Saturday, April 3, 2010
The kindly, distinguished inventor of the Gaia hypothesis
James Delingpole
James Delingpole is a writer, journalist and broadcaster who is right about everything. He is the author of numerous fantastically entertaining books including Welcome To Obamaland: I've Seen Your Future And It Doesn't Work, How To Be Right, and the Coward series of WWII adventure novels. His website is www.jamesdelingpole.com. 'Only global fascist tyranny can save us now' says nice old man
By James Delingpole Politics Last updated: March 30th, 2010
530 Comments Comment on this article
The kindly, distinguished inventor of the Gaia hypothesis (Photo: Getty)
Is anyone else as baffled as I am by the crazy, crazy world of James Lovelock? (Hat tip: Ed West)
Here is the kindly, distinguished inventor of the Gaia hypothesis interviewed in the Guardian, when asked how humans will ever manage to tackle ‘climate change’.
We need a more authoritative world. We’ve become a sort of cheeky, egalitarian world where everyone can have their say. It’s all very well, but there are certain circumstances – a war is a typical example – where you can’t do that. You’ve got to have a few people with authority who you trust who are running it. And they should be very accountable too, of course.
But it can’t happen in a modern democracy. This is one of the problems. What’s the alternative to democracy? There isn’t one. But even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.
“It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.” Hmm. I’m sure he said it in a gentle, quavery, tentative voice, but even so, don’t phrases like that tend to make the blood run cold – especially when spoken by the man viewed by many of the world’s eco-loons as the ultimate environmental guru?
Here’s the puzzling part, though. Elsewhere he talks a lot of sense:
On Climategate:
Fudging the data in any way whatsoever is quite literally a sin against the holy ghost of science. I’m not religious, but I put it that way because I feel so strongly. It’s the one thing you do not ever do. You’ve got to have standards.
On computer models:
I remember when the Americans sent up a satellite to measure ozone and it started saying that a hole was developing over the South Pole. But the damn fool scientists were so mad on the models that they said the satellite must have a fault. We tend to now get carried away by our giant computer models. But they’re not complete models. They’re based more or less entirely on geophysics. They don’t take into account the climate of the oceans to any great extent, or the responses of the living stuff on the planet. So I don’t see how they can accurately predict the climate. It’s not the computational power that we lack today, but the ability to take what we know and convert it into a form the computers will understand.
On the uncertainty of climate science:
The great climate science centres around the world are more than well aware how weak their science is. If you talk to them privately they’re scared stiff of the fact that they don’t really know what the clouds and the aerosols are doing. They could be absolutely running the show. We haven’t got the physics worked out yet. One of the chiefs once said to me that he agreed that they should include the biology in their models, but he said they hadn’t got the physics right yet and it would be five years before they do. So why on earth are the politicians spending a fortune of our money when we can least afford it on doing things to prevent events 50 years from now? They’ve employed scientists to tell them what they want to hear. The Germans and the Danes are making a fortune out of renewable energy. I’m puzzled why politicians are not a bit more pragmatic about all this.
On climate sceptics:
What I like about sceptics is that in good science you need critics that make you think: “Crumbs, have I made a mistake here?” If you don’t have that continuously, you really are up the creek.
On carbon trading:
I don’t know enough about carbon trading, but I suspect that it is basically a scam. The whole thing is not very sensible. We have this crazy idea that we are setting an example to the world. What we’re doing is trying to make money out of the world by selling them renewable gadgetry and green ideas. It might be worthy from the national interest, but it is moonshine if you think what the Chinese and Indians are doing [in terms of emissions].
On wind farms and nuclear power:
I’ve always said that adaptation is the most serious thing we can do. Are our sea defences adequate? Can we prevent London from flooding? This is where we should be spending our billions. If wind turbines really worked, I wouldn’t object to them. To hell with the aesthetics, we might need them to save ourselves. But they don’t work – the Germans have admitted it. It’s like the [EU] Common Agricultural Policy which led to corruption and inefficiencies. A common energy policy across Europe is not a good idea. I’m in favour of nuclear for crowded places like Britain for the simple reason that it’s cheap, effective and exceedingly safe when you look at the record. We’ve had it for 50 years, but I can understand the left hating it because it was Thatcher’s greatest weapon against the miners because we were then getting 30% of our electricity from nuclear. We could build a nuclear power station in five years, but it’s the legal and planning stuff that makes it take 15 years. If governments were serious they would undo this legislation that holds it back.
In other words James Lovelock agrees with almost everything we sceptics believe. Yet still, in his most recent book The Vanishing Face of Gaia, he concludes that the damage caused by overpopulation, species decline and carbon emissions is already so great that modern civilisation is finished. Before the end of this century, he argues, rising sea levels and overheating will have rendered whole swathes of our planet uninhabitable and such few survivors as there are will have to make do as best they can.
This is more than just cognitive dissonance. This is borderline lunacy.
Tags: black black black it's all black, james lovelock, mad as a lorry, nuttier than a fruitcake, the Gaias the Gaias!
James Delingpole is a writer, journalist and broadcaster who is right about everything. He is the author of numerous fantastically entertaining books including Welcome To Obamaland: I've Seen Your Future And It Doesn't Work, How To Be Right, and the Coward series of WWII adventure novels. His website is www.jamesdelingpole.com. 'Only global fascist tyranny can save us now' says nice old man
By James Delingpole Politics Last updated: March 30th, 2010
530 Comments Comment on this article
The kindly, distinguished inventor of the Gaia hypothesis (Photo: Getty)
Is anyone else as baffled as I am by the crazy, crazy world of James Lovelock? (Hat tip: Ed West)
Here is the kindly, distinguished inventor of the Gaia hypothesis interviewed in the Guardian, when asked how humans will ever manage to tackle ‘climate change’.
We need a more authoritative world. We’ve become a sort of cheeky, egalitarian world where everyone can have their say. It’s all very well, but there are certain circumstances – a war is a typical example – where you can’t do that. You’ve got to have a few people with authority who you trust who are running it. And they should be very accountable too, of course.
But it can’t happen in a modern democracy. This is one of the problems. What’s the alternative to democracy? There isn’t one. But even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.
“It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.” Hmm. I’m sure he said it in a gentle, quavery, tentative voice, but even so, don’t phrases like that tend to make the blood run cold – especially when spoken by the man viewed by many of the world’s eco-loons as the ultimate environmental guru?
Here’s the puzzling part, though. Elsewhere he talks a lot of sense:
On Climategate:
Fudging the data in any way whatsoever is quite literally a sin against the holy ghost of science. I’m not religious, but I put it that way because I feel so strongly. It’s the one thing you do not ever do. You’ve got to have standards.
On computer models:
I remember when the Americans sent up a satellite to measure ozone and it started saying that a hole was developing over the South Pole. But the damn fool scientists were so mad on the models that they said the satellite must have a fault. We tend to now get carried away by our giant computer models. But they’re not complete models. They’re based more or less entirely on geophysics. They don’t take into account the climate of the oceans to any great extent, or the responses of the living stuff on the planet. So I don’t see how they can accurately predict the climate. It’s not the computational power that we lack today, but the ability to take what we know and convert it into a form the computers will understand.
On the uncertainty of climate science:
The great climate science centres around the world are more than well aware how weak their science is. If you talk to them privately they’re scared stiff of the fact that they don’t really know what the clouds and the aerosols are doing. They could be absolutely running the show. We haven’t got the physics worked out yet. One of the chiefs once said to me that he agreed that they should include the biology in their models, but he said they hadn’t got the physics right yet and it would be five years before they do. So why on earth are the politicians spending a fortune of our money when we can least afford it on doing things to prevent events 50 years from now? They’ve employed scientists to tell them what they want to hear. The Germans and the Danes are making a fortune out of renewable energy. I’m puzzled why politicians are not a bit more pragmatic about all this.
On climate sceptics:
What I like about sceptics is that in good science you need critics that make you think: “Crumbs, have I made a mistake here?” If you don’t have that continuously, you really are up the creek.
On carbon trading:
I don’t know enough about carbon trading, but I suspect that it is basically a scam. The whole thing is not very sensible. We have this crazy idea that we are setting an example to the world. What we’re doing is trying to make money out of the world by selling them renewable gadgetry and green ideas. It might be worthy from the national interest, but it is moonshine if you think what the Chinese and Indians are doing [in terms of emissions].
On wind farms and nuclear power:
I’ve always said that adaptation is the most serious thing we can do. Are our sea defences adequate? Can we prevent London from flooding? This is where we should be spending our billions. If wind turbines really worked, I wouldn’t object to them. To hell with the aesthetics, we might need them to save ourselves. But they don’t work – the Germans have admitted it. It’s like the [EU] Common Agricultural Policy which led to corruption and inefficiencies. A common energy policy across Europe is not a good idea. I’m in favour of nuclear for crowded places like Britain for the simple reason that it’s cheap, effective and exceedingly safe when you look at the record. We’ve had it for 50 years, but I can understand the left hating it because it was Thatcher’s greatest weapon against the miners because we were then getting 30% of our electricity from nuclear. We could build a nuclear power station in five years, but it’s the legal and planning stuff that makes it take 15 years. If governments were serious they would undo this legislation that holds it back.
In other words James Lovelock agrees with almost everything we sceptics believe. Yet still, in his most recent book The Vanishing Face of Gaia, he concludes that the damage caused by overpopulation, species decline and carbon emissions is already so great that modern civilisation is finished. Before the end of this century, he argues, rising sea levels and overheating will have rendered whole swathes of our planet uninhabitable and such few survivors as there are will have to make do as best they can.
This is more than just cognitive dissonance. This is borderline lunacy.
Tags: black black black it's all black, james lovelock, mad as a lorry, nuttier than a fruitcake, the Gaias the Gaias!
April 3, 2010 States fear that five words in Obama health law will open door to lawsuits
April 3, 2010 States fear that five words in Obama health law will open door to lawsuits
By Jon Ward - The Daily Caller | Published: 04/02/10 at 2:37 AM | Updated: 04/02/10 at 12:04 PM
http://dailycaller.com/2010/04/02/states-fear-that-five-words-in-obama-health-law-will-open-door-to-lawsuits/#ixzz0jxQu8yrB
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's, D-Texas, arm rests on an autographed copy of the bill after the House passed health care reform in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sunday, March 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)The addition to existing law of five words, and a comma, may cause a world of hurt to state governments.
Tucked away on page 466 of President Obama’s 2,704-page health-care bill is a provision that changes the definition of “medical assistance,” the term describing what states are required to provide to Medicaid recipients.
States have in the past been required to provide payment for services to physicians. Now, under the new definition, states will be liable for ensuring provision of “the care and services themselves.”
In other words, states are legally on the hook not only to ensure that Medicaid recipients are paid for, but that they’re seen by a doctor.
Medicaid recipients have found it increasingly difficult to be seen by doctors, as states in extreme economic duress have cut payment rates.
The new law seeks to solve the problem, but may cost states even more money at a time when most are in some of the worst economic straits since the Great Depression.
“With the expanded definition, it leaves every state vulnerable to a new wave of lawsuits any time someone cannot access a service, even if that service is limited by virtue of the rates we pay,” said Alan Levine, Louisiana’s secretary of health and hospitals, in a recent memo prepared for fellow state government officials.
Levine wrote: “DHH cannot estimate the cost of this, but it is not even worth estimating. It will be substantial.”
Ann Kohler, director of health policy at the nonpartisan American Public Human Services Association, said she was aware of the concern and was “looking at the legislative language,” but had not yet reached a determination.
“I have my lawyers looking at it right now,” she said.
Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said they agreed that the provision could open the floodgates to lawsuits.
“Section 2304 changes the definition of Medical Assistance, and potentially, wipes clean years of court precedent that has kept states from losing very expensive lawsuits,” a GOP staffer said. “The states and the Medicaid directors are very worried about this provision.”
A spokeswoman for House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, California Democrat, did not respond to a request for comment on the provision.
Victor Schwartz, a tort law expert at Shook, Hardy and Bacon in D.C., said that Waxman sees trial lawyers as positive agents of change.
“He sees tort law as a regulatory engine that’s needed just beyond legislation. He sees trial lawyers as heroic who are there to help the ordinary people,” Schwartz said.
“That may have been true 30 years ago when Mr. Waxman was a lawyer, but now it’s big business as much as Exxon,” Schwartz said. “The hero with a slingshot isn’t around too much any more.”
Not all state Medicaid directors said they were concerned about the change to the law.
“There’s been some chatter on this issue among state Medicaid directors. Some say the sky is falling, others say it makes little difference, still others say they are unaware of the ‘change,’” said Doug Porter, an assistant secretary of social and health services in Washington state.
“I’m in the ‘makes little difference’ camp,” Porter said by e-mail. “We here in the 9th Circuit are used to getting sued.”
Other states said they were still trying to determine the impact of the change.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/04/02/states-fear-that-five-words-in-obama-health-law-will-open-door-to-lawsuits/#ixzz0k35kdhVg
By Jon Ward - The Daily Caller | Published: 04/02/10 at 2:37 AM | Updated: 04/02/10 at 12:04 PM
http://dailycaller.com/2010/04/02/states-fear-that-five-words-in-obama-health-law-will-open-door-to-lawsuits/#ixzz0jxQu8yrB
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's, D-Texas, arm rests on an autographed copy of the bill after the House passed health care reform in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sunday, March 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)The addition to existing law of five words, and a comma, may cause a world of hurt to state governments.
Tucked away on page 466 of President Obama’s 2,704-page health-care bill is a provision that changes the definition of “medical assistance,” the term describing what states are required to provide to Medicaid recipients.
States have in the past been required to provide payment for services to physicians. Now, under the new definition, states will be liable for ensuring provision of “the care and services themselves.”
In other words, states are legally on the hook not only to ensure that Medicaid recipients are paid for, but that they’re seen by a doctor.
Medicaid recipients have found it increasingly difficult to be seen by doctors, as states in extreme economic duress have cut payment rates.
The new law seeks to solve the problem, but may cost states even more money at a time when most are in some of the worst economic straits since the Great Depression.
“With the expanded definition, it leaves every state vulnerable to a new wave of lawsuits any time someone cannot access a service, even if that service is limited by virtue of the rates we pay,” said Alan Levine, Louisiana’s secretary of health and hospitals, in a recent memo prepared for fellow state government officials.
Levine wrote: “DHH cannot estimate the cost of this, but it is not even worth estimating. It will be substantial.”
Ann Kohler, director of health policy at the nonpartisan American Public Human Services Association, said she was aware of the concern and was “looking at the legislative language,” but had not yet reached a determination.
“I have my lawyers looking at it right now,” she said.
Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said they agreed that the provision could open the floodgates to lawsuits.
“Section 2304 changes the definition of Medical Assistance, and potentially, wipes clean years of court precedent that has kept states from losing very expensive lawsuits,” a GOP staffer said. “The states and the Medicaid directors are very worried about this provision.”
A spokeswoman for House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, California Democrat, did not respond to a request for comment on the provision.
Victor Schwartz, a tort law expert at Shook, Hardy and Bacon in D.C., said that Waxman sees trial lawyers as positive agents of change.
“He sees tort law as a regulatory engine that’s needed just beyond legislation. He sees trial lawyers as heroic who are there to help the ordinary people,” Schwartz said.
“That may have been true 30 years ago when Mr. Waxman was a lawyer, but now it’s big business as much as Exxon,” Schwartz said. “The hero with a slingshot isn’t around too much any more.”
Not all state Medicaid directors said they were concerned about the change to the law.
“There’s been some chatter on this issue among state Medicaid directors. Some say the sky is falling, others say it makes little difference, still others say they are unaware of the ‘change,’” said Doug Porter, an assistant secretary of social and health services in Washington state.
“I’m in the ‘makes little difference’ camp,” Porter said by e-mail. “We here in the 9th Circuit are used to getting sued.”
Other states said they were still trying to determine the impact of the change.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/04/02/states-fear-that-five-words-in-obama-health-law-will-open-door-to-lawsuits/#ixzz0k35kdhVg
Managing Your Child's Asthma with Natural Medicine
Managing Your Child's Asthma with Natural Medicine
Posted by Dr. Mercola | April 06 2010 | 2,635 views Email this to a friend Share this article Researchers have discovered that African American children with asthma in metropolitan Washington, DC, are significantly more likely to have low levels of vitamin D than healthy children.
This study supports recent research that suggests vitamin D plays a greater role in the body than just keeping bones healthy. Vitamin D deficiency has been recently linked to a variety of non-bone related diseases including depression, autoimmune disorders, and now asthma.
The research team found that 86 percent of the children in the study with asthma had insufficient levels of vitamin D, while only 19 percent of non-asthmatics had these low levels.
Only 5 to 37 percent of American infants meet the standard for vitamin D set by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Although breast milk is the perfect food in every other way, it's often low in vitamin D. Since humans originated in equatorial areas with year-round sunshine, babies in the distant past wouldn't have needed to get vitamin D from breast milk. Many mothers also are vitamin D-deficient. Based on these facts, researchers now recommend that most babies should take a daily vitamin D supplement, reports USA Today.
In addition, Mothering Magazine offers several tips on how natural medicine can strengthen immune function to prevent asthma attacks.
Oriental medicine and Chinese herbs have the ability to directly strengthen immune function. The disadvantage of herbs is their bad taste, and the most effective strategy for children is to mix liquid extracts of herbs with juice to improve their taste.
A licensed acupuncturist experienced in the treatment of children can assess an individual child's needs and prescribe an herbal formula to relieve congestion and build immune function.
Massaging specific points on your child's body during asthmatic episodes helps to relieve cough, induce relaxation, and decrease wheezing. The techniques fall into two categories: pressing on acupuncture points and massage of acupuncture channels. Both are simple, straightforward, and require no training.
For more details, please see the full article in Mothering Magazine.
Sources:
Mothering Magazine March 2010
Eurekalert March 19, 2010
USA Today March 22, 2010
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Asthma is a growing problem, both for children and adults. In fact, asthma now affects some 20 million Americans, as it has increased by more than 300 percent over the last 20 years.
Wouldn’t you like to have a simple, highly effective and incredibly inexpensive treatment for this very serious illness?
Unfortunately most physicians are close to 100 percent clueless about using vitamin D to treat asthma, but by subscribing to this site you can easily keep abreast of the latest that science has to offer in providing safe, inexpensive natural therapies to common problem.
That is what we specialize in.
If vitamin D is indeed a major underlying cause of asthma, which it surely appears to be, many are needlessly suffering with a potentially life threatening ailment since vitamin D deficiency is easily remedied.
Not to mention the fact that many are needlessly exposing themselves to the dangers inherent with the standard drug treatments for asthma.
Advair, for example, contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol. A 2006 analysis found that regular use of LABAs can increase the severity of an asthma attack. Researchers estimate that salmeterol may contribute to as many as 5,000 asthma-related deaths in the United States each year.
Conventional asthma treatments can also increase your risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, just to name a few.
So isn’t it great to know that there is an effective, and infinitely safer, method to treat asthma?!
Vitamin D Deficiency Likely an Underlying Cause of Asthma
According to the senior author of the study:
"For African American kids with asthma, vitamin D testing and ensuring adequate vitamin D intake may need to become necessary steps in their primary care."
Yes!
And this does not apply to African Americans exclusively. As reported by USA Today, a mere five to 37 percent of all American infants meet the standard for vitamin D set by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is at a mere 400 IU’s per day!
This dose was recommended to prevent rickets, which works well, but does not provide protection from more serious disease such as cancer, heart disease, infections, and probably asthma as well.
Previous research has shown that the pediatric recommended daily allowance is woefully inadequate for most children, stating that many infants may need as much as 10 times that amount to reap all the health benefits.
In addition, it’s important to realize that you are laying the groundwork for your child’s health while she’s still in the womb.
One 2007 study discovered that poor diets and the lack of vitamin D among mothers were the determining factors in whether their children suffered from asthma, independent of the child’s own vitamin D intake after birth.
There are also several other studies showing the beneficial impact of vitamin D on lung health.
This makes perfect sense once you know that just one of the 3,000 genes vitamin D upregulates is a gene that produces over 200 anti-microbial peptides, some of which work like a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
Here’s a short list of studies confirming the inverse association between lower respiratory tract infections and 25(OH)D levels in children. Meaning, the higher your child’s vitamin D level, the lower his risk of contracting respiratory tract infections:
1. A 2009 study on vitamin D deficiency in newborns with an upper respiratory infection (URI) confirmed a strong, positive correlation between newborns’ and mother’s vitamin D levels. Over 87 percent of all newborns and over 67 percent of all mothers had vitamin D levels lower than 20 ng/ml, which is a severe deficiency state.
Newborns with vitamin D deficiency appear to have an increased risk of developing a URII, and since the child’s vitamin D level strongly correlates with its mother’s, the researchers recommend that all mothers’ optimize their vitamin D levels during pregnancy, especially in the winter months, to safeguard their baby’s health.
2. A similar Indian study published in 2004 also reported that vitamin D deficiency in infants significantly raised their odds ratio for having severe a URI
3. A 2009 analysis of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey examined the association between vitamin D levels and recent upper respiratory tract infection (URI) in nearly 19,000 subjects over the age of 12.
There was a positive correlation between lower vitamin D levels and increased risk of URTI, and this correlation was even stronger in individuals with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
4. Another 2009 report in the journal Pediatric Research stated that infants and children appear more susceptible to viral rather than bacterial infections when deficient in vitamin D. And that, based on the available evidence showing a strong connection between vitamin D, infections, and immune function in children, vitamin D supplementation may be a valuable therapy in pediatric medicine.
Yes, optimizing your immune function is an essential part of treating asthma, and vitamin D is proven to be an incredibly powerful immune modulator, which is why optimizing your child’s vitamin D levels should be at the very top of your list.
How to Optimize Your Child’s Vitamin D Levels
Remember, it is quite likely that your child will need far more than the recommended daily allowance, which is a mere 400 units a day. You really need to make sure your child is getting therapeutic levels.
Ideally, your child would get his vitamin D from safe sun exposure, but although many children spend more time outdoors than their parents, many are still not getting nearly enough sun exposure – particularly not if you slather them with sunscreen.
I recommend you allow your child to spend some time outdoors without sunscreen. But you do want to be very careful and make sure your child does not get sunburned!
You can tell he’s had enough exposure when his skin turns the lightest shade of pink. After that his body will not produce any more vitamin D and continued exposure is only going to cause skin damage.
If your child does not have access to regular sun exposure, I do recommend oral supplements. You can also use vitamin D drops for children who are too young to swallow a pill.
Based on the latest research, the recommended dosage for children is 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight. There is one caveat however, and that is it would be helpful to get your child’s vitamin D levels tested after starting oral supplements, to ensure they’re within the therapeutic range of 50-70 ng/ml.
You also want to make sure you’re using the correct test, and a reputable lab. In the US, I recommend using LabCorp. If you get it done by Quest, you’ll need to divide your result by 1.3 to get the “real” number.
For more information, please review this previous article that explains the available tests and the differences between labs in more detail.
If you get your child’s levels to about 60 ng/ml, there’s a strong likelihood -- especially if you combine it with exercise and balancing out her omega 3 and omega 6 fats as described below -- that she will not experience asthma anymore.
Additional Safe and Effective Strategies to Treat Asthma
Although asthma is a serious disease, safely treating your asthma is not a complicated affair. Optimizing your child’s vitamin D levels is the first step, but there are other basic, simple strategies that can help treat the root of the problem as well.
The Mothering Magazine article sourced above contains a variety of helpful methods to help strengthen your child’s immune system to prevent asthma attacks, and natural therapies that can help soothe the symptoms of asthma, so feel free to read through that as well.
In my experience, the following strategies to be highly effective when treating asthma:
Increase your child’s intake of animal-based omega 3 fats – I can’t emphasize enough the importance of getting sufficient amounts of high quality animal-based omega 3 fats in your child’s diet.
Because although I strongly believe we all need plant-based omega 3 fats, the difference is that most people do not possess the metabolic machinery to rapidly convert the ALA in these plants to the higher order fats DHA and EPA, which are potent anti-inflammatories.
Although I still recommend fish oil in some instances, I believe krill oil is an even better source of omega 3 fats for most people.
Reduce your child’s intake of omega 6 fats – In addition to adding omega 3 fats to your child’s diet, you also want to reduce the amount of omega 6 fats he consumes because the ratio between these two fats is very important.
Many don’t realize that about a century ago, people only consumed 1-2 pounds of plant-based omega 6 fats per year. Today, the average American is consuming about 75-80 pounds a year of these vegetable oils, such as corn oil, soy- and safflower oil.
When you eat lots of them, which you will if you use a lot of processed foods, the balance between omega 3 and omega 6 fats will become distorted, which can cause the type of inflammation that leads to asthma.
Consider the hygiene hypothesis – There’s a tendency in our modern culture to be obsessive about cleanliness, especially in children. However, this may not be as healthy as initially thought. It appears that being exposed to common bacterial and viral infections as a child can be instrumental in providing the stimulus to your immune system to prevent asthma naturally.
Get regular exercise – Exercise (especially out in fresh air if you’re an asthmatic) is actually crucial, as it helps to moderate insulin levels. It increases your insulin receptor sensitivity, and as a result your body produces less insulin, which tends to optimize it.
You can also use allergy testing to build up your child’s immune system. However, my experience is that conventional testing does not work very effectively and there is a fair amount of risk. A far better test would be provocation neutralization testing, which is an intradermal skin test.
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has a list of physicians who are trained in this highly effective technique.
As for natural remedies, you can try some Butterbur (Petasites hybridus). This perennial shrub has been used since ancient times to treat a variety of conditions. As far back as the 17th century, butterbur was used to treat coughs, asthma, and skin wounds.
Researchers have since identified the compounds in butterbur that help reduce symptoms in asthma by inhibiting leukotrienes and histamines, which are responsible for symptom aggravation in asthma.
Also remember that pasteurized milk products are notorious for making asthma worse.
Conclusion
Vitamin D is such an essential part of optimal health, and the research being done in this area is mounting as we speak. I believe educating the public about optimizing their vitamin D levels is so important, I’ve created a brand new site dedicated to vitamin D.
I urge you to bookmark it, share it with your friends and family, and revisit often.
After all, wouldn’t you agree it’s a safer and wiser strategy to address the cause of your disease, rather than treating the symptoms with expensive, potentially dangerous drugs?
As it turns out, vitamin D deficiency is at the core of countless diseases and health problems, and the cure couldn’t be safer or simpler!
If you follow these simple strategies discussed above, you can virtually eliminate your need for bronchodilators and steroid drugs, for example, and THAT’S a perfect example of taking control of your and your family’s health!
Related Links:
Asthmatics: Have You Tried this Yet?
Asthma Medicines Don’t Work and Can Be Dangerous
Sun Exposure During Pregnancy Reduces Asthma In Kids
More Financial Bubbles Ahead in the US Housing Market
More Financial Bubbles Ahead in the US Housing Market
by Bob Chapman
Global Research, April 1, 2010
International Forecaster
Bubbles have a hard time coming to an end, especially in residential real estate. Underlying forces such as government intervention to prolong the agony and the abject stupidity of builders extends the bubbles.
We are in a vast home inventory expansion and builders are going to build 535,000 new homes. The projected foreclosure rate could give us as much as a 3-year home inventory, up from present levels of about a year, if one includes the lenders shadow inventory. This past week the home building index rose 7.1% and it is up 25.1% year-to-date. The retail index rose 17% y-t-d, yet unemployment stubbornly clings to 22-1/8%. In fact, the retail index is up 87.4% y-o-y. We would say that index is grossly overpriced. As you can see bubbles have a way of not wanting to die quickly. This is caused by man’s disparately wanting to cling to the past attempting to take the easy way out rather than adapting to change. Government tries to keep sections of the economy alive rather than letting the cleansing process take its course.
The subsidization of the housing market is doomed to failure, because there simply isn’t enough money and credit available to keep it going indefinitely. All government is doing is re-flating a dying bubble. These Socialistic/Marxist policies just won’t work. Whether government likes it or not interest rates are headed higher, probably by 1% or more by the end of the year as government in its quest for more money to cover its debts crowds most others out of the market. This can be accommodated by the Fed, but not without higher inflation or perhaps hyperinflation, which in turn will drive interest rates even higher. We are seeing the reigniting of speculative mania in other markets as well – in the stock market and particularly in the low quality sector of the bond market worldwide. The mis-pricing of investments and finance is resulting in terrible distortions, mostly the result of Fed and government policy.
This mania has been aided and abetted by US dollar strength, especially over the past two months. We saw JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and others loading up on the long side of the dollar starting last October between USDX 74 and 78. They obviously knew the Greece episode was on the way. Irrespective, and in spite of no positive fundamentals, dollar strength was used to draw funds into dollar denominated assets. Supposedly the dollar has some sort of competitive advantage, which it doesn’t, and that a strong dollar will be re-flationary, which it has been. Gold and silver should have been flying to the upside, but our government detests free markets and it again temporarily suppressed prices. This is the result of the machinations of Larry Summers and Tim Geither. Dollar strength has the perceived benefit of the Fed’s ability to endlessly create money and credit.
It is this perception added to Greece, European and euro problems that have fueled speculation in world markets. Perceptions are one thing, and fundamentals are another more powerful force, which in time will reassert themselves. Problems will first be evident in the bond markets, which have already begun. As soon as the 10-year T-note solidly crosses 4% the market, the dollar and bonds will falter. The current strength is perceived to be the weakness of other currencies and their economies, prospective re-flationary policies and the concept of too big to fail. This is why there is the concept that the current “recovery” will persist. They also recognize that individual euro zone countries cannot inflate their way out of problems. One currency prohibits that from happening. This means Greece and others cannot monetize their debt and that means any kind of recovery is years away. All 19 near bankrupt countries are in the same boat except the US. Markets believe in the Bernanke put or backstop. They also believe the Fed will reinflate again. They would rather have inflation or hyperinflation, which they can in part control, rather than deflation, which once it begins cannot be contained.
Then enters the question will the Fed deliberately choose deflation in a year or two to bring about world government? Is this what Greece was all about? We do not know for sure. All we can do is guess. Do not forget Europe’s problems are not as bad as those of the US even though they are led to believe they are.
The 10-year Treasury note may well be telling us something and that is that higher rates are on the way. It certainly doesn’t auger well for any recovery. If credit spreads widen watch out. Such a development would mean the dollar would begin to retrace its recent gains. Dollar gains are over at 82 on the USDX. We await its correction.
We have spent more than 70 years as Americans and we gasp at the criminal enterprise that America has become. Lawbreaking has become as casual as running a business, whether it is on Wall Street or within the beltway in Washington. Worse yet, almost all malefactors never see the inside of a jail, they just have their corporations pay fines and go back to doing what they were doing, which was breaking the law.
One of the ultimate insults comes from the FDIC requesting donations. 200 to 500 banks will fail this year because of incompetence and terrible investments. We believe, as the year progresses, bank failures will explode. One of the factors leading us to this conclusion is that more than 1,000 banks have professionals overseeing bank operations from the Comptroller of the Currency’s Office. Worse yet, we are seeing many banks and credit unions telling depositors they may have to wait seven days or more for their money. Can bank holidays be far behind? We believe it will happen over the next couple of years.
As we go forward we continue to see massive Treasury purchases by the Fed. The monetization is spellbinding at somewhere between 50 and 80 percent. The more we look at this cartoon the more we know quantitative easing cannot stop. If it does the system will collapse. The Fed and the FDIC even want pension funds to buy their toxic garbage, as does Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What a sordid turn of events, but not unexpected considering what we are dealing with.
Unemployment sticks at 22-1/8% as tax revenues continue to plunge as the budget deficit heads toward Mars. The next administration push will be to legalize illegal aliens. You ask where will this all end? Can you believe builders have been buying CDOs? Lennar has plunged in and Orleans fell into insolvency with 20% of their assets in toxic garbage.
There is no question zero interest rates, unbridled government deficits, stimulus plans and the Fed’s quantitative easing have been a failure. The result normally would be to pump more aggregates into the system. We will have to see what the Fed, Congress and the administration do, especially between now and the election. Is it any wonder we have called for a two-third’s official dollar devaluation and a debt default. Be patient we should see them happen within two years. Maybe we will get lucky and get tariffs on goods and services. That way we can bring most of our jobs back and get a healthy economy back with 5% unemployment. Many credit derivatives will be banned as well. We have been involved in markets for 50 years and we know sooner or later those who are leveraged – or on margin – lose sooner or later. As a broker we never had margin accounts. The halt in the downward fall of economics, finance and stock market prices are but an interlude. There are still no solutions, so the downside will begin anew. One thing that has come out of the foregoing and the recent troubles in Greece and with the euro is that gold has been recognized as money, as a currency. That view is going to grow as gold trades higher and higher. As an example, just look at the value of gold in euros and all other currencies. Gold has consolidated time after time at $1,050 to $1,100 no matter what the US government threw at the gold market. There have been a few exceptions to gold’s strength, but over time all currencies will fall against the only real money. On the short-term do not forget the government is very short gold and silver on the Comex, probably the LBMA and most certainly in the producer shares. This week’s numbers will give us an indication whether they have begun to cover. We are going to also see a resumption of inflation officially in the next CPI figures. Real inflation is again approaching 8% and this inflation will be reflected in gold and silver prices. Not all professionals are dumb enough to believe official figures. On the downside we do not believe $1,050 to $1,100 will ever be broken again. Your gains when they come will be quick and large.
Now that most of the evidence is in, it is apparent that Lehman Brothers management created a colossal fraud even bigger than that of Enron with its Repo 105 maneuvers and was assisted by its accounting firm of Ernst & Young, and by the NY fed under the direction of our current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Geithner and all the top management and directors of Lehman should be charged criminally, but all being Illuminati members no one has been charged. Do not expect much from the Department of Justice. Eric Holder was the official who wrote the pardon letter for March Rich, tax cheat and Mossad operative for the State of Israel. As you can see Holder is where he is today because of his enablement of criminal activity. It shows you again that Wall Street, banking and Washington are nothing more than a criminal cartel. The question now is who else on Wall Street is doing the same thing? We already know they keep two sets of books, which is sanctioned by the BIS, the FASB and your government. What is really going on at these Illuminist firms, besides that they tell us they are doing God’s work.
As this criminal activity unfolds the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke wants more regulatory authority for the Fed so the Fed can better cover up criminal activities. He says the Fed is unequally suited to supervise large, complex financial organizations and to address both safety and soundness risks and risks in the stability of the financial system as a whole. This is the ringleader talking. This is the nexus, the core, the leader of criminal activity in America grasping for even more power. This is the same group under Greenspan and then Bernanke that created the stock market bubble of the late 1990s, the housing, mortgage, commercial real estate bubble, the bubble that took the Dow to 14,100 and then from 6,500 to 10,900, the toxic garbage bubble and the bubble on Wall Street and in banking.
These are the people who lost Americans trillions of dollars so they could implement world government. All this just didn’t happen; it was planned that way. Yes, they are unequally suited to the creation and transmission of criminal activity. This is the same Fed that spent two years in Lehman’s offices and found nothing, because they aided and abetted their criminal activity. They knew everything that was going on. They were trying to bail Lehman out and it did not work. The SEC was there with them, shoulder to shoulder, covering up the crime scene. They are all liars and thieves, not incompetents. We then wonder how deep and serious the fraud is at other firms. From what we have seen so far we haven’t even scratched the surface. We want to see all these facilitators in jail. We do not want to see the Fed with more power. We want to see the Fed out of business as well as the end of the SEC and CFTC. As you can see our government and Wall Street are totally corrupt and unless we do something about it they will destroy our country.
Bob Chapman is a frequent contributor to Global Research.
by Bob Chapman
Global Research, April 1, 2010
International Forecaster
Bubbles have a hard time coming to an end, especially in residential real estate. Underlying forces such as government intervention to prolong the agony and the abject stupidity of builders extends the bubbles.
We are in a vast home inventory expansion and builders are going to build 535,000 new homes. The projected foreclosure rate could give us as much as a 3-year home inventory, up from present levels of about a year, if one includes the lenders shadow inventory. This past week the home building index rose 7.1% and it is up 25.1% year-to-date. The retail index rose 17% y-t-d, yet unemployment stubbornly clings to 22-1/8%. In fact, the retail index is up 87.4% y-o-y. We would say that index is grossly overpriced. As you can see bubbles have a way of not wanting to die quickly. This is caused by man’s disparately wanting to cling to the past attempting to take the easy way out rather than adapting to change. Government tries to keep sections of the economy alive rather than letting the cleansing process take its course.
The subsidization of the housing market is doomed to failure, because there simply isn’t enough money and credit available to keep it going indefinitely. All government is doing is re-flating a dying bubble. These Socialistic/Marxist policies just won’t work. Whether government likes it or not interest rates are headed higher, probably by 1% or more by the end of the year as government in its quest for more money to cover its debts crowds most others out of the market. This can be accommodated by the Fed, but not without higher inflation or perhaps hyperinflation, which in turn will drive interest rates even higher. We are seeing the reigniting of speculative mania in other markets as well – in the stock market and particularly in the low quality sector of the bond market worldwide. The mis-pricing of investments and finance is resulting in terrible distortions, mostly the result of Fed and government policy.
This mania has been aided and abetted by US dollar strength, especially over the past two months. We saw JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and others loading up on the long side of the dollar starting last October between USDX 74 and 78. They obviously knew the Greece episode was on the way. Irrespective, and in spite of no positive fundamentals, dollar strength was used to draw funds into dollar denominated assets. Supposedly the dollar has some sort of competitive advantage, which it doesn’t, and that a strong dollar will be re-flationary, which it has been. Gold and silver should have been flying to the upside, but our government detests free markets and it again temporarily suppressed prices. This is the result of the machinations of Larry Summers and Tim Geither. Dollar strength has the perceived benefit of the Fed’s ability to endlessly create money and credit.
It is this perception added to Greece, European and euro problems that have fueled speculation in world markets. Perceptions are one thing, and fundamentals are another more powerful force, which in time will reassert themselves. Problems will first be evident in the bond markets, which have already begun. As soon as the 10-year T-note solidly crosses 4% the market, the dollar and bonds will falter. The current strength is perceived to be the weakness of other currencies and their economies, prospective re-flationary policies and the concept of too big to fail. This is why there is the concept that the current “recovery” will persist. They also recognize that individual euro zone countries cannot inflate their way out of problems. One currency prohibits that from happening. This means Greece and others cannot monetize their debt and that means any kind of recovery is years away. All 19 near bankrupt countries are in the same boat except the US. Markets believe in the Bernanke put or backstop. They also believe the Fed will reinflate again. They would rather have inflation or hyperinflation, which they can in part control, rather than deflation, which once it begins cannot be contained.
Then enters the question will the Fed deliberately choose deflation in a year or two to bring about world government? Is this what Greece was all about? We do not know for sure. All we can do is guess. Do not forget Europe’s problems are not as bad as those of the US even though they are led to believe they are.
The 10-year Treasury note may well be telling us something and that is that higher rates are on the way. It certainly doesn’t auger well for any recovery. If credit spreads widen watch out. Such a development would mean the dollar would begin to retrace its recent gains. Dollar gains are over at 82 on the USDX. We await its correction.
We have spent more than 70 years as Americans and we gasp at the criminal enterprise that America has become. Lawbreaking has become as casual as running a business, whether it is on Wall Street or within the beltway in Washington. Worse yet, almost all malefactors never see the inside of a jail, they just have their corporations pay fines and go back to doing what they were doing, which was breaking the law.
One of the ultimate insults comes from the FDIC requesting donations. 200 to 500 banks will fail this year because of incompetence and terrible investments. We believe, as the year progresses, bank failures will explode. One of the factors leading us to this conclusion is that more than 1,000 banks have professionals overseeing bank operations from the Comptroller of the Currency’s Office. Worse yet, we are seeing many banks and credit unions telling depositors they may have to wait seven days or more for their money. Can bank holidays be far behind? We believe it will happen over the next couple of years.
As we go forward we continue to see massive Treasury purchases by the Fed. The monetization is spellbinding at somewhere between 50 and 80 percent. The more we look at this cartoon the more we know quantitative easing cannot stop. If it does the system will collapse. The Fed and the FDIC even want pension funds to buy their toxic garbage, as does Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What a sordid turn of events, but not unexpected considering what we are dealing with.
Unemployment sticks at 22-1/8% as tax revenues continue to plunge as the budget deficit heads toward Mars. The next administration push will be to legalize illegal aliens. You ask where will this all end? Can you believe builders have been buying CDOs? Lennar has plunged in and Orleans fell into insolvency with 20% of their assets in toxic garbage.
There is no question zero interest rates, unbridled government deficits, stimulus plans and the Fed’s quantitative easing have been a failure. The result normally would be to pump more aggregates into the system. We will have to see what the Fed, Congress and the administration do, especially between now and the election. Is it any wonder we have called for a two-third’s official dollar devaluation and a debt default. Be patient we should see them happen within two years. Maybe we will get lucky and get tariffs on goods and services. That way we can bring most of our jobs back and get a healthy economy back with 5% unemployment. Many credit derivatives will be banned as well. We have been involved in markets for 50 years and we know sooner or later those who are leveraged – or on margin – lose sooner or later. As a broker we never had margin accounts. The halt in the downward fall of economics, finance and stock market prices are but an interlude. There are still no solutions, so the downside will begin anew. One thing that has come out of the foregoing and the recent troubles in Greece and with the euro is that gold has been recognized as money, as a currency. That view is going to grow as gold trades higher and higher. As an example, just look at the value of gold in euros and all other currencies. Gold has consolidated time after time at $1,050 to $1,100 no matter what the US government threw at the gold market. There have been a few exceptions to gold’s strength, but over time all currencies will fall against the only real money. On the short-term do not forget the government is very short gold and silver on the Comex, probably the LBMA and most certainly in the producer shares. This week’s numbers will give us an indication whether they have begun to cover. We are going to also see a resumption of inflation officially in the next CPI figures. Real inflation is again approaching 8% and this inflation will be reflected in gold and silver prices. Not all professionals are dumb enough to believe official figures. On the downside we do not believe $1,050 to $1,100 will ever be broken again. Your gains when they come will be quick and large.
Now that most of the evidence is in, it is apparent that Lehman Brothers management created a colossal fraud even bigger than that of Enron with its Repo 105 maneuvers and was assisted by its accounting firm of Ernst & Young, and by the NY fed under the direction of our current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Geithner and all the top management and directors of Lehman should be charged criminally, but all being Illuminati members no one has been charged. Do not expect much from the Department of Justice. Eric Holder was the official who wrote the pardon letter for March Rich, tax cheat and Mossad operative for the State of Israel. As you can see Holder is where he is today because of his enablement of criminal activity. It shows you again that Wall Street, banking and Washington are nothing more than a criminal cartel. The question now is who else on Wall Street is doing the same thing? We already know they keep two sets of books, which is sanctioned by the BIS, the FASB and your government. What is really going on at these Illuminist firms, besides that they tell us they are doing God’s work.
As this criminal activity unfolds the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke wants more regulatory authority for the Fed so the Fed can better cover up criminal activities. He says the Fed is unequally suited to supervise large, complex financial organizations and to address both safety and soundness risks and risks in the stability of the financial system as a whole. This is the ringleader talking. This is the nexus, the core, the leader of criminal activity in America grasping for even more power. This is the same group under Greenspan and then Bernanke that created the stock market bubble of the late 1990s, the housing, mortgage, commercial real estate bubble, the bubble that took the Dow to 14,100 and then from 6,500 to 10,900, the toxic garbage bubble and the bubble on Wall Street and in banking.
These are the people who lost Americans trillions of dollars so they could implement world government. All this just didn’t happen; it was planned that way. Yes, they are unequally suited to the creation and transmission of criminal activity. This is the same Fed that spent two years in Lehman’s offices and found nothing, because they aided and abetted their criminal activity. They knew everything that was going on. They were trying to bail Lehman out and it did not work. The SEC was there with them, shoulder to shoulder, covering up the crime scene. They are all liars and thieves, not incompetents. We then wonder how deep and serious the fraud is at other firms. From what we have seen so far we haven’t even scratched the surface. We want to see all these facilitators in jail. We do not want to see the Fed with more power. We want to see the Fed out of business as well as the end of the SEC and CFTC. As you can see our government and Wall Street are totally corrupt and unless we do something about it they will destroy our country.
Bob Chapman is a frequent contributor to Global Research.
Engineered Poison Lurking in Your Everyday Food?
Everyday Food?
Engineered Poison Lurking in Your Everyday Food?
Posted by Dr. Mercola | April 03 2010 |
In this interview, Jeffrey Smith, author of the bestseller Seeds of Deception, explains how genetically modified foods cause health problems, and their potential for creating a vast array of unforeseen and surprising illnesses.
He also sheds light on how the corruption within the U.S. government, the FDA and the GMO industry has allowed, and perpetuated, the cover-up.
Sources:
Jeffrey Smith Interview (Full Transcript)
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Jeffrey Smith has written two books about the significant danger genetically modified (GM) foods pose to your health, and the health of the entire planet.
His first book, Seeds of Deception, is the world’s bestselling book on the topic. His second, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, provides overwhelming evidence that GMOs are unsafe and should never have been introduced.
He’s also the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, whose Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to create the tipping point of consumer rejection of GMOs, forcing them out of our food supply. As a major force riling against GM foods, Smith is responsible for limiting the spread of GM crops in the US, just like others have successfully done in Europe.
In addition to his books he has also created two videos: Hidden Dangers in Kids' Meals, and Your Milk on Drugs, Just Say No.
Genetically Modified Foods = Toxins in Every Bite?
Corn chips, or tortilla chips, are quite pervasive. Perhaps you’ve had some yourself this week? Well, let’s see how you feel about buying them again once you realize what you’re risking by eating them.
In the only human feeding study ever published on genetically modified foods, seven volunteers ate so-called Roundup-ready soybeans. These are soybeans that have herbicide-resistant genes inserted into them in order to survive being sprayed with otherwise deadly doses of Roundup herbicide.
In three of the seven volunteers, the gene inserted into the soy transferred into the DNA of their intestinal bacteria, and continued to function long after they stopped eating the GM soy!
There are serious medical implications to this finding. However, the GM-friendly UK government, who funded the study, chose not to fund any follow up research to see if GM corn -- which are engineered to produce an insecticide called BT toxin -- might also transfer and continue to create insecticide inside your intestines.
These kinds of studies are sorely needed, and fast, because as of right now, about 85 percent of the corn grown in the US is genetically engineered to either produce an insecticide, or to survive the application of herbicide. And about 91-93 percent of all soybeans are genetically engineered to survive massive doses of Roundup herbicide.
What this means is that nearly ALL foods you buy that contain either corn or soy, in any form, will contain GMO unless it’s certified organic by the USDA. Other major GM crops include cottonseed and canola.
When trying to avoid these GM crops, you’d also have to avoid all the derivatives of them, which would include items such as maltodextrin, soy lecitin, and high fructose corn syrup.
Other common GM products include:
• Some varieties of zucchini, crookneck squash, and papayas from Hawaii
• Milk containing rbGH
• Rennet (containing genetically modified enzymes) used to make hard cheeses
• Aspartame (NutraSweet)
How Genetic Engineering Works
Many are under the flawed assumption that genetic engineering is a very precise, refined science.
Not so, explains Smith.
“… in order to understand the risks associated with GMOs, I’m going to back up and talk about the process of creating a genetically modified organism because if we understand that, then a whole host of things that can go wrong all of a sudden become clear.
… The biotech industry gives you this impression that it’s a very clean process. We just take a gene from a species and carefully splice it into another, and the only thing that’s different is it’s producing some new beneficial protein to produces some trait.
This is far from the truth.
What they do is – let’s say you want to create a corn plant that produces a pesticide. So you go to the soil bacterium called BT for “Bacillus thuringiensis” and you change it so it’s more toxic, and you make millions of copies of the gene.
You actually put a piece of a virus there which turns it on, it’s called the promoter. It’s the “on” switch that turns this gene on, 24/7, around the clock.
You make millions of copies and you put it in a gun and you shoot that gun into a plate of millions of cells, hoping that some of the genes make it into the DNA of some of those cells. Then you clone those cells into plants.
Now the process of insertion and cloning causes massive collateral damage in the DNA that could have higher levels, and do have higher levels, of allergens and toxins.
… Anti-nutrients of soybeans that are genetically engineered have as much as seven times higher the amount of a known allergen cold trypsin inhibitor when compared to non-GM soy, in their cooked state.
There is a new allergen in genetically modified corn. There is a new anti-nutrient in the [GM] soy which blocks the absorption of nutrients.
They don’t look for these things. These are found after they’re on the market by some few of the independent researchers that are doing their work.”
Farmers have long used BT spray on crops, and because it’s a natural bacterium, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the biotech companies claim it is safe for human consumption.
However, this too is clearly misguided optimism.
Smith states:
“Based on peer reviewed published studies, animals like mice that were fed BT had damaged tissues and immune responses as powerful as if they’ve been fed cholera toxin, and then they became multiple-chemically sensitive to where they started to react to formally harmless compounds.”
Genetically Engineered Health Problems
It’s important to realize that when the BT is spliced into the corn, it’s thousands of times more concentrated than the spray version.
According to Smith, thousands of farm workers who harvest BT-cotton in India are complaining of rashes all over their bodies. And animals grazing on BT cotton plants after harvest have died, sometimes within a day or so.
This should tell you something.
Now, some will point out the fact that humans are not dying like flies from eating GM foods. But the death of grazing cattle is likely the result of an acute reaction to large exposure. So, as Smith states, it’s still an indicator for what might be happening in the human system, albeit at a much slower rate.
For example, Smith mentions an Italian study where they fed BT corn to mice. As a result, the mice expressed a wide variety of immune responses commonly associated with diseases such as:
•Rheumatoid arthritis
•Inflammatory bowel disease
•Osteoporosis
•Atherosclerosis
•Various types of cancer
•Allergies
•Lou Gehrig’s disease
In addition, Smith has documented at least 65 serious health risks from GM products of all kinds.
Among them:
•Offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce
•Male mice fed GM soy had damaged young sperm cells
•The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice had altered DNA functioning
•Several US farmers reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties
•Investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffaloes fed GM cottonseed products
Genetically modified foods are, from my perception, one of the most significant threats that we have against the very sustainability of the human race.
Although Monsanto doesn’t believe (or admit) this is a possibility, their shortsighted focus on profits is blinding them to the very real threats that this technology is posing to the viability of the human race.
How Conflicts of Interest May Be Destroying Health of Millions
In this interview, Smith discusses some of the political intricacies involved with GM food labeling, and some of the more shocking conflicts of interest that may be harming literally millions of people.
Back in 1992, the FDA authority responsible for the decision of whether or not to label GM foods turned out to be a former attorney for none other than Monsanto. His name is Michael Taylor.
He went from being Monsanto’s attorney to serving as their vice president, and after that he became a policy maker at the FDA.
At this point in time, Taylor serves as the US food safety czar!
Taylor claimed that the agency was not aware of any information showing that GM foods were significantly different than conventional foods, and therefore no testing and no labeling were required.
Since then, documents made public from a lawsuit showed that it was a lie that the policy was clearly fictitious.
In fact, the overwhelming consensus among the FDA’s own scientists were that genetically modified foods were inherently dangerous and could create allergies, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems, and of course they should be labeled because they are a food additive and new food additives must be labeled.
However, Smith explains, the FDA was directed by the White House to promote the biotechnology industry, and they knew that if they labeled GM foods, most Americans would avoid it like the plague. So, true to form, they supported the economic interests of the biotech companies at the cost of long-term human and environmental health.
It remains to be seen whether or not this type of blatant conflict of interest will be perpetrated again, allowing genetically modified alfalfa to be brought to market.
There’s currently a grassroots movement underway demanding that Chief Justice Clarence Thomas recuse himself in the April Supreme Court consideration of GM alfalfa.
As it turns out, Chief Justice Thomas is also a former Monsanto attorney, who served the biotech giant from 1976 to 1979.
What You Can Do NOW!
The silver lining in all of this, however, is that we actually don’t NEED policy changes to kick GMO’s out of the market!
The only requirement is getting enough people to consistently avoid buying anything that contain GM-derived ingredients, and the food manufacturers will do the rest.
They WILL respond to market demands, because if they don’t they go out of business.
For a helpful, straightforward guide to shopping Non-GMO, please see the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, created by the Institute for Responsible Technology.
In addition, the natural food industry has decided to turn October of this year into “Non-GMO Month,” and October 10th (10/10/10) will be “Non-GMO Day.”
I encourage you all to prepare for October by spreading the information about GM foods. Together we CAN make a major difference!
You can also help by donating money to ResponsibleTechnology.org. Your donation will help preserve access to healthy, whole foods for you and for future generations. Let's stop this disaster from happening, and stop this insanity from being coerced upon us.
Related Links:
The REAL Reasons You Want to Avoid Genetically Modified Foods
Monsanto's Roundup Residues in GM Food Cause Cell Damage
Germany Bans Genetically Modified Corn
Friday, April 2, 2010
There Were 88 Media Companies...
There Were 88 Media Companies...
Now There Are 6
4-2-10
These are the 6 media companies that exist today. There used to be 88. These 6 all get their news from Reuters and the Associated Press. Reuters owns the AP and Rothschilds own Reuters.
The following information is in circulation on the net. The originating source is not known, nor have all the statements below been fully verified. However, the general overview provided appears to be accurate.
GENERAL ELECTRIC (donated 1.1 million to GW Bush for his 2000 election campaign)
Television Holdings
* NBC: includes 13 stations, 28% of US households.
* NBC Network News: The Today Show, Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Meet the Press, Dateline NBC, NBC News at Sunrise.
* CNBC business television; MSNBC 24-hour cable and Internet news service (co-owned by NBC and Microsoft); Court TV (co-owned with Time Warner), Bravo (50%), A&E (25%), History Channel (25%).
The "MS" in MSNBC means microsoft. The same Microsoft that donated 2.4 million to get GW bush elected.
Other Holdings
* GE Consumer Electronics.
* GE Power Systems: produces turbines for nuclear reactors and power plants.
* GE Plastics: produces military hardware and nuclear power equipment.
* GE Transportation Systems: runs diesel and electric trains.
=====================================
WESTINGHOUSE / CBS INC.
Westinghouse Electric Company, part of the Nuclear Utilities Business Group of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL)
whos #1 on the Board of Directors? None other than: Frank Carlucci (of the Carlyle Group)
Television Holdings
* CBS: includes 14 stations and over 200 affiliates in the US.
* CBS Network News: 60 minutes, 48 hours, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CBS Morning News, Up to the Minute.
* Country Music Television, The Nashville Network, 2 regional sports networks.
* Group W Satellite Communications.
Other Holdings
* Westinghouse Electric Company: provides services to the nuclear power industry.
* Westinghouse Government Environmental Services Company: disposes of nuclear and hazardous wastes. Also operates 4 government-owned nuclear power plants in the US.
* Energy Systems: provides nuclear power plant design and maintenance.
==================================
VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC
Television Holdings
* Paramount Television, Spelling Television, MTV, VH-1, Showtime, The Movie Channel, UPN (joint owner), Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Sundance Channel (joint owner), Flix.
* 20 major market US stations.
Media Holdings
* Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Video, Blockbuster Video, Famous Players Theatres, Paramount Parks.
* Simon & Schuster Publishing.
==================================
DISNEY / ABC / CAP (donated 640 thousand to GW's 2000 campaign)
Television Holdings
* ABC: includes 10 stations, 24% of US households.
* ABC Network News: Prime Time Live, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America.
* ESPN, Lifetime Television (50%), as well as minority holdings in A&E, History Channel and E!
* Disney Channel/Disney Television, Touchtone Television.
Media Holdings
* Miramax, Touchtone Pictures.
* Magazines: Jane, Los Angeles Magazine, W, Discover.
* 3 music labels, 11 major local newspapers.
* Hyperion book publishers.
* Infoseek Internet search engine (43%).
Other Holdings
* Sid R. Bass (major shares) crude oil and gas.
* All Disney Theme Parks, Walt Disney Cruise Lines.
===================================
TIME-WARNER TBS AOL (donated 1.6 million to GW's 2000 campaign)
America Online (AOL) acquired Time Warnerthe largest merger in corporate history.
Television Holdings
* CNN, HBO, Cinemax, TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Brothers Television, Cartoon Network, Sega Channel, TNT, Comedy Central (50%), E! (49%), Court TV (50%).
* Largest owner of cable systems in the US with an estimated 13 million subscribers.
Media Holdings
* HBO Independent Productions, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera.
* Music: Atlantic, Elektra, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. Records, EMI, WEA, Sub Pop (distribution) = the world's largest music company.
* 33 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, In Style, Fortune, Book of the Month Club, Entertainment Weekly, Life, DC Comics (50%), and MAD Magazine.
Other Holdings
* Sports: The Atlanta Braves, The Atlanta Hawks, World Championship Wrestling.
====================================
NEWS CORPORATION LTD. / FOX NETWORKS (Rupert Murdoch) (
Television Holdings
* Fox Television: includes 22 stations, 50% of US households.
* Fox International: extensive worldwide cable and satellite networks include British Sky Broadcasting (40%); VOX, Germany (49.9%); Canal Fox, Latin America; FOXTEL, Australia (50%); STAR TV, Asia; IskyB, India; Bahasa Programming Ltd., Indonesia (50%); and News Broadcasting, Japan (80%).
* The Golf Channel (33%).
Media Holdings
* Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight.
* 132 newspapers (113 in Australia alone) including the New York Post, the London Times and The Australian.
* 25 magazines including TV Guide and The Weekly Standard.
* HarperCollins books.
Other Holdings
* Sports: LA Dodgers, LA Kings, LA Lakers, National Rugby League.
* Ansett Australia airlines, Ansett New Zealand airlines.
* Rupert Murdoch: Board of Directors, Philip Morris (USA).
*(Phillip Morris donated 2.9 million to George W Bush in 2000)*
Now There Are 6
4-2-10
These are the 6 media companies that exist today. There used to be 88. These 6 all get their news from Reuters and the Associated Press. Reuters owns the AP and Rothschilds own Reuters.
The following information is in circulation on the net. The originating source is not known, nor have all the statements below been fully verified. However, the general overview provided appears to be accurate.
GENERAL ELECTRIC (donated 1.1 million to GW Bush for his 2000 election campaign)
Television Holdings
* NBC: includes 13 stations, 28% of US households.
* NBC Network News: The Today Show, Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Meet the Press, Dateline NBC, NBC News at Sunrise.
* CNBC business television; MSNBC 24-hour cable and Internet news service (co-owned by NBC and Microsoft); Court TV (co-owned with Time Warner), Bravo (50%), A&E (25%), History Channel (25%).
The "MS" in MSNBC means microsoft. The same Microsoft that donated 2.4 million to get GW bush elected.
Other Holdings
* GE Consumer Electronics.
* GE Power Systems: produces turbines for nuclear reactors and power plants.
* GE Plastics: produces military hardware and nuclear power equipment.
* GE Transportation Systems: runs diesel and electric trains.
=====================================
WESTINGHOUSE / CBS INC.
Westinghouse Electric Company, part of the Nuclear Utilities Business Group of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL)
whos #1 on the Board of Directors? None other than: Frank Carlucci (of the Carlyle Group)
Television Holdings
* CBS: includes 14 stations and over 200 affiliates in the US.
* CBS Network News: 60 minutes, 48 hours, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CBS Morning News, Up to the Minute.
* Country Music Television, The Nashville Network, 2 regional sports networks.
* Group W Satellite Communications.
Other Holdings
* Westinghouse Electric Company: provides services to the nuclear power industry.
* Westinghouse Government Environmental Services Company: disposes of nuclear and hazardous wastes. Also operates 4 government-owned nuclear power plants in the US.
* Energy Systems: provides nuclear power plant design and maintenance.
==================================
VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC
Television Holdings
* Paramount Television, Spelling Television, MTV, VH-1, Showtime, The Movie Channel, UPN (joint owner), Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Sundance Channel (joint owner), Flix.
* 20 major market US stations.
Media Holdings
* Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Video, Blockbuster Video, Famous Players Theatres, Paramount Parks.
* Simon & Schuster Publishing.
==================================
DISNEY / ABC / CAP (donated 640 thousand to GW's 2000 campaign)
Television Holdings
* ABC: includes 10 stations, 24% of US households.
* ABC Network News: Prime Time Live, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America.
* ESPN, Lifetime Television (50%), as well as minority holdings in A&E, History Channel and E!
* Disney Channel/Disney Television, Touchtone Television.
Media Holdings
* Miramax, Touchtone Pictures.
* Magazines: Jane, Los Angeles Magazine, W, Discover.
* 3 music labels, 11 major local newspapers.
* Hyperion book publishers.
* Infoseek Internet search engine (43%).
Other Holdings
* Sid R. Bass (major shares) crude oil and gas.
* All Disney Theme Parks, Walt Disney Cruise Lines.
===================================
TIME-WARNER TBS AOL (donated 1.6 million to GW's 2000 campaign)
America Online (AOL) acquired Time Warnerthe largest merger in corporate history.
Television Holdings
* CNN, HBO, Cinemax, TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Brothers Television, Cartoon Network, Sega Channel, TNT, Comedy Central (50%), E! (49%), Court TV (50%).
* Largest owner of cable systems in the US with an estimated 13 million subscribers.
Media Holdings
* HBO Independent Productions, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera.
* Music: Atlantic, Elektra, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. Records, EMI, WEA, Sub Pop (distribution) = the world's largest music company.
* 33 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, In Style, Fortune, Book of the Month Club, Entertainment Weekly, Life, DC Comics (50%), and MAD Magazine.
Other Holdings
* Sports: The Atlanta Braves, The Atlanta Hawks, World Championship Wrestling.
====================================
NEWS CORPORATION LTD. / FOX NETWORKS (Rupert Murdoch) (
Television Holdings
* Fox Television: includes 22 stations, 50% of US households.
* Fox International: extensive worldwide cable and satellite networks include British Sky Broadcasting (40%); VOX, Germany (49.9%); Canal Fox, Latin America; FOXTEL, Australia (50%); STAR TV, Asia; IskyB, India; Bahasa Programming Ltd., Indonesia (50%); and News Broadcasting, Japan (80%).
* The Golf Channel (33%).
Media Holdings
* Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight.
* 132 newspapers (113 in Australia alone) including the New York Post, the London Times and The Australian.
* 25 magazines including TV Guide and The Weekly Standard.
* HarperCollins books.
Other Holdings
* Sports: LA Dodgers, LA Kings, LA Lakers, National Rugby League.
* Ansett Australia airlines, Ansett New Zealand airlines.
* Rupert Murdoch: Board of Directors, Philip Morris (USA).
*(Phillip Morris donated 2.9 million to George W Bush in 2000)*
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