Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Anesthesia and Alzheimer's

Considering many people have temporary "insanity" and memory loss after surgery, I found this interesting:

Does Anesthesia Increase Alzheimer's Risk?

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School recently studied human brain cells subjected to the common anesthetic desflurane for six hours in order to simulate a surgery situation. They found that when oxygen levels were normal, desflurane did not adversely affect the brain cells. However, when the cells were subjected to low oxygen levels, the desflurane was associated with increased production of beta amyloid, a protein found in elevated quantities in the brains of those with Alzheimer's. Low oxygen alone did not increase beta amyloid production.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Organic Consumers Association

Organic Consumers Association

A few news stories on the website:
Beyond Progressive Malpractice: Taking Down Big Pharma

Campaigning for Organic Integrity in Bodycare Products

Giant Food & Biotech Corporations Make Billions in Profit from Growing Global Food Crisis

ALERT: Genetically Engineered Candy for Mothers Day

Farm Bill: Billions for Corporate Agribusiness with Nickles & Dimes for Organics

Shell Makes Run On Water

The New Green/Biotech Revolution And World Food Prices

Repealing Corporate Personhood: Taking Back The Republic, In Four Easy Steps

The Gospel of Consumption

Canadian Schools Sent Brochures from Climate Change Skeptics

Subscribe to Organic Bytes: OCA's Bi-Weekly Email Publication: Environmental, Consumer and Health News Tidbits With An Edge!

Topics from the latest newsletter:
ORGANIC BYTES #133
Health, Justice and Sustainability News Tidbits with an Edge!

IN THIS ISSUE:

* FAKE "ORGANIC" BODYCARE CARE COMPANIES GO TO COURT
* ALERT OF THE WEEK: (COULD BE) LAST CHANCE TO TAKE ACTION ON FARM BILL
* SUSTAINABILITY TIP & QUOTE OF THE WEEK: RIP OUT YOUR LAWN...
* STUDY OF THE WEEK: HOW YOUR DIET AFFECTS GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
* QUICK "GOOD NEWS" TIDBIT: ELECTRIC CARS SOON TO HIT U.S. MARKET
* CONSUMER TIPS OF THE WEEK: HOW TO SHOP AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET
* CELEBRATE WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY MAY 10
* WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK
* APOLOGIES: CLARIFICATION OF "ORGANIC" COMPANIES THAT DID NOT TEST POSITIVE FOR CARCINOGEN
* SPECIAL STATE ALERTS: DE, DC, FL, KY, MN, MO, NJ, OH, RI, VA, WV

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Natural Solutions Foundation May 2, 2008

IMPORTANT HEALTH FREEDOM INFORMATION.

PLEASE FORWARD VERY WIDELY
TO RECEIVE HEALTH FREEDOM eALERTS FREE, CLICK HERE

TO DONATE, CLICK HERE


IN THIS ISSUE:

US Bullies Africa which Shouts "NO! To Unlabeled GMOs!
You Are Glad We Are Here at Codex.The US Is Definitely Not!

US Bullies Africa on GM Labeling, Africa's Had Enough

The US outdid itself at this Codex meeting. It actually bullied another country into withdrawing its submission because the paper South Africa submitted in favor of Mandatory GM Labeling was so strong and under cut the US position that no labeling should ever be permitted. South Africa is a sovereign nation, with its own concerns, laws and issues, but it was forced by US bullying to rescind its submission because of the international tantrum that the US threw. Read about it here.

The US DOES NOT want anyone to know if there is GM food in what they are eating under any circumstances. Once the US became aware of South Africa's paper (apparently before it was generally available to the rest of the meeting), they jumped all over them electronically. This was a major affront to national sovereignty, African and the concept that Codex is anything but a mouth piece for the multinational corporations which the US represents! Africa, however, decided that they have had enough!

Read more here.

What this means for us as consumers is huge. What it means for us as an organization is likewise huge but adds a continuing requirement for sufficient funding for us to be able to continue both our health freedom campaigns in the US and to continue our international work. For example, we will need to go to Africa at least twice before the next CCFL meeting, perhaps 3 times, if we are to support this vitally important effort properly. Species-specific mandatory labeling of GM foods impacts each and every one of us. Manufacturers who have to put such declarations on their labels for international trade will put great pressure on the US to lift the ban on such labeling for domestic consumption. The US will be hard pressed, indeed, to keep such labeling out of the US on food imported (as more and more of our food is) and the pressure for mandatory GM labeling will be increased immeasurably by this move.

We are proud to be such an active part of this movement to allow people to have health freedom options in their food choices and eat safe foods.

YES, INDEED, compared to the US position, we certainly have something else to say to anyone with a pro-health ear and we continue to say it.

Thanks, Dr. Schneeman, for that excellent confirmation of the accuracy and importance of our work!

Remember, the US actively FORBIDS the labeling of the GM components in your food.

You read that right. It FORBIDS any reference to the fact that 75-80% of your food contains (or is) Genetically Modified. So you are part of the largest experiment in human history. Risk Assessment and Risk Management depend on Post Market Surveillance, as it is called, which means finding out what the stuff that you are exposed to does to you. It is the final (and official) phase of human experimentation and clinical trials for foods and drugs. Without labeling, however, there can be no Post Market Surveillance because there is no possible way to find out who ate what and when. There is therefore absolutely no way of knowing what these "foods" are doing to us and our children, to our cancer and fertility rates, to the possibility that, for example, contact with GM cotton might be causing the horrifying Morgellon's Disease and [literally!] who knows what else. Consumers who want to avoid this stuff (as I do, because the more I learn about these products, the more concerned I become and the more unwilling I am to consume them.

The Natural Solutions Foundation is working on this issue inside, and outside, of the US because that's where the solutions are. What is the US afraid of your knowing? If you read Appendix I (on the right hand side of the Press Release about the situation to South Africa's Conference Room Document 21 (now retracted), you will see a pretty good summary of why you should be afraid, very afraid, of eating GM foods. If you read Appendix II of the same document, you will see the official US Policy, taken directly from the FDA's website, on why GM foods are NOT tested for safety and why materials proving their safety are not required before they enter the food chain - and your body!

Two Working Groups on the labeling of GM foods were convened (Oslo, 2007 and Accra, 2008) to deal with this impasse. The Oslo meeting saw the memorable declaration by the US Delegate, FDA's Dr. Barbara Schneeman, that the reason the US FORBIDS any GM labeling is that consumers would overwhelmingly reject GM if they knew they were eating it and therefore, because the US holds that GM and non GM foods are identical, it would be false and misleading information if consumers were told the truth about GM components in their foods. I have previously reported on the stunned silence and astonishment that greeted this revelation, characterized by the EU Delegate (when he could catch his breath!) as "Weird!"

Zimbabwe, Zambia and several other African nations are, in fact, convinced the description should be "Lethal" because they believe that GM food is a genocidal strategy to depopulate Africa [first]. They may be right, given the fact that organisms like Epicyte's spermicide-producing corn, which confers permanent male sterility when eaten, which was patented in 2001. Monsanto and DuPont acquired it for development and proliferation. The extent to which it has contaminated the food chain is currently unknown.* Further, the emerging science of GM impacts is frighteningly clear: eating, raising or growing GM products has many serious impacts.**

Please tell everyone you know that the labeling of GM foods is an issue of major importance and ask them to visit the Natural Solutions website, and join the distribution list for our free Health Freedom eAlerts. You'll get the information you need and the action steps you can take to keep food fit for eating!

Remember, Freedom isn't Free! Donate generously to keep the pressure on the people and institutions who want to take away your health freedoms and, with them, your health! All donations are tax deductible. Please consider a recurring donation to help us help you keep your health AND your freedom!

Yours in health and freedom,
Dr. Rima

Rima E. Laibow, MD
Medical Director
Natural Solutions Foundation


* SHARE! Tell Your Friends About HealthFreedomUSA.org

* ORGANIZE! Join us in the fight to protect health freedom

* SIGN CITIZEN'S PETITION Ask the U.S. government to change its policy on Codex Alimentarius

* CONTRIBUTE! Make a contribution and help raise funds for the health freedom fight

* VOTE! Register to vote in the US
* Notes: * In 2001 the President of Epicyte noted that field trials would be conducted "at least 100 feet away from other corn crops". This distance provides no effective protection against pollen contamination whatsoever.

** Organic food in most of the world allows only 0.9% GM contamination while US Organic standards permit a full 10% contamination and Organic producers are noting that the presence of contamination by GM at even higher levels is making sourcing of Organic foods more and more difficulty (and therefore expensive).

* Social bookmark this page

* Click to join NSF-Panama (Yahoo Group)

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* Tell your legislators that mandatory vaccination is not OK, and we want exemptions on conscience.

* Support the Child Medication Safety Act.

Sign the Tiburon Declaration to Stop Forced Vaccination and Drugging.

Don't let the FDA take away your right to health information! Act NOW.

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Thursday, May 1, 2008

Blackwater opening a "vocational trade school"?

blackwater

black·wa·ter [ blák wàwtər ]
noun
Definition:

polluted water: water contaminated with animal, human, or food waste

from encarta


Just about a year ago, the eastern, San Diego county, unincorporated community of Potrero was actively fighting Blackwater's plans to build a training facility. Potrero won this year when Blackwater announced in early March 2008 that it was withdrawing its plans. Blackwater project manager, Brian Bonfiglio, stated that "he did not know whether Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., planned to explore other sites in the West for additional training camps."

Meanwhile, Blackwater, like a double headed, forked tongued monster, was already applying for permits for a "vocational trade school" in Otay Mesa. The permit was granted by the City of San Diego on March 19, 2008, since the building of interest was zoned for use as a vocational trade school.

Of course, the Otay Mesa plan is also being challenged, but one has to wonder why the San Diego City Council was unaware of this permit application, regardless of the allowed use of the facility. In my experience, allowable use or not, the County of San Diego would have held public meetings considering the sensitivity of the location and the subject. This is just one more example of the City's big troubles.