Category Archives: heavy metals

More bad news for orcas

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This is a disturbing report on our stupidity and carelessness and its impacting ecology, and specifically the orcas.

Here’s a Puget Sound indigenous group trying to help the orcas.

Of course, thinking of the west coast, my mind wandered towards the impact of Fukushima.  A member of the mercury support group has stated that she felt much worse after moving to the west coast.  She left after a year.

From the article:

Barrett-Lennard says the southern resident orca pod, which is found in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland, has lost seven matriarchs over the past two years, and he’s noticed a lack of vocalizations from the normally chatty mammals.

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More here.  This is even more sobering in detail.  There is an animated video of the radiation trail towards the United States and Canada.  Be sure to click on the Laura James video –a picture says a thousand words.  It made me nauseous looking at all the dead and dying sea stars.

They also make note that it is happening in Maine and New Jersey, so they question the Fukushima connection…but perhaps the radiation didn’t stop at the West Coast, but has traveled inland, as they say?

They also make note that the moose population is dying off–so much so that Wisconsin called off its moose hunt this past year.  The deer population, as I’ve blogged about, is suffering and dying, too.  And nobody questions GMO’s and their possible impact on these animals.

 

Understanding the gravity of NAFTA

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Idle No More has a post up on the far-reaching effects of NAFTA.  This is especially important because now we have NAFTA on steroids with TPP being fast-tracked through Congress.

Here’s an update on Blackfire.

More here.

From the article:

Though officials did meet with NGOs opposed to the mine, they accepted Blackfire’s take that protestors were out to squeeze money from the firm, says MiningWatch’s analysis of the emails.

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Of course….because the mining company execs see everything in $$, they think everyone *else* thinks as they do.  It is inconceivable to them that there are people who value the environment, their health, their children’s health, the Earth, etc.

Note how the company was unable to substantiate claims against Abarca.  It appears he was thrown in jail under false claims.

NAFTA, and I fear TPP, are all about taking power and control away from the local people.  It means losing their autonomy to decide what happens in their communities, as the mega million dollar lawsuit illustrates.

These trade agreements are not supportive of the democratic process, rather a dictatorial process.  How is this representation of taxpayers?

Agent Orange Corn

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Dow and Monsanto seem to be in a race to see who can be the most sociopathic.  Because only a sociopath can bioengineer corn so that they can poison the earth more, no matter at the cost to the ecology, humans, and animals.

The Center for Food Safety has a petition up to somehow get the spineless FDA to stop this depraved idea.  Please sign it–you never know, they just might feel the pressure for once.

Dealing with Celiac haters

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They have a good discussion going on at celiac.com on the “haters” who treat people with Celiac as whiners who should just eat whatever is put in front of them….never mind that it is poison to their bodies.

The comments are spot on–not exaggerating in the least about how hateful people are towards Celiacs–as if we asked to get this disease…

…note the comment that a doctor, a doctor, scoffed at gluten free diet as a hoax.  And a nurse did it, too.  No wonder I never got diagnosed by a *cough* medical professional.

On those rare occasions when I get to go out to eat, it is the rare restaurant (in my area) that has a gluten free menu or will make accommodations (gluten free bread, for instance).

I have been met with hostility from servers who couldn’t be bothered to find out if a menu item had gluten in it.  Not even when I asked each time she returned to the table.  I finally just had to pick off the ala carte menu and order mash potatoes (even though potatoes were not supposed to be part of my diet until I healed my gut with GAPS).

It happened the other night when I was in a diner and when I asked the owner about gluten free, she actually told me that another customer had asked about it, and requested the ingredient list for hamburger buns.  The customer actually fed the hamburger buns to her child!!  So…the restaurant owner, who obviously doesn’t know and doesn’t care about poisoning her customers, took it that the buns were safe for Celiacs.  She asked me what gluten was, and I had to explain it was wheat, rye, barley, and oats.  She suggested an entree of chicken.  There were two reasons I would not order it:  1.  Since she didn’t know and didn’t really want to be bothered with finding out about gluten, I wasn’t about to order anything more complicated than a burger without the bun.  2.  I eat chicken nearly every day….going out to eat is supposed to be something special–so yeah, I’m not going to eat more chicken.  Blech.

Another comment on the site spoke about:

As for the hostility of others, I sometimes wonder if it is because they know they need to change their diet but don’t want to, so they become resentful of those of us who do.

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I’ve wondered this, myself.  Once I started the GAPS diet, it still took me awhile to get it in my head that I was indeed a Celiac.  You might recall that I cheated for awhile with a snack that had wheat in it–a powerful draw to continue with something destructive.  And it’s still hard at times–favorite foods with gluten in them still make my mouth water.  But after a few times of cheating and becoming ill from it…yeah, you’re pretty much cured of cheating.  Nothing tastes so good that throwing it all up later  (or worse) makes it worth it.    Sticking to my diet is tough, so it is puzzling why others would be resentful…

Probiotics and brain function

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The more I learn about the gut and neurological health, the more amazed I am at the intricate workings of our miracle bodies…and how spot on Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is with the GAPS diet…

I’ve been all over the ‘net this morning, reading blog after blog on probiotics.  One linked to this post on the gut-brain-skin axis.

Some of this is over my head, but it appears that probiotics help reduce inflammation after a heart attack.

Here’s a good paper on the connection between probiotics and the brain.  It is so interesting that fermented food, like sauerkraut, can contain acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter.  Blows me away.

This blog has a recipe for GAPS yogurt.  Since I was very sensitive at first, I gave up on yogurt.  I tried making my own according to another member’s method of putting it in an electric skillet on low heat, but didn’t have satisfactory results.  It could have been that I didn’t use yogurt starter, but rather, used store-bought kefir.  I found out later that this brand, an expensive organic brand, was putting the live cultures back in after processing it.

Yeah, that’s not going to work.

I like her idea of using raw milk.  But since obtaining raw milk is a crime…I’ll have to go through the Mafia to get some.  /super snarky

She talks about using her food dehydrator for growing the culture, but I thought it might be easier to use a yogurt maker.  I looked at several brands, and they had automatic shutoffs at 6-10 hours, which is waaaay too short a time to allow the cultures to develop…but there was this one that follows GAPS, too.  Not having tried it, I’m not able to give any kind of review on its ease of use or reliability.

 

Remedies of nature

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First, the legal stuff:  Statements posted on this blog are for information only, and should NOT be taken as medical advice. If you need medical advice, you should seek it from those who are licensed to give medical advice. You are responsible for any decisions you make, or actions you take (or do not take).

(It is sooo stupid that I have to say that when I have had more harm done by licensed medical professionals than by non-professionals. Pshaw.)

Okay—I was doing research on herbs used to rid the body of xenoestrogens, and came across several helpful sites. (xenoestrogens are plastics/chemicals that match the body’s estrogen receptors, taking the place of the real hormones).

One of the sites mentioned the connection between xenoestrogens and breast lumps.  I had tried this product, Estrosense, many years ago, but stopped taking it because of an adverse reaction.  I was unaware of that I was full of mercury at the time, and since turmeric is sulfuric, it made me miserable….being that I was sulfur dominant from the mercury.

I tried it again the last two months, and had a successful go of it this time around.

And guys, if you think this is *just* a woman’s concern…think again.  Signs are out there that these stupid fake hormones are affecting men, as well.  So ixnay on the hormones-only-affect-women-bit.

More here on the connection to breast cancer and xenoestrogens.

Here’s a good blog on what to do to avoid them.  I think it is always better to avoid them in the first place rather than trying to remove them afterwards.

While doing that research, I came across a blood purifer using plants, called Kroeger blood toner.  I researched the ingredients, one by one, and found a fairly helpful site on herbs here.  It just never gets old discovering all the neat stuff that plants can do for us.  Like I’ve said a zillion times before–we’ll discover that all the stuff we called “weeds” were the cure for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc….

Milkweed being one of those undervalued plants….as shown by the site.  Now we see the damage that herbicides are doing through the chain of nature…first the milkweed, then the butterflies:

A major cause is farming with Roundup, a herbicide that kills virtually all plants except crops that are genetically modified to survive it. As a result, millions of acres of native plants, especially milkweed, an important source of nectar for many species, and vital for monarch butterfly larvae, have been wiped out.

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Monsanto, milkweed, and the monarch butterfly.  A 59% decline!!

Gah, I remember when we saw milkweed *everywhere* we went.  Now you’re lucky if you see a few plants scattered here and there.  Same with burdock.   Our dog rarely came home without burrs on him (this was back in the day when you let your dogs run loose.)

Nope…now we need manicured lawns with nary a weed on them.  Got to be perfect.

I used to allow a small (24 x 24) patch of my lawn go to weed…much to the irritation of my neighbors who thought of me as the local hippie of the neighborhood.  It.just.was.not.done.  It was like I was letting the whole neighborhood go to hell.  And the thing was–my little overgrown patch was off the road behind a line of private evergreens.  Only two neighbors could actually see the *jungle* (said with a grin).

Anyway….I’m all for allowing more manicured space go back to its natural habitat.

There’s a certain peace, tranquility, and restfulness when nature is allowed to be…nature.  There’s nothing like bending over to admire a plant when a butterfly comes floating by and lands on a plant near you….as if to say hello…

…and *thanks* for not messing with my nourishment and my home…

 

 

 

 

Enbridge allowed to go ahead in Canada

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Warrior Publications has a blog up on the ruling that it’s okay to allow a repeat offender access to its victims…

Part of the problem with the conditions set is that even though Enbridge must carry $950 million in insurance…one cannot replace what is lost with…money.  You can’t eat money. You can’t breathe money.  You can’t drink money.  It won’t make a bit of difference if you have billions upon billions of dollars if you are made ill by breathing particulate, eating food grown in polluted soil, or trying to cleanse your kidneys and liver with petrochemically poisoned water.

 

 

African Soul Fried Rice

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Michael Twitty has done it again with this blog on African Soul Fried Rice.  Sounds delicious.

I like the fermented aspect of the food.  I wondered if he means the bean from the locust tree…so I went looking and found this.

It’s considered medicinal, too….gotta wonder how much wisdom has been lost about our ancient remedies.  Thanks, modern medicine, for a bang up job of ignoring past wisdom. /snarky, for sure.

The locust beans are seen as a nuisance here…as is the dandelion.  We’ll discover, when it’s too late, that the things we thought were nuisances were healing plants to cure cancer, diabetes, etc.

Michael Twitty also has a blog up on some badass rice growers.  Yes, badass rice growers.  I *love* that they are bucking the system, the status quo of  Big Ag and getting the cold shoulder for it.  They are raising rice crops in unconventional ways that thwart the Ag profiteers who want to sell chemicals and bioengineered rice.  Heh.

On top of that, the way that they are raising it lowers the arsenic level in rice–very important to lower our exposure to heavy metals.

From the Washington Post article:

Thomet has unwittingly aligned himself with a small group of experimental U.S. farmers and hobbyists, probably no more than 50, who are breaking with a tradition that dates to colonial America. They’re rejecting paddy rice in favor of an increasingly accepted agricultural system that promises to increase crop yields while decreasing water use, chemical dependency and even the amount of arsenic in our grains.

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See, it bothers the status quo when you don’t play along with the technology-is-king mentality.  Using one’s brain is not allowed. :p

 

Can You Hear Me Now? **edited

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A self-fulfilling prophecy by AT&T.

This article must have been written by AT&T….or perhaps it’s *cough* nooz placed by their PR dept.

AT&T has failed to maintain the land lines in a way that we were accustomed to before the push for cell phones.

This article barely touches on the problems rural folks would face if land lines are phased out.  The service where I’m at is spotty at best.  It is in no way as reliable as land lines are.  I’ve wondered how many calls I’ve missed.  What if an employer tried to call for an interview and kept getting “service not available”?

The elephant in the room that the article fails to mention is the devastating effects of Electro-Magnetic Fields (EMF) on people.    As I’ve stated before, mercury poisoned folk are especially sensitive to them.  When I was really sick, I could not talk on a cell phone for any length of time without getting a migraine the next day.  I can now talk on them for longer periods, but knowing how it impacts me, why would I want to risk that exposure?

Mercola has an article on it here.

Links from the references —

Effects of EMF on rat brains

Cell phone effects on the young.

Europeans take stance on EMF technology.

The truth about wireless technologies.

Cell phones affect neuological and behavioral aspects of mice.

**edited to correct glaring spelling error. Stupid dyslexia.

We will not obey TPP

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Wisconsin, bless their little hearts, have drafted a resolution that they are a “TPP-free” zone.  The negotiations have been shielded from public scrutiny but the article states that bits have leaked out and…it’s scary as hell–a Monsanto lobbyist is leading the negotiations.

From the article:

Countries, including those in the European Union, could also find it increasingly difficult to ban, or even require the labeling of, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) if biotech companies determine that those countries’ strict policies restrict fair trade and infringe on the companies’ “rights” to profit.

To top it off, corporations would be allowed to resolve trade disputes in special international tribunals, effectively wiping out hundreds of domestic and international food sovereignty laws. Products labeled fair trade, organic, country-of-origin, animal-welfare approved, or GMO-free, could all be challenged as “barriers to trade.”

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It’s an attack on local autonomy….the right to decide what is best for your community.Good Grief, these corporations can.not.get.enough.profits.  Greed, greed, greed.