Saturday, September 28, 2013

Climate Expert Warns of Impending Global Cooling Crisis

Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
BY:


A prominent climate scientist says the earth actually faces a global cooling crisis on the eve of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) release of its latest climate change report.

David Archibald, an Australian scientist and visiting fellow at the The Institute of World Politics (IWP) in Washington, D.C., said during an IWP presentation Wednesday that contrary to a perceived consensus among the scientific community, the planet’s climate is not warming. Global temperatures have essentially remained flat in the last thirty years, he said.

While temperatures have increased by a modest 0.8 degrees Celsius in the last 150 years, that rise is unremarkable compared to previous increases in earth’s history, he said. Temperature spikes have occurred for hundreds of thousands of years and were slightly higher in the Roman Empire and Medieval periods, he added, according to a Swedish study and data from ice cores in Vostok, Antarctica.

Additionally, about 80 percent of the warming that has occurred can be attributed to water vapor compared to about 10 percent for carbon dioxide, said Archibald. The IPCC’s report, scheduled for release Friday, is expected to state with 95 percent certainty that greenhouse-gas emissions generated by humans are responsible for 20th century warming.

“The IPCC models have failed,” Archibald said, adding that meetings like the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark are “hilarious.”

Archibald, credited as the first scientist to develop a method for using solar sunspot cycles to predict temperatures, instead said solar activity suggests global temperatures will cancel out previous warming and fall 2 to 3 degrees Celsius by 2040.

That could wreak havoc on the world’s food supply by potentially reducing global grain production by 400 million tonnes—mirroring the skyrocketing crop costs and 200,000 European deaths sparked by the 1816 eruption of Mt. Tambora in Indonesia.

“There will be at least one consolation. Phil Jones, Michael Mann, James Hansen and Al Gore will all, most likely, still be around to see their entire religious belief system collapsing around their ears,” wrote James Delingpole, a writer for the Telegraph, in a post last year on Archibald’s work.

See slides from Archibald’s presentation here.

Should Donations To Portland Oregon "shelters" be Given To Rescues Instead?


To: Michael Oswald

     Officer Michelle Luckey
     Officer Charles Poetz
     Kim Peoples
     Attny David Blankfeld
CC: County Chair Marissa Madrigal
       Couty Commission
I understand Ozzie was killed September 17 despite the fact that you well knew 
 ( as did David Blankfeld) I had humane options for him and indeed had raised money
 for his writ of review appeal ( $500). Why would you do that ? ( and I include David 
Blankfled  in that comment because he was completely involved, asks and well knows 
I help in cases like  this, and did nothing desdpite that information ...on vacation. . 
My concerns are significant also because the same week Ozzie  was killed MCAS 
brokered a  deal with FDNL to release another little dog that had actually killed a dog but as noted in the
 record  " you wanted him to have a second chance." 
Are only dogs affiliated with FDNL and  other large organizations allowed 
"second chances"?

 Not the dogs of the homeless? Why?
You well know that my placement history is very effective, thorough and conscientious.
 I have no idea after you knew my investment in Ozzie, the minor nature of his "crimes"
 why our offers of  humane alternatives were just ignored/not even acknowledged 
( in case the writ of review did not go through for monetary reasons;I had the funds donated). 

Ozzie had chances, his crimes were  minor,  he was a nice dog. you killed him anyway 
after months of unnecessary solitary confinement, just carelessly snuffed out his life.. 

I consider that cruelty.
Meanwhile I am putting together resources for Pucky ( MCAS 541100) and Charlie  
( MCAS  550945)
Please don't kill them. I will deal with my concerns about the circumstances surrounding Ozzie's
 death ( this has happened before) at greater length later.
Thank you
Gail O'Connell-Babcock
503.625.4563
   

Soy Tyranny Video



Soy Tryanny The Tyranny of Soy Agribusiness in Paraguay tells how Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill and a series of Brazilians agribusinesses are flexing their muscles in Paraguay, currently occupying 25% of all arable land for the production of genetically modified soy for export.

"The losers are Paraguay's peasant farmers, and they've mobilized to defend themselves, including getting a president into power who promised to help them."

What Is Soy Lecithin Why Is it in Everything You Buy?


Real Lecithin Or Sludge?

Lecithin was named by Maurice Gobley, a French scientist, in 1805.  It's name comes from the Greek word"lekithos"  which means egg yolk, and the egg yolk was the primary source of lecithin.  It was a Healthy, natural food.

Lecithin was valued for the fat water soluble compounds called phospholipids which are essential to our health and play a direct and vital role in every aspect of our health, including metabolism, memory, cognitive function, cardiovascular and liver function.

Phospholipids are essential fat and water soluble molecules found in our cellular structure.  They are a combination of lipids  (fats)  and the mineral phosphorous.  It's impossible for any of our cells to function optimally without phospholipids.  They are that critical.

Soy Lecithin begins as a vile, toxic,    Foul Smelling Sludge.  After the war of 1812 American Whiskey distilleries began production.  Alcohol production resulted in large amounts of wasted grain.

They turned their expensive distillery waste disposal problem into profit.  You can read more about the story behind  16 million tons of distillers grains and fuel ethanol waste   being fed to our dairy & beef cattle.  Got Milk?

Around 1908 German companies were suffering similar waste disposal problems from their soybean oil refining industries.

What could they do with the ever increasing mountains of that foul smelling sludge?  Ever inventive and not to be out done, the European companies patented the process of creating soybean lecithin.

Soy lecithin is created from the gummy industrial hexane extracted soy oil waste product. It's full of chemical solvents, and pesticides, is bleached to a more appealing color and is marketed as Healthy Soy Lecithin to unsuspecting consumers worldwide.

Their shrewd hired gun scientists brewed up thousands of uses by 1939.  You are seeing these products everyday in your supermarket, particularly in the Natural Food Section, where you can pay a premium price for toxins!

We have the European initiative & genius to thank for Soy Lecithin being in our food supply for over 100 years and others to thank for it being unavoidable in processed foods and in things that you would never imagine, including Organic.

You see, we have the USDA Organic Certification to thank for that.  Currently the USDA allows around 275 synthetic chemicals in the production, manufacturing, processing or end   "organic"  product.

If there is no organic equivalent for toxins such as Soy Lecithin, then it can magically be called Organic.  So if there is no organic Mercury, Mercury and anything else can also be included in USDA Organic products.  In fact, the duplicious USDA is also pushing Organic Standards to include GMO!

Not exactly natural is it?  And no labeling requirement showing those chemicals, so there's no way of knowing which chemicals you're buying!  By accident or design?

Phospholipid Level Comparisons

Egg Yolks  have 30% phospholipid levels, free range have substantially more than industrial eggs

goat & sheep milk  have phospholipids levels of 30-50% depending on the species, feed and season

Cow milk  around 20%+, if they're fed slop those numbers are drastially reduced

Buffalo milk  30%+ but it's not readily available and they run pretty fast

Human Breast Milk  32%

Camel milk  around 35% and not readily available in US markets

Soybean oil  ranges from 1.48 to 3.08%, ridiculously low isn't it?  Yet they brag!

Other vegetable oils   have around .05%, pathetically low and not considered  healthy oils

So, how did Soy measure up in Phospholipid Levels when comparing itself to essential nutrients of real foods?
 

Soy Lecithin Today

Almost all phospholipid supplements are soy based, some are bovine.  Read the labels or wouldn't  Raw Goat Milk be a much healthier choice?  I drink it daily!

Soy lecithin is insidious, it's used as an emulsifier to keep water & fats from separating in processed food like substances such as margarine and other hydrogenated products.  It's in peanut butter, candies, chocolate, dressings, teas, cereals, ice cream, artificial coffee creamers, infant formulas, mayonnaise, and just about anything you can think of.

"Contains Soy"  is found on many products because even trace amounts of soy protein can trigger severe allergic reactions and minute traces remain in all soy products, even fermented.

Personally, my dollars don't vote for anything that has Soy in it.  I've stopped buying many different organic products because someone convinced them to slip soy lecithin into their product.

Wny not take the time to send them a later telling them why you won't be buying, and why you'll do your best to spread the word?  Just because today your favorite product doesn't have it, doesn't mean that tomorrow or next week or next year that they wont slip it in.  I find it in Organic Teas!  Now, why does an emulsifier need to be in tea?


Soy's Environmental Destruction

If you're using soy for sustainability or environmental reasons, you have made the wrong choice. There is nothing more environmentally destructive than Soybean plantations.  The world wide figures for soybean plantings keep rising, are spoken of in the millions of acres and are truly unfathomable.

The US, Brazil and Argentina count for 80% of the world wide soybean production.  Brazil has taken the lead over the US since about 2004.  80% of the global soybean crop is used for animal feed, remember it's the meal left over after the oil has been extracted.  South America ships 60% of it's GMO soy to Europe for animals that Europeans will eat, including all of the pesticides in the soy.

US Soy Production

Soybeans  78.1 million acres, with 12.5 million just for Soy Bio Diesel.  95% of all soy is GMO.
Corn  
88.8 million acres of which about 90% is GMO
wheat  
53.83 million acres, The USDA is considering GMO wheat

Can you begin to imagine the multiple, toxic pesticides associated with the GMO and what those millions of acres could be planted in instead?

Here are but a few examples of what 1 acre produces:  


corn  
18 gallons of oil~ GMO
cottonseed  
35 gallons oil ~ GMO
soybean   
48 gallons oil~ GMO
Hemp seed 
1,800 gallons + 6,000 lbs high protein flour & no pesticides required for hemp
Palm  
635 gallons
Music garlic  
13,400 + lbs

South American Soy

While the Amazon is the world's largest rain forest it is also the home to about 25 million people including many indigenous tribes.  The Amazon region is as large as the 48 US states, touches eight South American countries and represents about 40% of the total land mass in South America.

Ranchers and land squatters are driving Amazonian deforestation to satisfy that insatiable demand for soy.  Soy plantations push traditional farmers further into the forest, destroying more rain forests and transitional forests.

Most of the soy is exported to feed meat and dairy animals, who are not biologically equipped to eat grains.  Soy is also included in many  dog & cat foods,  causing further health disorders, as these animals are also not equipped to eat grains.

There are more than 105,000 miles of illegal roads in the Amazon.  There is the BR-163, known as the Soy Highway, running 1,100 miles deep into the Amazon.  Soy plantations blanket the landscape, wildlife destroyed, forests destroyed, entire indigenous populations displaced.  Just fleets of John Deere combines, illegal roads, pesticides & GMO.

The indigenous Amazonian Indians have been protesting for years, unheard by the world, and massacred by their governments or Ranchers.  Activists face intimidation at best or death because of Agi Industry.

Why Bacteria Are More Intelligent Than Antibiotics

There is a reason for everything in the ecosystem, good bacteria is a part of that healthy ecosystem and is needed to kill off pathogenic bacteria.  It's a battle of good bacteria and bad bacteria.

You become ill when your ecological system is imbalanced by your friendly bacterial residents losing ground to the more aggressive pathogenic bacteria.  As your body responds and tries to dislodge the invading pathogenic bacteria you show symptoms such as fever, chills, diarrhea, upset stomaches.  These are important, natural symptoms that your body is trying to fight off an infection.

You have two choices at this point, one is  traditional medicine  the other is conventional, Western methods which use pharmaceuticals.

It's at this point that many of you take the  "conventional wisdom"  option and go to your modern doctor who may determine that you have a bacterial infection, he should test you, but he'll probably just guess.  He will give you antibiotics for a bacterial infection.  Just in case.

Important Information Before Taking Antibiotics:

   *  Have you been tested to ensure that it's a bacterial infection?
   *  Make sure you discuss the antibiotic risk factors with him.
   *  Be comfortable knowing the relationship of bacteria and antibiotics.
   *  Discuss any dangers of antibiotic use.
   *  Did you know that Antibiotics can cause a yeast infection which require more drugs.
   *  Discuss the dangers of MRSA and antibiotic resistance with him.

At any rate your doctor's best effort is probably to prescribe a one size fits all antibiotic to kill off the bacteria, that you may or may not have if he didn't test you.  When that doesn't work, he prescribes another and another and another, each for a 10 day series, sometimes longer.

Sadly, he may eventually just wring his hands and say there's nothing else he can do.   He's right.  There is nothing else that he can do, but that doesn't mean that you are without many options.

Pathogenic Bacteria and Antibiotics:

In an attempt to destroy all bacterial infections antibiotics were created, however they can not selectively kill only the bad bacteria.  Antibiotics are indiscriminate, they kill off the weaker bacteria too, often this is the beneficial bacterial that your body needs to keep the more harmful bacteria in check.

When the beneficial bacteria is destroyed this enables the antibiotic resistant bacteria to replicate without competition from the beneficial bacterial.

Whatever was making you sick before is still bothering you, but now you are also faced with antibiotic risks and the risks of long term antibiotic use.   The antibiotics have caused an imbalance to your body because the antibiotics have also killed the friendly bacteria, creating a bacterial imbalance.

Eventually the more pathogenic bacteria end up resistant to antibiotics.  When normal antibiotic use doesn't completely destroy the bacterial infection, then your body is really out of balance.

Bacteria are a highly intelligent and adaptable life form, like all life forms their goal is to survive.

Some bacteria are naturally immune to antibiotics and others quickly adapt a resistance in order to survive.

Through pharmaceutical use we have created highly adaptable, antibiotic resistant bacteria, they do this through evolutionary trial and error.

Bacteria create new generations 500,000 faster than humans
replicating every 20 minutes.

The pathogenic bacteria become stronger and more resistance to an increasing number of antibiotics, more potent, more dangerous and creating body imbalances that are more difficult to restore.

Factory Farms Use 29 Million Pounds of Antibiotics

North America's factory farms and 125,000 CAFO's with 2 billion confined pigs, cows and chickens used 29 million pounds of antibiotics in 2009.  This is a dangerous practice of forced medication to every American consumer, that needs to be banned.

These industrial factory animals are fed low doses of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent infection.  The antibiotics are then in the meat and even in the crop fertilizers.

In spite of this excessive use of antibiotics in agriculture research published by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment reports growing antibiotic resistant pathogens in factory livestock animals.  The great concern and importance of this is that the antibiotic resistant pathogens pass on their acquired adaptability creating more untreatable superbugs.

Who hasn't read the awful stories about bacteria and antibiotic resistance?  And the tragic stories about people that get flesh eating bacteria, necrotizing fasciitis, or believe that they may have flesh eating bacteria symptoms, and then discovering that antibiotics are powerless.

These are horrific true stories that can happen to anyone.   MRSA is a very serious, life threatening aggressive, drug-resistant staph infection.  MRSA resists antibiotics.

Bacteria Are Communicative

Back to bacteria.  Bacteria also communicate their survival skills with other bacteria, they exchange antibiotic resistance information, teaching other bacteria how to resist, avoid and override antibiotics.  Isn't nature amazing?

Bacteria share their information to resist pharmaceuticals via a mechanism of copying the resistant bacteriums DNA, thus passing the resistance onto the next generation of bacteria.  The next generation of bacteria has learned from past generations and is now more efficient on how to over throw any pharmaceutical drugs thrown at it!

If that weren't bad enough, bacteria also emit pheromones that attract other bacteria to them to share more information against fighting antibiotics that would threaten their survival.

Almost in anticipation of new antibiotics, bacteria also develop resistance to antibiotics that they have never encountered.   Countries that have cut back their antibiotic usage have found that bacteria can also forget the information they have learned.  Without antibiotics to resist they begin to lose the ability to resist antibiotics, thus keeping them effective for true life saving emergencies.

Natural Therapies

Holistic practitioners have used natural and indigenous ingredients for thousands of years with incredible effects.  Most of the world today still relies on natural medicines, natural antibiotics, simple foods & herbs to help build and maintain strong bodies, healthy & protective immune systems.

Native medicines vary somewhat depending on local availability of herbs and foods but utilize similar concepts of keeping the body balanced and in harmony.  The balance is achieved by the environment provided with medicinal herbs that are considered cleansing, toning, warming, cooling, calming, supportive or stimulating to various body systems & organs.

Long before pharmaceuticals and antibiotics, staph infections were kept in balance using anti-inflammatory, heat clearing herbs internally and externally.  For the first several decades of the 20th century herbs such as Echinacea, Thyme, Garlic & Oregano were used.

When people appreciated natural herbal remedies, MRSA didn't exist.
 

So, What Happened?

Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin in 1928 by removing the natural penicillin that forms on certain molds found on fruit and grains.  That discovery was the beginning of the end for herbal antibiotic use in North America.  Penicillin was used for everything.

Even then, bacteria were just as intelligent as they are now, they adapt and replicate quickly and become antibiotic resistant.  So, different, stronger penicillin based antibiotics were produced which, in turn, enabled the bacteria to develop stronger bacterial strains.

While Penicillin was viewed as a panacea, it was destroying millions of friendly bacteria that our body requires for healthy digestion and a robust immune system.  Combating the infection is one aspect the other equally important part of healing is rebuilding a robust immune system and learning to monitor it carefully to keep it performing optimally.

Our body needs to replace the Natural Flora destroyed by the antibiotics and restore balance.  Native Flora by Native American Nutritionals   contains sixteen of the most important Homeostatic Soil Organisms in therapeutic amounts.  People today should always take probiotics, which are also found in many fermented foods such as sauerkraut and yogurt, if they take antibiotics.

Herbal Antibiotics

There are highly effective natural herbal antibiotics, the same ones that our ancestors used since ancient times.

How are the effects different with herbs than antibiotics?

Remember that while synthetic antibiotics are targeted to specific bacteria, in reality they are non discriminate and will also kill the beneficial bacteria.  Many of the natural herbal antibiotics are heat clearing and are effective in helping the body combat both bacterial and viral infections.  While antibiotics are ineffective against viruses.

Cornell University Professor Paul Sherman found thirty common culinary herbs and spices were highly effective and either killed or stopped growth of at least 25% of food poisoning bacteria.

 

Cornell University Results

100% killed by::   garlic, onion, allspice, oregano
90 to 75% killed by:   thyme, cinnamon, tarragon, cumin, cloves, lemongrass, bay leaf, capsicums (hot peppers), rosemary, marjoram, and mustard
72 to 50% killed by:   caraway, mint, sage, fennel, coriander, dill, nutmeg, basil, and parsley
48 to 25% killed by:   cardamom, pepper, ginger, anise seed, celery seed, lemon or lime juice


Essential Oils Against MRSA

According to  Univeristy Of The West Of England in Bristol   research from 2008, they confirmed that small amounts of Mediterranean Oregano oil was a more potent antimicrobial than the 18 pharmaceutical drugs that they compared it to!  They believe it to be effective against MRSA

Georgetown University, Cornell University, and the University of Tennessee   have concluded that oregano oil to be a potent, natural rival of antibiotics such as Streptomycin, Penicillin, Vancomycin, Nystatin, and Amphotericin.

Personally, I never use antibiotics, but find numerous uses for essential oils for myself and animals.  One of my favorites essential oil blends is  Antibacterial   It's great to diffuse in stuffy rooms, offices or where mold is present, sick rooms, car pools, schools.  Also beneficial diluted in massage oil for topical application.

It is a 100% natural essential oil blend of Grapefruit seed, Eucalyptus, Oregano, Tea Tree, Cinnamon leaf, Lavender, Frankincense, Rosemary, Geranium, and Ginger.

This gentle aromatic blend has helped on such a wide range of seemingly unrelated issues, from a face swollen due to a tooth abscess, to a case of huge edema swollen scrotum that the vet was unable to identify yet alone remedy, to numerous skin issues, to soften a pig's skin and human baby eczema.  It has a pleasing herbaceous aroma and is very gentle & soothing.

One research project at the   University of Manchester, in England, has shown that just Eucalyptus and Tea Tree oils can KILL live Tuberculosis cells in just 40 minutes.  Do you know of anything synthesized that can approach those incredible results?

Essential oils  (Aromatherapy) effects the neurochemistry of the brain and can help to clear sinuses, free congestion in the chest, relax, invigorate and produce changes in emotional and mental behavior.   Even subtle, undetectable aromas can produce significant results within your central nervous system.

Essential oils could kill the deadly MRSA hospital 'superbug', scientists have claimed at the University of Manchester.  Researchers found three of the oils, usually used in aromatherapy, destroyed MRSA and E.coli bacteria in two minutes.

They suggest the oils could be blended into soaps and shampoos which could be used in hospitals to stop the spread of the MRSA superbug.  Hospital acquired infections in the UK, such as MRSA, kill an estimated 7,000 a year.   US hospital infection deaths are 99,000 yearly.

Dr Peter Warn, who carried out the research, said:   "When I tested the oils in the lab, absolutely nothing grew.  Rather than stimulating bacteria and fungi, the oils killed them off."

The University team then tested 40 essential oils against 10 of the most infectious agents found in hospitals, including MRSA  (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus).  Two of the oils were found to kill MRSA and E.coli almost instantly, while a third was found to act over a longer period of time.

Dr Warn says the essential oils could be used to create much more pleasant inhalation therapies - which he said were likely to have a much higher success rate than the current treatment, which is only effective in around 50% of cases.

Jacqui Stringer, clinical leader of complementary therapies at  Christie Hospital in Manchester,   instigated the oils research.   She said:   "Our research shows a very practical application which could be of enormous benefit to the NHS and its patients.  The reason essential oils are so effective is because they are made up of a complex mixture of chemical compounds which the MRSA and other super bug bacteria finds difficult to resist."

"The problem with current antibiotic treatments is that they are made of single compounds which MRSA relatively quickly becomes resistant to, so treatment is only successful in around 50% of cases."


NOTE:  Happy Tails never uses pharmaceuticals except for anesthesia during surgery, we also never have bacterial infections, not us and not our animals.
 
              

How Factory Farms May Be Killing Us

A report from the CDC reveals the grave dangers of antibiotic resistance and says factory-farmed animals are a big contributor.
 
Photo Credit: Michael Zysman
 
 
 What would our healthcare system look like if we couldn’t perform surgeries, administer chemotherapy, replace joints, treat diabetes?
 
 It would be the end of modern medicine as we know it. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control warns we could be headed toward that very future. 
 
Antibiotics revolutionized medicine in the 1940s, saving millions of lives over the last 70 years. But during that time bacteria have evolved to become resistant to certain antibiotics.

 The more antibiotics we use, the quicker resistance builds up. This has deadly repercussions.
In the report, “ Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013,” the CDC estimates (conservatively) that 2 million people in the U.S. get antibiotic-resistant infections, and 23,000 die from them every year. 

In addition to the loss of life, it’s also costly. 

“In most cases, antibiotic-resistant infections require prolonged and/or costlier treatments, extend hospital stays, necessitate additional doctor visits and healthcare use, and result in greater disability and death compared with infections that are easily treatable with antibiotics,” the report states

. “Estimates vary but have ranged as high as $20 billion in excess direct healthcare costs, with additional costs to society for lost productivity as high as $35 billion a year (2008 dollars).” 

One of the biggest culprits is our overuse and misuse of antibiotics in medicine. “Research has shown that as much as 50% of the time, antibiotics are prescribed when they are not needed or they are misused (for example, a patient is given the wrong dose),” the report says.

 “This not only fails to help patients; it might cause harm. This inappropriate use of antibiotics unnecessarily promotes antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics are a limited resource. The more that antibiotics are used today, the less likely they will still be effective in the future.” 

But there’s another culprit—our feedlot system of raising animals for meat and dairy in "concentrated animal feeding operations" (CAFOs). 

“Antibiotics are also commonly used in food animals to prevent, control, and treat disease, and to promote the growth of food-producing animals,” says the report. 

The report states unequivocally: “The use of antibiotics for promoting growth is not necessary, and the practice should be phased out.” 

This should be a death blow to feedlot operations...if we’re smart. As the report explains:
Antibiotics are widely used in food-producing animals, and according to data published by FDA, there are more kilograms of antibiotics sold in the United States for food-producing animals than for people. This use contributes to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in food-producing animals. Resistant bacteria in food-producing animals are of particular concern because these animals serve as carriers.
Our industrial agriculture system produces a whole lot of corn, which we feed to cows and other livestock, and which does not make for a healthy diet. Throw tens of thousands of those animals together in a filthy environment of high-stress conditions, poor diet, and growth hormones, and you have antibiotic use that has grown so much it’s now a threat to human health and modern medicine. 

There's a lot at stake. As the report states:
Many of the advances in medical treatment—joint  replacements, organ transplants, cancer therapy, and treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis—are dependent on the ability to fight infections with antibiotics. If that ability is lost, the ability to safely offer people many life-saving and life-improving modern medical advantages will be lost with it.
So, what should we chose?

 More feedlot meat or more risks to public health and modern medicine? 

U.S. Department of Agriculture guts national organic law

Joint statement of Consumers Union, Food and Water Watch, Beyond Pesticides and Center for Food Safety
U.S. Department of Agriculture Guts National Organic Law; Circumvents Public Process
Decision makes it easier to continue use of artificial ingredients and substances, undermining integrity of organic label

In a move decried by consumer and environmental groups as severely weakening the meaning of the organic label, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week that the agency had changed the process for exempting otherwise prohibited substances (such as synthetics) in food that carries the “organic” or “made with organic” label. No public comment period was provided for the changes to this policy, which had been in place since 2005.

Under the federal organic law[1] and prior to Friday’s announcement, there was a controlled process for allowing the use of substances not normally permitted in organic production
because of extenuating circumstances.

 These exemptions were supposed to be made for a five-year period, in order to encourage the development of natural (or organic) alternatives. The exemptions were required by law to expire, known as “sunset,” unless they were reinstated by a two-thirds “decisive” majority vote of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) and include a public review. This is no longer the case.

The USDA’s recent decision now puts the burden of identifying exempted materials for removal largely onto environmentalists and consumers.  Under the new policy, an exempt material could be permitted indefinitely unless a two-thirds majority of the NOSB votes to remove an exempted (synthetic) substance from the list.   The new policy allows USDA to relist exemptions for synthetic materials without the recommendation of the independent board and outside of public view, as required by current law.

“The USDA’s decision minimizes all incentives for creating organic, natural alternative ingredients and lowers the standard for what consumers can expect behind the organic label. 

Allowing the USDA to automatically relist materials without the recommendation of the NOSB erodes the Board’s legal authority over materials decisions, a key to consumer trust in the organic label. The fact that the agency made this decision without any public input only adds to the violation felt by watchdog groups and consumers alike,” the groups said.

“Potentially allowing an indefinite listing of non-natural ingredients and requiring a super-majority vote to retire a substance after five years undermines the spirit of the law for how materials head into “sunset” or retirement. It is unfair to producers trying to produce a truly organic product and it is unfair to consumers trying to make meaningful purchasing decisions.

Simply put, this lowers the bar for much of the organic market.  We believe the USDA must reverse course and we intend to mount a fierce campaign to hold the agency accountable to the millions of Americans who expect more from the government—and the organic label.”


[1]  The Organic Foods Production Act 7 USC 6517 (e) Sunset Provision – No exemption or prohibition contained in the National List shall be valid unless the National Organic Standards Board has reviewed such exemption or prohibition as provided in this section within 5 years of such exemption or prohibition being adopted or reviewed and the Secretary has renewed such exemption or prohibition.

CONTACTS:
Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D.  914.378.2211, Consumers Union
Patty Lovera  202.744.0525, Food & Water Watch
Terry Shistar, Ph.D.  816.487.0022, Beyond Pesticides 
Lisa Bunin, Ph.D.  831.425.7121, Center for Food Safety

NOTE:  Personally, I believe the USDA organic certification to be diabolically worthless, whenever possible I reject it in favor of other organic certifications, which aren't ethically challenged.

Any produce you can buy directly from a natural farmer or grow yourself will go a long way to improve your food quality and safety.   A small greenhouse, containers, wall gardening can produce an enormous amount of superior quality real food.
                                     

9 Nastiest Things In The Meat You Eat

Meat contaminants are not likely to go away because they stem from Big Meat's desire to maximize profits by growing animals faster.
 
 
 
Recently, the US Department of Agriculture  announced plans to "relax" federal meat and poultry inspections, allowing meat processors greater leeway in policing themselves, already the agricultural trend.

Most food activists ask how standards could be relaxed any further when drug residues, heavy metals, cleaning supplies, gasses, nitrites, hormones and other unwanted guests contaminate the meat supply. They are almost all unlabeled.

Is seafood safer?

Dream on. Mercury-filled tuna is what inspired Fischer Stevens to make the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, about the Japanese dolphin-fishing industry when he  personally came down with mercury poisoning. The Chicago Tribune, New York Times and Consumer Reports have reported high mercury levels in almost all red lean and fatty tuna tested, in recent years.

Aquaculture is so festooned with antibiotics, veterinary drugs and pesticides that it can make factory farming look green. Commercial shrimp production, for example, "begins with urea, superphosphate, and diesel, then progresses to the use of piscicides (fish-killing chemicals like chlorine and rotenone), pesticides and antibiotics (including some that are banned in the U.S.), and ends by treating the shrimp with sodium tripolyphosphate (a suspected neurotoxicant), Borax, and occasionally caustic soda," says a  review of the book, Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood.

Meat contaminants are not likely to go away because they stem from Big Meat's desire to maximize profits by growing animals faster, squeezing them into small living spaces and keeping meat looking "fresh" on store shelves longer. Here is a list of the worst offenders.

1. Antibiotics
Most people know that antibiotics are part of the diet of US livestock to make them grow faster (feed is metabolized more efficiently) and prevent disease outbreaks in cramped conditions. But they'd  be surprised at how many animals destined for the dinner table have drug residues that exceed legal limits.

 Each week the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) finds dangerous antibiotic levels in animals including penicillin, neomycin and "sulfa" and "cipro" drugs, many from "repeat violators."

Excessive levels are also found of risky antibiotics like tilmicosin,  whose label tells the farmer, "Not for human use. Injection of this drug in humans has been associated with fatalities," and  gentamicin, which the FDA, American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and Association of Bovine Practitioners warn against using at all, except under rare circumstances. Unlike bacteria which antibiotics are supposed to kill, "No amount of cooking will destroy [drug] residues" says a  USDA Office of the Inspector General report.

2. Bacteria
You'd think with the antibiotic party going on, meat would be free of bacteria. You'd be wrong. Bacteria are rife in conventionally grown US meat including antibiotic-resistant bacteria also known as superbugs.

Almost half of beef, chicken, pork and turkey in samples tested from US grocery stores contained staph bacteria reported the  Los Angeles Times in 2011—including the resistant MRSA staph bacterium (methicillin-resistant S. aureus). Pork tested by  Consumer Reports in 2013 also contained MRSA and four other kinds of resistant bacteria.

Two serious strains of antibiotic-resistant salmonella, called Salmonella Heidelberg and Salmonella Hadar, forced recent recalls of turkey products from  Jennie-O Turkey and Cargill and chicken products from  Schreiber Processing Corporation. The resistant salmonella strains were so deadly, officials warned that disposed meat should be in sealed garbage cans to  protect wild animals. Even wildlife is threatened by the factory farm-created scourges. 

MRSA is no longer limited to healthcare settings, either. Researchers have found it on  Florida public beaches and on the top of unopened soft drink cans in a car that was  following a poultry truck.

3. Cleaning Products

Since antibiotics are no longer doing the job, meat producers are getting creative. They are trying radiation, gases, nitrites and even sprays made of  viruses called bacteriophages to quell the germfest.

 Still, nothing has caused such reflexive revulsion as the news last year that meat scraps once  earmarked for pet food were being resurrected as "lean finely textured beef" (LFTB) also known as Pink Slime. 

While the product looked like human intestines, what really turned the national stomach was that it was treated with puffs of ammonia to kill the bacterium E. coli. The public was also outraged that the Pink Slime was supplying the National School Lunch Program. Its main producer, Beef Products, Inc., announced it  was closing its production facilities, soon after the hoopla began.

But another cleaning product used in meat production is starting to make news: chlorine. According to the website MeatPoultry.com, "99 percent of American poultry processors" cool their "birds by immersion in chlorinated water-chiller baths." The European Union and Russia are duking it out with US trade officials over the chlorine-dipped poultry that few Americans realize they are eating.

4. Hormones

Americans eat another product every day that the European Union doesn't want: beef. The  European Commission's Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures says the U.S.'s hormone-heavy beef production poses "increased risks of breast cancer and prostate cancer," citing cancer rates in countries that do and don't eat US beef.

 As with "lean finely textured beef," aka Pink Slime, Americans are blissfully unaware of the synthetic hormones zeranol, trenbolone acetate and melengestrol acetate that are part of the recipe for production of US beef.

Melengestrol acetate, which is  not withdrawn in the days before slaughter, is 30 times more active than natural progesterone, says the European Commission. The powerful estrogenic chemical, Zeranol, is associated with  early puberty and breast cancers charges the Breast Cancer Fund, a group dedicated to identifying and eliminating the environmental causes of cancer.

"Consumption of beef derived from Zeranol-implanted cattle may be a risk factor for breast cancer," agrees a recent article in the journal  Anticancer Research. And trenbolone acetate, a synthetic androgen? It is on scientists' radar because it masculinizes fish. Too bad the USDA is not as cautious as the European Commission.

5. Mad Cow Disease

Many people have forgotten about Mad Cow Disease, but the risks are far from gone, especially because the government has obfuscated. In its final report about the first US mad cow, found in December 2003, the government said "all potentially infectious product" from the deadly cow "was disposed of in a landfill in accordance with Federal, State and local regulations."

But the  San Francisco Chronicle reported that 11 restaurants received the meat. Big difference. The sources of the Mad Cow Disease seen in a second and third cow  were never found but the government protected the identities of the Texas and Alabama ranches and let them  sell beef again within a month.

 Mad Cow and related diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease in deer are transmitted by prions which are "rogue proteins" that are not destroyed by cooking, heat, autoclaves, ammonia, bleach, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, phenol, lye, formaldehyde, or radiation, and they remain in the soil, contaminating it for years.

Because Mad Cow Disease could destroy the US beef industry, officials are quick to dismiss possible human cases. When suspicious cases arise, officials call them "spontaneous" illnesses, not from eating bad meat—even before tests are in.

6. Asthma-Like Drugs

There is another way factory farmers make animals grow faster besides antibiotics and hormones. The asthma-like drug ractopamine is used in 45 percent of US pigs according to Bacon Bits, the Canadian Pork Industry newsletter.

It's also used in 30 percent of ration-fed cattle and a growing number of turkeys. Unlike most livestock drugs, ractopamine is not withdrawn before the animals are slaughtered even though its  warning label says, "Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise special caution to avoid exposure. Not for use in humans. Keep out of the reach of children," and recommends protective clothing, gloves, eye wear and masks. 

Cardiac stimulating drugs like ractopamine cause stress and hyperactivity in animals and they are "not appropriate because of the potential hazard for human and animal health,” wrote researchers in the journal  Talanta.

 "Adding these drugs to waterways or well water supplies via contaminated animal feed and manure runoff," is also a concern, said David Wallinga of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in an interview, "because this class of drugs is so important in treating children with asthma."

Could ractopamine, added to the food supply in 1997 with little public awareness, be contributing to skyrocketing rates of obesity and hyperactivity in children?

7. Heavy Metals

The charge that heavy metals lurk in US meat doesn't come from food activists and consumer advocates—it comes from the USDA Office of the Inspector General. Its  2010 report found high residues of copper, arsenic and other heavy metals and veterinary drugs in beef released for public consumption including.

Animals with violative levels of metals, anti-parasite vaccines and medicines were knowingly released into the human food supply by inspectors, says the report.

Pesticides are also a disturbing gray area with only one of 23 high-risk pesticides tested for, the Inspector General's office said. The presence of arsenic in poultry made food news in 2011 when a government study found inorganic arsenic, “ at higher levels in the livers of chickens treated” with arsenic-laced feed than in untreated chickens.

This prompted  Pfizer to stop marketing its arsenic feed, 3-Nitro, since arsenic is a carcinogen in its inorganic form. Worries are not over, though.

The FDA still allows arsenic in poultry feed for weight gain and feed efficiency, to control parasites and to improve “pigmentation.” Other arsenic-laced feeds besides 3-Nitro remain on the market.

8. Carbon Monoxide

Why is the meat so red?

A few years ago, consumer groups tried to stop the practice of "modified atmosphere packaging" (MAP): exposing meat to carbon monoxide to keep it looking fresh. They weren't successful. Today as much as  70 percent of meat packages in stores are treated with carbon monoxide to keep the meat's red color (oxymyoglobin) from turning to a brown or gray color (metmyoglobin) through exposure to oxygen.

While the  meat industry compares meat losing its red color to the harmless discoloration of apples and says MAP keeps products affordable, both the  European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food and USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service have expressed concerns that the artificially hued food can appear fresher than it really is. Thanks to MAP, meat can stay red  an entire year!

Consumers do not need to worry about being deceived, said Ann Boeckman, a lawyer with a  firm representing major meat companies. "When a product reaches the point of spoilage, there will be other signs that will be evidenced—for example odor, slime formation and a bulging package—so the product will not smell or look right." That's a relief.

9. Nitrites and Nitrates

Ever wonder why processed meats stay on store shelves for so long, retaining their color and flavor and not spoiling?

You have the preservatives nitrite and nitrate to thank. Nitrite and nitrate may make money for food processors, but they are so linked to cancer (when they become "nitrosamines" in the human body) the  American Cancer Society tells people not to eat them.

After a 2008 report from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund that showed eating just one hot dog a day increased the risk of developing colorectal cancer by as much as 21 percent, there were calls to ban processed meat products, especially in schools.

Nitrite and nitrate are found in hot dogs, luncheon meats, bacon, Slim Jims and most processed and cured meats. Colorectal cancer is not the only cancer associated with nitrosamines, which have been carcinogenic suspects since the 1970s. They have also been linked, in scientific articles, to  lung cancerkidney cancer, stroke, coronary heart disease and  diabetes mellitus. If processed meats sound a lot like cigarettes, you are right. Cigarettes also contain  nitrosamines.

Meat contaminants are not likely to go away because they stem from Big Meat's desire to maximize profits by growing animals faster.

NOTE:  Don't be further deceived by the signs in meat departments of all supermarkets boasting  "Natural Beef"  or "natural bison" or natural any other meat.  What does that mean?  All it means is that it's possibly NOT a cloned animal, it was a living, breathing cow, chicken or pig.  It cleverly doesn't mention how the natural cow was raised, or the antibiotics, steroids, hormones and GMO Whiskey distiller grains it was fed.
 
Unless you buy your meat products directly from a rancher, as we do, or from an ethical Naturally raised or organically raised rancher, you ARE buying CAFO garbage, unfit for consumption.
 

If there isn't a rancher near you, then consider trying  Grassland Beef.



Why Saying NO TO GMO Is Critical To Your Health and Your Animals

The good news is that you can Vote With Your Dollars and say a loud NO to GMO!  Tell them you're not buying their Frankenfood and pesticides.

When purchasing fresh natural fruits and vegetables, these labels will help you avoid GMO like the poison it is!   These labels are for US markets, if anyone has information for other markets, it would be helpful to other readers.

Conventional Food Labels,  grown with herbicides, pesticides and harmful fertilizers, have four digits on their label and start with the digit 4.  Such as 4922.

Organic Food Labels,  are five digits and starts with number 9, such as 99222.  You can feel safe to grab all foods with this label,  it's organic and safe to eat or serve to your family and animals.

Genetically Modified Labels, start with the digit 8, as in 89222.  This is important to know as it clearly identifies the product as GMO.  You can drop it and run!  Don't forget to tell the supermarket manager why you won't buy GMO.  I find managers are interested and more than concerned about what consumers want.  They will not continue to stock their shelves with products that consumers reject.  If we are to reclaim our health, we must reject GMO.

50 harmful effects of GMO

You can also get a free   NO GMO Shopping Guide  to print and distribute to family and friends.  This guide will help show the hidden forms of GMO in conventional packaged foods.  GMO ingredients are in thousands of everyday foods.

Stores aren't obligated to tell you if fruits or vegetables have been genetically modified, or which packaged foods have GMO ingredients, and very few store do!  Although there are a growing number of ethical retailers who are committed to informed choices when it comes to GMO products.   Here is a   List of Retailers  by state that endorse The Non-GMO Project to ensure the sustained availability of healthy natural foods and non GMO options.

Like ice cream?  Check other ingredients but   Ben & Jerry are against GMO and have dedicated their Something Fishy ice cream to that cause.

Have fun shopping and please spread the word against GMO!

Are Americans Apathetic Or Ignorant?

Answer:  I don't care and I don't know.  Seriously, as a nation, we have become lazy and far too trustful that the  "authorities"  will always tell us the truth.  The things that are done in our name are against the wishes of many Americans, we need the world's help on the important issues.

Europeans must easily question our sanity.  Thirty countries, including Australia, Japan and all European countries have banned or have significant restrictions on GMO's.  The US FDA continues to protect corporations rather than humans, based on studies created by the very same companies who profit from the sale of GMO's.  We live in a twisted, corrupt world.

Here are some of the  Dangers Of GMO

  
GMO Defensive Shopping List Examples There are currently seven food crops that have been genetically engineered:

   *  Soy  another dangerous food
   *  Corn
   *  Cottonseed
   *  Canola
   *  Hawaiian papaya
   *  Zucchini
   *  Crook neck squash

This means avoiding anything with Soy or Soy lecithin found in many chocolate, teas, thousands of products.

Corn Syrup, Corn Sugar or High Fructose Corn Syrup found in thousands of everyday foods.

Canola oil is used in many snack foods and in frying.


Some Foods That May Have GM

Engineered Poisons are found in common everyday foods such as, infant formula, salad dressing, bread, cereal, hamburgers and hotdogs, margarine, mayonnaise, cereals, crackers, cookies, chocolate, candy, fried food, chips, veggie burgers, meat substitutes, ice cream, frozen yogurt, tofu, tamari, soy sauce, soy cheese, tomato sauce, protein powder, baking powder, alcohol, vanilla, powdered sugar, peanut butter, enriched flour and pasta and hundreds of things that you would never suspect.




Five Simple Ways To Say NO to GMO!

Soy 91% + of all  Soy is GMO

   *  Chocolates use soy lecithin
   *  Many herbal teas have soy lecithin
   *  Mayonnaise
   *  Breads use soy flour
   *  Snack foods
   *  Cookies, Cakes, Candies
   *  Syrups
   *  Shakes use soy protein concentrate
   *  Formulas use soy milk
   *  Vegetable oils use soy oil

Today, it's virtually impossible to find food without some type of Soy in it.    US Consumers Have Been Given a False Sense of Security about the Safety of Our Food Supply

Corn 90% + of all corn is GMO

   *  Avoid high fructose corn syrup, now going through a deceptive name change to Corn Sugar, found in everything such as ALL American sodas, cereals, cookies, candy, salad dressings, spaghetti sauces, and 1000's other products!
   *  Sauces and baked goods use cornstarch, dextrose and maltodextrin
   *  Vegetable oils use corn oil
   *  Breads, tortillas, corn chips use corn flour
   *  Foundin dog and cat food, horse feed, chicken food

Canola 90% + originally considered an industrial oil from Rapeseed
   *  Fried and baked products use canola oil

   *  Most restaurants use Canola oil

Cotton and Cotton Seed Oil 83% + ( not considered an edible crop)

   *  Crisco
   *  Chips and fried snacks use cottonseed oil

Fortunately, there is no GM popcorn on the market, nor is there blue or yellow GM corn at this time.  GM sugar beets are now GMO and found in many cereals.

Craigslist and Animals For Sale Could Result In Animal Torture


NOTE:  This was my comment on the petition below:

Craigslist for cars, electronics or garden tools is great, there is an exchange of products, or services, for money. The motive is clear and transparent. Using CL as a medium to attract a permanent, responsible and loving home for a living creature is not good. There is too much instant gratification, whim & unaccountability. What better place could there be to buy an animal to abuse?

As a registered Non Profit Rescue & Shelter I would never consider using Craigs as a medium, although I know some who have done so successfully. We require adoption applications, home checks, references etc. Most abusers will not participate, tolerate or survive this level of such close scrutiny. 

I believe there should be a strong warning of potential problems before anyone posts an animal on Craigslist. I'm not optimistic that all other rescues exercise such caution.

Toni - There's a new petition taking off on Change.org, and we think you might be interested in signing it:

Justice for Puppy Doe: Tell Craigslist to Help Stop Violence Against Pets

By Joyel Ennis
Boston, Massachusetts
This petition will be sent to Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist's CEO. 
On August 31st 2013, a young, small, female dog named ‘Puppy Doe’ was found brutally tortured in a Quincy, Massachusetts park, and we were all left wondering who could let this happen to any animal. The dog’s injuries were so violent and severe that the only humane thing to do was to euthanize her. She had been starved, burned, stabbed, and limbs pulled from her joints in what’s been described as a “medieval’ style torture.
It was later determined that the original owner of the dog had to give her up due to breed restrictions. This owner decided to put the dog, named Kiya, up for adoption on Craigslist. Craigslist is often a go-to source for animal abusers looking for victims because it is anonymous and there is no accountability or screening process like regular shelters and rescue groups provide. I'm asking Craigslist to ban all of these re-homing posts, or only allow registered shelters and rescues to post adoptable pets so it is never again a part of tragedies like what happened to Puppy Doe.
The before and after pictures of "Puppy Doe" speak for themselves. How many more times does this have to happen before Craigslist stops allowing people to give their pets away to strangers without any background checks or accountability? They already prohibit the sale of these animals, so I want them to update their policy to not allow the re-homing of pets by anyone not working for a registered shelter or rescue group that is able to conduct background checks to make sure animals are placed in loving homes.
I'm passionate about this cause because no animal should have to suffer anything close to what 'Puppy Doe' endured.  I grew up in Quincy, Massachusetts and remember playing at the playground where Puppy Doe was found. I'm also a passionate dog lover, and mom to a cocker spaniel/dachshund mix named Nugget. I’ve tested the Craigslist platform since this horrendous incident and there are no warnings whatsoever on the ‘Pets’ section about the dangers of posting these re-homing ads. These are breathing, feeling, loving animals we’re talking about, not old sofas or televisions -- we need to challenge Craigslist to do better by adopting a new policy that protects these vulnerable animals.
It's beyond words that this sweet, innocent dog, that once knew love had to suffer this violent, evil fate. If "free to a good home" style pet ads were banned, there would be some justice in Puppy Doe's name knowing that another pet will never suffer such violence as a result of being dumped on Craigslist.
I have been gutted since the moment I heard about Puppy Doe, and recalled hearing about the "dog serial killer" who tortured dogs he collected off of Craigslist last year, along with other countless horror stories. Also, we must not forget the story of the notorious Boston 'Craigslist Killer' murders which led Craigslist to ban the "erotic services" section on their site. 
I believe strongly that this petition is an effective way to make a difference. I will take it as far as it can possibly go to make sure Craigslist updates its policy to not allow any re-homing of animals through its site unless done by proper shelters and rescue groups.
To Puppy Doe: Rest in Peace sweet angel girl, and know that there are thousands of people who love you and are seeking justice.
Please, take a moment out of your day to sign.