Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Relationship between advanced paternal age and male fertility highlights an impending paradigm shift in reproductive biology.


2013 Apr 25. pii: S0015-0282(13)00501-3. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.04.005. [Epub ahead of print]

Relationship between advanced paternal age and male fertility highlights an impending paradigm shift in reproductive biology.

Source

Scott Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
PMID:
23622887
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher] 

Monday, April 29, 2013

The August Forecast & Review


Findings & Forecasts 04/10/2013


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Economy

In his classic book Nine­teen Eighty-Four, George Orwell invented and per­fected the psy­cho­log­ical notion of “dou­ble­think.” That is, simul­ta­ne­ously believing two con­tra­dic­tory ideas or opin­ions. Orwell’s Min­istry of Truth building dis­played slo­gans like “War is Peace,” “Freedom is Slavery,” and “Igno­rance is Strength.”
“The power of holding two con­tra­dic­tory beliefs in one’s mind simul­ta­ne­ously, and accepting both of them… To tell delib­erate lies while gen­uinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become incon­ve­nient, and then, when it becomes nec­es­sary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just as long as it is needed, to deny the exis­tence of objec­tive reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies – all this is indis­pens­ably nec­es­sary. Even in using the word dou­ble­think it is nec­es­sary to exer­cise dou­ble­think. For by using the word one admits that one is tam­pering with reality; by a fresh act of dou­ble­think one erases this knowl­edge; and so on indef­i­nitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth.” (Orwell, George 1949. Nine­teen Eighty-Four; p 32)
In America today, dou­ble­think is prac­ticed with fine pre­ci­sion at the national level. People who give up and drop out of the work force become “unper­sons” and are not heard of or from again; but according to the gov­ern­ment, “the economy is fine and unem­ploy­ment is falling.” Con­tinued global mil­i­tary action is con­ducted in the name of “peace.” The onslaught of never-ending cit­izen sur­veil­lance is for our “safety and secu­rity.” Thought police mon­itor inten­tions, resulting in the destruc­tion of rep­u­ta­tions and liveli­hoods. The “Min­istry of Pro­pa­ganda” is never wrong and cit­i­zens are never right.
Orwell, H.G. Wells (Things to Come) and Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) all penned their respec­tive future­casts while looking straight into the face of the Amer­ican Tech­noc­racy move­ment. The move­ment as a move­ment failed soon after it started, but only because the tech­nology did not exist yet that could enforce and sus­tain their utopian dreams. Those dreamers – and their dreams – con­tinue to live on from gen­er­a­tion to gen­er­a­tion, encour­aged by gar­gan­tuan advances in technology.
When the curve of tech­no­cratic desire inter­sects with critical-mass tech­nology, Tech­noc­racy will sprint to rule the world with a brutal total­i­tar­i­anism not yet seen in the his­tory of man.
As I wrote in Tri­lat­eral Com­mis­sion Influ­ence in the Euro­pean Union in 2011, Com­mis­sion co-founder David Rock­e­feller readily boasted of their influ­ence in estab­lishing the EU:
“Back in the early Sev­en­ties, the hope for a more united EUROPE was already full-blown  –  thanks in many ways to the indi­vidual ener­gies pre­vi­ously spent by so many of the Tri­lat­eral Commission’s ear­liest mem­bers.” [Cap­i­tals in orig­inal] (Rock­e­feller, David; In the Begin­ning; The Tri­lat­eral Com­mis­sion at 25, 1998, p.11)
This was in accor­dance with the ideas of Com­mis­sion co-founder Zbig­niew Brzezinski who wrote Between Two Ages: America’s Role in the Tech­netronic Era:
“The nation-­state as a fun­da­mental unit of man’s orga­nized life has ceased to be the prin­cipal cre­ative force: Inter­na­tional banks and multi­na­tional cor­po­ra­tions are acting and plan­ning in terms that are far in advance of the polit­ical con­cepts of the nation-state.” [emphasis added]
Banks and multi­na­tional cor­po­ra­tions are oper­ated according to prin­ci­ples of Tech­noc­racy: Science-driven effi­ciency is always the utmost goal. When applied to “man’s orga­nized life” you have the reality of science-driven social con­trol, which is exactly what we are expe­ri­encing today.
Should the world be run like busi­ness is run at IBM, Gen­eral Elec­tric, Mon­santo, Goldman Sachs, etc.? Most would say “No” but this is exactly what is hap­pening all over the world.
In 2001 Time Mag­a­zine cor­rectly called China a Tech­noc­racy, noting a new form of “Neo-Authoritarianism” that was easily mis­taken for Com­mu­nism, but was not Com­mu­nism. How did China get “con­verted” and by whom? Again, Tri­lat­eral Com­mis­sion mem­bers played the lead role as they opened up China for trade in the early 1970′s. The impact of China’s new author­i­tarian Renais­sance is seen in the fol­lowing chart:
tradewithchina
Between 1974 – 1984, Chi­nese infra­struc­ture was built up to create a new man­u­fac­turing empire con­trolled by a Western-led con­sor­tium of com­pa­nies like Bechtel Engi­neering, Gen­eral Elec­tric, IBM, etc., all of which had direct ties to the Tri­lat­eral Com­mis­sion. Starting in 1984, their strategy began to bear fruit. Between 1984 and 2012, the U.S. trade deficit with China grew from a minis­cule amount to over $450 bil­lion per year. America per­ma­nently lost mil­lions of jobs as com­pa­nies and indus­tries aban­doned Amer­ican shores for the Chi­nese nir­vana of cheap labor. In the process, America was lit­er­ally plun­dered by these global corporations.
America is rapidly becoming a Tech­noc­racy as gov­ern­ment func­tions are turned over to unelected and unac­count­able experts, engi­neers, sci­en­tists and tech­ni­cians. When Obama recently called for a $100 mil­lion ini­tia­tive to map the human brain, he even gave him­self the new title of “Scientist-in-chief.” So, we have an evolving nation­wide smart grid elec­trical system, mas­sive data­bases on cit­i­zens that are being updated in real-time, com­put­er­ized eaves­drop­ping on all phone calls and emails, a never-ending “war on terror” that has mys­te­ri­ously refo­cused itself on Constitution-loving Amer­ican cit­i­zens instead of Islamic enemy combatants.
In the midst of this global and stealthy tech­no­cratic takeover, let’s recon­sider the for­merly sov­er­eign nation of Cyprus. After its com­mu­nist and socialist gov­ern­ment leaders ran their fiscal system into the ground, they finally ran out of cash and had to beg the EU for a bailout. The EU lead­er­ship instead forced them to do a “bail-in” before they would get any “bail-out” funds. Thus far, the bail-in resulted in the con­fis­cating up to 60 per­cent of all bank deposits in excess of 100,000 euros.
The con­fis­cated deposits are being plowed back into equity shares of the nation’s banks prior to being absorbed by global banks for pen­nies on the dollar.
Cit­i­zens 0 – Tech­nocrats 1.
To add insult to injury, Cypriot leaders announced today that they are being forced (by the EU tech­no­cratic lead­er­ship) to dump $530 mil­lion of their national gold reserves as an addi­tional part of the “bail-in.” This rep­re­sents approx­i­mately 70 per­cent of the entire Cypriot gold hoard. If this isn’t a pic­ture of national plun­dering, then I don’t know what is.
Who will buy this gold from Cyprus? Not cen­tral banks! Rather it will be the global bul­lion banks, con­sisting pri­marily of Bar­clays, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Citi Group, JP Morgan Chase and UBS. Freeing up a 10 ton block of gold is a huge win for the global elite who have been accu­mu­lating gold over the years.
Cit­i­zens 0 – Tech­nocrats 2: Game over
I sug­gested in a 2008 report Tri­lat­eral Plan to Corner World Gold Market that the “hidden” gold reserves of many coun­tries would be even­tu­ally attacked and absorbed by these bul­lion banks, all of which have some mem­ber­ship con­nec­tion to the Tri­lat­eral Com­mis­sion. My con­clu­sions at the time were:
  • “The mas­sive amounts of gold leased to bul­lion banks will ulti­mately be seized by these same banks as col­lat­eral against worth­less paper loans made to the Central Banks.
  • “Cen­tral Banks (including the Fed­eral Reserve) could well be left to dis­in­te­grate in order to give way to a single global cen­tral bank con­trolled and fueled by the bul­lion banks who have monopoly con­trol over the world’s gold.
  • “These super­banks are all closely tied to the goals and mem­ber­ship of the Tri­lat­eral Com­mis­sion, whose mem­bers have method­i­cally car­ried out a mon­e­tary policy designed to bring about this eventuality.
  • “For all prac­tical intent, indi­vid­uals will be frozen out of the gold market at any price.”
Five years later, my analysis looks better now than it did then.
If the Tri­lat­eral elite intend to create a global tech­noc­racy, then they are cer­tainly doing a good job of it. The plun­dering of Cyprus sends a strong mes­sage to the global com­mu­nity: “Don’t mess with us or we will crush you.” Are Italy, Spain, France and Greece lis­tening? It won’t take long to find out. One way or another, expect addi­tional sales of national stores of gold to take place in the future.
My last obser­va­tion is that global Tech­noc­racy will ulti­mately con­trol people by the issuance of energy credits instead of money. The tech­no­crat elites, how­ever, will mea­sure their wealth in terms of the gold they own — and that’s why they want it today!
— —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  — –
Note: Addi­tional con­tent on this page is avail­able only to Pre­mium sub­scribers of Find­ings & Fore­castsThe August Forecast & Review

Are tea, seaweed, fish oil, kelp & chlorella supplements grown in Asia….which most are, radioactive and contaminated with heavy metals?


Are tea, seaweed, fish oil, kelp & chlorella supplements grown in Asia….which most are, radioactive and contaminated with heavy metals?

28 3 0 0 63

Health foods stores everywhere are selling supposedly healthy seaweed and chlorella supplements often labeled organic. Most of these green foods are imported from Asia. Even if grown according to organic guidelines, it is impossible to stop the radioactive contamination, heavy metals in air and water to be stopped from entering these foods.
Have you thought about that when buying your healthy oceanic food supplements? Rarely does the packaging name the origin. They are sold by local brands with lots of praising of health benefits without mentioning where those green foods and teas were imported from.
They most likely haven’t been properly tested for radiation levels and heavy metal contamination either. If they were, many of these health food suppliers could face difficulties staying in business.




Fukushima: California rainwater manifests radiation poison symptoms
Even the Environmental Protection Agency has reported finding elevated levels of iodine-131, a product of nuclear fission, in rainwater in the states of California, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The levels exceed the maximum contaminant level (MCL) permitted in drinking water.


Many external agencies have detected high levels of radiations in food items, clothes, and even the sea water in the West Coast of the US. Researchers have even found that many of the sea animals have been affected by radiation poisoning.

http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/news/headline_news/2013/04/28/5776.html

Banned pesticides found in teas produced by popular Chinese tea brands
In December 2011 and January 2012, Greenpeace bought 18 tea products from nine tea companies in China.
Seven of those firms are among China’s Top 10 tea sellers, and they are all selling tea tainted with banned pesticides. It’s a huge embarrassment for China’s tea industry,” said Wang Jing, Greenpeace Food and Agriculture campaigner.
Independent testing conducted by an accredited lab found that 12 of the 18 samples contained at least one pesticide banned for use on tea, such as methomyl and endosulfan (1).
“These companies have failed both their domestic and international consumers,” added Wang Jing. “You don’t know how many people – and for how long – have unknowingly been drinking toxic pesticides in their tea.”
http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/press/releases/food-agriculture/2012/chinese-tea-banned-pesticides/


Anonymous

Sunday, April 28, 2013

KILLING US SOFTLY PART 6


KILLING US SOFTLY
PART 6

By Kelleigh Nelson
April 14, 2013
NewsWithViews.com
"In order to stabilize world population, we must eliminate 350,000 people per day.” —Dr. Jacques Cousteau
"Global Sustainability requires the deliberate quest of poverty, reduced resource consumption and set levels of mortality control." —Professor Maurice King
Living Wills
The first living will was conceived in 1967 by Luis Kutner, a human-rights lawyer in Chicago, and cofounder of the pro-abortion Amnesty International, in conjunction with the Euthanasia Society of America. The living wills were distributed by the Euthanasia Society.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

NMR Lipoprofile—the Most Important Test to Determine Heart Disease Risk


NMR Lipoprofile—the Most Important Test to Determine Heart Disease RiskNMR Lipoprofile—the Most Important Test to Determine Heart Disease Risk         

Study: Apple Extract Kills Cancer Cells, Outperforms Common Chemo Drugs


Study: Apple Extract Kills Cancer Cells, Outperforms Common Chemo DrugsStudy: Apple Extract Kills Cancer Cells, Outperforms Common Chemo Drugs

Mike Barrett
by
April 27th, 2013
Updated 04/27/2013 at 10:59 pm
applesinabasket 263x164 Study: Apple Extract Kills Cancer Cells, Outperforms Common Chemo DrugsAre you a believer in using foods to prevent and treat illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, and even cancer? There are countless foods and substances available for preventing and treating cancer, and in case you still aren’t convinced, maybe this new and exciting research will seal the deal. In recent research, compounds in apples known as oligosaccharides were found to kill up to 46% of human colon cancer cells. Further, the compound outperformed common chemotherapy drugs while leaving the toxic side effects behind.

Apples: Another Cancer Solution

For the study, researchers isolated polysaccarides like pectin and other fibers from the waste product of apples after they have been juiced. This waste product, known as pomace, is made up of skins, pulp, seeds, and stems. After isolating the polysaccarides, the researchers treated them with natural pectinase to break down their molecules into oligosaccharides. Finally, the oligosaccharides were added at various concentrations to cultured human HT29 colon cancer cells, while a common chemo drug was added to others.
In every test using different concentrations, oligosaccharides induced programmed cell death (apoptosis) at greater levels than the chemo drug.
  • At about 0.9 PPM), oligosaccharides killed 17.6% of the colon cancer cells within 36 hours. The chemo drug, at a higher concentration of 1.3 micrograms per mL, killed only 10.9%.
  • At 9.0 PPM, 46% of colon cancer cells were killed by oligosaccharides. The chemo drug wasn’t tested at this level.
  • Apple oligosaccharides don’t negatively effect healthy cells, unlike chemo.
The study abstract reads:
“It is reported that apple polysaccharide can prevent colon cancer growth and impede colon cancer progression…The aim of this study is to explore the effect of apple oligosaccharide on the cellular viability of human colon carcinoma cells (HT29 cells) and its mechanism…These results indicated that apple oligosaccharide attenuated HT29 cell viability by inducing cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Apple oligosaccharide is a potential chemoprevention agent or anti-tumor agent and is worthy of further study.”
Found naturally in many plants, honey and milk, oligosaccharides are gaining more recognition for benefiting various areas of health. Studies have found the compounds positively impact intestinal flora, control blood sugar, and boost immunity.
Amazing: Grape Seed Extract Outperforms Chemo in Killing Advanced Cancer Cells
Like many studies before it, this new study once again shows the amazing effects of natural foods and compounds. What’s more, it’s amazing how oligosaccharides can be derived from a waste product of the apple juice industry. It shouldn’t be too difficult to come up with an inexpensive natural medicine when millions of tons of pomace are available for use in large nations.
Additional Sources:
En.cnki.com.cn/Article
NaturalNews
Pubmed/9301420
Pubmed/15140261
Academia.edu

TOP FIFTY THREATS FROM OBAMACARE


TOP FIFTY THREATS FROM OBAMACARE
By Lauren Lane
April 27
, 2013
NewsWithViews.com
A special thanks to Greg Kellogg for posting this on Facebook and sharing so many interesting articles and news-stories to help wake up America. Permission was given to share this. Please feel free to send me your stories and news that moves you. Also, if you would like a free guide on 25 tips that will save your life, order your complimentary guide at: www.OregonHealthNews.org
1) Pg 22 mandates that the Government will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure. So every employer in the United States will be subjected to a health insurance audit just as all taxpayers are subject to audit. Of course, we will have to pay for an entire new bureaucracy to do this–the Internal Health Revenue Service?
2) Pg 30, Sec 123 states that there will be a government committee that decides what treatments you are allowed and what your overall benefits are.
3) Pg 29, lines 4-16 basically mandates the rationing of health care as is being done in Canada.
4) Pg 42 recognizes the power of the Health Choices Commissioner to determine your health benefits. You will have no choice.
5) Pg 50, section 152 states that free, taxpayer-paid health care will be given to the 30 million non-citizens in the USA, even illegal aliens.
6) Pg 58 states that government will have possession of all your health care records & history including finances and you will have to have a National ID Health card.
7) Pg 59, lines 21-24 gives direct access to your banks accounts to compel you to pay any out-of-pocket or premium costs electronically without your previous consent.
8) Pg 65, sec 164 provides for a political payoff from the Democrats and Obama; a special subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions community groups like ACORN.
9) Pg 72, lines 8-14 creates a Health Care Exchange to bring private health insurance plans under government control. This part of the bill reveals Obama’s lies about being able to keep your plan if you like it. Any health insurance plan which does not completely rework itself to conform to these regulations will be dropped from the exchange and those insured will have to pick one of the plans in the exchange. This is why the Congressional Budget Office determined that over 20 million will lose the coverage they are now enjoying if Obamacare is implemented.
10) Pg 85, line 7 provides specifics for benefit levels for all health plans, giving government the right to ration everyone’s healthcare.
11) Pg 91, lines 4-7 mandates that doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals provide language-appropriate services, basically ordering them to hire translators at the expense of the American taxpayer.
12) Pg 95, lines 8-18 allows the government to hire non-profit community groups like ACORN and Americorps to sign up people for the government health plan.
13) Pg 85, line 7 provides for specifics on benefit levels for Medicare recipients, basically rationing the care of every senior citizen I the United States.
14) Pg 102, lines 12-18 mandates that all Medicaid eligible will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid based upon income and insurance status. No choice.
15) Pg 124, lines 24-25 states that no private company or individual can have the right to sue the federal government for medical price fixing, basically eliminating your right to seek redress in the courts regarding your medical care.
16) Pg 127, lines 1-16 dictates doctors’ payment and therefore income which will reduce what doctors earn and lead to greater shortages of doctors and more rationing of care.
17) Pg 145, line 15-17 any employer not currently insuring their employees must enroll employees into public plan option, with no choice of private insurance allowed.
18) Pg 126, lines 22-25 mandates that employers must pay for health insurance even for part-time workers and their families, which will certainly lead to massive layoffs.
19) Pg 149, lines 16-24 all employers with an annual payroll bigger than $400k who does not pay to enroll employees in public insurance option will pay an 8% tax on all payroll.
20) Pg 150, lines 9-13 mandates that employers with an annual payroll between $251K & $400K who does not pay to enroll employees in public insurance option will pay a 2-6% tax on all payroll.
21) Pg 167, lines 18-23 any individual who is self-employed and does not have health insurance will be taxed 2.5% of income and forced to accept public health insurance. So paying for health care out of pocket will be banned from the face of the earth.
22) Pg 170, lines 1-3 exempts non-resident aliens from the individual health care taxes, so Americans citizens will pay for these aliens, legal and illegal alike.
23) Pg 195 officers & employees of the new Health Care Administration will have access to all Americans personal financial records and accounts.
24) Pg 203, line 14-15 actually says that “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.” Yes, it says that.
25) Pg 239, line 14-24 mandates that available physician services will be reduced for Medicaid recipients. Many poor people including many seniors will be affected.
26) Pg 241, line 6-8 mandates that all doctors receive the same pay, regardless of specialty. This will vastly reduce the number of specialists available in the United States, a common problem where medicine is socialized like Canada.
27) Pg 253, line 10-18 allows the federal government to set the value of doctor’s time, professional judgment.
28) Pg 265, Sec 1131 mandates and controls the productivity of all health care providers including surgeons!
29) Pg 268, Sec 1141 regulates the rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
30) Pg 272, Sec. 1145 regulates the operation of certain types of cancer hospitals, again rationing the care of cancer patients.
31) Pg 280, Sec 1151 allows the government to penalize hospitals for what is deemed to be preventable readmissions. So instead of being sued for malpractice, the government will be the punitive body when mistakes are made.
32) Pg 298, lines 9-11 mandates that if a doctor treats a patient during initial admission and that result in a re-admission, the doctor will be subject to federal penalties. Gee do you think that’s going to drive up the cost of malpractice?
33) Pg 317, lines 13-20 will create prohibitions on ownership and investment in the health service industry for doctors.
34) Pg 317-318, lines 21-25, and 1-3 will prohibit the expansion of all hospitals.
35) Pg 321, lines 2-13 allows hospitals apply for an exception to the expansion rule but they must seek community input first!
36) Pg 335, lines 16-25, Pg 336-339 mandates the establishment of outcome based health care and insidious idea that actually limits the treatment choices made by patients with their doctors, based upon the patient’s health and condition. This will result in the oldest, weakest and sickest patients being denied treatments simply because the statistics for success in their demographic category are poor! This is a form of health care rationing that will save money at the expense of seniors to help buy insurance for the uninsured, most of whom are young and healthy!
37) Pg 341, lines 3-9 allows the government to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans and HMO forcing people into the government run public plan.
38) Pg 354, Sec 1177 will arbitrarily restrict the enrollment of special needs children and adults.
39) Pg 379, Sec 1191 mandates the creation of even more bureaucracy in the Telehealth Advisory Committee.
40) Pg 425, lines 4-12 mandates “Advance Care Planning Consultation,” another insidious vehicle to save money by encouraging seniors who are in poor health to be more accepting of death rather than fighting to stay alive and healthy and with their loved ones.
41) Pg 425, lines 17-19 mandates that all senior patients will be consulted regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney.
42) Pg 425, lines 22-25, 426 lines 1-3 provides an approved list of end of life resources, to help guide seniors about the process of dying!
43) Pg 427, lines 15 mandates program for orders on the end of life, actually giving the government a say in how your life ends!
44) Pg 429, lines 1-9 dictates the frequency with which an Advance Care Planning Consultant will have to meet with patients as their health deteriorates.
45) Pg 429, lines 10-12 give an Advance Care Planning Consultant the power to order end of life plans for a patient.
46) Pg 429, lines 13-25 will only allow certain doctors, not necessarily your own physician, to write an end of life order.
47) Pg 430, lines 11-15 allows the government to decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life.
48) Pg 469 mandates “Community Based Home Medical Services” through non profits like ACORN. Happy yet that we elected a community organizer to the White House?
49) Pg 489, Sec 1308 force taxpayers to pay for Marriage & Family therapy under the public insurance plan.
50) Pg 494-498 allows government to define mental illnesses and what services will be allowed to treat, again rationing this care.
For those concerned with the damage this plan will do to business:
Pg 22 mandates that the Government will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure. So every employer in the United States will be subjected to a health insurance audit just as all taxpayers are subject to audit. Of course, we will have to pay for an entire new bureaucracy to do this–the Internal Health Revenue Service?
Pg 42 recognizes the power of the Health Choices Commissioner to determine your health benefits. You will have no choice.
Pg 50, section 152 states that free, taxpayer-paid health care will be given to the 30 million non-citizens in the USA, even illegal aliens.
Pg 30, Sec 123 states that there will be a government committee that decides what treatments you are allowed and what your overall benefits are.
Pg 29, lines 4-16 basically mandates the rationing of health care as is being done in Canada.
Pg 42 recognizes the power of the Health Choices Commissioner to determine your health benefits. You will have no choice.
Pg 58 states that government will have possession of all your health care records & history including finances and you will have to have a National ID Healthcard.
Pg 59, lines 21-24 gives direct access to your banks accounts to compel you to pay any out-of-pocket or premium costs electronically without your previous consent.
Pg 72, lines 8-14 creates a Health Care Exchange to bring private health insurance plans under government control. This part of the bill reveals Obama’s lies about being able to keep your plan if you like it. Any health insurance plan which does not completely rework itself to conform to these regulations will be dropped from the exchange and those insured will have to pick one of the plans in the exchange. This is why the Congressional Budget Office determined that over 20 million will lose the coverage they are now enjoying if Obamacare is implemented.
Pg 145, line 15-17 any employer not currently insuring their employees must enroll employees into public plan option, with no choice of private insurance allowed.
Pg 126, lines 22-25 mandates that employers must pay for health insurance even for part-time workers and their families, which will certainly lead to massive layoffs.
Pg 149, lines 16-24 all employers with an annual payroll bigger than $400k who does not pay to enroll employees in public insurance option will pay an 8% tax on all payroll.
Pg 167, lines 18-23 any individual who is self-employed and does not have health insurance will be taxed 2.5% of income and forced to accept public health insurance. So paying for health care out of pocket will be banned from the face of the earth.
For those concerned with the inherent unfairness in this plan.
Pg 65, sec 164 provides for a political payoff from the Democrats and Obama; a special subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions community groups like ACORN.
Pg 102, lines 12-18 mandates that all Medicaid eligible will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid based upon income and insurance status. No choice.
Pg 124, lines 24-25 states that no private company or individual can have the right to sue the federal government for medical price fixing, basically eliminating your right to seek redress in the courts regarding your medical care.
Pg 469 mandates “Community Based Home Medical Services” through non profits like ACORN. Happy yet that we elected a community organizer to the White House?
For those afraid of healthcare rationing:
Pg 85, line 7 provides specifics for benefit levels for all health plans, giving government the right to ration everyone’s healthcare.
Pg 239, line 14-24 mandates that available physician services will be reduced for Medicaid recipients. Many poor people including many seniors will be affected.
Pg 272, Sec. 1145 regulates the operation of certain types of cancer hospitals, again rationing the care of cancer patients.
For those concerned with the costs of this plan:
Pg 91, lines 4-7 mandates that doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals provide language-appropriate services, basically ordering them to hire translators at the expense of the American taxpayer.
Pg 95, lines 8-18 allows the government to hire non-profit community groups like ACORN and Americorps to sign up people for the government health plan.
Pg 170, lines 1-3 exempts non-resident aliens from the individual health care taxes, so Americans citizens will pay for these aliens, legal and illegal alike.
Pg 489, Sec 1308 force taxpayers to pay for Marriage & Family therapy under the public insurance plan.
For those concerned with the damage this plan will do to the medical profession:
Pg 127, lines 1-16 dictates doctors’ payment and therefore income which will reduce what doctors earn and lead to greater shortages of doctors and more rationing of care.
Pg 150, lines 9-13 mandates that employers with an annual payroll between $251K & $400K who does not pay to enroll employees in public insurance option will pay a 2-6% tax on all payroll.
Pg 241, line 6-8 mandates that all doctors receive the same pay, regardless of specialty. This will vastly reduce the number of specialists available in the United States, a common problem where medicine is socialized like Canada.
Pg 253, line 10-18 allows the federal government to set the value of doctor’s time, professional judgment.
Pg 265, Sec 1131 mandates and controls the productivity of all health care providers including surgeons!
Pg 280, Sec 1151 allows the government to penalize hospitals for what is deemed to be preventable readmissions. So instead of being sued for malpractice, the government will be the punitive body when mistakes are made.
Pg 298, lines 9-11 mandates that if a doctor treats a patient during initial admission and that result in a re-admission, the doctor will be subject to federal penalties. Gee do you think that’s going to drive up the cost of malpractice?
Pg 317, lines 13-20 will create prohibitions on ownership and investment in the health service industry for doctors.
Pg 317-318, lines 21-25, and 1-3 will prohibit the expansion of all hospitals.
pg 321, lines 2-13 allows hospitals apply for an exception to the expansion rule but they must seek community input first!
Pg 335, lines 16-25, Pg 336-339 mandates the establishment of outcome based health care and insidious idea that actually limits the treatment choices made by patients with their doctors, based upon the patient’s health and condition. This will result in the oldest, weakest and sickest patients being denied treatments simply because the statistics for success in their demographic category are poor! This is a form of health care rationing that will save money at the expense of seniors to help buy insurance for the uninsured, most of whom are young and healthy!
Pg 341, lines 3-9 allows the government to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans and HMO forcing people into the government run public plan.
For those concerned with violations of individual rights violations in this plan:
Pg 195 officers & employees of the new Health Care Administration will have access to all Americans personal financial records and accounts.
Pg 203, line 14-15 actually says that “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.” Yes, it says that.
Pg 268, Sec 1141 regulates the rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
Pg 379, Sec 1191 mandates the creation of even more bureaucracy in the Telehealth Advisory Committee.
Pg 425, lines 4-12 mandates “Advance Care Planning Consultation,” another insidious vehicle to save money by encouraging seniors who are in poor health to be more accepting of death rather than fighting to stay alive and healthy and with their loved ones.
Pg 425, lines 17-19 mandates that all senior patients will be consulted regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney.
Pg 425, lines 22-25, 426 lines 1-3 provides an approved list of end of life resources, to help guide seniors about the process of dying!
Pg 427, lines 15 mandates program for orders on the end of life, actually giving the government a say in how your life ends!
Pg 429, lines 1-9 dictates the frequency with which an Advance Care Planning Consultant will have to meet with patients as their health deteriorates.
Pg 429, lines 10-12 give an Advance Care Planning Consultant the power to order end of life plans for a patient.
Pg 354, Sec 1177 will arbitrarily restrict the enrollment of special needs children and adults.
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Pg 429, lines 13-25 will only allow certain doctors, not necessarily your own physician, to write an end of life order.
Pg 430, lines 11-15 allows the government to decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life.
Pg 494-498 allows government to define mental illnesses and what services will be allowed to treat, again rationing this care.
If you would like to add or comment on this please write to me at:
LaurenlaneUSA@gmail.com
© 2013 Lauren Lane - All Rights Reserved

Friday, April 26, 2013

Change in California cancer law needs your attention today

April 26, 2013
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Change in California cancer law
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A few weeks ago, I told you about a bill just introduced into the California Assembly (AB1278), which would decriminalize the non-toxic treatment of cancer in the state. Then Assemblyman Ben Hueso introduced the bill. However, since then, Hueso won an election to the state senate.

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Since he's no longer in the Assembly, he cannot sponsor the bill there. So he has taken it to the state senate, where we expect an even more favorable reception. He has introduced it there as SB 177. Please visit a fact sheet on the bill posted on California Citizens for Health Freedom at: http://www.citizenshealth.org/
fact-sheet.html
. If you have already sent a message regarding AB1278, you have my thanks. However, with the change in circumstances, we now need to promote support for it in the senate.
If you live in California, please take a moment to write or call your state senator in support for SB 177. Please explain that due to archaic laws in this state, that a 13-year-old girl has more rights to get an abortion without even her mother's knowledge, than her mother has to choose her own treatment for breast cancer. Something is not right with this picture.
No one should be forced by government to have access only to chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. And especially not when information on nutritional, immunological, and energy treatment of disease is exploding.
If you don't live in California, and would like to help, please contact anyone you know in the state about the issue. And also, for everyone out there, please consider a donation to the cause.
Support letters for the bill should be sent to Senator Ben Hueso. His address is: State Capitol 2054, Sacramento, CA 95814. If you are a business or professional, send the letter on your letterhead. Organizations that are willing to add their support of the bill should send a request to California Citizens for Health Freedom for a form. If you want to make a donation to help pay costs related to passage of this bill, please send a check to Cancer Control Society and mark it for Cancer Bill. Their website is www.CancerControlSociety.com. You may list this contribution as a tax deduction contribution as CCS is a non-profit 501c(3) organization.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration. This bill has national importance, as California is a bellwether state for the nation. Yours for better health and medical freedom,
Robert J. Rowen, MD                          

GE Trees May Be Even More Damaging to the Environment than GE Foods April 27, 2013 | 6,480 views | + Add to Favorites



             GE Trees May Be Even More Damaging to the Environment than GE Foods

April 27, 2013 | 6,480 views | + Add to Favorites             


Story at-a-glance

  • The documentary A Silent Forest: The Growing Threat, Genetically Engineered Trees discusses how genetically engineered (GE) trees may adversely impact ecological systems on a grand scale, with potentially catastrophic effects
  • Trees are being genetically altered to give them unnatural characteristics, such as the ability to kill insects, tolerate toxic herbicides, grow abnormally fast, or have decreased lignin for the convenience of the paper industry
  • Genetically engineered trees vastly differ from annual GE crops like corn and soybeans because trees can live for decades and even centuries in the wild; once GE trees escape the confines of their plantation, they are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate
  • Many trees are able to spread their seeds and pollen for hundreds and even thousands of miles, making native forests vulnerable to cross-contamination, which poses an enormous threat to worldwide ecosystems
  • The biotech industry and US government are rushing ahead without performing appropriate safety studies, doing everything they can to hasten the approval of GE technology while silencing the opposition

Lethality of Roundup 'Weedkiller' Extends Beyond Plants To Humans, Study Suggests


Lethality of Roundup 'Weedkiller' Extends Beyond Plants To Humans, Study Suggests
A shocking new study finds that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, "...may be the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment," capable of contributing to a wide range of fatal human diseases.
A new report published in the journal Entropy links the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide known as glyphosate with a wide range of fatal diseases.[i]
Glyphosate is the world's most popular herbicide and is designed to kill all but genetically modified "Roundup Ready" plants, such as GM corn, soy, beet, cottonseed and canola.  Over 180 million pounds of the chemical are now applied to US soils each year,[ii] and while agrichemical manufacturers and government regulators have considered it 'relatively safe,' an expanding body of biomedical research indicates that it may cause over 30 distinct adverse health effects in exposed populations at far lower concentrations than used in agricultural applications.
The new report, authored by Stephanie Seneff, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Anthony Samsel, a retired science consultant from Arthur D. Little, Inc., brings to the forefront concerns voiced by an outspoken minority that Roundup and related glyphosate herbicide formulations are contributing to diseases as far-ranging as inflammatory bowel disease, anorexia, cystic fibrosis, cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and infertility.   In fact, the authors propose that glyphosate, contrary to being essentially nontoxic, "...may be the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment."
The researchers identified the inhibition and/or disruption of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes as a hitherto overlooked mechanism of toxicity associated with glyphosate exposure in mammals.
CYP enzymes are essential for detoxifying xenobiotic chemicals from the body. Glyphosate therefore enhances the damaging effects of other food borne chemical residues and environmental toxins.  The researchers also showed how interference with CYP enzymes acts synergistically with disruption of the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids by gut bacteria (e.g. tryptophan), as well as impairment in serum sulfate transport, a critical biological system for cellular detoxification (e.g. transulfuration pathway which detoxifies metals).
These effect, according to the researchers, can contribute to causing or worsening "...most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer's disease."
This new report may help to explain why over 30 adverse health effects associated with Roundup herbicide exposure have been identified in the peer-reviewed and published literature so far. The full report in PDF form can be obtained here. Please help us spread this information, as well as our Roundup Toxicity Research and GMO Research pages, by sharing them with other concerned individuals and groups.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Prenatal valproate exposure and risk of autism spectrum disorders and childhood autism.


2013 Apr 24;309(16):1696-703. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.2270.

Prenatal valproate exposure and risk of autism spectrum disorders and childhood autism.

Source

Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital, Norrebrogade 44, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. jakob@farm.au.dk

Abstract

IMPORTANCE:

Valproate is used for the treatment of epilepsy and other neuropsychological disorders and may be the only treatment option for women of childbearing potential. However, prenatal exposure to valproate may increase the risk of autism.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine whether prenatal exposure to valproate is associated with an increased risk of autism in offspring.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:

Population-based study of all children born alive in Denmark from 1996 to 2006. National registers were used to identify children exposed to valproate during pregnancy and diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (childhood autism [autistic disorder], Asperger syndrome, atypical autism, and other or unspecified pervasive developmental disorders). We analyzed the risks associated with all autism spectrum disorders as well as childhood autism. Data were analyzed by Cox regression adjusting for potential confounders (maternal age at conception, paternal age at conception, parental psychiatric history, gestational age, birth weight, sex, congenital malformations, and parity). Children were followed up from birth until the day of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, death, emigration, or December 31, 2010, whichever came first. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Absolute risk (cumulative incidence) and the hazard ratio (HR) of autism spectrum disorder and childhood autism in children after exposure to valproate in pregnancy.

RESULTS:

Of 655,615 children born from 1996 through 2006, 5437 were identified with autism spectrum disorder, including 2067 with childhood autism. The mean age of the children at end of follow-up was 8.84 years (range, 4-14; median, 8.85). The estimated absolute risk after 14 years of follow-up was 1.53% (95% CI, 1.47%-1.58%) for autism spectrum disorder and 0.48% (95% CI, 0.46%-0.51%) for childhood autism. Overall, the 508 children exposed to valproate had an absolute risk of 4.42% (95% CI, 2.59%-7.46%) for autism spectrum disorder (adjusted HR, 2.9 [95% CI, 1.7-4.9]) and an absolute risk of 2.50% (95% CI, 1.30%-4.81%) for childhood autism (adjusted HR, 5.2 [95% CI, 2.7-10.0]). When restricting the cohort to the 6584 children born to women with epilepsy, the absolute risk of autism spectrum disorder among 432 children exposed to valproate was 4.15% (95% CI, 2.20%-7.81%) (adjusted HR, 1.7 [95% CI, 0.9-3.2]), and the absolute risk of childhood autism was 2.95% (95% CI, 1.42%-6.11%) (adjusted HR, 2.9 [95% CI, 1.4-6.0]) vs 2.44% (95% CI, 1.88%-3.16%) for autism spectrum disorder and 1.02% (95% CI, 0.70%-1.49%) for childhood autism among 6152 children not exposed to valproate.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:

Maternal use of valproate during pregnancy was associated with a significantly increased risk of autism spectrum disorder and childhood autism in the offspring, even after adjusting for maternal epilepsy. For women of childbearing potential who use antiepileptic medications, these findings must be balanced against the treatment benefits for women who require valproate for epilepsy control.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

San Onofre Edison... West Coast Radiation Crisis - Part 1



   .
San Onofre Edison... West Coast Radiation Crisis - Part 1
By Yoichi Shimatsu
Exclusive to Rense.com
4-23-13

 
Beached in front of the San Onofre nuclear power plant, the carcass of a California sea lion was remarkable, for being an adult specimen. So far, throughout the six-week crisis for marine mammals along the Southern California coastline, all of the 2,000-plus sea lions, elephant seals and harbor seals suffering severe malnutrition have been pups deprived of breast milk from their emaciated or missing mothers.

Dead sea lion on San Onofre beach, 150 meters north of the Edison nuclear power plant, seen behind.



Veterinarians and volunteers at marine mammal rescue centers from San Pedro to Laguna Beach (roughly between Los Angeles and San Diego) have been puzzled by this inexplicable pup crisis. The assumption is that of mass starvation being caused by a shortage of near-shore fish, which forced the mothers to venture far out to sea. While there has been a long-term trend of population decline among smaller piscine species and mollusks, a sudden drastic drop in sardine numbers this spring is unlikely, considering the large numbers of dolphins seen offshore in pursuit of schools of fish.


Very high radiation readings near its heart and liver.

The feed scarcity theory is also inconsistent with the daily tally posted by fishermen at docks along the Southern California coast. Game fish that predate on mollusks and smaller fishes are still being caught in large numbers with rod and reel. Therefore the crisis faced by shore-based marine mammals must have a different cause.


Exposure levels around its nose and mouth.


A Field Autopsy


Now here, lying on the sand, was a dead sea lion whose internal organs lay exposed by a long rip down its left side. The jaws of a thrashing shark were not what finished her off since no teeth marks were visible on the pale brown hide. The strip of skin had been pulled off in a single motion.


 
A seaweed clump lying directly in front of Southern
California Edison reactor has a high reading.


The front flipper on its left side was snapped off in a clean break along the knuckles, indicating the sea lion had been snagged possibly by a towing cable for a barge or a rope to a net dragged by a squid boat. The animal was slightly over 2 meters from nose to rear flippers. Its midriff was absent of bulging body fat, a sign of malnutrition as in the underweight pups treated at a local marine mammal rescue center.


A quick scan with a dosimeter revealed that the sea lion was radioactive. More careful measurements disclosed a shocking 0.48 microsieverts in the heart and liver region. The second most affected area was its rear flippers, probably due to repeated contact with fecal excretions. The nose and mouth were a bit less contaminated.


Surprisingly, the intestines showed hardly any sign of radioactive residues. The lack of any fishy odor in the water oozing out of the gut indicated the sea lion had not eaten for a long while before dying.



Kelp and gorgonian samples hung out to dry.

The internal readings suggest the probable cause of death as ingestion of radioactive feed, mainly through fish in its diet (and algae inside the fishes’ bellies) and secondarily immersion in seawater.  Moving from the digestive tract into the bloodstream, nuclear isotopes were bio-accumulated in the internal organs, especially cesium concentrating in the heart muscle. Cesium is known to cause irregular beat, cell abnormalities, muscle atrophy and spasms leading to a seizure and cardiac arrest.


With its body weakening and coordination becoming spastic, the sea lion could not maintain the speed and maneuverability required to pursue and catch free-swimming fish. It thus became too exhausted to avert an entanglement with a passing cable, which pulled off its left flipper. This is terrible way for a mermaid to die and drift ashore where hordes of flies were now crawling over its open wound and beige fur.


Barnacles on Catalina rocks are heavily irradiated.

  There are two known sources of radioactive contamination along the West Coast: the North Pacific Current conveying coolant dumped from the melted-down Fukushima TEPCO facility; and the Columbia River containing wastewater from the Hanford nuclear weapons plant in Washington State. Yet, here, the high radioactive levels found in a sea lion point to a third nuclear culprit, the Southern California Edison at San Onofre.


Surfin’ USA


The long stretch of San Onofre beach is famous for pipeline surfing, as immortalized by one of the Beach Boys’ odes to endless summer.  The curving sandy track, which was once plied by classic woodies, still runs past sun-tanned youths paddling their boards into the breakers. The car track shrinks into a footpath that ends at a pile of gray rocks and tall signboards warning: “No Entry Past the Beach.” A dune buggy carrying a couple of black-shirted security guards passes me and rolls onto a concrete ramp, which rises under a watch tower where they don hardhats and walk up toward the two white domes of the SCE nuclear station.
 


Limpet shellfish are also toxic.


Electricity generation at SCE San Onofre ceased in January 2012 due to leaks in its steam generator, reportedly without any release of radioactive isotopes.  More than a year later, Edison officials announced a plan to seek regulatory approval for a restart of Reactor 2. At the very same moment in early March, rescue centers from San Pedro to Laguna Beach were overwhelmed with starving sea lion pups, which soon totaled more than 2,000 cases.


A sea kayak can float but is unsafe from radioactive contamination.



The question thus arises: Did Edison officials secretly approve the hosing down of the San Onofre plant in preparation for inspection by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission?


Answers in Seaweed


Since there has been no radiation monitoring along the West Coast after the Obama administration’s order to cease data-collecting on fallout from Fukushima in mid-2011, there is only one readily available method for detecting recent radioactive releases: Comparison of contamination levels in wet and dry samples of local seaweed.


Doorway of unmarked building at SCE Catalina Island, while the
garage roll-up entrance had a reading of 0.24 microsieverts.



Using both a dosimeter and Geiger counter, I measured samples of wet seaweeds and then dried these for a second reading of the plant material minus its water content. While many seaweed types can be found in the clumps dotting the shore, the focus was on two species with different physical characteristics: kelps and red gorgonian.


Kelp grows rapidly in the late winter-early spring with a high rate of cell division. Fast growth promotes the intake of nutrients and bio-accumulation of radioactive isotopes. In contrast, red gorgonian is a slow grower with hard coral-like “fingers” that requires a much longer period for absorption of dissolved minerals.


Wet samples registered fairly high readings. After drying, the levels in the kelp dropped by about 25 percent. Dried gorgonian, in contrast, showed much lower readings and barely any residual radiation, meaning that the radioactive content was present mainly in the aqueous slime on the outside of the plant rather than inside its cells.


A comparison of older kelp versus this season’s growth, done later on Catalina Island, showed similar results. The radioactivity count in a single growing season (March-April 2013) was double the total contamination accumulated over several past years in an older sample. Therefore, there must have been a massive unreported and illegal release from SCE San Onofre at some point between February and early March.


Fukushima ‘Hot’ Levels in California


The clumps of seaweeds in front of SCE Onofre registered between 0.18 and 0.38 microsieverts, in the same range as those I measured on the shore of south Fukushima prefecture. The Catalina readngs of 0.12 to 0.18 microsieverts in seaweed and 0.28 in barnacles and 0.20 limpets is higher than my findings at the Abukuma River basin near the border of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. (Note: By comparison, readings taken on the Japanese coast just south of the Fukushima No.2 plant were extremely high, often more than 1.2 microsieverts per hour.)



Aerial view of the unmarked warehouse (left side of road) below the
water treatment pools, hazardous waste site (bottom right), and the oil tanks
of the SCE Catalina gas-and-oil thermal power facility (top).



These preliminary field studies at San Onofre and Catalina indicate that Edison power is primarily responsible for the kill-off and injuries to marine mammals along with possible illnesses among the human population of Southern California. This conclusion does not exonerate the nuclear operators at Hanford or Fukushima for their roles in the larger West Coast radiation crisis.


The Curious Case of Catalina


Another question that comes up is: If the powerful California Current flows southward, how can radioactive wastewater flow in the opposite direction from San Onofre past Laguna Beach all the way to San Pedro, a distance of 100 kilometers north?


Along the Golden State’s irregular coastline, the passing current and waves strike outcrops and submerged rock formations, generating reflected waves and swirling eddies that move back toward the sea, sometimes for long distances. These counter-movements are amplified by the ebb tide.
 


Crow feather reveals exposure to irradiated garbage
at Catalina landfill on SCE property.


The sea lion incidents are occurring under even more complex conditions. The waters between San Pedro and San Onofre are complicated by the relatively shallow undersea shelf which extends to and resurfaces as the rugged terrain of Catalina Island. Since scant research has been published on the currents in this marine micro- environment, I took a ferry to Catalina to measure radiation in seaweeds there.


The kelp along Catalina’s eastern shore had about a third lower radiation level than those in San Onofre, which is still considerably high since the island is 26 nautical miles or about 41 kilometers away. This level of contamination is possible only if a clockwise current flows from the southeast, that is, from “SanO” to Avalon. This cyclical movement is possibly generated by the southeasterly thrust of the California Current across the gap between northern Catalina and Los Angeles. This powerful stream could well be tugging at the mouth of the Catalina channel, its pull creating a steady flow from San Onofre to Catalina.


If the Catalina channel turns out to act as a slow whirlpool, repeatedly circulating radioactive wastewater, this cycle could set up a major kill-off in the months and years ahead. Residents along the coastal bluffs have recently spotted abnormal migrations of orca whales, apparently fleeing the Arctic region, where Fukushima radiation and chemical pollutants are fouling the northern waters. Humpback whales have also been spotted moving south instead of northward. After escaping the contaminated northern feeding grounds, these large mammals are entering the “killing fields” of the Southern California coastal region. Fukushima, Hanford and San Onofre are the “Bermuda Triangle” for marine life.


Hidden Dump Site


After tentatively solving the sea lion mystery, I decided to hike onward to the Pacific side of Catalina island and made a disturbing discovery along the way. A confusing road map put me past Pebbly Beach, where SCE operates a gas-and-oil electricity plant. After losing my direction, I stumbled upon a hazardous waste site and an unmarked sheet-metal warehouse. Taking out my dosimeter by instinct, I was surprised to find a high radiation reading since the only potential radioactive sources on the list of “acceptable” garbage consists of electronics equipment and monitors.


Across the road, the open door of an unmarked building registered a 0.16 microsievert, while the roll-up garage door hit a whopping 0.24. At that exact moment, a SCE service truck came out of nowhere, sped up the road, and screeched to a halt. Two maintenance workers jumped out of the cab, strode right in front of me and locked the door. Responding to their query, I stated that the island map put me in the wrong place.


Trudging back toward the junction, I switched on the dosimeter in front of the SCE generation furnaces, where chimneys were belching metallic-tasting fumes, and the numbers again skyrocketed back to 0.28. Higher up the mountain under the power lines from the plant, a crow’s feather lay on the ground. The black plume registered 0.19, and a nearby lump of crow scat was equally contaminated.


There is only one possible explanation: The crows feed at the nearby garbage dump where radioactive waste is also being secretly buried. Gazing from the heights, I could see concrete mixers and earthmovers working on a huge new building, which goes unmentioned in SCE press releases. Is Edison quietly dumping low-level nuclear waste from its San Onofre nuclear facility in this hidden corner of Catalina, one of California’s top destinations world-famous for ecological conservation?


If so, Edison is being run more like the mafia than a public utilities corporation. The board of SCE is just begging to be busted.


Final questions: Where is the state and federal Environmental Protection Agency in this regional radiation crisis? Is any government entity monitoring the radioactivity in Southern California?  Why is Jerry Brown, a self-proclaimed environmentalist, asleep at the wheel?


Wake up, Governor, these are not moonbeams. SCE San Onofre is emitting death rays.


Port of Avalon, Catalina, has a 0.12 microsieverts radiation level.


 Additional Notes: Trend Monitoring Needed


The readings conducted in the period March 18-22 were, of course, limited by volunteer time and personal expense. While much information can be gleaned from a quick field study, readings taken on a short visit cannot substitute for a trend analysis based on decades of monitoring.


One notable and fortunate difference from Fukushima is the low level of radiation on land just outside SCE San Onofre (0.08 to 0.10 microsieverts). This is probably due to the drier climate. Catalina had background radiation on land ranging from 0.04 in shoreline rocks, 0.12 in the serpentine gravel used on dirt tracks, and 0.12 at the ferry terminus, which is probably due to radiation picked up by these ships while crossing the channel. The threat is sufficient to warrant prompt action and more extensive research.


Advice to Surfers and Snorkelers


A surfer named Jason, who watched while I ran measurements on the deceased sea lion at SanO, asked me: “Is it safe to enter the water at San Onofre?”


The summary of my advice to him...


The difference between the sea lion and beachgoers is the ingestion of radioactive food. Radioactive isotopes are diluted in the seawater, and it takes many steps up the food chain, from algae to fish, to bio-accumulate (concentrate) radiation. So avoid eating fish species in affected waters, especially rockfish, ling, sand dabs that feed on kelp.


A dip in the water is far less dangerous than eating contaminated food. Radioactive salts on the skin are alkali, and therefore acidic soaps and shampoos containing citric acid are advisable. A drink of citrus juice in the late afternoon is also a good choice, since the acidity can help remove isotopes via urine. Sweating is beneficial because it transports isotopes out of the bloodstream. Citrus-laced laundry powder likewise decontaminates clothing, and a second wash in a borax-based detergent can provide a small degree of protection from neutrons.


As a Mexican boxer once advised: Don’t drink the water, stick with the beer. In this instance, it’s seawater. Never gulp when swimming. Replace the beer with red wine, which contains radiation-resisting resveratrol.


As long as radiation levels do not rise dramatically, staying cooped up in bad indoors air is less safe than being outdoors. Until a meltdown ends California dreaming, youth is still about having fun in the surf and the sun.


Yoichi Shimatsu, a science writer based in Hong Kong, conducts radiation-effects research and provides herbal therapy in Fukushima prefecture.