice the other half of the exercise which is the opposite; take four steps backwards while moving the hands in slow counter clockwise circles.
Continue taking four steps backwards moving the hands in slow counter clockwise circles until you can do this easily and remember vividly all the sensations and feelings of it.
It is important to take your time with this. Repeat this until your body remembers the sensations.
By taking time to repeat these motions until the mechanical part of the brain has absorbed them completely, the next step is easy .
FINAL STEP:
Take four steps forward, moving the palms in slow clockwise circles while you IMAGINE that you are moving four steps backwards moving the hands in slow counterclockwise circles.
Then reverse, moving the physical body four steps backwards making counter clockwise circles with your palms, while IMAGINING that you are moving four steps forward with palms moving in clockwise circles.
YOU HAVE JUST DONE THE TIBETAN EXERCISE OF PARADOX!
Repeat.
Your physical body moves forward four steps, your hands moving in a clockwise circle as YOU VIVIDLY IMAGINE YOURSELF stepping BACKWARD FOUR STEPS WITH HANDS MOVING IN A COUNTER CLOCKWISE CIRCLE. Repeat for about ten minutes.
You may experience dizziness at first, since so much more blood is going to the brain than you have ever been used to . This dizziness occurs less and finally disappears entirely after you have done this exercise a few times. The brain will adjust to the blood supply of doing four things at once .
In future exercises, you may decide to skip the warm up steps and go directly to doing four things at once with the last exercise.
As we mentioned in the first part of the instructions, just as a person never forgets how to ride a bicycle, or type, once the brain has mastered this exercise it will not forget how to do four things at once.
The more you practice this, the easier it becomes, and the faster and better the brain gets at doing this.
When you first experience yourself thinking effortlessly on four levels at once in your ordinary activities, it may come as a delightful surprise.
THIS COMPLETES THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE TIBETAN EXERCISE OF PARADOX.
Footnote on brain nutrition and detox. Go to www.futuredynamicad vantage.com for the research on the latest development in brain nutrition. There are links to John's Hopkins and US. Army in their research on restoring nerve function. There is a brain supplement there, called Brain Lightning, that has ingredients for detox, blood supply, and nutrition. Many people have found this supplement to be helpful. One of the ingredients is the only substance that the Army has found that undoes the damage to nerve gas poisoning. If you have pesticide residues in your brain, this will get it out.
© Cynthia Rose Young Schlosser www.spiritussanctus .com
Email Cynthia Rose to subscribe to her daily angelic messages: spiritus at mindspring.com.
For more helpful, interesting and free information, visit
www.esolibris.com
(Version October 2002) Cynthia Rose Young Schlosser
Background:
In previous angel messages reference is made to an ancient exercise which allows the brain to do four things at once.
History indicates that this exercise was a state secret in ancient Tibet and that highly trained Tibetan rulers in Nepal were required to do this exercise as a matter of state security.
Doing four things at once is necessary to develop whole brain functioning for enlightenment and mastery. In whole brain consciousness a person is in a state of pure being and will, Delta brainwaves, at the same time they are in deep inward thought, Theta brainwaves, feeling, flowing, psychically sensing and changing in Alpha brainwaves while being aware of the five senses, logic, and memory of Beta brainwaves.
In enlightenment the four brainwave patterns alternate in perfect rhythm.
Energy shifts between WILL-THOUGHT and FEELING -SENSATION, or between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Two at a time fire, the Delta and Theta, and then the other two, Alpha and Beta in a rhythmic manner in a similar manner of REM [rapid eye movement] in dream patterns.
The four levels of whole brain thinking are:
Delta brainwaves which produce a state of pure being, very slow oscillations, roughly 1 to 4 oscillations per second [abbreviated as ops]. This is the seat of WILL, or desire. This is the dominant brain state of infants.
Theta brainwaves which produce a state of deep inward thought, approx. 4 to 6 ops. This is dominant in small children.
Alpha brainwaves which produce emotions and feelings and receives emotions and feelings from others, approx. 6 to 12 ops. All psychic activities are in this range. This brainwave is dominant in adolescents.
Beta brainwaves which produce the five senses, memory, rational linear thought and language, approx. 12 ops and up. This brainwave is dominant in adults.
The following physical and imaginative exercises lead up to the final exercise in which all four parts of the brain fire at the same time, and with even a little practice the brain gets used to working in this manner automatically.
The purpose of step one is to perform a simple physical movement with total focus and awareness of all bodily sensations.
It is important to become ACUTELY AWARE of the bodily sensations of this movement.
If you are working in a restricted area, you may substitute the featured activity of fencing thrusts with another activity that requires less space. If you must use another activity, read over these exercises and apply them accordingly to your chosen activity. The use of fencing thrusts is the actual exercise used by Tibetan Rulers.
We are going to do a double fencing thrust.
Get something that represents a sword or just imagine that you are holding one. Now make a sudden forward thrust to the right, just as if you are practicing the art of fencing.
Pay close attention to every sensation that your body experiences. You will need a clear bodily memory of these sensations later. Now spin around. Make a fencing thrust to the left.
Do not hurry through these movements. The idea is to pay close attention to your body sensations in making these movements. The five senses or beta brainwaves are activated.
Now repeat and turn. Thrust again to the right. Deliberately, carefully, paying attention to every sensation.
Turn. Lunge to the left. Turn. Lunge to the right .
Repeat until you have the clear sensation of lunging in each direction perfectly familiarized and remembered on a sensate bodily level.
******* Remember the sensations from the beta wave level above.
[Beta wave= memory, and the five senses]
This time when you do a fencing thrust to the right, IMAGINE and feel that your body is lunging to the left.
This imaginary state of lunging in the opposite direction of the one your body is doing activates the alpha wave level as you FEEL the imagined sensations and the Theta wave level of brainwave activity as you PICTURE them.
The imagined action of thrusting to the left while the physical body is lunging to the right is repeated often with so vivid an imagination that it feels actually more real to you than what the actual physical body is doing.
The two bodies [ solid and imagined] lunging in opposite directions form a V if a camera could capture both the imagined action and the action of the physical body.
Now turn. Let your physical body lunge to the left, While you IMAGINE that you are lunging to the right.
Your attention is so completely focused on your imaginary body, which is making a fencing thrust to the right, that it is much more real to you than what your physical body is doing, which is making a fencing thrust to the left.
Your mind is fully engaged in the sensation and concept of the imaginary body experience while the physical body is doing the opposite direction.
The physical body is operating on its own like it does in a mechanical activity such as typing or driving a car.
Many variations of this theme can be done in confined spaces. Any double action, like moving the pencil to the right while you imagine moving it to the left, works for this part of whole brain exercise.
Move your mental eyes one way while your physical eyes move the other. Or try lowering your head while in your imagination you are lifting it. Try facing and walking in one direction while imagining you are facing and walking in the other.
The blood supply to the brain greatly increases with this type of exercise.
Step two:
Summary
In the last exercise we learned how to vividly imagine and feel ourselves performing an action that is the mirror image of one that the physical body is performing at the same time. This allowed the brain to do two things at once.
NEXT EXERCISE:
**********
Again, we will do two things at once. This time walk four steps forward.
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BODY SENSATIONS WITH EACH STEP.
[Activates Beta brainwaves of the five senses.] Do not turn around.
Still facing the same way, take four steps backward. Pay attention to each physical sensation as you do this. Now again walk forward four steps.
Now backward four steps. Do this until you have it clearly imprinted.
Remember, you are facing the same way the whole time, but half the time you are walking forward and half the time you are walking backward.
You are now ready for the next step:
Now IMAGINE and FEEL yourself walking four steps backwards, AT THE SAME TIME that your physical body is walking four steps forward. [Activated alpha and theta brainwave states.]
Then IMAGINE yourself walking four steps forward WHILE YOUR PHYSICAL BODY IS WALKING FOUR STEPS BACKWARD.
Repeat this until the imagined action is more real to your awareness than what your physical body is doing and you can do this easily.
In your imagination, you will pass yourself coming and going.
You may feel lightheaded at first because the brain is getting an increased blood supply.
Remember that the imagined you must feel more real and vivid to you than the physical you.
If you have this part mastered, the rest will be easy. At the end of the next installment, your brain will be doing four things at once.
Just like learning how to ride a bicycle, you will never forget or lose this skill. Practice regularly.
Once your brain gets used to doing four things at once, it will be easy for you to apply this to the meditations of the divine virtues in which you produce Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta brainwaves consciously at the same time .
This means that you will be able to feel oneness with Universal Consciousness in the Pure Being of the Delta brainwave state, create deeply in your inner world in the Theta brainwave state, feel in the alpha brainwave state, and be fully active in the five senses, memory, and logic of the Beta brainwave state all at the same time without effort.
Step three.
This is last phase of the ancient Tibetan Exercise of Paradox.
You are now adding two more movements to the one that you learned in part two.
Hold both of your palms in front of you with elbows bent, as if you were pushing .
Move both palms in slow clockwise circles while you take four steps forward.
Continue going four steps forward while moving your palms in clockwise circles until you can do it automatically and easily , remembering vividly all the sensations and feelings of it .
When you have done this a number of times, practice the other half of the exercise which is the opposite; take four steps backwards while moving the hands in slow counter clockwise circles.
Continue taking four steps backwards moving the hands in slow counter clockwise circles until you can do this easily and remember vividly all the sensations and feelings of it.
It is important to take your time with this. Repeat this until your body remembers the sensations.
By taking time to repeat these motions until the mechanical part of the brain has absorbed them completely, the next step is easy .
FINAL STEP:
Take four steps forward, moving the palms in slow clockwise circles while you IMAGINE that you are moving four steps backwards moving the hands in slow counterclockwise circles.
Then reverse, moving the physical body four steps backwards making counter clockwise circles with your palms, while IMAGINING that you are moving four steps forward with palms moving in clockwise circles.
YOU HAVE JUST DONE THE TIBETAN EXERCISE OF PARADOX!
Repeat.
Your physical body moves forward four steps, your hands moving in a clockwise circle as YOU VIVIDLY IMAGINE YOURSELF stepping BACKWARD FOUR STEPS WITH HANDS MOVING IN A COUNTER CLOCKWISE CIRCLE. Repeat for about ten minutes.
You may experience dizziness at first, since so much more blood is going to the brain than you have ever been used to . This dizziness occurs less and finally disappears entirely after you have done this exercise a few times. The brain will adjust to the blood supply of doing four things at once .
In future exercises, you may decide to skip the warm up steps and go directly to doing four things at once with the last exercise.
As we mentioned in the first part of the instructions, just as a person never forgets how to ride a bicycle, or type, once the brain has mastered this exercise it will not forget how to do four things at once.
The more you practice this, the easier it becomes, and the faster and better the brain gets at doing this.
When you first experience yourself thinking effortlessly on four levels at once in your ordinary activities, it may come as a delightful surprise.
THIS COMPLETES THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE TIBETAN EXERCISE OF PARADOX.
Footnote on brain nutrition and detox. Go to www.futuredynamicad vantage.com for the research on the latest development in brain nutrition. There are links to John's Hopkins and US. Army in their research on restoring nerve function. There is a brain supplement there, called Brain Lightning, that has ingredients for detox, blood supply, and nutrition. Many people have found this supplement to be helpful. One of the ingredients is the only substance that the Army has found that undoes the damage to nerve gas poisoning. If you have pesticide residues in your brain, this will get it out.
© Cynthia Rose Young Schlosser www.spiritussanctus .com
Email Cynthia Rose to subscribe to her daily angelic messages: spiritus at mindspring.com.
For more helpful, interesting and free information, visit
www.esolibris.com
Convert your Honda Accord to run on trash
Convert your Honda Accord to run on trash: "ntroConvert your Honda Accord to run on trash
We may not yet have a flux capacitor for time travel, but we do already have the equivalent of 'Mr. Fusion', which if cleverly applied, will enable you to run your car on everyday 'trash'-- today. This 'magical' device is called a gasifier. And what it does is called gasification.
Gasification is the use of heat to tranform solid biomass, or other carbonaceous solids, into a synthetic 'natural gas like' flammable fuel. Through gasification, we can convert nearly any solid dry organic matter into a clean burning, carbon neutral, gaseous fuel. Whether starting with wood chips or walnut shells, construction debris or agricultural waste, the end product is a flexible gaseous fuel you can burn in your internal combustion engine, cooking stove, furnace or flamethrower. Or in this case, your DeLorean. Well ok, how about a Honda Accord . . .
Sound impossible?
Did you know that over one million vehicles in Europe ran onboard gasifiers during WWII to make fuel from wood and charcoal, as gasoline and diesel were rationed or otherwise unavailable? Long before there was biodiesel and ethanol, we actually succeeded in a large-scale, alternative fuels redeployment-- and one which curiously used only cellulosic biomass, not the oil and sugar based biofuel sources which"
Convert your Honda Accord to run on trash - More cool how to projects
We may not yet have a flux capacitor for time travel, but we do already have the equivalent of 'Mr. Fusion', which if cleverly applied, will enable you to run your car on everyday 'trash'-- today. This 'magical' device is called a gasifier. And what it does is called gasification.
Gasification is the use of heat to tranform solid biomass, or other carbonaceous solids, into a synthetic 'natural gas like' flammable fuel. Through gasification, we can convert nearly any solid dry organic matter into a clean burning, carbon neutral, gaseous fuel. Whether starting with wood chips or walnut shells, construction debris or agricultural waste, the end product is a flexible gaseous fuel you can burn in your internal combustion engine, cooking stove, furnace or flamethrower. Or in this case, your DeLorean. Well ok, how about a Honda Accord . . .
Sound impossible?
Did you know that over one million vehicles in Europe ran onboard gasifiers during WWII to make fuel from wood and charcoal, as gasoline and diesel were rationed or otherwise unavailable? Long before there was biodiesel and ethanol, we actually succeeded in a large-scale, alternative fuels redeployment-- and one which curiously used only cellulosic biomass, not the oil and sugar based biofuel sources which"
Convert your Honda Accord to run on trash - More cool how to projects
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Cell Phone Use and Tumors: What the Science Says :: Committee on Oversight and Government Reform :: United States House of Representatives
Cordless Phones May Be As Risky As Cell Phones... But We Just Don't Know
Did you know that your cordless phone may emit the same worrisome radiation as your cell phone? This is particularly so if you have a relatively new cordless phone... and it's a particular concern if that phone sits near your bed or anywhere else you spend long hours every day.
You may recall the story I wrote a few months ago about the Pittsburgh oncologist who sent a memo warning his friends, family and associates about the potential dangers of cell phone use (see Daily Health News, November 10, 2008). His cautionary comments were the first I had heard about a problem with cordless phones, and I promised to follow up with a report. Well, I did my research... and found that digital cordless phones can emit large amounts of radiofrequency (RF) energy -- that may be equal to or greater than cell phones -- even when they're not being used. Since many people keep such phones at their bedside in addition to using them for extended conversations with family and friends, the long-term exposure has the potential to add up to dangerous amounts.
CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY ON CELL PHONE DANGER
In fact, Ronald Herberman, MD, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), testified on this topic before a Congressional subcommittee on September 25, 2008, calling for more research: "Many of my colleagues at UPCI, Rutgers University, University of California, San Francisco and a number of senior faculty at MD Anderson Cancer Institute are joining with me in calling for an independent scientific investigation, avoiding as many of the limitations of the prior studies as possible, to determine if long-term, frequent use of cell phones and cordless phones increases brain tumor risk."
In contrast to the many research studies performed on cell phones, there is a paucity of comparable information on cordless phones. What we do know is that Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD, in Sweden recently did a new study on cordless phone users, in addition to others he'd previously conducted on cell phones. For both types of phones, his research points to a significant increase in risk for brain tumors among people using them frequently for longer than 10 years.
It's important to note that the original cordless phones sold in the 1990s operated at a frequency of 900 mHz, whereas newer models operate at a more hazardous higher frequency. Unfortunately cordless phones haven't been subject to the same kind of scrutiny to determine the extent of absorption of the radiation into the brain that's been done for cell phones -- in fact, to date this appears to be the only such study of brain tumor risks by long-term users of cordless phones. It's clear that more research to determine the intensity of radiation of cordless phones and how much gets absorbed into the brain is sorely needed. You don't have to throw out your phone (though I actually did replace mine with an old-fashioned wall phone with a long cord), but it is reasonable to take the following safety precautions:
- Keep your cordless phone plugged into a jack that is away from general household traffic, avoiding especially the kitchen counter and anywhere near the head of a bed. This is important because most cordless phones constantly broadcast, even when they're not being used.
- Be aware that both the handset and the base can emit radiofrequency energy -- it's how they communicate to one another, with the base then transferring the signals over the system. Keep your handset on the base when not in use.
- Don't let young children talk on your cordless phone. A key finding from research done on cell phones is that the radiation is absorbed more deeply into the brains of children. This is likely to also be the case for cordless phones, which means the danger to the developing brain is likely greater than for adults. Install corded phones for children to use.
- Minimize the use of cordless phones even by adults.
- Whenever possible, if you are on the cordless phone, use the speaker mode. It's also a good idea to purchase and use a headset, as they are believed to be safer.
CALL FOR MORE RESEARCH
As is also true of cell phones, it is important to note that this research is neither conclusive nor infallible. There are studies that conflict with these, finding no dangers from cell phones at all -- although few of these have looked at long-term use (more than 10 years). As mentioned above, there is little data at all evaluating health risks related to cordless phone use. According to Dr. Herberman, scientists are trying to call attention to these issues in order to discuss what we do and do not know about these phones, and to alert the public to the lack of safety data. In addition, he wants to raise awareness -- collectively and individually -- about the many hours we now spend talking on our cell and cordless phones, so we can take simple precautions to minimize the risk of harm while more data are collected. You can read more on this subject at http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2199, where you will find a link to Dr. Herberman's testimony along with a list of his precautionary guidelines calling for safer use of cordless and cell phones.
Source(s):
Ronald B. Herberman, MD, founding director, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
DATACHURCH: Introduction to Datachurch
DATACHURCH: Introduction to Datachurch: "Introduction to Datachurch
Datachurch is a collection of online material gathered with the intention of expanding the viewers awareness and daring them to think for themselves. The following selection is a sample of the types of content you can hope to find on the site.
Debt Crisis"
Datachurch is a collection of online material gathered with the intention of expanding the viewers awareness and daring them to think for themselves. The following selection is a sample of the types of content you can hope to find on the site.
Debt Crisis"
Fórum Social Mundial
Fórum Social Mundial: "22.08.2002
What the World Social Forum is
The World Social Forum is an open meeting place where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism come together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas democratically, for formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective action. Since the first world encounter in 2001, it has taken the form of a permanent world process seeking and building alternatives to neo-liberal policies. This definition is in its Charter of Principles, the WSF’s guiding document.
The World Social Forum is also characterized by plurality and diversity, is non-confessional, non-governmental and non-party. It proposes to facilitate decentralized coordination and networking among organizations engaged in concrete action towards building another world, at any level from the local to the international, but it does not intend to be a body representing world civil society. The World Social Forum is not a group nor an organization.
What the World Social Forum is
The World Social Forum is an open meeting place where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism come together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas democratically, for formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective action. Since the first world encounter in 2001, it has taken the form of a permanent world process seeking and building alternatives to neo-liberal policies. This definition is in its Charter of Principles, the WSF’s guiding document.
The World Social Forum is also characterized by plurality and diversity, is non-confessional, non-governmental and non-party. It proposes to facilitate decentralized coordination and networking among organizations engaged in concrete action towards building another world, at any level from the local to the international, but it does not intend to be a body representing world civil society. The World Social Forum is not a group nor an organization.
SWITCH - Managing Water for the City of the Future - About SWITCH
SWITCH - Managing Water for the City of the Future - About SWITCH: "The overall goal of the SWITCH project it to catalyse change towards more sustainable urban water management in the 'City of the Future'.
The project is implemented by different combinations of consortium partners, organised in six complementary and interactive research themes. The project includes a number of demonstration activities, to be carried out in several cities. In each of the demonstration cities, a Learning Alliance has been or will be established."
The project is implemented by different combinations of consortium partners, organised in six complementary and interactive research themes. The project includes a number of demonstration activities, to be carried out in several cities. In each of the demonstration cities, a Learning Alliance has been or will be established."
AHHA: We Are What We Think
AHHA: We Are What We Think: "I am both intrigued and pleased with the current increase in scientific studies on the body/mind connection. The research of biochemists such as Dr. Candace Pert is proving that there IS a connection between our thoughts, emotions, even the words we speak, and our physiology. Her fascinating work is substantiating that our feelings can stimulate certain hormones and chemicals in our body that can enhance or suppress our immune system; that a negative attitude, for example, can literally lower our metabolism. It is not surprising that dieting does not work when we're depressed!
The first step to a more holistic lifestyle begins with being AWARE. Just by being aware of our thoughts, our state of mind, our attitudes, we can make a subtle, but conscious shift"
The first step to a more holistic lifestyle begins with being AWARE. Just by being aware of our thoughts, our state of mind, our attitudes, we can make a subtle, but conscious shift"
Hazel Henderson presents an informative web site on various topics from around the world!
Hazel Henderson presents an informative web site on various topics from around the world!: "Author, Independent Futurist, Worldwide syndicated columnist, Advocate for and consultant on equitable ecologically sustainable human development and socially responsible business and investment
Celebrating cultural and biodiversity -- and a new
'earth ethics' beyond 'economism.'"
Celebrating cultural and biodiversity -- and a new
'earth ethics' beyond 'economism.'"
Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators
Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators: "The Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators are a contribution to the worldwide effort to develop comprehensive statistics of national well-being that go beyond traditional macroeconomic indicators. A systems approach is used to illustrate the dynamic state of our social, economic and environmental quality of life. The dimensions of life examined include: education, employment, energy, environment, health, human rights, income, infrastructure, national security, public safety, re-creation and shelter."
The Darwin Project
The Darwin Project: "In the Descent of Man Charles Darwin wrote only twice of 'survival of the fittest' — but 95 times about love! 92 times about moral sensitivity. And 200 times about brain and mind.
Suppression over 100 years of the real Darwin has led to the social, political, economic, scientific, educational, moral and spiritual mess we are in today."
Suppression over 100 years of the real Darwin has led to the social, political, economic, scientific, educational, moral and spiritual mess we are in today."
Myspace.com Blogs - Healing DNA Discoveries - Lightworkers MySpace Blog
Myspace.com Blogs - Healing DNA Discoveries - Lightworkers MySpace Blog: "Experiments showing effect of COHERENT EMOTION on DNA - Below are three astonishing experiments with DNA which proves that DNA can heal itself according to the 'feelings' of the individual as reported recently by Gregg Braden"
EXPERIMENT Number 1
The first experiment reported was done by Dr.Vladimir Poponin, a quantum biologist. In this experiment, first a container was emptied (i.e. a vacuum was created within it), and then the only thing left photons (particles of light) they measured the distribution (ie the location) of the photons and found they were completely random inside the container. This was the expected result.
Then some DNA was placed inside the container and the distribution (location) of the photons was remeasured. This time the photons were LINED UP in an ORDERED way and aligned with the DNA. In other words the physical DNA had an effect on the non- physical photons.
After that, the DNA was removed from the container, and the distribution of the photons was measured again. The photons REMAINED ORDERED and lined up where the DNA had been.
What are the light particles connected to?
Gregg Braden says we are forced to accept the possibility that some NEW field of energy, a web of energy, is there and the DNA is communicating with the photons through this energy.
EXPERIMENT Number 2
These were experiments done by the military. Leukocytes (white blood cells) were collected for DNA from donors and placed into chambers so they could measure electrical changes. In this experiment, the donor was placed in one room and subjected to "emotional stimulation" consisting of video clips, which generated different emotions in the donor. The DNA was placed in a different room in the same building. Both the donor and his DNA were monitored and as the donor exhibited emotional peaks or valleys (measured by electrical responses), the DNAexhibited the IDENTICAL RESPONSES AT THE EXACT SAME TIME. There was no lag time, no transmission time. The DNA peaks and valleys EXACTLY MATCHED the peaks and valleys of the donor in time.
The military wanted to see how far away they could separate the donor from his DNA and still get this effect. They stopped testing after they separated the DNA and the donor by 50 miles and STILL had the SAME result. No lag time; no transmission time.
The DNA and the donor had the same identical responses in time. What can this mean? Gregg Braden says it means that living cells communicate through a previously unrecognized form of energy. This energy is not affected by time and distance. This is a non-local form of energy, an energy that already exists everywhere, all the time.
EXPERIMENT Number 3
The third experiment was done by the Institute of Heart Math and the paper that was written about this was titled: Local and Non local Effects of Coherent Heart Frequencies on Conformational Changes of DNA. (Disregard the title! The info is incredible.)
This is the experiment that relates directly to the anthrax situation. In this experiment, some human placenta DNA (the most pristine form of DNA) was placed in a container from which they could measure changes in the DNA. Twenty-eight vials of DNA were given (one each) to 28 trained researchers. Each researcher had been trained how to generate and FEEL feelings, and they each had strong emotions.
What was discovered was that the DNA CHANGED ITS SHAPE according to the feelings of the researchers:
This experiment was later followed up by testing HIV positive patients. They discovered that feelings of love, gratitude and appreciation created 300,000 TIMES the RESISTANCE they had without those feelings. So here's the answer to what can help you stay well, no matter what dreadful virus or bacteria may be floating around.
Stay in feelings of joy, love, gratitude and appreciation!
These emotional changes went beyond the effects of electro-magnetics. Individuals trained in deep love were able to change the shape of their DNA. Gregg Braden says this illustrates a new recognized form of energy that connects all of creation. This energy appears to be a TIGHTLY WOVEN WEB that connects all matter. Essentially we're able to influence this web of creation through our VIBRATION.
SUMMARY:
What do the results of these experiments have to do with our present situation? This is the science behind how we can choose a timeline to stay safe, no matter what else is happening.
As Gregg explains in The Isaiah Effect, basically time is not just linear (past, present and future), but it also has depth. The depth of time consists of all the possible prayers and timelines that could ever be prayed or exist. Essentially, all our prayers have already been answered. We just activate the one we're living through our FEELINGS.
THIS is how we create our reality - by choosing it with our feelings. Our feelings are activating the timeline via the web of creation, which connects all of the energy and matter of the Universe.
Remember that the law of the Universe is that we attract what we focus on. If you are focused on fearing whatever may come, you are sending a strong message to the Universe to send you whatever you fear. Instead if you can get yourself into feelings of joy, love, appreciation or gratitude, and focus on bringing more of that into your life, you are going to avoid the negative stuff automatically.
You will be choosing a different TIMELINE with your feelings. You can prevent getting anthrax or any other flu, virus, etc, by staying in these positive feelings, which maintains an incredibly strong immune system.
So here's your protection for whatever comes: Find something to be happy about every day, and every hour if possible,moment-to-moment, even if only for a few minutes. This is the easiest and Best Protection You Can Have.
lotusimmortal.com/experiments_showing_effect_of_co.htm
EXPERIMENT Number 1
The first experiment reported was done by Dr.Vladimir Poponin, a quantum biologist. In this experiment, first a container was emptied (i.e. a vacuum was created within it), and then the only thing left photons (particles of light) they measured the distribution (ie the location) of the photons and found they were completely random inside the container. This was the expected result.
Then some DNA was placed inside the container and the distribution (location) of the photons was remeasured. This time the photons were LINED UP in an ORDERED way and aligned with the DNA. In other words the physical DNA had an effect on the non- physical photons.
After that, the DNA was removed from the container, and the distribution of the photons was measured again. The photons REMAINED ORDERED and lined up where the DNA had been.
What are the light particles connected to?
Gregg Braden says we are forced to accept the possibility that some NEW field of energy, a web of energy, is there and the DNA is communicating with the photons through this energy.
EXPERIMENT Number 2
These were experiments done by the military. Leukocytes (white blood cells) were collected for DNA from donors and placed into chambers so they could measure electrical changes. In this experiment, the donor was placed in one room and subjected to "emotional stimulation" consisting of video clips, which generated different emotions in the donor. The DNA was placed in a different room in the same building. Both the donor and his DNA were monitored and as the donor exhibited emotional peaks or valleys (measured by electrical responses), the DNAexhibited the IDENTICAL RESPONSES AT THE EXACT SAME TIME. There was no lag time, no transmission time. The DNA peaks and valleys EXACTLY MATCHED the peaks and valleys of the donor in time.
The military wanted to see how far away they could separate the donor from his DNA and still get this effect. They stopped testing after they separated the DNA and the donor by 50 miles and STILL had the SAME result. No lag time; no transmission time.
The DNA and the donor had the same identical responses in time. What can this mean? Gregg Braden says it means that living cells communicate through a previously unrecognized form of energy. This energy is not affected by time and distance. This is a non-local form of energy, an energy that already exists everywhere, all the time.
EXPERIMENT Number 3
The third experiment was done by the Institute of Heart Math and the paper that was written about this was titled: Local and Non local Effects of Coherent Heart Frequencies on Conformational Changes of DNA. (Disregard the title! The info is incredible.)
This is the experiment that relates directly to the anthrax situation. In this experiment, some human placenta DNA (the most pristine form of DNA) was placed in a container from which they could measure changes in the DNA. Twenty-eight vials of DNA were given (one each) to 28 trained researchers. Each researcher had been trained how to generate and FEEL feelings, and they each had strong emotions.
What was discovered was that the DNA CHANGED ITS SHAPE according to the feelings of the researchers:
- When the researchers FELT gratitude, love and appreciation, the DNA responded by RELAXING and the strands unwound. The length of the DNA became longer.
- When the researchers FELT anger, fear, frustration, or stress, the DNA responded by TIGHTENING UP. It became shorter and SWITCHED OFF many of our DNA codes! If you've ever felt "shut down" by negative emotions, now you know why your body was equally shut down too. The shut down of the DNA codes was reversed and the codes were switched back on again when feelings of love, joy, gratitude and appreciation were felt by the researchers.
This experiment was later followed up by testing HIV positive patients. They discovered that feelings of love, gratitude and appreciation created 300,000 TIMES the RESISTANCE they had without those feelings. So here's the answer to what can help you stay well, no matter what dreadful virus or bacteria may be floating around.
Stay in feelings of joy, love, gratitude and appreciation!
These emotional changes went beyond the effects of electro-magnetics. Individuals trained in deep love were able to change the shape of their DNA. Gregg Braden says this illustrates a new recognized form of energy that connects all of creation. This energy appears to be a TIGHTLY WOVEN WEB that connects all matter. Essentially we're able to influence this web of creation through our VIBRATION.
SUMMARY:
What do the results of these experiments have to do with our present situation? This is the science behind how we can choose a timeline to stay safe, no matter what else is happening.
As Gregg explains in The Isaiah Effect, basically time is not just linear (past, present and future), but it also has depth. The depth of time consists of all the possible prayers and timelines that could ever be prayed or exist. Essentially, all our prayers have already been answered. We just activate the one we're living through our FEELINGS.
THIS is how we create our reality - by choosing it with our feelings. Our feelings are activating the timeline via the web of creation, which connects all of the energy and matter of the Universe.
Remember that the law of the Universe is that we attract what we focus on. If you are focused on fearing whatever may come, you are sending a strong message to the Universe to send you whatever you fear. Instead if you can get yourself into feelings of joy, love, appreciation or gratitude, and focus on bringing more of that into your life, you are going to avoid the negative stuff automatically.
You will be choosing a different TIMELINE with your feelings. You can prevent getting anthrax or any other flu, virus, etc, by staying in these positive feelings, which maintains an incredibly strong immune system.
So here's your protection for whatever comes: Find something to be happy about every day, and every hour if possible,moment-to-moment, even if only for a few minutes. This is the easiest and Best Protection You Can Have.
lotusimmortal.com/experiments_showing_effect_of_co.htm
ten ways to a New Years Resolution
Here are ten ways to see your resolution through and achieve your goal:
Making major changes in our lives is never easy. Especially when it is a habit or an addiction that we have had for many years. Use every resource available to achieve your goal. Laziness and complacency are the biggest culprits, when it comes to achieving a resolution or goal. Stay focused, Stay motivated, Stay happy.
- Choose a resolution that is realistic.
- Take your choice and follow it through on a day to day basis.
- Reward yourself in two week or one month increments.
- Keep a journal of your progress.
- Get others involved or find like people working toward the same goal.
- Keep motivated with a calendar, friends, diary, partner.
- Be patient!
- Be grateful that you have the opportunity to do this.
- Find the fine line between motivation and obsession.
- Make your goal a lifestyle change, not just a means to an end.
Making major changes in our lives is never easy. Especially when it is a habit or an addiction that we have had for many years. Use every resource available to achieve your goal. Laziness and complacency are the biggest culprits, when it comes to achieving a resolution or goal. Stay focused, Stay motivated, Stay happy.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Aids: An Iatrogenic Depopulation Strategy? - Health Supreme
Aids: An Iatrogenic Depopulation Strategy? - Health Supreme: "Aids as a strategy and cover for de-population would make perfect sense. It is race specific, its victims are the poor and socially deviant, and if we believe the press, the whole population of the African continent is at grave risk. A high percentage of those treated eventually do die. What they die of is the hard question that must be asked.
Aids testing, prevention and treatment are promoted by the medical/pharmaceutical world and by the mainstream press as essential counter-measures. Yet both Aids testing and treatment target certain racial and social groups and the populations of developing countries, especially if they are located on the African continent.
The interpretation of test results is largely arbitrary. Prevention consists of giving both mother and child a highly toxic shot of medicine, and treatment - more often than not - seals the fate of the victim. Treatment leads to a more or less certain death. All that is promised is that the death will be slowed by 'life extending' drugs."
Aids testing, prevention and treatment are promoted by the medical/pharmaceutical world and by the mainstream press as essential counter-measures. Yet both Aids testing and treatment target certain racial and social groups and the populations of developing countries, especially if they are located on the African continent.
The interpretation of test results is largely arbitrary. Prevention consists of giving both mother and child a highly toxic shot of medicine, and treatment - more often than not - seals the fate of the victim. Treatment leads to a more or less certain death. All that is promised is that the death will be slowed by 'life extending' drugs."
8 Most Important Health Stories from 2008
Much as I'd love to believe everyone follows every bit of health advice we publish in Daily Health News, I know that's unrealistic and impractical. I realize that you will pick and choose, based on your own health priorities -- just as I do for my own family. However as we start a new year, certain stories -- and strategies -- stand out as particularly crucial, based on the newest and most important research. Though some of this advice seems obvious -- exercise and eat right, for instance -- it's clear from the state of health care affairs in this country that many people either don't know what's healthy or don't choose to make good choices. It all starts with awareness, so here's my take on the most important health advice to take into the New Year...
- Lifestyle changes are inexpensive and effective. Not only are we deeply into an economic crisis, but a health crisis as well -- much of which is due to unhealthy lifestyle choices. Prevention is the most cost-effective solution to both escalating health care costs and rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
A better way: It's very simple -- eat healthfully, choose whole foods as opposed to high-fat, high-sugar processed products, exercise, get adequate sleep and keep stress at bay. Don't smoke and don't drink excessively.
- Balance gut bacteria. The digestive system shapes the body's health in more ways than most people realize. It is considered the center for immune system function. When it gets thrown off balance -- for instance, from regular use of acid-suppressing medications, taking too many antibiotics and/or using antimicrobial products for personal hygiene and cleaning -- the gut gets thrown into chaos. The resultant lack of good bacteria allows unhealthy bad bacteria and other "critters" to take hold and wreak havoc on our entire immune system.
The solution: Trust your body to get healthy if you give it the right tools -- healthy food, perhaps probiotics -- and don't throw any wrenches into the works, especially in the form of unnecessary drugs. Fix indigestion by eating right... get rest when you're sick so your body can fight infection naturally... and don't get taken in by marketers who want you to believe a sterile environment is always better.
- Medicine is a business, after all. Not only drug companies, but hospitals and doctors need to generate revenue. Even researchers and the academic medical centers they work for need funding, which they often obtain from those who stand to benefit from a particular kind of research finding.
Key: Weigh the profit motive behind all advice you receive -- for diagnostic tests, drugs and even, sad to say, articles published in medical journals. That caution is not meant to invalidate what you're told, but don't just assume "they" have your best interests in mind -- it's not always the top priority. Avoid new drugs, if possible, as the older ones are not only usually less expensive but also have a longer history of safety. When your doctor refers you for diagnostic testing, make sure there is a real potential benefit to finding out the results. When you hear about new research affirming a breakthrough drug or treatment, evaluate with healthy skepticism and the awareness that someone, somewhere probably stands to make money on it. If that's who funded the study... well, keep that in mind.
- Be a liver lover. Incidence of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, believed to be a direct result of a diet high in sugar, processed, fast and fatty foods, is on the rise... it can lead to serious liver problems. As the gatekeeper to health, responsible for so many aspects of healthy functioning (including digestion, metabolism and filtering waste), the liver is finally getting the long overdue respect it deserves.
Advice: Following a healthy diet and exercising regularly are the best strategies for maintaining a healthy liver, along with a healthy everything else. Avoid excessive alcohol, fatty and processed foods and fried anything. Remember that even OTC drugs can have a negative impact on your liver. If you need to take any drugs on an ongoing basis, be sure to check with your doctor.
- Sleep is not a luxury. In our age of too-much-to-do, going to bed early seems self indulgent -- yet research findings link sleep problems to obesity, heart disease, memory problems, diabetes, depression and even cancer. One study found a link between poor sleep (too much or too little) and early mortality -- if that's not a wake-up call, what is?
Strategy: Give yourself permission to put getting enough sleep near the top of your list of priorities. Aim for six to eight hours per night.
- Vitamin D is vital. Vitamin D is the "do-it-all vitamin." Research links insufficient D to an ever-longer list of diseases, medical conditions and health complaints -- among the ones we covered in Daily Health News last year are kidney disease, back pain and a tendency to fall, and there's more, including colon cancer and Parkinson's disease. Our D-deficit is part dietary, part the result of an indoor lifestyle -- and, ironically, our diligence in applying sunscreen. By filtering sun rays, doing so can reduce the body's natural ability to manufacture vitamin D.
What to do: Spend time outdoors -- aim for 10 minutes a day, with no sunscreen. If you have any reason to think you might not be getting enough vitamin D, ask your doctor to test your levels and for advice on whether you ought to be taking a supplement.
- Move more. This perennial health advice rings as true now as ever, if not more so. Lack of activity is quite literally killing Americans, as we continue to eat more and do less. Obesity, even among small children and the elderly, is growing and contributing to rising rates of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, asthma, orthopedic injuries... and on and on. Research shows that even a little bit of movement makes a difference
-- short bursts of intense energy add up and can be as effective as longer workouts... arguably, with less stress to the body. Also, losing as little as 10% of your body weight can have a measurable impact on your health.
Action plan: Make a conscious effort to build as much activity into your life as you can. Catch up with a friend by walking instead of going out for lunch. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Establish a regular schedule for workouts and stick to it.
- West meets East. Daily Health News went global in 2008, with stories covering a variety of international health traditions from India to China. Each has fascinating insights into what contributes to getting sick, as well as how to attain optimal health and wellness. From the Chinese medicine focus on energy... to the Tibetan way of integrating environmental elements... to the Ayurvedic tradition of modifying lifestyle based on physiological types, each has wisdom to contribute to and complement the Western way of practicing medicine.
Best bet: Be open to incorporating assorted medical methodologies to help you maximize wellness -- there's wisdom in every approach. Find people you trust and respect, who are experts in their field. Keep everyone involved in your care informed. And don't ever forget, ultimately the person responsible for your health and well-being... is you.
January is a fresh beginning and the year ahead will undoubtedly bring more exciting health news, which I'll continue to track, evaluate and interpret. Though we don't know what dangers and concerns will be revealed, nor what breakthrough knowledge will lead to treatments and cures, we can be very, very sure that you can't go wrong -- and you'll be doing just about everything right -- by following these very basic rules for good health.
Source(s):
Daily Health News, 2008.
HowStuffWorks "Will there be farms in New York City's skyscrapers?"
HowStuffWorks "Will there be farms in New York City's skyscrapers?": "The key to vertical farming is space. The Vertical Farm Project, led by Dr. Despommier, claims that one indoor acre of farming is equal to 4 to 6 outdoor acres [Source: The Vertical Farm Project]. They cite a farm in Florida that was converted into an indoor hydroponic farm where strawberries grow in stacks. That farm now grows the equivalent of 30 acres of strawberries in a one-acre greenhouse.
By converting from 'horizontal farming' to vertical farming, humanity would never have to worry about running out of arable land. By operating indoors, crops could be grown all year, free of concerns about bad weather, drought or natural disasters. If the building is sealed and carefully monitored, there would be no need for pesticides to eliminate invasive insects or parasites, a particularly devastating problem in the developing world. All food would be organically grown without fertilizer and free of disease. Vertical farmers wouldn't have to worry about conflicts over land, water and other natural resources or contend with genetically modified foods, unwanted strains of plants or wandering animals."
By converting from 'horizontal farming' to vertical farming, humanity would never have to worry about running out of arable land. By operating indoors, crops could be grown all year, free of concerns about bad weather, drought or natural disasters. If the building is sealed and carefully monitored, there would be no need for pesticides to eliminate invasive insects or parasites, a particularly devastating problem in the developing world. All food would be organically grown without fertilizer and free of disease. Vertical farmers wouldn't have to worry about conflicts over land, water and other natural resources or contend with genetically modified foods, unwanted strains of plants or wandering animals."
More Great Links
Sources
- Chamberlain, Lisa. "Skyfarming." New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/news/features/30020/
- Cooke, Jeremy. "Vertical farming in the big Apple." BBC News. June 19, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6752795.stm
- "Professor sees vertical farms on horizon." Knight Ridder Newspapers. Columbia Daily Tribune. Aug. 30, 2005. http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Aug/20050830Busi010.asp
- "The Vertical Farm Project." http://www.verticalfarm.com/
- "Farm of the Future?" U.S. News & World Report. May 28, 2007. http://www.verticalfarm.com/images/news/usnews-article.jpg
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity | Union of Concerned Scientists
1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity | Union of Concerned Scientists:
World Scientists' Warning to Humanity (1992)
Some 1,700 of the world's leading scientists, including the majority of Nobel laureates in the sciences, issued this appeal in November 1992. The World Scientists' Warning to Humanity was written and spearheaded by the late Henry Kendall, former chair of UCS's board of directors.
We must halt deforestation, injury to and loss of agricultural land, and the loss of terrestrial and marine plant and animal species.
1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity
Scientist StatementWorld Scientists' Warning to Humanity (1992)
Some 1,700 of the world's leading scientists, including the majority of Nobel laureates in the sciences, issued this appeal in November 1992. The World Scientists' Warning to Humanity was written and spearheaded by the late Henry Kendall, former chair of UCS's board of directors.
INTRODUCTION
Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know. Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about.
THE ENVIRONMENT
The environment is suffering critical stress:
The Atmosphere
Stratospheric ozone depletion threatens us with enhanced ultraviolet radiation at the earth's surface, which can be damaging or lethal to many life forms. Air pollution near ground level, and acid precipitation, are already causing widespread injury to humans, forests, and crops.
Stratospheric ozone depletion threatens us with enhanced ultraviolet radiation at the earth's surface, which can be damaging or lethal to many life forms. Air pollution near ground level, and acid precipitation, are already causing widespread injury to humans, forests, and crops.
Water Resources
Heedless exploitation of depletable ground water supplies endangers food production and other essential human systems. Heavy demands on the world's surface waters have resulted in serious shortages in some 80 countries, containing 40 percent of the world's population. Pollution of rivers, lakes, and ground water further limits the supply.
Heedless exploitation of depletable ground water supplies endangers food production and other essential human systems. Heavy demands on the world's surface waters have resulted in serious shortages in some 80 countries, containing 40 percent of the world's population. Pollution of rivers, lakes, and ground water further limits the supply.
Oceans
Destructive pressure on the oceans is severe, particularly in the coastal regions which produce most of the world's food fish. The total marine catch is now at or above the estimated maximum sustainable yield. Some fisheries have already shown signs of collapse. Rivers carrying heavy burdens of eroded soil into the seas also carry industrial, municipal, agricultural, and livestock waste -- some of it toxic.
Destructive pressure on the oceans is severe, particularly in the coastal regions which produce most of the world's food fish. The total marine catch is now at or above the estimated maximum sustainable yield. Some fisheries have already shown signs of collapse. Rivers carrying heavy burdens of eroded soil into the seas also carry industrial, municipal, agricultural, and livestock waste -- some of it toxic.
Soil
Loss of soil productivity, which is causing extensive land abandonment, is a widespread by-product of current practices in agriculture and animal husbandry. Since 1945, 11 percent of the earth's vegetated surface has been degraded -- an area larger than India and China combined -- and per capita food production in many parts of the world is decreasing.
Loss of soil productivity, which is causing extensive land abandonment, is a widespread by-product of current practices in agriculture and animal husbandry. Since 1945, 11 percent of the earth's vegetated surface has been degraded -- an area larger than India and China combined -- and per capita food production in many parts of the world is decreasing.
Forests
Tropical rain forests, as well as tropical and temperate dry forests, are being destroyed rapidly. At present rates, some critical forest types will be gone in a few years, and most of the tropical rain forest will be gone before the end of the next century. With them will go large numbers of plant and animal species.
Tropical rain forests, as well as tropical and temperate dry forests, are being destroyed rapidly. At present rates, some critical forest types will be gone in a few years, and most of the tropical rain forest will be gone before the end of the next century. With them will go large numbers of plant and animal species.
Living Species
The irreversible loss of species, which by 2100 may reach one-third of all species now living, is especially serious. We are losing the potential they hold for providing medicinal and other benefits, and the contribution that genetic diversity of life forms gives to the robustness of the world's biological systems and to the astonishing beauty of the earth itself. Much of this damage is irreversible on a scale of centuries, or permanent. Other processes appear to pose additional threats. Increasing levels of gases in the atmosphere from human activities, including carbon dioxide released from fossil fuel burning and from deforestation, may alter climate on a global scale. Predictions of global warming are still uncertain -- with projected effects ranging from tolerable to very severe -- but the potential risks
are very great.
The irreversible loss of species, which by 2100 may reach one-third of all species now living, is especially serious. We are losing the potential they hold for providing medicinal and other benefits, and the contribution that genetic diversity of life forms gives to the robustness of the world's biological systems and to the astonishing beauty of the earth itself. Much of this damage is irreversible on a scale of centuries, or permanent. Other processes appear to pose additional threats. Increasing levels of gases in the atmosphere from human activities, including carbon dioxide released from fossil fuel burning and from deforestation, may alter climate on a global scale. Predictions of global warming are still uncertain -- with projected effects ranging from tolerable to very severe -- but the potential risks
are very great.
Our massive tampering with the world's interdependent web of life -- coupled with the environmental damage inflicted by deforestation, species loss, and climate change -- could trigger widespread adverse effects, including unpredictable collapses of critical biological systems whose interactions and dynamics we only imperfectly understand.
Uncertainty over the extent of these effects cannot excuse complacency or delay in facing the threats.
POPULATION
The earth is finite. Its ability to absorb wastes and destructive effluent is finite. Its ability to provide food and energy is finite. Its ability to provide for growing numbers of people is finite. And we are fast approaching many of the earth's limits. Current economic practices which damage the environment, in both developed and underdeveloped nations, cannot be continued without the risk that vital global systems will be damaged beyond repair.
Pressures resulting from unrestrained population growth put demands on the natural world that can overwhelm any efforts to achieve a sustainable future. If we are to halt the destruction of our environment, we must accept limits to that growth. A World Bank estimate indicates that world population will not stabilize at less than 12.4 billion, while the United Nations concludes that the eventual total could reach 14 billion, a near tripling of today's 5.4 billion. But, even at this moment, one person in five lives in absolute poverty without enough to eat, and one in ten suffers serious malnutrition.
No more than one or a few decades remain before the chance to avert the threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished.
WARNING
We the undersigned, senior members of the world's scientific community, hereby warn all humanity of what lies ahead. A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated.
WHAT WE MUST DO
Five inextricably linked areas must be addressed simultaneously:
We must bring environmentally damaging activities under control to restore and protect the integrity of the earth's systems we depend on.
We must, for example, move away from fossil fuels to more benign, inexhaustible energy sources to cut greenhouse gas emissions and the pollution of our air and water. Priority must be given to the development of energy sources matched to Third World needs -- small-scale and relatively easy to implement.
We must halt deforestation, injury to and loss of agricultural land, and the loss of terrestrial and marine plant and animal species.
We must manage resources crucial to human welfare more effectively.
We must give high priority to efficient use of energy, water, and other materials, including expansion of conservation and recycling.
We must stabilize population.
This will be possible only if all nations recognize that it requires improved social and economic conditions, and the adoption of effective, voluntary family planning.
We must reduce and eventually eliminate poverty.
We must ensure sexual equality, and guarantee women control over their own reproductive decisions.
DEVELOPED NATIONS MUST ACT NOW
The developed nations are the largest polluters in the world today. They must greatly reduce their overconsumption, if we are to reduce pressures on resources and the global environment. The developed nations have the obligation to provide aid and support to developing nations, because only the developed nations have the financial resources and the technical skills for these tasks.
Acting on this recognition is not altruism, but enlightened self-interest: whether industrialized or not, we all have but one lifeboat. No nation can escape from injury when global biological systems are damaged. No nation can escape from conflicts over increasingly scarce resources. In addition, environmental and economic instabilities will cause mass migrations with incalculable consequences for developed and undeveloped nations alike.
Developing nations must realize that environmental damage is one of the gravest threats they face, and that attempts to blunt it will be overwhelmed if their populations go unchecked. The greatest peril is to become trapped in spirals of environmental decline, poverty, and unrest, leading to social, economic, and environmental collapse.
Success in this global endeavor will require a great reduction in violence and war. Resources now devoted to the preparation and conduct of war -- amounting to over $1 trillion annually -- will be badly needed in the new tasks and should be diverted to the new challenges.
A new ethic is required -- a new attitude towards discharging our responsibility for caring for ourselves and for the earth. We must recognize the earth's limited capacity to provide for us. We must recognize its fragility. We must no longer allow it to be ravaged. This ethic must motivate a great movement, convincing reluctant leaders and reluctant governments and reluctant peoples themselves to effect the needed changes.
The scientists issuing this warning hope that our message will reach and affect people everywhere. We need the help of many.
- We require the help of the world community of scientists -- natural, social, economic, and political.
- We require the help of the world's business and industrial leaders.
- We require the help of the world's religious leaders.
- We require the help of the world's peoples.
We call on all to join us in this task.
David Suzuki Foundation: Our Mission
David Suzuki Foundation: Our Mission: "Our Mission
The David Suzuki Foundation works through science and education to protect the diversity of nature and our quality of life, now and for the future.
With a goal of achieving sustainability within a generation, the Foundation collaborates with scientists, business and industry, academia, government and non-governmental organizations. We seek the best research to provide innovative solutions that will help build a clean, competitive economy that does not threaten the natural services that support all life.
An independent charity, the Foundation does not accept government grants and is supported with the help of some 40,000 individual supporters across Canada and around the world."
The David Suzuki Foundation works through science and education to protect the diversity of nature and our quality of life, now and for the future.
With a goal of achieving sustainability within a generation, the Foundation collaborates with scientists, business and industry, academia, government and non-governmental organizations. We seek the best research to provide innovative solutions that will help build a clean, competitive economy that does not threaten the natural services that support all life.
An independent charity, the Foundation does not accept government grants and is supported with the help of some 40,000 individual supporters across Canada and around the world."
Bruce Mau Design - Incomplete Manifesto
An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth
Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau’s beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project.
- Allow events to change you.You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
- Forget about good.Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.
- Process is more important than outcome.When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.
- Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
- Go deep.The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
- Capture accidents.The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.
- Study.A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.
- Drift.Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.
- Begin anywhere.John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
- Everyone is a leader.Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.
- Harvest ideas.Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.
- Keep moving.The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.
- Slow down.Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.
- Don’t be cool.Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.
- Ask stupid questions.Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.
- Collaborate.The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.
- ____________________.Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.
- Stay up late.Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you're separated from the rest of the world.
- Work the metaphor.Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
- Be careful to take risks.Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.
- Repeat yourself.If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.
- Make your own tools.Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.
- Stand on someone’s shoulders.You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.
- Avoid software.The problem with software is that everyone has it.
- Don’t clean your desk.You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.
- Don’t enter awards competitions.Just don’t. It’s not good for you.
- Read only left-hand pages.Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our "noodle."
- Make new words.Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.
- Think with your mind.Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.
- Organization = Liberty.Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between "creatives" and "suits" is what Leonard Cohen calls a 'charming artifact of the past.'
- Don’t borrow money.Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.
- Listen carefully.Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.
- Take field trips.The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.
- Make mistakes faster.This isn’t my idea -- I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.
- Imitate.Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You'll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.
- Scat.When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else ... but not words.
- Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.
- Explore the other edge.Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.
- Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces -- what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference -- the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.
- Avoid fields.Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.
- Laugh.People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I've become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.
- Remember.Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.
- Power to the people.Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can't be free agents if we’re not free.
We Can Take It
We Can Take It: "The original CCC program mobilized our military and put millions of young single males and war veterans as government issue or G.I.'s to work on conservation projects and other public works projects on US property throughout the United States. Government USCCC workers reforested timberlands (planted 4 billion trees), fought forest fires, controlled soil erosion, built public roads, developed and maintained public parks, and provided disaster relief.
Environmental and infrastructural issues long have been ignored on a social and governmental level. Reactivation would solve those issues and energize young adults and veterans who would stimulate our economy and our rescue our neglected environment. The CCC program should also be considered as a national service and an alternative to military service but have access to the GI Bill. CCC enrollees would then enable our nation with a more confident, competent and reliable workforce ready for employment with real world work experience.
On March 21,1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote these prophetic words in a message to Congress, 'More important, however, than the material gains from their labors will be the moral and spiritual value of such work."
Environmental and infrastructural issues long have been ignored on a social and governmental level. Reactivation would solve those issues and energize young adults and veterans who would stimulate our economy and our rescue our neglected environment. The CCC program should also be considered as a national service and an alternative to military service but have access to the GI Bill. CCC enrollees would then enable our nation with a more confident, competent and reliable workforce ready for employment with real world work experience.
On March 21,1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote these prophetic words in a message to Congress, 'More important, however, than the material gains from their labors will be the moral and spiritual value of such work."
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