Organic Food is Not Better?

There is no evidence that organically produced foods are nutritionally superior to conventionally produced foodstuffs, according to a new study. But the study has not been without its critics, some of whom were involved in a previous study that found the opposite - "I'm worried about the conclusions. The ballpark figures they have come up with are similar to ours. I don't understand why the FSA are not going away and saying, 'Right, there's something you can do on a farm to improve food.' But they are so blocked by not wanting to say positive things about organic farming." The new study though does question the quality of past studies into food nutrition, calling for better science all round.

Contaminated Food

Almost half of the fresh fruit and veg sold across the UK is contaminated with toxic pesticides, according to the latest scientific surveys for the government. Alarmingly, as much as a quarter of the food on sale in 2008 was found to contain multiple pesticides. In some cases, up to ten different chemicals were detected in a single sample. [Hard to imagine that Australian food would be any different]

Animal Supplement Being Questioned

Ractopamine (marketed as Paylean) was approved in 1999 for use on finishing swine, pigs that are being fed and readied for market. In 2003 it was approved for cattle. Animals can dine on ractopamine laced feed right up until they enter the slaughtering chute, even though research has shown it takes a full seven days for 97% of Paylean to be excreted. There have been no long term studies of the effects of ractopamine in humans, but short-term animal studies have shown destabilization of heart rate, reduced testicular and uterine weight, and heart weight increase.

Irradiated Food Harms Cats

Cats who were fed a diet of irradiated food developed severe neurological disorders including paralysis, movement disabilities, vision problems, cognitive degeneration, intense pain, loss of feeling, and death. The study revealed that the irradiated food also caused the destruction of myelin, a mixture of proteins and phospholipids that form a protective sheath around nerve fibers in the central nervous system, which includes the brain. The scientists who conducted the study were quick to dismiss the idea that humans could be similarly affected.

Fantasy Food and Health

Just like Cyndi O'Meara, I also feel I have taken the red pill and would love to see others taking it too - to pull the veil away and see what the hell is happening to our food at every level. I am looking forward to viewing the movie Food Inc and sharing it with others too.

Converting to Environmental Production

This is an interesting story of a generations-old dairy and poultry farm in Puget Sound becoming more environmental. The conversion to free range was resisted initially, but the merits of doing so are slowly being realised - though there seems to be some residual angst against the role of governments on enforcing changes on farms. A great honest overview of the process.

US Food Safety Bill Passes

This legislation affects every aspect of the U.S. food system, from farmers to manufacturers to importers. It places significant responsibilities on farmers and food processors to prevent contamination - a departure from the country's reactive tradition, which has relied on government inspectors to catch tainted food after the fact. One provision allows the FDA to declare food "adulterated" simply if the grower or manufacturer has failed to follow safety standards, regardless of whether the food is actually tainted.

Fossil Water

Oh the magic of water. This article will resonate with those that admire Victor Schauberger's work on water. As Daniel Vitalis states: "Schauberger was to water what Nicola Tesla was to electricity." Its a story about water and its ability to hold information and what affect pollution has on it.

Learning Directly from Nature

Victor Schauberger learned directly from nature, and this video is a tribute to his work with water in particular. This is a summary of some of his discoveries, though I do strongly recommend you read some of the books written about his work for more detail - they are absolutely fascinating and draw upon many of the patterns of nature. Check out the traditional practice of clay singing - biodynamic practictioners will like this. Many of Victor's ideas have subsequently been turned into practice for revitalising water - such as Nutri-Tech Solutions' Aquavate.

The ETS Parody

So what was the trigger for forming an Emissions Trading System in the first place? CO2? And what product is especially blamed for our current high levels? Coal and petroleum? Then why is the industry at the heart of the so-called problem even being considered for exemptions? The whole thing is a surreal parody... I just don't get it.

Bio-Sequestration

Soils, trees and the ocean slugged it out as the best methods of carbon bio-sequestration at an Environment Business Australia conference in Sydney recently. The forum gave the stage to a scientist, soil carbon campaigner and even an owner of a major brown coal company who argued the mineral's case for countering carbon and weaning Australia off its Arab oil addiction. [A positive read]

Rethinking Climate Policy

When it comes to setting policy, we certainly do seem to have a way of putting the cart before the horse. For example, instead of focusing on the fuels we hope to put into our power plants, we make policy around what comes out the smokestack. We need to incentivise the solutions, not penalise the problems. Feed-in tariffs (FITs), which pay a premium for renewably-generated electricity are market-based, simple and incorruptible, and it's demonstrably effective in reducing carbon emissions.

Climate Change Increasing Disease?

Some scientists are beginning to see the ecology of disease as far too complicated to support simple declarations about the impact of global warming. For example, a parasite ecologist at the University of Oxford, has reviewed recent disease outbreaks - some of which have been attributed to global warming - and concluded that human actions and other factors may have played a larger role than climate.

Questioning Global Warming

What an interesting website from Roy Spencer - climatologist, author and former NASA scientist. He directs his comments towards natural climate cycle deniers, and blogs many inconsistencies coming up in current mainstream reporting of climate change, with a good dose of science thrown in too. Who says the debate is over? [While I do not sit with all the arguments presented (see my views), many questions still obviously remain. I just love his conversations about how little is known about clouds, though no mention is given to how clouds are seeded (by bacteria) and their links to vegetation...things to ponder]

Minister of Farming or Big Business??

Agriculture Minister Tony Burke has raised doubts about the potential for farmers to generate carbon credits by increasing the emissions stored in the soil, and conceded it may never be possible to include agriculture in an emissions trading scheme. Meanwhile, American farmers would not need to pay for their emissions under the model proposed in the United States. [And they can also get carbon credit by simply being zero-till....who the hell is representing our farmers??]

Federal Ag Minister Backs GM Wheat

Federal minister for agriculture Tony Burke gave proponents of GM technology a strong leg-up with a ringing endorsement of genetically modified crops at his address at the Australian Grains Industry Conference. Meanwhile, in other GM news, Bayer CropScience and CSIRO have announced a research and development deal to include a focus on cereals.

Tests May Help Assess If GM Allergies

Researchers have been awarded a $433,100 grant to investigate how food allergies are triggered, in a study that could eventually help explain whether GM crops cause allergies. "We don't understand allergy very well at all, so before we can understand genetically modified crops we have to understand food allergy better."

Chickens Refuse to Eat GM

Chickens refusing to eat the maize they had been fed has led to the discovery that their feed had been genetically modified to include a well-known weed and insect killer. "This is the first report we have had of chickens not eating GM feed," said a GM expert.

GM Labeling Would Confuse Consumers!

The multinational representatives of Codex believe that consumers would be too confused if GMOs were properly labeled. And because this issue could not be solved at the latest meeting, some members proposed a three-year reprieve from GM-food labeling. [Exactly what the multinationals ordered I suspect]. Instead with some oppositional pressure, it will be raised at the next meeting. Its interesting to note that Codex representatives are not elected by the people, yet their influence is extraordinary.

Epigentics vs Mutations

Scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence that pollutants and chemicals might be altering genes - not by mutating them, but by sending subtle signals that silence them or switch them on at the wrong times. Exposure to gene-altering substances, "can lead to increased susceptibility to disease...The susceptibility persists long after the exposure is gone, even decades later. Glands, organs, and systems can be permanently altered." Interestingly, the same genes can be switched back on again making health improvements a real possibility]

Leaving Your Packaging at the Supermarket

The U.K. supermarket chain Tesco has launched a pilot program encouraging shoppers to leave behind any product packaging that they would rather go without, so that the store can recycle it for them. Before recycling the packaging, Tesco will analyze it in order to determine how it could revise its own packaging procedures in line with customer desires.

Wind Turbine Syndrome

Living too close to wind turbines can cause heart disease, tinnitus, vertigo, panic attacks, migraines and sleep deprivation, according to groundbreaking research to be published later this year by an American doctor. The normal human vestibular (internal ear) system has a fish or frog-like sensitivity to low-frequency vibration.

Quantum Biology

How fascinating. The new science of quantum biology is teaching us about how the actual behavior of evolution is governed by disconcertingly spooky processes - time travel being one of them. Will quantum computation finally be realized by biomimicry, in organic systems? Evolution is the new (old) computation...and we humans are about to take the reins.

The History of Food and Drink

What a discovery! The Department of History at The University of Adelaide supported the establishment of the Research Centre for the History of Food and Drink to promote research in the history of food and drink in Australasian and global contexts and much more. They host seminars and conferences, but also have great articles. Food really does connect us all - to each other, our history and no doubt our future.

Ochre Archives

The discoveries at Ochre Archives keep rolling in - with a recent bizarre fungus discovery (check out the photo), that appears to be new to science! " It forms below ground in a truffle-like form in which it becomes fully formed but tightly compressed. When it reaches maturity, it takes up water and its cells swell, creating great tension within its relatively tough covering skin. The slightest jar will cause it to expand instantly. More than once I've been startled by having it leap out at me like some huge, jumping spider when it reaches that stage."

Bush Goddess Foods Newsletter

Bush Goddess Foods creates sensory connections by sourcing nourishing foods directly from farming families who use healthy soils as the basis of their enterprises. It also produces a newsletter, usually with tempting recipes and sage comments on health.

Balancing and Harmonising Subtle Energies

Wynelle Delaney, now living in Perth, (ADTR.RNMA) is professionally trained in nursing. Practicing Radionics and Dowsing for humans is her main focus. She also offers general information and resource materials in dowsing animals, soils and towns. She will be available for 1 1/2 hour private consultations, between the 10th - 13th of August in Warwick Qld by appointment. Alternatively she is hosting a workshops on dowsing on 9th, 15th and 16th August. Contact Thelma Sheedy on  07 4667 4909 or contact me for the program.

Vibrational Kinesiology Training

Learn how to look after your family's health. Garry & Linda McDouall along with Peter & Anne Downie, the original trainers of the Dawson program, will be conducting the first training program outside of Tasmania. The course will be run over two 3 day modules - 21st - 23rd September and 26th - 28th September at Nundle.  Kinesiology 09 31/07/2009,02:00 26.50 Kb

Pathways to Bliss

Pathway to Bliss has been created for people to learn and experience spiritual sexuality as a way to deepen intimacy and connection with themselves, others and the planet... Janine McDonald of Fernhill Wellbeing Clinic is hosting a 2-day women's workshop at Yamba 22-23rd August. What a beautiful setting for a guaranteed exceptional experience.

Soil Balancing with Neil Kinsey

This is an intensive 3 day workshop providing for a better understanding of the principles and methods developed by Prof. William Albrecht. Learn why and how you need to get the physics and chemistry right in a soil first before the biology will function properly. The workshop will cover the basics of using and interpreting a soil test to learning how to identify and correct the effects of depleted or excessive nutrients in your soil. Dubbo 1st - 3rd September.  Soil Fertility Balancing 09 03/08/2009,20:08 118.00 Kb

Health

Water Fluoridation

Since the protracted protest against water fluoridation in south east Queensland recently, reports are now coming in of alarming fluctuations in the quantities of fluoride in the water. This particular email letter is from a person who had levels up to 2.1ppm (apparently fluoride causes thyroid damage at .001 - .003ppm).

This is interesting given the news that Europe is perhaps being forced to ban water fluoridation. The European Court of Justice has just ruled that fluoridated water must be treated as a medicine, and cannot be used to prepare foods. The decision effectively bans all processed food products from countries such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand, unless they can be positively proven to have been prepared using only water that was not fluoridated.

Fortunately, you can rid your body of most fluorides with some easy natural remedies.

Regional Differences in Allergies

Regional differences is just one of the many mysteries surrounding food allergies. Peanuts aren't the biggest concern in every country. In a plane for example, passengers from Greece, where peanut allergy is rather rare, might be more concerned about the melon in the fruit salad. A passenger from the south of Italy might push the in-flight apple juice to one side for fear that it might trigger a skin rash and stomach pains, a reaction that would puzzle a compatriot from northern Italy etc.

Hysteria or Poisoning in China

As soon as the Jilin Connell Chemical Plant started production this spring, local hospitals began receiving stricken workers from the acrylic yarn factory 100 yards downwind from Connell's exhaust stacks. On some days, doctors were overwhelmed and patients were put two to a bed. A clear case of chemical contamination? Not so, say Chinese health officials who contend that the episode is a communal outbreak of psychogenic illness, also called mass hysteria.

Statins Enhance Pneumonia Risk

In the rush to prescribe statin drugs for everything under the sun, drug companies began promoting it for pneumonia, especially in senior citizens. Without any scientific evidence whatsoever, they pushed the idea that since statins reduce inflammation in the body, they might also reduce lung infections. Once some real science was conducted, it turns out that statin drugs actually increase the risk of pneumonia by as much as 61%! In their investigations they also discovered the flu vaccine provided the elderly with little to no protection from pneumonia.

Virgina Tech Shooting Records Found

There has been a surprise discovery of the mental health records of the Virginia-Tech shooter in the home of the former university psych doctor who treated him. They have been missing since the shooting took place. Dr. Robert C. Miller, the psych doctor, took the records home and secretly kept them there, avoiding telling police about their location. And there is more damning information emerging. It does appear that psych altering drugs were involved (like in all the mass school killings to date)...

Processed Foods vs Whole Foods

Whole foods tend to be richer in fiber and they also have low glycemic indexes. That means they keep blood sugar and insulin levels steady without wide fluctuations. But  there's another important reason to avoid high glycemic foods like white bread and corn flakes - it directly damages artery walls and causes cardiac problems. The endothelium dysfunction caused can be traced back to almost every disorder and disease in the body.

Going Bare Foot

A small but growing body of research suggests that barefoot is the way to run. Strong evidence shows that thickly cushioned running shoes have done nothing to prevent injury. Going shoeless allows your foot to flex and absorb shock.

BPA Free Still Leaking BPA

Baby bottles labelled as being free of bisphenol A (BPA) have been found to contain small amount of the chemical.

Gardasil Damage

A US federal report has concluded that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil has a 400% higher rate of adverse effects than another comparable vaccine, the Menactra anti-meningitis shot.

Any Chronic Condition May Actually be Celiac Disease

The undigested protein, known as gluten or gliadin, is attacked by the body's own immune system, causing inflammation and damage to the small intestine. Celiac disease has an incredibly wide variety of symptoms, often unrelated to the digestive tract. So really, virtually ANY chronic problem, whether there is a reason for it or not, should make a clinician consider Celiac Disease. Anything at all! [My suggestion is to minimise gluten in your diet anyway]  

Heart Cells Can Regenerate

In a groundbreaking new study, researchers have demonstrated that heart cells are able to regenerate themselves, overturning the conventional wisdom that the body cannot replace damaged heart cells. New heart cells appeared to replace old ones at a rate of approximately 1% per year in youth and 0.5% per year by age 75.

Cartoon

Miscellaneous

Following riots in the western region of Xinjiang, China's central government has taken steps to block citizens from accessing foreign Web services. In addition to crippling Internet service in general, the authorities have blocked Twitter, removed unapproved references to the violence from search engines, and have now apparently moved to bar citizens from accessing Facebook. Despite these moves technological tools that allow individuals to unite against powerful government and corporate forces are still likely to transform the world in coming decades -- if they haven't done so already. [Can the government really win this war against this technology (and its people)?]

Events

The calendar is playing up, so most of the links below are directed back to other websites where possible or to a contact email address. If there are no links, look to the related article above.  

* Balancing and Harmonising Subtle Energies - Warwick Qld 9th - 16th August 2009.

* Pathway to Bliss - Yamba NSW 22nd - 23rd August 2009.

* Balancing Soils with Neil Kinsey - Dubbo NSW 1st - 3rd September 2009.

* Vibrational Kinesiology Training Module 1 - Nundle 21st - 23rd September 2009.

* Vibrational Kinesiology Training Module 2 - Nundle 26th - 28th October 2009.

Postscript

According to a news report, a certain private school in Newcastle upon Tyne was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom.

That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night the maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back.

Finally the Headmistress decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little Geordie 'Princesses').

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance mans to show the girls how much effort was required. 

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it.

Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers.....