Friday, June 21, 2013
"Hungry For Change"
If you have not seen this informative documentary, you're seriously missing out.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Mass Death of Thousands of Bees ... Bad News for Pollination
Written by: Mikael Thalen
"An estimated 25,000 dead bumblebees were discovered this Monday near a Target parking lot in Wilsonville, Oregon.
Starting last Sunday, shoppers began noticing dead bumblebees falling from the trees in the shopping center plaza, home to roughly 65 European Linden trees.
The nonprofit conservation group, The Xerces Society, says calls began pouring in the following Monday, with reports of an incredible die off underway.
“To our knowledge, this is one of the largest documented bumble bee deaths in the Western U.S. It was heartbreaking to watch,” said Xerces Conservation Biologist Rich Hatfield.
The deaths likely represent the loss of as many as 150 bumblebee colonies, which are vital to Oregon agriculture. Dead honey bees and lady bird beetles were also discovered.
Members of Xerces, including Pollinator Conservation Program Director Mace Vaughan, immediately notified the Oregon Department of Agriculture, while also collecting specimens themselves. Vaugh plans to send the dead bees to an independent North Carolina lab that specializes in testing for the presence of pesticides.
“I’ve never seen any sort of a die-off of bumblebees on this scale,” said Vaughan.
After opening an investigation, the Oregon Department of Agriculture confirmed that pesticides had recently been sprayed on the trees.
“We’re aware of a pesticide application in the vicinity, but have not yet identified the active ingredient. We are in the process of interviewing parties that may have applied the pesticide,” said Dale Mitchell, an Oregon Department of Agriculture Representative.
According to Xerces Executive Director Scott Hoffman Black, the cause of death is likely from acute pesticide poisoning or the European Linden trees themselves, which are known to have poisonous species.
“If the trees are indeed toxic they should be cut down and replaced by something that will provide non-toxic pollen and nectar for bees. On the other hand, if pesticides are the cause, we need to spotlight this as a real-world lesson in the harm these toxic chemicals are causing to beneficial insects,” said Black.
Studies continue to point to pesticides as the major factor in falling bee numbers.
A recent study carried out by the European Food Safety Authority found that Bayer’s Clothianidin, a neuroactive pesticide used on 90 percent of US corn crops, is highly dangerous to bees.
A 2012 UK study by the University of Stirling found that bees consuming only one pesticide suffered an 85 percent loss in the number of queens their nests produced.
Another study last year by Purdue University found that the amount of pesticide coated on one kernel of corn alone was enough to kill tens of thousands of bees.
Pesticide giants such as Monsanto, Dow and Bayer have continued to deny any connection or wrongdoing despite the growing evidence to the contrary."
-N
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.xerces.org/2013/06/18/mystery-bee-kill-causes-being-sought/
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Oh No, Not Yet! ... Child Views Horrors of Factory Farming Practices!
Unfortunately, a stealthy 7-year-old - who was supposed to be asleep long ago - snuck downstairs while I was watching a film....and a few minutes after it transitioned to a new part of the documentary, and only when she started to cry and I heard sniffles, did I get up and come around the corner to see her in tears...
I had been watching "Vegucated" and had just finished the graphic area (where they show the torture, abuse and slaughter done in factory farming)....and I got a sick feeling that she had just watched the torture and slaughter of the pigs, baby pigs, hens and chicks. Hell, I was in tears at that point too, because there was absolutely no reason to treat those animals that way (stun gun immobilization & death, hanging until death, electrocution, cutting off body parts while still alive, sending them through a shaver machine while still alive, stuffing 10-20 hens in a cage, the list goes on...)
So we then spent awhile discussing what had been seen, what it meant and where to go from here. She was in tears, but took it surprisingly well and could really articulate just how she felt and what she understood about everything.
I did not want to subject her to that until she was older and wanted to know, but there's no going back now. I suppose on the flip side of that; she has zero desire to touch chicken, beef or ham at any point in the future, and says she does not want eggs or milk ever again unless we can see "how they get it from the poor animal".... Cheese, on the other hand...well, she's on the fence with that. ;-)
Poor kid. She was never really a big meat eater to begin with, but I don't know whether to cry or feel good about the fact that I likely destroyed cheese, eggs and milk for her too & that she will now perhaps always be a vegetarian or vegan from now on because she witnessed a harsh reality tonight.
[Update - June 20, 2013] No nightmares and in good spirits the next day, though still firmly resolved not to eat meat again...now that she is fully aware of just what she is eating when eating a hamburger, bacon, ham, etc...
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Truer Words Never Spoken....
Interestingly....these two are father and son: cardiologist Dr Caldwell Esselstyn and his Triathlete Firefighter Engine 2 Diet creator son, Rip Esselstyn.
Both changed my life, along with my doc Jonathan Fish, MD and Dr Neal Barnard's "Program for Reversing Diabetes". ALL of them suggest and promote a plant-based, whole foods, modified vegan diet (modified being: as much organic and GMO-free as possible, with no refined sugars, no white flours, little to no processed "vegan meats", and no oils).
Confused? You Should Be... Concerned? You Better Be.
And their position on this has NOT changed since 1998:
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