Monsanto’s Agent Orange

This photo is really hard to look at–but the discussion needs to continue until the evidence overcomes the marketing savvy of the chemical industry, and specifically Dow and Monsanto...which don’t want to own their legacy.

These photos document the toxicity of chemicals and how extremely devastating they are to the human body.

So…Dow Chemical now wants to make it even more toxic…and the brain-dead FDA will not think of the consequences, only the $$$ to be made.  Here’s a petition to stop its approval.

 

Canadian assault on unions

Here is the latest version of the Canadian gov’t assault on unions….the nurses assert that it is taking away their right to strike.

If you recall in my previous post, they were going after the teacher’s unions, as well.

 

Real Everyday Sexism

The New Yorker also has this up on a brief film on switched roles in sexism.  Warning:  There is an assault scene that may trigger.

I agree with the writer that it doesn’t present any sympathetic women, and that is problematic because then it diminishes the powerful message as being real.  It does not take into account that men have been assaulted, too.  They missed a teachable moment on that.  The assaults are targeted towards those that are vulnerable.  And the thing is–any of us can be vulnerable at any point in our lives….and society has yet to recognize that and be proactive with bullies.

The video here:

The Last Independent TV Channel in Russia

needs your help.

Be sure to click on the link to Julia Ioffe’s piece.  In it, she has a link to this:

Note the armed forces at the Crimea voting places–more evidence that this vote was not what the people of Crimea truly want.

And the link to Joshua Yaffe’s report has this:

In Russia, the will of the state is expressed with signals of varying subtlety; the invocation of “national traitors” is among the less oblique examples of the genre. A new Web site called predatel.net—the word means “traitor”—has recently launched, featuring a list of public figures that the site’s anonymous creators deem to have betrayed Russia, whether by criticizing the annexation of Crimea or by supporting Western sanctions. As the site’s short manifesto puts it, “We believe that Russian citizens who insult our soldiers and who cast doubt on the need to fight neo-Nazis are traitors, no matter whether they are talented journalists, writers, and directors.” The site has a form for users to “suggest a traitor.”

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Holy crap.  The Salem Witch Hunt on steroids.  Label someone  a “witch” on the internet, where the accused has little access to protest their innocence…or put forth a differing point of view without being labeled a “traitor”…pfft. Cowards.

Weak arguments attack the person (Ad Hominem).  Strong arguments attack the idea.

I found a news piece on Alexi Navalny’s sentencing hearing:

 

Finally, the link to Irina Kalinina has this:

Dmitry Kiselyov, probably the single most influential person in the Russian mass media, considered by many as the Kremlin’s chief propagandist, provides another distinctive voice on Russian television. He is best known in the West for his idea that the internal organs of gays were not fit for donation and, more recently, for his reminder that Russia could turn America into “radioactive ash.”

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…and he calls the Ukraine people’s fight to keep their independence, a “mass psychosis”.  Seriously.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free home in Canada

…all you have to do is buy some land to put it on and find some way to move it….but the cost for the place is $0.  Can’t beat that!

Now some enterprising person could help a homeless person by arranging for this house’s transference to another plot of land.  The First Nations people could use it.  Battered women could use it.  The list could go on…

Chile Earthquake

The death count is at six this morning after an 8.2 earthquake in Chile.   Comfort to those of you affected by it.  If you recall, there was another devastating earthquake in 2010, also with a tsunami.

Knowing that fracking has been tied to earthquakes, and Chile’s previous earthquake was equally devastating…I searched for any correlation.  Here’s what I found.

According to a study published in the world renowned Science Magazine in July 2013, areas subjected to extensive DWI activities are especially prone to damaging earthquakes, triggered remotely by large, natural quakes. Since 2009, Oklahoma has recorded 40 times more earthquakes than in the last 30 years. The largest, at 5.7 magnitude in November 2011, has been tied to wastewater injection and an 8.8 M earthquake in Chile.

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(italics mine)

Evidence that fracking has come to Chile here:  oilprice.com/Finance/investing-and-trading-reports/Fracking-has-Come-to-Chile.html

(not linking to it for obvious reasons)

All about the Benjamins…nothing about the serious consequences to the Earth, water, people, and animals.

Awesome Flash Mob in Ukraine

(hat tip Diane Ravitch)  The Dish posted this awesome video of a musical flash mob in Ukraine–the equivalent of our First Amendment (Freedom of Assembly) in action.

There’s just something about the defiance with music from the soul…brought tears to my eyes.  If you recall, “Ode to Joy” was the only classical song my poor mother could get me to play, and until just recently, I could not play it, due to the mercury.

 

 

Olive Oil soap

First, I want to say that I get no advertising dollars for recommending products…with that said…

I saw a bargain for some olive oil soap….3 bars for $3.99, so I grabbed them.

I had been looking up biodegradable shampoo because the Dr. Bronner’s, which I usually use, left something of a coating on my hair.  And I didn’t like the idea of purchasing shampoo in plastic bottles, adding to the plastic bottle mountain heap.  I saw shampoo soap and wondered about its efficacy.  Memories of when my Mom used soap on my hair and the resulting mess came to mind…

So when I purchased the olive oil soap, I was planning on just using it for soap…but thought more about that shampoo soap, and decided what the hey, I’ll try it.  I didn’t have anywhere to go that day, so no biggie if my hair turned into a mess.

I was pleasantly surprised.  Not only was my hair clean, but soft, too.  The castile soap had left it dulled somewhat.

So I think I have a new shampoo…without the bottle.

Now if I can find it without stupid plastic wrap around it…

 

 

April Fools in Canada

Global News has this up on the April Fools pranks.

One of the best April Fools jokes I’ve seen was back in the 1970s when streaking was quite popular at sporting/public events.

The newspaper of the town I grew up in featured a front-page story of a marathon race.  They went to the trouble of taking pictures of signs they created to make it appear on the up-and-up.

The story went that the runners were going to “streak” …and since guys were wearing their hair long in those days (ooh lala), the paper quipped, “The girls will wear pink hats and the guys will wear blue hats so you can tell them apart.”    It when on to say there would be prizes awarded, etc.

In the end,  the joke is revealed.   Clever.