"All the World's a Stage We Pass Through" R. Ayana

Friday 31 July 2009

Elementary Blockading: Saving the Planet with Direct Action

Elementary Blockading

Saving the Planet with Direct Action

Do you really want to save the planet - or just talk about it?


So you want to know a little bit more about blockading? Well let’s have a look at the elements and aspects that have become part of the culture of blockading.

When most people think of blockading, they think about the front line action that happens at the particular forest area which is everybody’s concern, not realising all the support work that has happened before the blockade, the work going on away from the blockade site, the outside support, or the follow-up work involved in seeking a legal resolution.

We’ll start at the ‘frontline’ & look at the ‘whole picture’ later in the article.

Blockading - Front line action


* Media - To get a clear message out to the world a media liaison person, or group spokesperson should always be present at a blockade. It’s this person’s role to speak to media, hand out media releases, answer questions and assist media people such as TV crews.

* Transport - Transport to and from the protest site and at the site is essential. If you have a four wheel drive your vehicle will be very handy.

* Food - Good food is always a bonus and cooking and preparing food for the group is a satisfying job. Whether you are a gourmet chef, consider yourself to be handy in the kitchen or just want to cut up vegies you’ll be welcome. Being able to design meals for large groups of people and order foods are very useful skills.

* Structural Building - Structural support systems such as large tarp frames, kitchen benches, tripods etc are built with rope and dead limbs and tree branches (5 Star adult size cubby house style). Tying rope and wet weather camping skills are useful in this area of activity.

* Communications - Radio communications is used to communicate within the camp, from one camp to another, and to the outside world back to a telephone base. Radio comms help keep the group cohesive and informed and gives a sense of safety since there is a connection to essential services on the outside. Mobile phones can work, but in remote areas, they often don’t!

* Entertainment - Musicians, Story tellers, fire twirlers etc. always have a positive effect on the camp.

* Documentation

- Video is a great form of documentation as you can record exactly what’s going down, which can then be used for legal evidence (court cases etc), educating the public (documentaries, fundraising etc). You can also use the video camera as a tool of protection (it’s amazing how differently people behave when they know they are being filmed).

- Cameras are useful for the same reasons as videos except you can use the photographs for newspaper articles, flyers and pamphlets. A zoom lens is a particularly handy gadget.

- Written documentation can take the form of a media release which can be sent to radio, newspapers and TV stations. Communicating to different parties, such as state forests and the Minister for the Environment can take the form of handwritten letters and may be useful in court at a later time.

* Survival Basics - It’s important that someone ensures that there are always good supplies of fresh water and dry firewood available. This may entail organising people and vehicles to go of & fetch before supplies actually run out. Also crucial is the digging of a deep pit toilet, large enough to cater for many people for several days at least. Toilet paper, soap and hand washing water will also be needed.

* Tools & Gear - Blockades in the bush require tools and all kinds of equipment. Gear & tools are both expensive and difficult to replace when you are miles from the nearest town, it’s after midnight and you have until dawn to get ready. Keeping track of all tools and equipment, ensuring that they are safe and operational is essential if a blockade is to survive.

* Facilitation - More than likely at some time during the blockade there is going to be a group meeting (a circle) and this is when a good facilitator becomes very useful. A facilitator is some one who can keep the group to the topic, in order, clarify an agenda and help the group come to agree on resolutions. A timekeeper can help the facilitator by advising people when they are approaching the agreed time limit, whatever that may be set at.

* Legal - The ‘Police Liaison Person’ is nominated by the group and is a group representative, not its leader. The PLP should not be easily intimidated, should know the issues involved and the planned action. It is their job to keep communication between the police and activists running smoothly.

- Legal Observers are present at the blockade to support & assist all parties by acting as an ‘observer’ to events. With a good knowledge of the relevant laws, and usually clearly identifiable in white T-Shirts with the words “Legal Observer’ in red embroidery, Legal Observers have a similar effect on peoples behaviour as a video camera and increase the safety of an often tense situation.

- With their legal experience Legal Advisers can advise blockaders (& if necessary industry or forestry personnel) of their legal rights in relation to the situation as it happens.

The roles of Legal Observer and Legal Adviser can overlap or remain separate depending on the availability of lawyers & the scenario underway.

* Mediator - To mediate between two or more conflicting parties is to bring all to some agreement everyone will abide by, whether it be professional and/or personal. A mediator, someone who takes on this role, is always a bonus at a blockade.

* Child Minding - Often there are children at blockade camps. Child-minding can be an important aspect, as it can alleviate stress from parents and give structure and stability for children in high stress situations.

* Artistic - Whenever time permits, people can work on banners, mask making, kids’ workshops, costume making, sculptures, performances etc (Not to mention the inevitable forest song)

* Healing - Providing First Aid, giving massages, using counselling skills, being a good listener, an understanding of ointments & herbs, leading yoga/meditation groups(where time permits) and a variety of other healing skills is always great at a blockade. People inclined towards healing can help with upset emotions, assist people not to get into ‘burn-out’ situations and make for a healthier, more contented group.

http://www.forestnetwork.net/Images/katie1.jpg


Direct support to the blockade from outside

There is a whole range of ways you can support the people at the blockade without actually being there, such as:

* Sending food e.g. getting vegie shops & organic stores to donate or discount food, cooking yummy cakes and treats or just sending the basics

* making financial donations - hard cash is always needed & appreciated

* giving blankets and warm clothes

* writing letters of support

* taking people to and from the blockade

* arranging child minding facilities, for the day or longer periods, depending on your experience & expertise & places available for childminding

* If there is a suitable space, or you can create one, a place to give massages, counselling sessions, etc. to those coming in from or going out to the blockade will be appreciated heaps

* acting as a volunteer coordinator

* in high stress (safety) situations providing a ’safe house’ near the area or the closest town. This gives those on their way to or from a blockade a place to stay while in transit.

Contacting your local environment centre or group is normally a good start to any of these activities.

Work going on in other areas at the same time as the blockade


Office - The office of the local action group involved in the blockade is more than likely to be very busy at the time of the protest keeping other people and groups informed of developments, communicating with the blockade camp, phoning and faxing the media, political parties and affected bodies.

Things you can do include: phone answering, document faxing, drafting media releases, obtaining information, lobbying politicians, co-ordinating people, food & gear to the blockade, receiving & writing up reports of people returning, acting on requests by the blockade camp for items or action

Lobbying - Anyone can sit down and lobby by writing a letter of concern, phoning &/or faxing politicians, political parties and the so-called authorities.

You can also write Letters to the editor of local or the big circulation state and national papers.

Before you start though make sure you have the latest relevant info, understand the issues and know what it’s been agreed to push for. Your local environment centre or group will probably have a list of names and contact addresses and phone/fax numbers for relevant politicians e.g. Minister and Shadow Ministers.

Fundraising - Raising money obviously assists, providing the necessary cash flow to pay for major actions (Phone Bills #@$$$!%) but the other important objective achieved by fundraising is the publicity and awareness of the issues which is generated. Concerts are a great time to network & encourage new volunteers.

Volunteer Co-ordinator - Those with good co-ordinating skills could volunteer at a local environment centre to help other people find things they can do and work out what is required to be done next.


Support work before the blockade

Scouting - Potential blockade sites need careful scouting. Look for water supply, road & foot access, positions to defend, on-site or nearby materials, radio/mobile phone services, stage of works, road constructions, names and good directions. If you’re keen, obtain the relevant harvesting plan & other maps, and camp out, Look for Fauna and rare plants. Play owl tapes at night. Check stream conditions

Office - Co-ordinating people, media releases, writing submissions, research, copying documents, marking up maps, making Freedom of Information (FOI) applications etc

Lobbying - Awareness Campaign - Writing letters to the editor, fundraising events, concerts, media releases, radio and TV interviews, articles for magazines & newsletters, issuing action ‘alerts’ & updates


What needs to be done after the blockade

Awareness Campaign - Issuing a new action ‘alert’, usually ‘green’, unless further blockades remain likely when the ‘alert status’ might only move back from ‘red’ to ‘amber’.

Contacting local environment centres and other relevant groups to advise them of the new alert status i.e. not ‘red’ and asking that all ‘red’ alerts be removed and updated.

Gather all the relevant information from the blockade for further reference later and for the preparation of displays which might feature photos and newspaper clippings

At the Blockade Site - Clean up the camp site, remove all rubbish, close any pit dunnies and compost heaps, disperse the fireplaces, remove any un-needed structural installations e.g. tripods, check that all equipment is collected, repaired where necessary, and returned to the appropriate people. Basically the aim is to leave the site as it was - or better.

Legal - Final liaison with police, which might include formal complaints of police conduct. Collect evidence from witnesses at key events in the blockade, to support those people arrested and charged at the blockade, to support those people arrested and charged at the blockade, by asking that write down immediately their version of those events. Liaise with the lawyers who will defend in court anybody arrested.

Green policing - e.g. checking the status of forestry operations, after forestry operations, to ensure that all logging & road construction conditions are being met may be an outcome of any negotiated settlement which results from the blockade. Green police write reports of breaches and follow up with letters seeking further action &/or remedial works.

So there you go! Hopefully this article has given you some understanding of the bigger picture and you will be able to see where you can slot in and how everyone & everything can relate.



For further enlightenment enter a word or phrase into the search box @  New Illuminati:

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This material is published under Creative Commons Copyright (unless an individual item is declared otherwise by copyright holder) – reproduction for non-profit use is permitted & encouraged, if you give attribution to the work & author - and please include a (preferably active) link to the original along with this notice. Feel free to make non-commercial hard (printed) or software copies or mirror sites - you never know how long something will stay glued to the web – but remember attribution! If you like what you see, please send a tiny donation or leave a comment – and thanks for reading this far…

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Thursday 30 July 2009

What is a Hypercar® Vehicle?

What is a Hypercar® Vehicle?

A Hypercar® vehicle is designed to capture the synergies of: ultralight construction; low-drag design; hybrid-electric drive; and, efficient accessories to achieve 3 to 5-fold improvement in fuel economy, equal or better performance, safety, amenity and affordability, compared to today's vehicles.

http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1997/105-6/hypercarbig.GIF

Rocky Mountain Institute's research has shown that the best (possibly, the only) way to achieve this is by building an aerodynamic vehicle body using advanced composite materials and powering it with an efficient hybrid-electric drive-train.

Initially, the hybrid-electric drivetrain in Hypercar® vehicles will probably use a specialized version of the internal combustion engine commonly used in today's cars. To reach their full potential, and virtually eliminate automobile pollution, Hypercar® vehicles will be powered by fuel-cells running on tanks of compressed gaseous hydrogen fuel.

Unlike other efficient vehicles, Hypercar® vehicles don't compromise performance, comfort, or safety. Indeed, by offering extra consumer appeal and manufacturing advantages, they stand a better chance of getting on the road — and forcing old, polluting cars off — in sufficient numbers to make a big difference to the environment. Hypercar® vehicles and their kin could profitably reduce carbon-dioxide emissions (the major contributor to climate change) by two-thirds, partly by greatly accelerating the shift to hydrogen fuel cells.

In 1994 we founded the Hypercar Center® to research and promote this concept. Having proved its technical feasibility through rigorous technical modeling, the Center's staff spent the past several years making Hypercar® technology a commercial reality. Their unconventional approach has been to place the concept in the public domain and share it conspicuously with some two dozen major car companies and new market entrants to maximize competition in capturing its market and manufacturing advantages. The result: billions of dollars' private investment, and rapid movement of Hypercar-like concepts toward the marketplace.

In 1999, we took this process a step further by launching a for-profit venture, Hypercar, Inc., to speed the industry's transition by exerting direct competitive pressure. This independent company, in which RMI has a minority interest, is now taking the lead in advancing key areas of Hypercar research and development.

In 2004, Hypercar, Inc. changed its name to Fiberforge (www.fiberforge.com) to better reflect the company's new direction and its goal of lowering the cost of high-volume advanced-composite structures.

From http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid191.php
For a free full PDF download  detailing the Hypercar concept see Hypercars, Hydrogen and the Automotive Transition here




Image - http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1997/105-6/hypercarbig.GIF
For further enlightenment enter a word or phrase into the search box @  New Illuminati:

@  http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com (or click on any tag at the far bottom of the page for direct references)

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This material is published under Creative Commons Copyright (unless an individual item is declared otherwise by copyright holder) – reproduction for non-profit use is permitted & encouraged, if you give attribution to the work & author - and please include a (preferably active) link to the original along with this notice. Feel free to make non-commercial hard (printed) or software copies or mirror sites - you never know how long something will stay glued to the web – but remember attribution! If you like what you see, please send a tiny donation or leave a comment – and thanks for reading this far…

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Wednesday 29 July 2009

Auto Efficiency About the Same as 100 years Ago

Auto Efficiency About the Same as 100 years Ago


http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs46/f/2009/225/1/b/Steampunk_car_sketch_by_xadhoom.jpg

For a country that values progress, what happened to the American auto industry?  Wall Street and our culture of profit-over-common-sense have mired cars in a no-growth non-efficiency land of limbo.


“The average fuel efficiency of the US vehicle fleet has risen by just 3 miles per gallon since the days of the Ford Model T, and has barely shifted at all since 1991.


Those are the conclusions reached by Michael Sivak and Omer Tsimhoni at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor. They analysed the fuel efficiency of the entire US vehicle fleet of cars, motorcycles, trucks and buses from 1923 to 2006.


They found that from 1923 to 1935 fuel efficiency hovered around 14 mpg (5.95 km/l), but then fell gradually to a nadir of only 11.9 mpg (5.08 km/l) in 1973. By 1991, however, the efficiency of the total fleet had risen by 42 per cent on 1973 levels to 16.9 mpg (7.18 km/l), a compound annual rate of 2 per cent.”


The New Scientist article goes on to say that the reason is probably due to no “external prods” meaning no American leadership forcing business (auto makers) to increase the efficiency of their vehicles.  All of this despite growing evidence of climate change and other environmental concerns like air quality.  Another “prod” from the government is helping to get old inefficient clunkers off the road at last!  Here is more  transportation news from last week.


Author Predicts Better Life with $20 a Gallon Gas– Reuters, July 23, 2009.   Yes, Expensive Gas is Good for Us!


“The rising price of fuel will slash school busing, nearly empty the skies of airplanes, and turn many resorts into ghost towns. But Americans will become fitter, breathe cleaner air, and eat healthier food. That’s the future Christopher Steiner paints in $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better (Hachette Books, $24.99).


The promise of the open road, an addiction for Americans over the past 100 years, will become a thing of the past, writes Steiner, an engineer turned journalist for Forbes magazine. Electric cars and alternative-fueled vehicles will struggle to deliver range and only a small number of people will have them, he predicts… ‘Our food will be closer, crunchier and because it will be picked closer to full ripeness and have to endure a far less arduous journey to our tables, it will be healthier, containing more of the vitamins and nutrients that our produce … is supposed to contain.’ 

While many businesses like airlines and the shipping of cheap goods from China will suffer, other will blossom. High oil prices should finally push the United States to catch up with Spain and Japan and develop high-speed rail lines. As Steiner puts it, ‘We will live differently, but we will live well.’”


It’s good to hear a view of the future that is positive, for a change.



Cash for Clunkers Program Kicks In. ABC News, July 24, 2009. “Americans [received] a new incentive to trade-in their gas-guzzling cars on Friday when a government rebate program that offers cash vouchers to people who trade in their cars for new fuel-efficient vehicles officially started. The Car Allowance Rebate System, informally called ‘Cash for Clunkers,’ was passed by Congress in June to help jump-start struggling auto sales and to improve the environment. But some critics say the program may be economically and even environmentally counter-productive. It will be administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through participating new car dealers who can handle the paperwork when you buy the vehicle. Information about the program is available at www.cars.gov.” 



US House OKs $2 Billion for High-Speed Rail Finally! By Andy Sullivan, Reuters, July 23, 2009.”High-speed rail projects would receive a $2 billion boost under a bill passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday that also lays the groundwork for a national infrastructure bank. By a vote of 256-168, the House approved $68.8 billion for transportation and housing projects for the fiscal year starting October 1, a 25% increase over 2009 funding levels. The Democratic-led chamber turned back several attempts to slash funding by Republicans, who said Congress had already generously funded transportation and housing programs in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill passed in February.”


Foreign Companies Eye Obama High-Speed Rail Plan. AP, July 21, 2009. “Foreign companies that dominate the international high-speed rail industry are trying to cash in on the Obama administration’s plan to pump billions of dollars into U.S. rail systems to help stimulate the economy. The stimulus plan sets aside $8 billion for high-speed rail, a figure that has ambassadors and foreign leaders jockeying to get their preferred companies in on the deal. Though the law requires the U.S. to ‘buy American’ with stimulus money, the rail plan requires so many trains and so much expertise that the administration has conceded foreign companies are likely to be part of it.”


Request to the President From UAM Locals and Retirees: Take Charge of Retooling Our Industry for a Green Future. By Frank Hammer et al, AutoWorkerCaravan, July 14, 2009. “Dear President Obama — We believe that the economic crisis is interwoven with an environmental one – that, in the words of NASA scientist Jim Hansen, we face an ‘irreversible tipping point’ if we don’t act swiftly to reduce our carbon footprint and therefore positively impact global climate change. We believe this fact requires rethinking our country’s manufacturing priorities. Instead of laying off workers and devastating working-class communities, we believe the combination of crises demands a bold proposal that can put people back to work and address global climate change. We believe this can be done, and done creatively…


“Of the 90% of Americans who drove to work in 2007, 76% drove alone. Fewer than 5% used public transportation. Eighty percent of the total U.S. population lives in metropolitan areas, with 30% in the cities. Yet few cities outside New York City have an adequate system of public transportation. Clearly we must turn from an energy-inefficient, auto-centered society to one that increasingly uses mass transit along with energy-efficient vehicles. That means prioritizing buses, light rail, high-speed trains and the tracks they run on. Manufacturing also needs to be geared toward building wind and water turbines as well as solar panels. Instead of attempting to resuscitate automobile companies, we should be building a Transportation and Energy Industry for the 21st century…


“The problems confronting us must be addressed holistically, the leadership must be visionary in its approach and the solutions must be innovative and far-reaching rather than politically expedient crisis management. To that end, we offer the following ideas: First, because, we the people are now major stockholders in GM and Chrysler, we believe that it would be in the national interest to assume direct ownership of the GM and Chrysler plants that are closed or closing (as interest on our investment) to expedite the retooling and conversion of these plants for the manufacture of the products that we have mentioned above. 

We know this is not a pipe dream because it was at the start of U.S. involvement in World War II that a massive conversion of existing auto plants for war-time production was completed in just eight months. The obstacles that had to be overcome were not technical, but political. It behooves you and your administration to take on the threat of global climate change – and the dislocations in the automobile industry – with the same sense of urgency and gravity that President Franklin Roosevelt acted upon then.


“Additionally, it is our understanding that Chrysler and GM own a large number of patents for green technology. We encourage a thorough review of these patents and believe that any technology that GM and Chrysler own that they have no plans on utilizing in the next three years, be appropriated (again, as interest on investment) and uses found for these technologies. Your administration is in a position at this moment of great peril, to create a new paradigm — for addressing the US role in industrial manufacturing and taking the lead on combating global warming. We urge that — in this defining moment — you reiterate your pledge that ‘yes we can!’





The marketplace has proven itself time and time again to be an adequate mover on progress of important social issues like fuel efficiency and air quality, forcing the government to step in very lightly at times to suggest things. Obvious, this has not been enough!


Now with a recent “prod” the Ford and GM corporations are coming out with more new electric and hybrid vehicles in the coming years.  They would not have done this if it weren’t for the intervention of the federal government, and even so, it’s probably coming 20 years too late.



By ShellyT, Futurism Now! on July 26th, 2009





Image - http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs46/f/2009/225/1/b/Steampunk_car_sketch_by_xadhoom.jpg

For further enlightenment enter a word or phrase into the search box @  New Illuminati:

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This material is published under Creative Commons Copyright (unless an individual item is declared otherwise by copyright holder) – reproduction for non-profit use is permitted & encouraged, if you give attribution to the work & author - and please include a (preferably active) link to the original along with this notice. Feel free to make non-commercial hard (printed) or software copies or mirror sites - you never know how long something will stay glued to the web – but remember attribution! If you like what you see, please send a tiny donation or leave a comment – and thanks for reading this far…

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Thursday 23 July 2009

Amateur Australian astronomer spots Earth-sized asteroid crash on Jupiter

Amateur Australian astronomer spots Earth-sized asteroid crash on Jupiter

Worlds in Collision

 

An amateur 'backyard astronomer' peering through his telescope from his home in rural Australia has spotted a galactic event that Nasa's own star-gazers had missed.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01447/Anthony-Wesley_1447204c.jpg

The collision was confirmed by Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Photo: Anthony Wesley/REUTERS


Anthony Wesley, a computer programmer from Murrumbateman, a village north of Canberra, discovered that a comet or asteroid the size of the Earth had crashed into Jupiter, leaving a vast crater.

His timing was impeccable. Not only does it come as the world celebrates the 40th anniversary of man's first steps on the moon, but the impact would only have been visible for another few days.

The collision was confirmed by Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which uses a large infrared telescope positioned at the summit of the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii to capture an image of the crater, near the gas giant's south pole. Within hours, his images had spread across the internet on science websites and amateur astronomers around the world were raving about the discovery.

News of the impact came on the 15th anniversary of another comet strike on Jupiter. In 1994, the planet was bombarded by pieces of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Glenn Orton, the Nasa scientist who confirmed the discovery, told the Sydney Morning Herald: "We are extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right time, the right hour, the right side of Jupiter to witness the event. We couldn't have planned it better."

Mr Orton said he was not yet sure whether the object that hit Jupiter was a comet, asteroid or a piece of space junk. But the impact mark was about the size of the Earth.

"It's been a whirlwind of a day and this, on the anniversary of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Apollo anniversaries, is amazing," he said.

Leigh Fletcher, an astronomer who worked with Mr Orton on confirming the discovery, said: "These are the most exciting observations I've seen in my five years of observing the outer planets."

However, to most people the image of the crater appears as little more than a scar on Jupiter's vast gas surface.

Mr Wesley, who was using a 14.5 inch backyard telescope, said it took him 30 minutes to realise a dark spot rotating in Jupiter's clouds on July 19 was a new crater.

"I thought [it] likely to be just a normal dark polar storm," he said.
"However as it rotated further into view and the conditions improved I suddenly realised that it wasn't just dark, it was black in all channels, meaning it was truly a black spot."


By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney
Published: 12:58PM BST 21 Jul 2009
 

New Illuminati comments; A fourteen year old just remarked – “‘Earth-sized? Doesn’t that make it a planet, not an asteroid or comet?’  He qualified his comment with the following ‘Of course, to be a “planet” it has to have a more stable orbit.’

Indeed. But when I was fourteen years old, such occurrences as this and the ‘String of Pearls’ collisions – which could easily terminate all life on this planet if they occurred on Earth – were taught to be impossible. The solar system had supposedly been ‘swept clean’ of such dangers by billions of years of interactions with gas giants, just like the one this week. Immanuel Velikovsky and other supporters of so-called ‘catastrophism’ were vilified, ostracised and often hounded to their graves.

It’s possible the object that left its mark on Jupiter was smaller than Earth-sized; but still…

We live on a spinning, wobbling ball of rock in an unstable debris-cluttered solar system sailing through a debris-cluttered galaxy. The only thing keeping us alive is the ability of life to alter the odds in its favour – not merely by material means, but by the inherent ability of consciousness to mould reality.

Live long and prosper!
-

- R.A.


For further enlightenment enter a word or phrase into the search box @  New Illuminati:

@  http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com (or click on any tag at the bottom of the page for direct references)

And see

The Her(m)etic Hermit - http://hermetic.blog.com





This material is published under Creative Commons Copyright (unless an individual item is declared otherwise by copyright holder) – reproduction for non-profit use is permitted & encouraged, if you give attribution to the work & author - and please include a (preferably active) link to the original along with this notice. Feel free to make non-commercial hard (printed) or software copies or mirror sites - you never know how long something will stay glued to the web – but remember attribution! If you like what you see, please send a tiny donation or leave a comment – and thanks for reading this far…

From the New Illuminati – http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com


Sunday 19 July 2009

The Obama Deception and the Murderous Arsonholes Who Really Rule

The Obama Deception
and the Murderous Arsonholes Who Really Rule


Full length - 1:53:30
 
PS – We Also deplore the Republican Party here at the New Illuminati - along with all flunkies, parasites and apologists for the murderous predators who believe they are born to rule. No two party system is truly free or democratic. However - there is such a thing as the lesser of two evils, and the party which does most to protect the poor will always be that lesser evil...

All major parties are the left and right hands of our true beastly uncrowned rulers, a shadow government who believe they are a species superior to humankind. Don't imagine the Jews are behind the worldwide conspiracy - they've been the scapegoats of every potentate since the time of the pharaohs. The truth is far more challenging, and requires far more intelligent analysis to unearth. 

This is the same circle that promoted Hitler and Stalin to power, who would make the third millennium into a third reich.

What we truly need is not another bloody revolution in which all the poorest people suffer the most, but a bloodless coup that delivers the world from the real terrorists who govern us

and


 Thanks to EuroYank World Order Reports
For more painful truths see EuroYank at  - http://euroyank.blogspot.com/
 


For further enlightenment enter a word or phrase into the search box @  New Illuminati:

 http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com (or click on any tag at the bottom of the page)
or http://newilluminati.blog-city.com  (this one only works with Firefox)

And see

The Her(m)etic Hermit - http://hermetic.blog.com





This material is published under Creative Commons Copyright (unless an individual item is declared otherwise by copyright holder) – reproduction for non-profit use is permitted & encouraged, if you give attribution to the work & author - and please include a (preferably active) link to the original along with this notice. Feel free to make non-commercial hard (printed) or software copies or mirror sites - you never know how long something will stay glued to the web – but remember attribution! If you like what you see, please send a tiny donation or leave a comment – and thanks for reading this far…

From the New Illuminati – http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com


Saturday 18 July 2009

Chemicals and (Y)our Health

Chemicals and (Y)our Health

 

 http://www.mindfully.org/Health/2002/Sexy-Baby-Phthalate-Poison.jpg


However careful you are about your health, your body is almost certainly home to troubling chemicals called phthalates. These are ubiquitous in modern life, found in plastic bottles, cosmetics, some toys, hair conditioners, and fragrances — and many scientists have linked them to everything from sexual deformities in babies to obesity and diabetes.

The problem is that phthalates suppress male hormones and sometimes mimic female hormones. As I’ve written before, chemicals called endocrine disruptors are believed to explain the proliferation of “intersex fish” — male fish that produce eggs — as well as sexual deformities in animals and humans. Phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) are among the most common endocrine disruptors, and among the most difficult to avoid. They’re even in tap water, and levels soar in certain plastic water bottles.

They probably are not harmful to us adults, but it is another story for children. In girls, some research suggests that phthalates may cause early onset puberty. Most vulnerable of all, it seems, are male fetuses in the first trimester of pregnancy, just as they are differentiating their sex. At that stage, scholars believe, phthalates may “feminize” these boys.

“Commonly used phthalates may undervirilize humans,” concluded a study by the University of Rochester. The study, which was small, based its conclusion, in part, on measurements of “anogenital distance” — the distance between the anus and the genitals, which is typically twice as long for males as for females. Some scholars believe that shrinkage of this distance reflects “feminization” of male anatomy.
 
The researchers found that pregnant women with higher levels of phthalates delivered babies with a shorter anogenital distance. It’s possible this won’t cause any complications. But baby boys with shorter anogenital distance were more likely to have undescended testicles and less penile volume, and phthalates have been linked in humans to problems with sperm count and sperm quality. 

In China, researchers found that female rats given phthalates gave birth to males with a penis deformity called hypospadias (in which the urethra exits the side or base of the penis, not the tip). Many other animal studies around the world have found similar results.

Some endocrinologists refer to the “phthalate syndrome,” including hypospadias and undescended testicles. 
 
 http://cobbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/lady-fish.jpg

“Accumulating human epidemiological data point to a relationship between adverse fetal development and phthalate exposure,” concluded an article this spring in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism. Just last month, the Endocrine Society — composed of thousands of doctors in the field — issued a powerful warning that endocrine disruptors including phthalates are “a significant concern to public health.”

One of the conundrums for scientists and journalists alike is how to call prudent attention to murky and uncertain risks, without sensationalizing dangers that may not exist? Increasingly, endocrinologists are concluding that the mounting evidence is enough to raise alarms.

Indeed, there has also been a flurry of scientific articles questioning whether endocrine disruptors are tied to obesity, autism and allergies, although the evidence there is less firm than with genital abnormalities and depressed sperm count.

The American Chemistry Council argues that phthalates are not a problem, that they do not migrate out of products easily and that they quickly break down in the body. The chemical industry has noted an apparently reassuring study in the Journal of Urology finding that hypospadias does not seem to be increasing in New York State (although different studies showed increases both in the United States and in Denmark). 

James Yager, a professor of toxicology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, agrees that there are huge uncertainties but says that pregnant women and children should be cautious. “When my wife was pregnant, we worried about drinking or smoking,” Professor Yager said. Now, he said, he would be more focused on exposure to chemicals such as phthalates in baby bottles.

Dr. Theo Colborn, the founder of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange, goes further. She tells researchers working with her to toss out plastic water bottles and use stainless steel instead. “I don’t have plastic food containers in my house,” she added. “I use glass.”

Certain phthalates have been banned from new toys sold in the United States, but kids continue to be exposed to these chemicals from the moment they are conceived. Dr. Ted Schettler of the Science and Environmental Health Network says that the way regulators examine risks — studying the impact of one chemical at a time — is bankrupt, for we’re exposed to a cocktail of them daily. Regulation is so pathetic that there’s not even disclosure when products contain phthalates.

If terrorists were putting phthalates in our drinking water, we would be galvanized to defend ourselves and to spend billions of dollars to ensure our safety. But the risks are just as serious if we’re poisoning ourselves, and it’s time for the Obama administration and Congress to show leadership in this area.


Published: July 15, 2009




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Images - http://www.mindfully.org/Health/2002/Sexy-Baby-Phthalate-Poison.jpg 
http://cobbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/lady-fish.jpg
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