Common Dreams has this up on NASA scientist James Hansen leaving the agency to work actively against climate change.
What’s really depressing about this article is that Hansen has been telling Congress since 1988 that climate change was real and a growing problem.
1988….twenty-five freaking years ago….and we’re still dragging our feet? It is so depressing at all that has happened since then and how much better off we would be now if action had been taken at that time!
Daily Mail has this story up on a new fad. It states that it contains natural ingredients of seaweed and prickly pear to lose weight.
First, I hope that this story is untrue.
Secondly, seaweed (most likely kelp) can be beneficial, as it has been known for centuries by the Native Americans for the benefits. However, with the modern pollution of our oceans, it is likely to be contaminated unless they are carefully cultivated in less polluted waters, such as Norwegian kelp.
Thirdly, kelp does contain iodine, which is beneficial to the thyroid but can really mess up your thyroid and immune system if too high a dose is used. Losing 3-5 pounds in a week tells me that this is overdosing and will wreck the thyroid and adrenal glands. Believe me, as someone who is trying to heal those two important glands, you do not want to mess with them.
Lastly, if one sees a dramatic difference after taking kelp, then I would suggest testing the thyroid and adrenals for the person having low thyroid. It is one of the most overlooked deficiencies in this toxic environment today.
Like anything, too much of a good thing can cause as many problems as being deficient in them.
Be well, my friends.
(Taking time out for a quick post. Mom is doing better at the moment….but not out of the woods yet)
I asked permission to post this story of the recovery of a GAPS support group member:
Hi you guys
I wanted to encourage all newbies. My son age 4/12 was non verbal when we started this diet. He also had no social skills and he didn’t respond to his nameWe have been on the diet for two years now. It has been a rough road to say the least. Not only was he nonverbal he also had extreme behavioral problems. Taking out high candida foods, like fruit, nuts and honey helped tremendously. We also have a Laura V from the group Gaps practitioner and Naturopath ND helping us.
Eli had a wonderful day at the park yesterday. My heart was overwhelmed with joy watching him play with other kids. He saw a little guy his age. He walked over to him and asked if he wanted to play. The other kiddo said yes. They played on the swing, they played tag and ran around. The other kid saw a friend he knew at the park. The friend also played with Eli. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Not to long Eli would shy away from kids. He use to act so strange around them. Perhaps because he couldn’t speak
He is also talking using sentences, asking questions and making comments on things that he hears and sees. We thought we would never see this happen
To all newbies stay the course. This diet can be stressful at times but the benefits of healing is so worth it. Dr NCM talks about adding cherries on top if you don’t see healing within a year or so. We had to get additional help. In addition to the diet. Eli is on homeopathic remedies to address his faulty detox system, his over exposure to antibiotics and his chronic gut issues due to the meds that was given to him as a baby. My doc is in the process of becoming gaps certified. I will post his info as soon as that happens
Hugs
Reg~~~~~~~~
I can’t add anything to this. It’s just absolutely stunning how diet can impact one so profoundly. God Bless Regina for being the kind of Mom who acts on her intuition and asks questions until she finds the answer.
My nature calendar has the Sea Otter for this month’s animal. They are just too, too cute.
The article mentions that they are threatened by pollution. Here’s the National Geographic page on them–explaining in a little more detail.
~~A side note~ they had the link to the manatee/sea lion deaths on the National Geographic page, so I thought I’d post it, too. The poor manatees have been endangered for awhile–I used to vacation in the Sarasota, Florida, area, many years ago, and it was a problem for the manatees to get hit by boats, killing them or injuring them severely.
What this article doesn’t explain is how the cat feces is making its way to the oceans…is it the flushable kitty litter that enters the waterways? Is it trash that contains kitty litter being dumped in the oceans? It would be easier to address the problem if we knew the cause and made people aware of it.
I also think it is much, much more than the kitty litter. The mercury/heavy metal poisoning is a problem, too. And one has to consider that if they are finding prescription drugs in our water supply, it is likely to have made it to the oceans, as well. According to this, they have made it into the other bodies of water. More here.
Here’s a more up to date article on marine pollution. Would one say that selfish shellfishers are troublemakers? (sorry couldn’t resist).
As the article states, the sea otters help the kelp forests by controlling the feeding populations. Without kelp, we humans would be in serious trouble as kelp is a natural source of iodine and other minerals. The Native Americans would make trips to the oceans (if they were not along the coastline) to gather the seaweed because they knew of its value. Our thyroids don’t function without iodine.
(And that picture is just gorgeous, too)
Bhutan is the first country to go entirely organic. Good for them! Note that they see this as not only a practical idea, but they incorporate their spirituality in their reverence for nature. It’s not easy, as the article states, because it’s hard to reorient oneself to farming without chemicals. Chemicals are just too, too easy. It takes creative thinking and hard work to do the right thing.
<sigh> I wish the so-called progressive America did the same. (Remember when the United States used to lead the world?)
No, we’re not the leaders anymore….
…we’d much rather do stupid stuff like genetically engineer a life form and then persecute farmers into bankruptcy for using that technology unknowingly.
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In other environmental news, Canadian Prime Minister Harper is being urged to walk away from yet another trade agreement.
From the article:
The Australian government decided in 2011 it would stop including these rights and investor-state dispute settlement in its trade and investment agreements. Many countries, including South Africa and India, are rethinking their investment treaties because of the way corporations and law firms have abused them to undermine democracy and public policies globally. Several Latin American countries are cancelling their investment treaties for the same reason.
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Again, I ask, “remember when the U.S. used to lead the world….?” Why are other countries doing the right thing while America lists like a battered ship in the sea?
Environmental Working Group has a report up on the toxins coming out of the tap. (hat tip to common dreams).
Even in Silent Spring, Rachel Carson put forth the idea that science could “correct” the mistakes made with the science of chemical pollution…so it’s depressing, but not out of character for science to combat water pollution with…more chemicals. Chlorine is a poison (so is fluoride, but that’s for another blog).
Again, nature does it best with natural water filtration. Here is a report on natural swimming pools–water filtration is by the same idea–using plants and stones for the water to naturally detoxify itself.
More here. Aren’t these beautiful to look at as well as functional? Here’s more from Australia…crikey, they’re all over the place!
Here’s a site explaining natural water filtration in a teaching mode. It lays it out on how our zeal to tear down trees and pave the landscape has greatly interfered with the natural way of water filtration. It touches on the importance of beaver dams–how they were destroyed because they were implicated in floods, but they were actually contributing positively by aiding water filtration–another myopic view by scientists who didn’t understand the “orchestra” of nature. And who would have thought that flies have a positive impact? Not I.
And here is a site on filtering water for yourself (I’m not linking to it for obvious reasons): wilderness-survival-skills.com/how-to-make-a-water-filter.html
Finally, there’s this– an innovative showering system. Makes me smile–I’d feel like I were showering in a jungle, but what the hey. I’d think I’d rather go for a swim in the natural pool. Also, this would make more sense if you’re using a biodegradable soap, such as Dr. Bronner’s.
Lastly, all of this that benefits us also benefits the animals that inhabit this place with us.
Really, now, the conservative toadies for the oil companies reeeeeally need to come up with some new words besides: “Freedom”
“Liberty” , “way of life”, and this is a good one “our heritage”….to manipulate the public into doing things that are the opposite of what is in their best interests…
…since when is polluting water, land, and air part of our heritage??
If I recall correctly, the Native Americans lived here for over 10,000 years and one could drink from any stream, swim in any river, and eat fish from any body of water and not get poisoned from fertilizers, mercury, plastic, pesticides, nor herbicides….THAT, my friend, IS our heritage!
I’ve touched on this previously, but wanted to put out the links I’ve found about the connection between Celiac and dementia. This really hits home because of my Mom’s suffering, which I am more and more positive comes from undiagnosed Celiac.
This is an interesting link about how someone might have Celiac, but the symptoms are neurological, not in the gut.
From the site:
British clinician, Dr. Maios Hadjivassiliou, a world renown authority on gluten, reported in The Lancet that gluten sensitivity can be at times exclusively a neurological disease.2 In other words, people suffering from gluten intolerance can have absolutely no digestive symptoms but will have issues with brain dysfunction.
~~~~~~~~
This is my Mom, in a nutshell.
Here’s another short and sweet site with a connection. Note that it says that the Celiac diet only helped one patient. I would question that because the sample is too small and it doesn’t state what exactly the person was eating. I have actually seen sites and cookbooks that claim to gluten free and they had gluten in the recipes. And I would also want to know if the diet contained GMO food, which is also suspect at causing Celiac.
Another site here. Note that they say they saw a reversal of symptoms…nothing short of miraculous!
They often talk about how our compromised gut allows Candida (yeast) to get waaaay out of control, which also affects brain function. They talk about it here on celiac.com and a post here on the NY Times site –-these are very good descriptions on what we go through–it’s also a good description of heavy metal poisoning sufferers. Note IrishHeart’s description of holding her husband’s sleeves when they went out–that shyness/autistic-like symptom. Been there, done that…still have *those* days…
Another neurological affliction linked to Celiac is Ataxia–your balance is off and you look like you’re drunk (walking sideways) when you walk. People have been mistakenly diagnosed with multiple schlerosis when their symptoms were from Celiac disease.
Remember the teacher who wanted to carry a gun in school? Remember the constant movement of her eyes?
From the site:
About 80% have problems with their eyes, in which their eyes move involuntarily back and forth.
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Now look again at that video here. I would say she’s probably a Celiac and has heavy metal poisoning. (That will be $100 for a diagnosis. :p )
Once again, I am in awe of our miraculous bodies and how the body will constantly try to fix itself….if only given the proper tools of organic (gluten free) diet, clean air, clean water, and exercise….
Here is a well written story on a child with leaky gut and a mother’s recognition that the professionals don’t know what the hell they’re doing….
Thank God she found the cause of her son’s pain.
Eagle 
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