Yea, big surprise... pollution in our feed stock...
"Strong Suspicions of Toxicity in One GMO Corn
By Stèphane Foucart
Le Monde
Tuesday 13 March 2007
Allowed to go on the market in France and Europe, MON 863, a transgenic corn invented by Monsanto, has been at the center of a controversy over its innocuousness for over two years (April 23rd, 2004, Le Monde). These debates could resume after the March 13th publication in 'Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology' of a study suggesting this genetically modified organism (GMO) is toxic to the liver and kidneys.
According to this work, consumption of MON 863 corn disturbs numerous biological parameters in rats to a greater or lesser extent: weight of the kidneys, weight of the liver, the level of reticulocytes (new red blood cells), the level of triglycerides, etc. Urinary chemistry is also changed, with reductions in excreted sodium and phosphorus going as high as 35 percent. The effects vary with the sex of the animals. 'Female rats exhibit an increase in blood fat and sugar levels, and an increase in body weight - all associated with greater hepatic sensitivity,' says Mr. Sèralini, principal author of this study and, moreover, president of the Research Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (Criigen). 'Among males, the impact is"
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Sunday, March 04, 2007
The New Age
Have you ever wondered when the "New Age" started? Believe it or not, it dates back to the late 1800s, a period of intense spiritual activity in Western
Neptune, ruler of spirituality and psychic phenomena, had just been discovered. Coincidence? Of the many innovations that came out of this extraordinary period was the combination of astrology with Tarot. Today, the connection between the two is a given, and there's no doubt that their divination power is vastly increased when they are used together.
Neptune, ruler of spirituality and psychic phenomena, had just been discovered. Coincidence? Of the many innovations that came out of this extraordinary period was the combination of astrology with Tarot. Today, the connection between the two is a given, and there's no doubt that their divination power is vastly increased when they are used together.
Friday, March 02, 2007
WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future: Food is Power
Yes POWER is right... they American Machine takes over the water supplies, uses all their chemicals to destroy all the seeds and foods outside of their control and then pumps their "patented" seeds and GMO's into the counties so you can only eat and survive by buying from a multinational corporation that has taken over...
WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future: Food is Power: "“Forum on Food Sovereignty” near Bamako, Mali. For the first time, the world’s largest social movements working on behalf of food producers throughout the world have gathered to discuss the idea of food sovereignty. The organizers include international social movements of peasants, women, fisherfolk, environmentalists, and consumers.
Most of the focus of the forum has been conversation, discussing what the delegates represented here are fighting for, what they’re fighting against, and to set an agenda for the next five to ten years for collective, global campaigns. The gathered groups will also develop position papers on themes ranging from trade and local commerce, to resource rights and urban-consumer partnerships, from production models and appropriate technologies to bilateral and multinational trade policies.
Ultimately, this alliance plans to share these position papers with networks in their home countries as well as heads of state, the United Nations, the FAO, and development bodies.
I’ve been here for a few days now and have been continually amazed by the feat to pull this event off. In rural West Africa, the organizers were able to create a village for more than 600 delegates, from scratch, using mostly local materials and mostly local labor. As one of the org"
WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future: Food is Power: "“Forum on Food Sovereignty” near Bamako, Mali. For the first time, the world’s largest social movements working on behalf of food producers throughout the world have gathered to discuss the idea of food sovereignty. The organizers include international social movements of peasants, women, fisherfolk, environmentalists, and consumers.
Most of the focus of the forum has been conversation, discussing what the delegates represented here are fighting for, what they’re fighting against, and to set an agenda for the next five to ten years for collective, global campaigns. The gathered groups will also develop position papers on themes ranging from trade and local commerce, to resource rights and urban-consumer partnerships, from production models and appropriate technologies to bilateral and multinational trade policies.
Ultimately, this alliance plans to share these position papers with networks in their home countries as well as heads of state, the United Nations, the FAO, and development bodies.
I’ve been here for a few days now and have been continually amazed by the feat to pull this event off. In rural West Africa, the organizers were able to create a village for more than 600 delegates, from scratch, using mostly local materials and mostly local labor. As one of the org"
"MORE NATURAL CURES REVEALED"
"A government that once stood for the people is now being sold over and over again to some of the most powerful and influential money interests on the planet. Four of the top ten Fortune 500 companies are pharmaceutical companies. They have a lobbyist for every state representative and senator in Washington, with some extras assigned to the public committees of the House and Senate. Your health is being sold on a daily basis by every representative and senator who takes their money." - p. 74.
"The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) repeatedly puts out press releases which are flagrantly false and misleading. Corruption must stop. The government must stop taking advantage of the citizens. The large multinational corporations must stop putting profits above ethics, integrity, and honesty. We, as a society are being made sick purposely, so that large companies can make billions of dollars in profits. This must cease. The FTC is helping this to continue to occur. They must be stopped. The FTC is supposed to protect us; instead it is protecting the large multinational corporations." - p. 122.
"The FTC is not interested in protecting the consumers; it is interested in protecting the profits of the large companies. The FTC repeatedly sues people like myself who advertise truthfully and honestly, but whose products and opinions can have an adverse effect on the large companies. This is how the FTC protects the monopolies and protects the profits of the large corporations. This is wrong and must be stopped..." - p. 123.
"The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) repeatedly puts out press releases which are flagrantly false and misleading. Corruption must stop. The government must stop taking advantage of the citizens. The large multinational corporations must stop putting profits above ethics, integrity, and honesty. We, as a society are being made sick purposely, so that large companies can make billions of dollars in profits. This must cease. The FTC is helping this to continue to occur. They must be stopped. The FTC is supposed to protect us; instead it is protecting the large multinational corporations." - p. 122.
"The FTC is not interested in protecting the consumers; it is interested in protecting the profits of the large companies. The FTC repeatedly sues people like myself who advertise truthfully and honestly, but whose products and opinions can have an adverse effect on the large companies. This is how the FTC protects the monopolies and protects the profits of the large corporations. This is wrong and must be stopped..." - p. 123.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Ivory Trade Threatens Future of African Elephants
But you know this will also happen to Oil, Old Growth Forests, Wild Tuna and Salmon and every other commodity. . . The Profit Machine is designed to increase the use until there is NO MORE. then they will have total control of the market with Stored supplies and pirated access. Just like the Diamond trade where all the African Tribes that could compete in the market are getting systematically exterminated... ALL of them!!!!
Ivory Trade Threatens Future of African Elephants: "Ivory Trade Threatens Future of African Elephants
SEATTLE, Washington, February 27, 2007 (ENS) - The illegal ivory trade is flourishing and threatens to undermine efforts to save the African elephant from extinction, according to a new study released Monday. Poaching of the species has risen to a level not seen in two decades, researchers report, and could doom the world's largest land animal unless western governments step up efforts to halt the illegal trade.
'The illegal ivory trade recently intensified to the highest levels ever reported,' according to the study, published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
China's burgeoning economy is a major force driving the growth of the illegal trade, escalating prices and attracting organized crime.
A kilogram of ivory that $200 by 2004 now fetches some $750, the researchers said, and from August 2005 through August 2006, authorities seized some 24 tons of illegal ivory destined for Asia.
But that figure represents only about 10 percent of the estimated illegal shipments, bringing the total closer to 240 tons - an amount that would require the slaughter of more than 23,000 elephants, about 5 percent of the estimated"
Ivory Trade Threatens Future of African Elephants: "Ivory Trade Threatens Future of African Elephants
SEATTLE, Washington, February 27, 2007 (ENS) - The illegal ivory trade is flourishing and threatens to undermine efforts to save the African elephant from extinction, according to a new study released Monday. Poaching of the species has risen to a level not seen in two decades, researchers report, and could doom the world's largest land animal unless western governments step up efforts to halt the illegal trade.
'The illegal ivory trade recently intensified to the highest levels ever reported,' according to the study, published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
China's burgeoning economy is a major force driving the growth of the illegal trade, escalating prices and attracting organized crime.
A kilogram of ivory that $200 by 2004 now fetches some $750, the researchers said, and from August 2005 through August 2006, authorities seized some 24 tons of illegal ivory destined for Asia.
But that figure represents only about 10 percent of the estimated illegal shipments, bringing the total closer to 240 tons - an amount that would require the slaughter of more than 23,000 elephants, about 5 percent of the estimated"
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Fwd: RE: [discussionlist] dharma and mental illness
MLRN Discussion List
As I read the response below, I find myself thinking "the criteria for inclusion are very subjectively guided." We have to keep in mind that meditation in general is INCREDIBLY broad. Mindfulness is a bit more focused (no pun intended), but still, adherents of TM will vouch for empirically validating TM; adherents of mindfulness will go for mindfulness, etc., just as it happens with CBT being empirically validated first, even though theoretically, it's the new kid on the block. And the fact remains that exactly *what* mindfulness is is up for debate. Is it the posture? Is it the breathing? Is it the acceptance? Is it a synthesis of these and other things? I imagine as many of you read these components, you are thinking "oh, he left out ____." And that's my point exactly. Where we start is fairly subjective, and we must acknowledge that, whether we are in the empiricism-is-best camp or whether we are in the qualitative-is-more-clinically-relevant camp. As is often the case, how this lump of clay is sculpted into a meaningful body of research is as much a result of serendipity, political intrigue, and synchronicity more than intentional design.
As I frequently do on this list, I also feel compelled to draw attention to the false dichotomy between the sick, depraved nature of "western" society, versus the enlightened, spiritual "east". If anyone one of us wish to do serious academic or dharma work, we have to absolutely dispel such wrong views that perpetuate a eurocentric dichotomy that only insidiously perpetuates very colonial, imperialistic ideas. Where is the boundary between "west" and "east"? Is it in Jerusalem? Russia? Where is the center of this two-armed cosmology? (Europe). How do we explain the awful things that have gone on in the "east" that go against our romanticized notions of how perfect and evolved those cute little Asians are?
Clearly, I am being a gadfly, but my point is that any serious meditation practice or research cannot come from holding a group, a practice, or even a teacher up on an idealized pedestal. I can assure you the depravity and vice is just as rampant in Thailand, India, or China as it is in New York, and isn't there because these pristine societes were contaminated by the "west". I heard on NPR some months ago that Wahabbis in Baghdad were killing grocers whose produce might interpreted as pornographic-- eggplants and peaches assembled just so. So what depravity and vice are is clearly very, very subjective. I am also reminded of the bitter complaints Steven mentioned he recieved after his book was mentioned in a popular magazine. Obviously, some Buddhists somewhere were offended, and being "Buddhist" didn't mean they were civil.
Human beings are human beings everywhere. I can't vouch for what goes in every society, but thinking in terms of "east" and "west" only highilights differences, not our common flaws and potentials. My mind, being Indian, wanders as much as anyone elses, I imagine, who has been engaged in daily practice for over a decade. Is this more or less because I am Indian? Does it, or should it, matter? I don't think it does.
Sameet Kumar, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center
4306 Alton Road
Miami Beach, FL 33140
phone: (305) 535 3362
fax: (305) 535 3352
As I read the response below, I find myself thinking "the criteria for inclusion are very subjectively guided." We have to keep in mind that meditation in general is INCREDIBLY broad. Mindfulness is a bit more focused (no pun intended), but still, adherents of TM will vouch for empirically validating TM; adherents of mindfulness will go for mindfulness, etc., just as it happens with CBT being empirically validated first, even though theoretically, it's the new kid on the block. And the fact remains that exactly *what* mindfulness is is up for debate. Is it the posture? Is it the breathing? Is it the acceptance? Is it a synthesis of these and other things? I imagine as many of you read these components, you are thinking "oh, he left out ____." And that's my point exactly. Where we start is fairly subjective, and we must acknowledge that, whether we are in the empiricism-is-best camp or whether we are in the qualitative-is-more-clinically-relevant camp. As is often the case, how this lump of clay is sculpted into a meaningful body of research is as much a result of serendipity, political intrigue, and synchronicity more than intentional design.
As I frequently do on this list, I also feel compelled to draw attention to the false dichotomy between the sick, depraved nature of "western" society, versus the enlightened, spiritual "east". If anyone one of us wish to do serious academic or dharma work, we have to absolutely dispel such wrong views that perpetuate a eurocentric dichotomy that only insidiously perpetuates very colonial, imperialistic ideas. Where is the boundary between "west" and "east"? Is it in Jerusalem? Russia? Where is the center of this two-armed cosmology? (Europe). How do we explain the awful things that have gone on in the "east" that go against our romanticized notions of how perfect and evolved those cute little Asians are?
Clearly, I am being a gadfly, but my point is that any serious meditation practice or research cannot come from holding a group, a practice, or even a teacher up on an idealized pedestal. I can assure you the depravity and vice is just as rampant in Thailand, India, or China as it is in New York, and isn't there because these pristine societes were contaminated by the "west". I heard on NPR some months ago that Wahabbis in Baghdad were killing grocers whose produce might interpreted as pornographic-- eggplants and peaches assembled just so. So what depravity and vice are is clearly very, very subjective. I am also reminded of the bitter complaints Steven mentioned he recieved after his book was mentioned in a popular magazine. Obviously, some Buddhists somewhere were offended, and being "Buddhist" didn't mean they were civil.
Human beings are human beings everywhere. I can't vouch for what goes in every society, but thinking in terms of "east" and "west" only highilights differences, not our common flaws and potentials. My mind, being Indian, wanders as much as anyone elses, I imagine, who has been engaged in daily practice for over a decade. Is this more or less because I am Indian? Does it, or should it, matter? I don't think it does.
Sameet Kumar, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center
4306 Alton Road
Miami Beach, FL 33140
phone: (305) 535 3362
fax: (305) 535 3352
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Readers' Q & A with Wikipedia founder - opinion - 20 February 2007 - New Scientist
Readers' Q & A with Wikipedia founder - opinion - 20 February 2007 - New Scientist: "Wikipedia has opened - as New Scientist asserts - knowledge to the people. This is one of the benefits that the internet brings to the world. There remains one area where its impartial and basically incorruptible powers should be brought to bear - this is the area of politics. Can you think of methods by which the stupidity, misdeeds, hidden links and crimes of those who plan (and often succeed) to govern us, could be brought to the attention of the voting public? Such a system would prevent the emergence of the Hitlers, the Dubyas and the Mugabes. A sort of Whistleblowers International...
Jimmy Wales replies:
I don't think we need any special new system, but rather to simply continue to expand the use of the internet as a whole. Blogs are a fantastic tool, which allow anyone to publish anything quickly and at virtually no cost, and the blogosphere quickly spreads the word so that interesting voices are quickly amplified. And then wikis provide a fabulous tool for groups to come together to summarise and catalogue.
My own political project, Campaigns Wikia, is specifically focused on helping to make political campaigns more transparent and responsive to internet technologies. It is my belief that no one system is needed, but rather an explosion of free speech."
Jimmy Wales replies:
I don't think we need any special new system, but rather to simply continue to expand the use of the internet as a whole. Blogs are a fantastic tool, which allow anyone to publish anything quickly and at virtually no cost, and the blogosphere quickly spreads the word so that interesting voices are quickly amplified. And then wikis provide a fabulous tool for groups to come together to summarise and catalogue.
My own political project, Campaigns Wikia, is specifically focused on helping to make political campaigns more transparent and responsive to internet technologies. It is my belief that no one system is needed, but rather an explosion of free speech."
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