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Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Fw: Welcome your freshman class of climate deniers

 
----- Original Message -----
To: eric
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 9:51 AM
Subject: FW: Welcome your freshman class of climate deniers

 

 

Eric R. Weaver

Editorial Assistant, Organization & Environment

College of Business, University of South Florida

Department of Management, BSN 3215

4202 East Fowler Avenue Tampa, Florida 33620

Telephone: 813-974-1757 Fax: 813-905-9964

www.coba.usf.edu/jermier/journal.htm

________________________________________

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. --Margaret Mead--

 

From: Union of Concerned Scientists [mailto:action@ucsusa.org]
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 9:55 AM
To: BSN O&E Journal
Subject: Welcome your freshman class of climate deniers

 

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Union of Concerned Scientists


 

 

Dear Eric,

Our New Freshman Class
In Their Own Words


"With the possible exception of Tiger Woods, nothing has had a worse year than global warming. We have discovered that a good portion of the science used to justify "climate change" was a hoax perpetrated by leftist ideologues with an agenda."
—Todd Young, new congressperson from Indiana 
 
"I absolutely do not believe that the science of man-caused climate change is proven. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I think it's far more likely that it's just sunspot activity or something just in the geologic eons of time where we have changes in the climate." —Ron Johnson, new senator from Wisconsin 
 
"I think we ought to take a look at whatever the group is that measures all this, the IPCC, they don't even believe the crap." —Steve Pearce, new congressperson from New Mexico
 
"It's a bigger issue, we need to watch 'em. Not only because it may or may not be true, but they're making up their facts to fit their conclusions. They've already caught 'em doing this." —Rand Paul, new senator from Kentucky
 
"There isn't any real science to say we are altering the climate path of the earth." —Roy Blunt, new senator from  Missouri
 

Last night an unprecedented number of climate contrarians were swept into office.

How did we get to such a place where attacking scientists and their work is not only acceptable, but helps win elections? And more importantly, what is UCS going to do about it?

First, we must acknowledge that these people didn't get into office on their own. They are backed by big oil, the coal industry, and electric utilities—opponents who have deep pockets and a singular goal of protecting their own interests.

UCS is going to continue to expose these polluting industries and their cronies who knowingly mislead the public about climate science. And we're going to challenge them to get their facts straight.

Because when it comes right down to it, the public's confidence in science and scientists remains high. In fact, just last night in California we saw a tangible example of science trumping industry spin, when voters thwarted an aggressive attempt by out-of-state oil companies to kill the state's landmark Global Warming Solutions Act.

It's examples like this that give me hope and remind me that we can
—and will—still achieve concrete victories.

The truth of the matter is that it's been difficult to move Congress for months. The people who are supposed to be representing our interests in the nation's capitol have been too busy carrying water for narrow corporate interests rather than coming together to make real, positive change.

So we're moving forward, with them or without them. As the victory in California yesterday reminds us, there are plenty of other ways to effect change on the issues you and I care about. In the coming months, UCS will:

  • Defend the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to reduce power plant, transportation, industrial, and agricultural global warming emissions;
  • Push state utility commissions to shut down the oldest and dirtiest coal power plants;
  • Pressure the administration to further boost fuel economy for cars and trucks and decrease tailpipe pollution, and cut our nation's oil use in half by 2030;
  • Advocate for strong, science-based state and regional climate programs that can reduce heat-trapping emissions at the local level;
  • Bring agricultural experts and scientists together with government officials to build support for scientifically sound, forward-thinking farming practices that can improve our air, water, and climate; and
  • Reduce the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security policy, further reduce their numbers, and prevent the development of new weapons.

No matter what changes happen in Washington, D.C., UCS will continue to do what we do best: develop and advance science-based solutions to major environmental and security issues.

I am deeply grateful for your support of our work and look forward to tackling the challenges we have ahead of us together!

Kevin Knobloch

Sincerely,
Kevin Knobloch
Kevin Knobloch
President
 

 

The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world.

UCS is a 501(c)(3) organization. All gifts are tax deductible. You can be confident your donations to UCS are spent wisely.

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Profit Over Life | The Nuremberg Pharma Tribunal | www.pharma-over-life.org

Profit Over Life | The Nuremberg Pharma Tribunal | www.pharma-over-life.org:
President Obama, Wake Up America!
Full Page Open Letter As Published In The New York Times on Monday, November 1, 2010

They’ve Done It Before – They Try It Again Today!



The goal of the special corporate interests – namely the Oil and Drug Cartel – in the US today is to transform democratic society into a corporate dictatorship, thus enabling multi-trillion dollar corporate interests to exert direct control over the political executive and the country.
Towards this end they are instigating the radicalization of society and financing the election campaigns of their political stakeholders. This strategy is an exact copy of the Oil and Drug Cartel’s takeover of Germany in 1933 – a strategy executed with the help of the Cartel’s political and military stakeholders, the Nazis.

America at the Crossroads

Over the past two years, the social and political life in America has been radicalized and polarized in an unprecedented way. What appears as a’grass-root’ movement articulating anger towards the current government is, in fact, a strategically implemented campaign by special interests, namely the Oil and Drug Cartel, to regain control over the White House and the country.
Worse, fighting a battle for survival of its outdated technologies, these special interests can no longer survive in a democracy and must seek dictatorial powers. In this historic situation, the only way to protect democracy is to expose the historic record of the Cartel.
In Open Letters on July 16 and September 13, 2010, I have exposed in this newspaper the historical parallels between the political escalation in Germany in the 1930’s and that of the US today. Then and now, the Cartel financed the political destabilization of democracy, with the goal of replacing it with a corporate dictatorship.
In Germany, then, the Cartel succeeded in seizing power and launching WWII because people and politicians around the world ignored the early warning signs. In the USA, today, the Cartel has launched an all-out psychological war. Organizations like the ‘Tea Party’ are radicalizing society. The only way to derail their plan of destroying democracy is to expose the criminal history and the motives of these special interests.

Global Dimension of this Threat

New technologies in the area of energy and health threaten the multi-trillion dollar global monopolies of the Oil and Drug Cartel. The Cartel’s giant markets of outdated technologies are no longer compatible with democracy and can only be maintained in a glo­bal dictatorship of corporate interests.
A first step in the direction of establishing such a global corporate dictatorship has already been taken. The recently founded so-called ‘European Union’ in Brussels (the ‘Brussels EU’) is not a democratically elected or legitimized body. The so-called ‘EU-Commission’ – 27 technocrats appointed by Cartel interests – preside over the lives and fates of 500 million people across Europe by means of dictatorial ‘directives’ and ‘regulations’.
Largely unbeknown to the rest of the world, the so-called ‘European Parliament’ has no independent right of legal initiative and serves merely as a fig-leaf for this ‘Cartel Commission’.
Even more appalling is the fact that the entire ‘Brussels EU’ structure is the implementation of plans conceived before and during WWII by the Oil and Drug Cartel and their Nazi stakeholders. The goal then and now was to cement their economic rule by means of a ‘Central Cartel Office’ that determines essentially every aspect of life in Europe and, eventually, the rest of the world.
The historical facts and documents are available online at http://www.nazi-roots-of-brussels-eu.org/.

The Strategic Role of the USA

The key country in the Cartel’s ‘survival strategy’ is the USA. Not only is the US the home base of most Oil and Drug corporations, it is also the strongest military power to defend these special interests.
A major setback for the Cartel was the fact that in 2008 the American people elected a President on a platform of ending the ‘tyranny of oil’ and of reforming health care, including a focus on prevention.
In order to reverse this vote, the Cartel must not only regain control of the US government but must try to fundamentally ‘reprogram’ the American people by financing the dissemination of doubt and deception. Towards this end, the Cartel has been mobilizing an army of stakeholders in the media and politics.

Lessons of History: From 1933 to 2010

The blueprint for this strategy of radicalizing society in preparation for war was pre-WWII Germany. The unobstructed implementation of this strategy in 1933 led to the overthrow of democracy, the installation of a dictatorship on behalf of the Oil and Drug Cartel and, eventually, to a military attempt to expand its global markets during WWII.
The records of the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal and of the US Congress unequivocally document that WWII was launched in the interest – and with the financial as well as technical support – of the German-based Oil and Drug Cartel (Bayer, BASF, Hoechst). Its goal was to seize control of the multi-trillion dollar global markets of oil, patented chemicals and drugs.
The psychological preparation of German society for this military conquest was the launch of a ‘racial war’ against Jewish and other non-Aryan people and the elimination of any political opposition. The key vehicle to execute this plan was the Nazi/Cartel-financed ‘grassroots’ movement – the ‘brownshirts’.
The systematic instigation of hatred, aggression, racism and other forms of psychological terror by the ‘brownshirts’ in pre-war Germany was the pre­condition for the next stage: the mass murder across the globe by the SS and German Wehrmacht in the Cartel’s attempt to control the world.
After WWII, the German Oil and Drug Cartel was dismantled and its shares transferred to US- and UK-based multinational oil and drug corporations. The Cartel’s criminal past was deliberately hidden from the public for one main reason: not to endanger its future attempts at world control.

1933 and Today:
The Cartel Manipulates Public Opinion

Germany 1933:
  • In the 1930s, the radicalization of German society and growing physical violence against religious minorities and political opponents of the Nazi regime strategically prepared the sei­zure of power by the Coalition of the Oil and Drug Cartel with the Nazis.
  • In WWII, the Cartel and their Nazi accomplices dressed millions of German soldiers in a uniform that carried the allegedly devine blessing for the Nazi/Cartel global conquest. Harnessed with a belt buckle showing the Swastika and the slogan ’God With Us’ (‘Gott mit uns’), the Nazi/Cartel Wehrmacht inflicted death on tens of millions of people.
USA Today:
  • Today, the political climate in the USA is strategically poisoned by the stakeholders of the same special interests, namely the Oil and Drug Cartel. Physical violence against political opponents is increasingly replacing the political and social dialogue.
  • Today, the stakeholders of the Oil and Drug Cartel in politics and media are trying to lure the American people with deceptive slogans like ‘restoring honor’ and under the pretext of acting in the name of God. In the course of history, no name has been more abused to mask the greed of special interests than the name of ‘God’.

President Obama, you have the responsibility to disseminate this historic parallel to the American people in order to enable them to actively defend freedom and democracy.

The Goals of this Publication

  1. This information alerts the people of America that the radicalization of society and the polarization of political life is organized and financed by the Oil and Drug Cartel – with the goal to regain control over the White House and the country.
  2. It exposes the ‘Tea Party’ and other so-called ‘grassroots’ movements as agents of the Oil and Drug Cartel.
  3. It reveals the strategic aim of these groups: destabilization of the democratically elected government via the instigation of civil unrest – under the pretext of defending constitutional rights and carrying out the will of God.
  4. It exposes the frenzied attacks against the Obama health care plan – that promotes preventive and community-based health – as a maneuver to protect the economic privileges of the Drug Cartel and its multi-trillion dollar health care monopoly based on patented pharmaceutical drugs.
  5. It exposes all these tricks and maneuvers as blatant copies of the Oil and Drug Cartel’s take-over of Germany in the 1930s – with the help of their political stakeholders, the Nazis.
  6. Sharing these historical parallels with the American people, will allow them to recognize the criminal historic record of the Oil and Drug Cartel, as well as the deceptive stragtegies it has used throughout history. The message: ‘They’ve done it before!’
  7. With this knowledge, the American people have a clear choice for the coming elections.
  8. It gives the Republican party a choice too: stay committed to democracy – or go into oblivion as political puppets of the Cartel’s corporate dictatorship plan.
  9. It allows the people and governments of the world to focus their resources on the development and construction of a modern world, based on affordable renewable energy and science-based natural health.
  10. The dissemination of this message is a precondition for protecting democracy in America and lasting peace!

Monday, November 01, 2010

The Healthcare Disaster: Alternative Health Newsletter

The Healthcare Disaster: Alternative Health Newsletter: "Natural Health Newsletter

Date: 01/25/2010 Posted By: Jon Barron
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The Healthcare Disaster

Okay, I'm about to make everyone reading this newsletter angry -- Democrats, Republicans, and Tea Party members. And for those of you living in Europe, China, South Korea, and Japan, you might as well get upset too...

All healthcare plans, private or national, existing or proposed, are giant Ponzi schemes. They depend on ever larger numbers of new, young healthy people pumping money into the system with no need to pull money out in the near term so that the older sicker population can use that money to take care of themselves. Again, it doesn't matter whether the money is being given to private insurance companies or governments, the principle is the same -- an ever larger number of young, healthy citizens supports a smaller number of older sicker citizens. And like all Ponzi schemes, it works as long as no one upsets the apple cart. But the moment there are no longer enough "new," young, healthy people to keep priming the pump, or those "new" contributors need to pull their money out before their time, the system collapses.

And that's the situation we now face.

Outside the countries of Japan and South Korea, Europe is aging faster than any other part of the globe. In 2006, 21 percent of Europeans were older than 60 years of age. By 2050, nearly 34 percent will be above 60. Quite simply, you're talking about a dramatic reduction in the number of young, healthy people priming the pump and a dramatic increase in the number of senior citizens drawing from the well. The only solution is an equally dramatic increase in the amount of taxes that the young, healthy workforce will have to pay in order to sustain the system.

And that's if the younger, healthier population doesn't have to pull its money from the Ponzi scheme before its time. But in fact, they will. That's the self-inflicted disease demographic I mentioned, and that we'll explore in more detail in a minute. For now, just understand that an aging population means more people drawing on the system and fewer people paying into it. The only way to keep the books balanced is for those paying in to pay more…or to reduce the amount of care that senior citizens are getting.

That covers Europe. But as I said above, Japan and South Korea are actually aging even faster. As for China, it too is aging rapidly, largely as a result of government policy that mandated smaller families. In fact, in China, the current ratio of 16 elderly people per 100 workers is set to double by 2025, then double again to 61 by 2050, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. But it's not just established countries that are aging. Countries such as Mexico are projected to reach developed-world levels of old-age dependency by the middle of the century.

As for the United States, it too is aging, but more slowly than many countries in the developed world. But that "more slowly" is based on a couple of questionable premises. First, a significant factor in keeping the U.S. population "young" is teenage pregnancy. Despite the promotion of "morality" in the U.S., the U.S. actually leads much of the world in teenage pregnancy. Unfortunately, children born to teenage mothers are much more likely to become welfare babies and "draw" money from the system as children and young adults, rather than contribute to it. In other words, they exacerbate the problem, not make it better.

Immigration

If a country's population isn't replacing itself fast enough, there's one other way to keep the population young -- immigration. This has been one of the prime factors that has pumped new, young, healthy workers into the system thereby continually pumping up the pool of young taxpayers to support it. In this regard, the U.S. has in the past been far friendlier to immigrants than Europe, Japan, China, and South Korea, for example -- and thus delayed the aging of the country. However, that is changing. Thanks to 9/11 and changing attitudes in general, the current citizenry of the U.S. views immigrants less favorably than in the past. In addition, the economic disruption of the last year has made the U.S. a less attractive destination for many immigrants. The upshot is that immigration is down in the U.S., and the immigrants who are coming in are the older family members of immigrants who are already here -- rather than the young, healthy, opportunity seeking, "new" immigrants needed to support the Ponzi scheme. The bottom line is that in the coming years immigration will less and less be a factor in slowing down the aging of America.

Self-inflicted disease

And now we come to the big one, the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about -- self-inflicted catastrophic illness. Over the years, I've written many times about this issue -- always ending with the same conclusion:

No amount of tinkering and funding can stop the inevitable train wreck barreling towards us -- unless there's a major paradigm shift. No matter where you live or what healthcare system you function under, the demographics are undeniable. The American model is headed for disaster. But so is the French model. How can any healthcare system survive up to half its population living for 20-30 years with severe diabetes (as predicted by the CDC), let alone the other half suffering from cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, and MS? There isn't enough money in the world to cover it.

And every time I return to the issue, the numbers have only gotten worse. Let's take a quick look at some of those numbers.

Diabetes

seppukuLiterally just days ago, The Medical News published the latest analysis which showed that the cost of diabetes and pre-diabetes reached $218 billion in 2007, with the exploding number of cases of type 2 diabetes responsible for the majority of the costs. And those numbers are three years old! Update them for today -- and over the next ten years -- and you're looking at an average of a quarter of a trillion dollars a year over the next ten years in the United States alone. Do the math and that's $2.5 trillion dollars unnecessarily spent on a just one self-inflicted disease over the next ten years whether a healthcare bill passes or not. If people in the United States didn't give themselves diabetes through diet and lifestyle choices, the savings alone would 100% cover:

  • All costs associated with any healthcare bill including covering all those currently uncovered.
  • 100% of the cost of the bank bailout.
  • 100% of the cost of the stimulus plan.

And that's with no new taxes, and that's just one disease.

As for heart disease, it's estimated that anywhere from 50-80% of heart disease is the result of dietary and lifestyle choices. (Personally, I put the number at 90%.) How much does that cost us? The cost of heart disease and stroke in the United States, including healthcare expenditures and lost productivity from deaths and disability, is projected to be more than $475 billion in 2009. As the U.S. population ages, the economic impact of cardiovascular diseases on our nation's healthcare system will become even greater. So again, using the conservative estimate of around 50% of that cost being self-inflicted, you're looking at another quarter of a trillion dollars a year in unnecessary costs per year.

And then there's cancer. Overall, environmental factors, defined broadly to include tobacco use, diet, infectious diseases, chemicals, and radiation, are believed to cause between 75 and 80 percent of all cancer cases in the United States. And that's not even considering the percentage of breast cancers caused by hormone replacement therapy (still commonly used) and yearly mammograms. And what are the costs associated with preventable cancer? The estimates are all over the map depending on how you look at the numbers. But at the low end, you're looking at close to a quarter of a trillion dollars a year (again) back in 2000 -- and at the high end, just under a trillion dollars a year in 2000.

So, let's add the numbers up.

At the low end, you're looking at $750 billion a year paid in the U.S. for the three major self-inflicted catastrophic diseases. Over the next 20 years, that's $15 trillion. Now you're talking about not just paying for healthcare, but literally paying off the entire national debt -- with no new taxes!!! On the other hand, if we continue to head down the road we're on, we're looking at ever higher taxes, ever greater debt, and a disintegrating healthcare system.

And every other country in the world can look forward to the same scenario.

Conclusion

Like a broken record, I keep repeating:

Pretending that any tinkering of the world's current healthcare systems can produce a viable solution to this problem of compounding demographics is the equivalent to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. At some point, our children will be left drowning in debt. The bottom line is that the only way that healthcare can survive -- the only way you can survive -- is if you take back control of your health and start doing those things that allow your body to stay healthy without the need for healthcare. Or to put it another way, the only way to save healthcare is to stop relying on it, use it only for the exceptional, and take care of yourself.

corporatism quotes

corporatism quotes (page 1 of 1): "'The major western democracies are moving towards corporatism. Democracy has become a business plan, with a bottom line for every human activity, every dream, every decency, every hope. The main parliamentary parties are now devoted to the same economic policies — socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor — and the same foreign policy of servility to endless war. This is not democracy. It is to politics what McDonalds is to food.'
— John Pilger

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

25 Free Lifelong Learning Resources | Free Online Learning

25 Free Lifelong Learning Resources | Free Online Learning:
by Jeff Cobb

25 Free Online Resources and Web Apps for Lifelong Learners

by Jeff Cobb

The Internet has made the lifelong pursuit of knowledge easier for nearly everyone in the world. There are tons of websites dedicated to providing free courses, reference books, education apps, and other learning materials. Here are 25 stand-out sites that would be useful to almost any lifelong learner.

Clusty – This unique search engine sorts results into clusters of related information so that it is easier to sort out the relevant from the irrelevant.

Schoolr – Schoolr is a fully-customizable search engine that can be used to search Google, Wikipedia, and other popular sites. It can also be used to translate text, convert units, and cite sources.

MyStickies – This site offers an alternative to bookmarking. Instead of saving URLs and page titles, MyStickies allows you to place digital sticky notes with annotations around the web so that you can retrieve previously viewed pages and understand immediately why they are important.

Diigo is a handy research tool that can be used to highlight and annotate pages on the web. Anything that is marked with Diigo can be accessed later on from any PC.

Hooey – Hooey is a unique tool for people who like to surf the web. It records browser history, measures productivity, and offers tips to help you better understand your browsing habits.

Internet Public Library – The IPL is a free public library for the Internet community. Resources include books, magazines, reference materials, subject collections, a physical library locator, and an “Ask the Librarian” section.

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RefDesk – This award-winning, family-friendly website is a great place to find reference materials online. RefDesk also offers one of the best fact checkers on the Internet.

SparkNotes – SparkNotes is an incredibly useful resource. In addition to an enormous literature section, the site also offers study guides and discussion forums for a wide range of academic subjects.

Schmoop – This free beta site makes it fun to study literature, poetry, and U.S. history. Schmoop features include easy-to-read study guides, homework helpers, and other educational materials.

History.com – The official History Channel website is one of the best places on the web to learn about a broad range of history topics. You can read articles, watch videos, and explore many other resources.

Wolfram MathWorld – This extensive math resource contains contributions from all over the world. Entries include information about algebra, geometry, calculus, applied mathematics, discrete mathematics, number theory, statistics, and other math topics.

OpenCourseWare (OCW) Consortium – The OCW Consortium is a collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions. The Consortium’s website is an excellent place to find free courses and course materials from some of the world’s best colleges and universities.

Lecturefox – Lecturefox is an online directory of free audio, video, and text-based lectures from universities like MIT and Yale.

LearnOutLoud – This Internet catalog contains more than 20,000 free educational materials, including books, videos, audio lectures, and podcasts.

The Online Books Page – The University of Pennsylvania’s Online Books Page is one of the best places to find free unabridged books online. The site lists more than 35,000 books that can be downloaded or viewed at no cost.

The Free Library – Farlex’s Free Library contains more than five million books and articles that can be viewed online for free. The site also allows you to create your own home page with your favorite bookmarks and RSS feeds.

BookMooch – This book swapping site makes it easy to get rid of the books you don’t need and get books you want in exchange. Membership is free and books can be exchanged worldwide.

wePapers – This site is geared toward college students, but it is also an excellent resource for lifelong learners. At wePapers, you can find academic papers, study groups, and a venue to share your knowledge.

Livemocha – Livemocha is an international community of foreign language learners. You can use it to study almost any world language at your own pace.

VerbaLearn – VerbaLearn is a good place to practice English vocabulary. You can review words, make flashcards, and customize the way you learn.

Class Marker – At ClassMarker, you can create online quizzes that test your knowledge on any subject. No software or download required.

Mikogo – This free screen sharing tool makes it easy to share your computer screen with other people who are online. Mikogo works well for online meetings, presentations, and collaborative learning.

Bloglines – This web-based tool makes your home page look like a newspaper. It allows you to assemble all of your favorite sites and blogs amidst information like local weather, sports, and other items of your choosing.

ThinkFree – ThinkFree offers Internet-based file sharing and storage as well as a Microsoft Office compatible application suite that allows you to access documents without opening the necessary application.

This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about online colleges for OnlineCollege.org.

P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page.

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GMO Poisons Found in Indiana Waterways

GMO Poisons Found in Indiana Waterways:
Posted By Dr. Mercola | October 20 2010 | 3,338 views

corn fieldThe Indiana Business Journal reports that proteins from genetically modified crops are showing up in Indiana waterways.

According to the Journal, the University of Notre Dame and Loyola University looked at 217 streams, drains and ditches near Indiana cornfields and found genetically modified (GM) bug-killing protein in 50 of them.

The protein is in genetically modified corn and other crops that are engineered to produce their own pesticide when insects bite them. But when farmers mow the fields, the residue remains from the crushed plants – and it's finding its way to the waterways.

"The protein is carried to surface water by runoff and by the leaves and stalks that sometimes wash into streams," the Journal said. "And the protein lingers. The study was conducted six months after harvest."

The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, says it is not known whether the trace levels of the protein are a threat to invertebrates in the water.

But either way – it's still poison, and it's a poison that was in 85 percent of the U.S. corn crop last year.

Sources:


Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Eighty-five percent of U.S. corn crops last year contained a special gene added that allows them to produce an insecticide. This way, when bugs attempt to eat the corn they're killed right away (specifically their stomach is split open) because the plant contains an invisible, built-in pesticide shield.

The particular gene added to most corn crops is a type of Bt-toxin --- produced from Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria. Genetic engineers remove the gene that produces the Bt in bacteria and insert it into the DNA of corn (and cotton) plants.

They claim that Bt-toxin is quickly destroyed in human stomachs -- and even if it survived, it won't cause reactions in humans or mammals …

But animal studies have already shown that this is not the case, that Bt-toxin does cause health effects in animals, including potentially humans. And now this theory is about to be further tested because the GM toxin is showing up in waterways, where it has the potential to devastate aquatic life and continue to spread, uncontrolled and unrestricted, across the entire United States and world.

GM Insecticide Poisons Widespread in Waterways

Fifty of the 217 streams, ditches and drains near cornfields that researchers tested were found to contain Cry1Ab, a specific type of Bt-toxin, above six nanograms per liter.

The protein is getting into the waterways via corn stalks, leaves, husks and cobs that blow into the water -- a phenomenon that's incredibly common since farmers often leave such material in fields to help minimize soil erosion.

Eighty-six percent of the streams researchers tested contained various corn material with the potential to transmit Bt-toxin into the water. Further, because the study was conducted six months after crops were harvested, it indicates that the GM protein lingers in the environment.

The Research on Bt Toxin is Very Clear …

… And this is not a substance you want in your food or waterways. Jeffrey Smith, a leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods, has written extensively about Bt toxin, and explains firsthand what the research shows:

"Mice fed natural Bt-toxin showed significant immune responses and caused them to become sensitive to other formerly harmless compounds. This suggests that Bt-toxin might make a person allergic to a wide range of substances.

Farm workers and others have also had reactions to natural Bt-toxin, and authorities acknowledge that "People with compromised immune systems or preexisting allergies may be particularly susceptible to the effects of Bt."

In fact, when natural Bt was sprayed over areas around Vancouver and Washington State to fight gypsy moths, about 500 people reported reactions—mostly allergy or flu-like symptoms. Six people had to go to the emergency room."

A Pesticide Factory in Your Gut?

Notice that the studies above refer to a "natural" form of Bt-toxin, which is sometimes used by organic farmers, in spray form, as a method of natural insect control. This natural Bt has clearly been shown to cause problems, but it appears the GM variety is even worse. Smith explains:

"The Bt-toxin produced in the GM plants is probably more dangerous than in its natural spray form. In the plants, the toxin is about 3,000-5,000 times more concentrated than the spray, it doesn't wash off the plants like the spray does, and it is designed to be more toxic than the natural version.

In fact, the GM toxin has properties of known allergens and fails all three GM allergy tests recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and others."

For instance, Cry1Ab shares a sequence of 9-12 amino acids with vitellogenin, an egg yolk allergen. This means it could cause allergic reactions in people with egg allergies, but the link was never further investigated.

The toxin can also be inhaled from breathing pollen from GM plants, and a UK government committee warned it could then transfer the Bt-toxin DNA into your respiratory system. As Smith states:

"Although no studies were done to verify this risk, years later UK scientists confirmed that after consuming GM soybeans, the foreign inserted genes transferred from the soy into the DNA of human gut bacteria.

If Bt genes from GM corn chips, for example, also transfer, it might convert our intestinal flora into living pesticide factories—continually producing Bt-toxin inside of us."

October is Non-GMO Month!

The Bt-toxin is already contaminating waterways, and it's only a matter of time before this and other GM poisons completely overtake our food supply. So the time to take action to get these toxic compounds out of the food supply and out of the environment is now!

And what better time to get involved than during Non-GMO Month, which is taking place right now.

Together we CAN get GMOs (genetically modified organisms) banned from the United States. Europe was able to do it over a decade ago without any government assistance. All they did was educate the consumers, and that was enough pressure on the food industry to drop their ploys.

If we band together as an effective army we will be able to do this. Please understand that the VAST majority of people in the US do not want GM foods, so this is an EASY battle to win. All we have to do is a bit of organizational work.

How many Americans do we need to convince to avoid eating genetically modified foods to achieve the same victory in the US?

We believe it's only about FIVE PERCENT of US shoppers!

So, changing the shopping habits of about 5.6 million households may be sufficient to eliminate GMOs in the US.

That is our goal!

We already have these numbers on our side. About 28 million Americans buy organic on a regular basis. Eighty-seven million Americans think GMOs are seriously unsafe. A hundred and fifty-nine million Americans, the majority, say they would avoid GMOs if labeled!

Unfortunately, no labeling is required, making your commitment to avoid GM foods all that more complicated. But that's where we come in.

How You Can Help Others to Avoid GMO Foods

Most people want to avoid GMO foods but it is virtually impossible to do so, since the government prevents GMO labeling.

However, Jeffery Smith has compiled a resource for you to avoid the government block of information. It is the free Non-GMO Shopping Guide. We realize that with the challenging economy it is very difficult for many to donate money to help this cause, so we are merely asking for your time and connections with your family and friends.

You can really help by making this message go viral. So if you are convinced that GMO foods should not be in the US, please send this information to everyone you know; post it on Facebook and Twitter…

You can also print out Non-GMO Shopping Guide, and give it to your friends and family.

If you feel more ambitious you can also order the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure in bulk, and bring them to the grocery stores in your area. Talk to the owner or manager and get permission to post them in their store.

Who Will You Share this Information With?

You can help nurture this consumer mindset by bringing information to your local natural food store owner, so that she can share it will all of her customers as well. IRT has created a complete Retailer Campaign Kit for this purpose.

You can also share information with your child's school, your health care providers, and food manufacturers. The IRT has created information kits for all of them, available here:

Please remember to share this with your friends and family, but do so lovingly. You don't want to make yourself a pest and risk your relationship with them. But believe me, this is a MUCH easier sell than getting them to stop smoking or eating less sugar since most do not want GMOs anyway, and it doesn't involve giving anything up.

You may even want to share this information with your church or religious leaders. As Jeffrey says:

"There are certain religious groups that think the genetic engineering process itself violates God's laws. So 'GMO' for them really means, 'God Move Over' and not 'Genetically Modified Organism.'"

Must-See Movies to Share!

The IRT has created a film called Hidden Dangers in Kid's Meals, which is a powerful way for parents to get an initiation into the health dangers. It's only 28 minutes long, which is ideal for local access TV.

You can simply bring the film to your local access TV station, and sometimes they'll play it 10, 20, or even 30 times because they're always looking for material and are open to support from the community.

There's also a video called Your Milk on Drugs - Just Say No!, which exposes the dangers of GM bovine growth hormones. Any parent still feeding their child milk from cows injected with rBGH needs to see this

film! They'll never make the same mistake again…

Another powerful video you can share with your friends and family is Jeffrey's Everything You Have to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods lecture.

Your Action Plan

I've already mentioned a number of different ways for you to get actively involved during Non-GMO Month. To recap, and add a few more suggestions, here is a list of Action Item for you to pick and choose from:

  1. Distribute WIDELY the Non-GMO Shopping Guide to help you identify and avoid foods with GMOs. Look for products (including organic products) that feature the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal to be sure that at-risk ingredients have been tested for GMO content.
  2. Download the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure and keep it with you whenever you shop, or download the free iPhone application that is available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.

    You can also order the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure in bulk and give it to your family and friends.

  3. Urge food manufacturers to join the Non-GMO Project and become Non-GMO Project Verified. This is currently the only way for manufacturers to get around the fact that there's no GM-labeling system.
  4. Urge your local food retailers to join the Non-GMO Project's Supporting Retailer Program.
  5. If your budget allows support this urgent mission by generously donating to the Institute of Responsible Technology.
  6. Bring the film Hidden Dangers in Kid's Meals to your local access TV station, or perhaps your child's school, along with some educational material specifically designed for teachers and educators.
  7. Share Your Milk on Drugs - Just Say No!, and Jeffrey's lecture, Everything You Have to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods with everyone you know. Post them to your Facebook page, or email the links to your network of friends and family.
  8. Join the Non-GMO Project on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

Together, We Control the Future of Our Food

Please join us in this important campaign. Do as much or as little as you can. Maybe you can't make a donation to IRT, but you can distribute 20 Non-GMO shopping guides to your closest family and friends.

Plus, all orders placed through Mercola.com, starting October 6th, will receive a FREE, printed 16-page Non-GMO Shopping Guide.*

No purchase necessary. You may also download the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, for free, here.

Please, support this urgent mission by donating to the Institute of Responsible Technology, a non-profit organization.

Together, we can make a difference. Together, we can reach the tipping point and push GMOs out of our food supply.


Related Links:

Doctors Warn: Avoid Genetically Modified Food

Monday, October 18, 2010

Manganese Affects Children’s Intelligence

Manganese Affects Children’s Intelligence: "Warning: Please Avoid Feeding This to Your Child
Posted By Dr. Mercola | October 18 2010 |
According to a report in Science Daily, a new Canadian study shows that children exposed to high concentrations of manganese in drinking water performed worse on tests of intellectual functioning than children with lower exposures.

The results were published in an article in Environmental Health Perspectives.

While manganese is naturally occurring in soil and groundwater around the world, some of Canada's groundwater contains an unusually high amount of it, giving the researchers an opportunity to study whether excessive manganese can adversely affect human health.

"We found significant deficits in the intelligence quotient (IQ) of children exposed to higher concentration of manganese in drinking water," said lead author Maryse Bouchard.

Yet, some areas where lower IQs were reported also registered concentrations below current guidelines. In response to the study, some of the affected municipalities have already decided to install special filtration systems.

Sources:


Dr. Mercola's Comments:

You probably know that manganese is an essential nutrient, but were you aware that when consumed in excess, manganese becomes a potent neurotoxin?

Studies on miners and steelworkers, for example, have shown that excessive exposure to manganese can cause manganese poisoning, Parkinson's disease, and Wilson's disease, for example.

Manganese occurs naturally in soil and can therefore be present in groundwater to a greater or lesser degree. Hence some people who drink well water could be exposed to higher naturally-occurring levels of manganese.

But there is another source of manganese that many people are completely unaware of, which may be even more significant than groundwater, and that is soy infant formula!

Soy formula is frequently used when a baby is allergic to milk, or if the parents are somehow convinced that soy is a healthier alternative. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth, because soy formula could easily be considered one of the most DANGEROUS food products on the market…

I always recommend breast feeding, if at all possible, but if you can't, please educate yourself about the dangers of soy formula!

This is such an important issue because so many mothers end up using formula in lieu of breast feeding or after breast feeding for a short time, not realizing just how bad most formulas are for their baby's health, particularly soy formula.

I've been concerned about this for a long time, and my team has now been working on an infant formula for an entire year. We still have about another year to go, but once we're done we should be able to offer the best commercial infant formula available in the US.

Soy Infant Formula is LOADED with Manganese!

Yes, researchers have found that soybean plants absorb manganese from the soil and concentrate it, so that its use in soy-based infant formula can result in as much as 200 times the level found in natural breast milk!

Such high concentrations can wreak havoc on your baby's immature metabolic systems.

I rarely talk about absolutes but this is one instant where I will say: NEVER give your child soy formula. (I guess the only exception would be if there was a catastrophe and soy formula was the only food source temporarily available to keep your baby alive.)

Because just like this latest study confirms, high concentrations of manganese, such as those found in soy formula, can lead to brain damage in infants and altered behaviors in adolescents.

In the study reported by Science Daily, researchers discovered that higher concentrations of manganese in groundwater significantly lowered the IQ of the children who drank it, even though the levels were below current guidelines.

A total of 362 children, aged six to 13, living in homes with individual or public wells were examined to test cognition, motor skills and behavior.

Science Daily reports:

"The average IQ of children whose tap water was in the upper 20% of manganese concentration was 6 points below children whose water contained little or no manganese.

The analyses of the association between manganese in tap water and children's IQ took into account various factors such as family income, maternal intelligence, maternal education, and the presence of other metals in the water.

… For co-author Donna Mergler, "This is a very marked effect; few environmental contaminants have shown such a strong correlation with intellectual ability."

The authors state that the amount of manganese present in food showed no relationship to the children's IQ."

For Maximum Health Hazard, Just Add Fluoridated Water...

As if that wasn't bad enough, there are a number of other factors that make soy formula an even more dangerous option.

One of these factors is the fact that fluoride can increase manganese absorption, so if you mix the powdered- or concentrated soy formula with fluoridated water, you're worsening matters even further!

Fluoride and manganese interact in a number of ways through various pathways.

For example, fluorides can cause zinc deficiency which in turn can cause damage to your brain by altering your manganese levels.

This is because fluorides act as a TSH (thyroid-stimulating-hormone) analogue, and along with iodine, zinc and selenium are also controlled by TSH. And when you're deficient in zinc, the manganese levels in your brain become altered.

Other Health Dangers of Soy Formula

Another significant issue is the estrogen in soy.

A soy-fed baby receives the equivalent of five birth control pills' worth of estrogen every day! These babies' isoflavone levels are typically anywhere between 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than in non-soy fed infants.

Unfermented soy is not a healthy option for anyone, but when you're feeding soy to an infant, you're really setting the stage for a number of health problems.

Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility—even cancer and heart disease.

For more information about the many ways soy can damage your health – and certainly your baby's, if you're feeding them soy formula – please review this recent report.

It's also worth noting that at least 91 percent of soy grown in the US is also genetically modified (GM), and this too can have serious health effects.

Not only is the soy loaded with toxic pesticide, the plants also contain genes from bacteria that produce a protein that has never been part of the human food supply. Hence, GM soy has been linked to an increase in allergies.

Disturbingly, the only published human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted verified that the gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of our gut bacteria and continues to function. This means that years after you stop eating GM soy, you may still have a potentially allergenic protein continuously being produced in your intestines.

Even more frightening is the potential for GM soy to cause infertility in future generations, which has been evidenced by recent Russian research.

Soy-based formula also typically includes cornstarch, cornstarch hydrolysate (remember, any corn derivatives are also suspect of being GM), tapioca starch, or sucrose instead of lactose.

(Did you know that many infant formulas actually have MORE sugar than a can of soda? Do you really feel comfortable giving your precious newborn a can of soda for EVERY meal? If not, then it would sure seem best to avoid them ALL like the plague.)

All these things considered, it's truly shocking that soy formula is even allowed on the market.

The Benefits of Breast Feeding, and Healthier Alternatives

One of the best gifts you can give your child is to start out their life with a sound nutritional foundation, and the best way to do this is by breastfeeding. In fact, statistics show a clear correlation between feeding infants artificial formula and increased infant mortality within the first year.

It's important to realize that there are at least 400 nutrients in breast milk that are NOT found in formula. Of course, the healthier that a new mom eats, the healthier her breast milk will be, too.

While any amount of breastfeeding is better than none at all, it is clearly to your advantage, and best for your baby's health, to breastfeed exclusively for at least the first 6 months. Then, at the age of 6 or 9 months, you can begin to supplement with solid foods (while still continuing to breastfeed as well).

What exactly does your baby stand to gain by being breastfed?

  • Lower risk of respiratory tract and middle ear infections
  • Lower risk of eczema
  • Lower risk of obesity
  • Added protection against heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and allergies
  • Improved brain function and immune system function

There are benefits to mom, too. The main ones are a reduced risk of chronic diseases like cancer, a faster return to your pre-pregnancy weight, and increased bonding between you and your baby.

There are certain medical conditions that can prevent a woman from breastfeeding, however the majority of women are able to breastfeed successfully. If you need help, contact a lactation consultant in your area for tips and support. You can also visit La Leche League, which is a phenomenal resource for breastfeeding moms.

If for some reason you're not able to breastfeed, or you have adopted a baby, your next best option is to make a healthy infant formula using raw milk. You can find homemade formula recipes here.

As I stated at the beginning of this article, we're also in the process of producing the finest infant formula on the market. I'm hoping to have it available in about a year.

How Can You Protect Your Child from Excessive Manganese Exposure?

First and foremost, do not give your child soy formula or other unfermented soy foods.

As for manganese in your well water, your best bet is to use a high quality filtering system using activated carbon. A well designed activated carbon filter system is the simplest, most convenient, and most user friendly option to purify your drinking water.

A good system will likely consist of multiple filter cartridges; one to protect the carbon from larger contaminants in the water, and another containing carbon designed to remove trihalomethanes – a dangerous disinfection byproduct. Some systems also contain a backup carbon filter to ensure that all contaminants have been filtered out.

For more information about filtering systems and water quality, please see this previous article.


Related Links:

Healthy Alternative to Conventional Infant Formula