Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Possibly the Most Eye Opening 6 Minutes Ever on Film

This six minute video will open your eyes to a world normally hidden from cameras. A hard hitting dose of perspective of what unsustainable demand looks like.

Warning: You may have a feeling of emptiness inside after watching.

You may have a feeling of emptiness inside after watching.


Chinese Boy with Ability to See in Pitch Black Stuns Medics



young Chinese boy who was born with beaming blue eyes has stunned medics with his ability to see in pitch black darkness.

Nong Yousui from Dahua, China has eyes that reflect neon green when light is shined on them. Doctors have studied Nong's amazing eyesight since his dad took him to hospital concerned over his bright blue eyes.

"They told me he would grow out of it and that his eyes would stop glowing and turn black like most Chinese people but they never did", his Dad said.

Nong enjoys playing outside with his schoolmates but experiences discomfort when in bright sunlight, however can see completely clearly in pure darkness.

To test his abilities, a Chinese journalist prepared a set of questionnaires which he was able to finish while sitting in a pitch black room. The tests show Nong can read and write perfectly without any light and can see as clearly as most people do during the day.

According to the World Record Academy (the leading international organization which certify world records), Nong has even set the world record for the first human who can see in the dark.

In animals, night vision is made possible by the existence of a thin layer of cells, called the tapetum lucidum. And like a Siamese cat, Nong's sky-blue eyes flash neon green when illuminated by a flashlight.

Nong's night vision has sparked interest around the world by vision scientists, evolutionary biologists, and genetic engineers. And this is good news for science as we may eventually be able to use genetic technologies to deliberately create such a condition ourselves.

A new and growing generation of extraordinary and gifted children are springing up across our planet.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Food Preservation The ways of and the Dangers

When people buy food these days it is either already precooked, or is waiting in some form of packaging. Nearly all of this food has gone through some process of preservation to keep decomposition at bay, some of these methods have risen concern of possible dangers to human health. Modern food preservation techniques have become a massive operation as society continuously grows to more immense sizes and, just like any other forms of modern production, methods of reducing cost and increasing efficiency are discovered and utilized at the expense of health.
Since 12,000 BC this has proven a very important technology to help a society last throughout unfortunate times of drought, unseasonable weather, seasonal differences and varieties of crop failure. There are many different ways to perform this task that are better for us, but are not well suited for monstrous amounts of food. For those who like to buy fresh food or grow their own, this article will help in understanding preservation methods and discuss the dangers of certain types of modern food additives.
Preserving Food
Freezing, fermenting, pickling, curing, canning, drying and/or dehydrating and jam and/or jelly are simple and safe methods that we will cover. It’s very important to note that for each type of food a different preservation method is required, while some foods may be excellent to can or jam, others are better to freeze or dry. Conversely, some foods are not meant to be preserved as others are and can be of great detriment, always use methods and recipes that have already been tested.
Don’t take chances with the food you prepare for you and your family. Use only tested recipes that have been scientifically determined to be safe.
- Food Safety and Preservation
Note to readers: This guide is deceptively packed with a lot of information and if you plan on preserving foods then you may want to bookmark it, click the links any time you want to learn more about something.
Dehydrating, Freezing Food, Canning, Jams and Jellies
These are four of the most commonly practiced food preservation methods, prompting a search will usually bring you to websites which explain all four methods in great depth.
dehydratedfood
Dehydrating, or drying, is the oldest method of food preservation known to man. Today this is done with dehydrator boxes which have screen panels inside of them to place fruits and vegetables on, or a small hot building to hang herbs or dry meat jerky. This is the most simple way to dehydrate foods, a nice innovative sustainable method is by solar dehydrators which use passive solar collectors that were originally designed to heat homes. Basics on Dehydrating Food
220px-Blanching
If you are using the internet to read this then it is very likely that you have frozen food at some point in your life, you’re probably wondering “what more could I possibly learn about freezing foods?”. You’re in for a surprise, most fresh vegetables must go through a preparation process called blanching which involves scalding them in steam or boiling water! Even freezing meats or prepared meals has recommended processes which gaurantee the safety and longevity of your food, there are even recipes to learn about.
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Canning is a very popular method of food preservation and food storage, this can be, and commonly is, used to store foods that have been dehydrated, turned to jam, fermented and pickled! Thus the process of canning is actually to preserve and/or to store already processed food in an airtight container. Mason jars are glass containers used for canning, the Ball Canning Company is one of the most popular and long lasting companies that make them, another great company is Tattler, which makes reusable canning lids. This is the epitome of safe food preservation, but as previously mentioned it is very important to follow already tested recipes for the safety of those who will eat it. “How Do I? …Can” and Simply Canning are excellent guides to get you started.
jams-and-jellies
Jams and Jellies are made from a wide assortment of fruits and there are many blogs across the internet giving people personal tips. Jellies, jams, preserves, conserves and marmalades are made by cooking fruit juice with sugar and each have their own unique methods and amazing flavors to choose from. This method of food preservation shouldn’t be taken lightly or overlooked, there are actually a lot of different fruits to preserve!
Pickling and Fermenting
Fermentation is the controlled decay of material using special bacteria which results in a more desirable product. Technically, fermentation is the biochemical conversion of sugars, starches, or carbohydrates, into alcohol, and organic acids, by bacteria and enzymes.[1] We have symbiotic relations with some forms of bacteria, we give them what they need (carbohydrates), they give us what we need (preserving acids). The bacteria change foods into more digestible and nutritional material.
- How Fermentation Techniques Preserve Food
lactobacillus is a common beneficial fermentation bacteria
Lactobacillus is a common beneficial fermentation bacteria used in a food preservation technique known as lacto-fermentation.
Lacto-fermentation and pickling are the two methods of fermentation. Lots of foods can be pickled and surprisingly enough Wikipedia has a good list of food types that are normally fermented. Though it seems rather difficult to find a list of fermentation methods on the internet, I’m determined to provide the information you need! The next qoutes come from 2 pdf guides that will help you to begin learning lacto-fermentation.
Lactobacilli are present on the surface of all living things. You can easily learn the techniques of growing and using them to convert starches and sugars in vegetables and fruits into lactic acid, a natural preservative that inhibits putrefying bacteria.
- Making and Eating Fermented Foods: Why and How
A 1-gallon container is needed for each 5 pounds of fresh vegetables. Therefore, a 5-gallon stone crock is of ideal size for fermenting about 25 pounds of fresh cabbage or cucumbers. Food-grade plastic and glass containers are excellent substitutes for stone crocks.
- Let’s Preserve: Fermented and Pickled Foods
Curing and Smoking Food
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When it comes to meat and fish, curing and smoking are some of the oldest food preservation methods still in practice today. The applications of salt, sugar, nitrite and/or nitrate are the methods for curing meat and fish, another term for this is charcuterie. I was surprised to find a website about curing olives! It isn’t difficult to find a plethura of recipes for curing as well as recipes for smoking meats.
Here’s a final link concerning safety and preservation before going into the possible health concerns of modern day man made preservatives.
Home canning is an excellent way to preserve garden produce and share it with family and friends, but it can be risky or even deadly if not done correctly and safely.
- CDC: Home Canning and Botulism
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Dangers of Modern Preservatives
There are many reasons why a lot of man made food additives pose a threat to health, some of which destroys beneficial bacteria within us that we rely on. Though some of these additives are beneficial, there are other preservatives that are a hinderance to our bodies, some even encouraging bad bacterial growth rather than beneficial.
In response to consumer demand for more natural food, the food industry has reduced the amount of preservatives in food over recent years. A common preservative is acetic acid, which is used to stop bacterial growth in dressings, sauces, cheese and pickles.
However, new research shows that a small amount of acetic acid does not have the intended effect, but rather the opposite — it increases the amount of toxin from the harmful bacteria in the food.
- Science Daily
Food additives find their way into our foods to help ease processing, packaging and storage. But how do we know what food additives is in that box of macaroni and cheese and why does it have such a long shelf life?
A typical American household spends about 90 percent of their food budget on processed foods, and are in doing so exposed to a plethora of artificial food additives, many of which can cause dire consequences to your health.
- Foodmatters: Top 10 Food Additives to Avoid
The last link we’ll leave you with on the matter is a gigantic list of food additives which will point out which additives are actually safe, which to cut back on, some to be cautious about, additives to completely avoid and others which may be dangerous to a select few.

Sex, Plastics, and Cancer !!

Recently, the health effects of certain plastics, specifically BPA (Bisphenol A), have come to light in the media. BPA is actually one of a group of chemicals known as “endocrine disruptors” or “xenohormones”, which mimic molecules normally used in cell signaling. This means that these compounds confuse your cells by giving them false information.
If you imagine yourself as a cell then you can imagine endocrine disruptors as being voices in your head, or hallucinations: confusing you from being able to understand what is real and what isn’t, confusing your behavior and your thoughts.
3668580431_d1152c0256_b[2]
BPA, and other analogues –molecular mimics- of sex hormones are especially damaging, since sex hormones play a major role in cell development and growth. BPA “looks” like estrogen to your body, and thus has an effect on gene expression (which genes are “on” or “off”, copied or not copied into proteins). This may not sound like much, but the effects are actually quite shocking.
Because these signals confuse your cells, they can prevent them from “committing suicide” (apoptosis) in the event of dangerous mutations, meaning an increased risk of cancer, lead to tissue being produced incorrectly, and in general encourage “miscommunication” between cells: desynchronizing your body’s processes and leading to symptoms like motor dysfunction, deformities, immune problems, and/or infertility.
The Bisphenols like BPA are especially nasty, and the reaction of the industry to public outcry about its use has led them to take ineffective steps at halting the problem: producing “BPA free” containers made out of other Bisphenols (like BPS or BPF), which seem to be equally bad if not actually worse.
One of the scariest thing about these substances is that they reach their maximum potency at very low doses: meaning a little bit can be almost, if not as bad, as a lot. Therefor we should be supremely worried about the ubiquitous presence of BPA, and other endocrine disruptors, in both our water and our food.
As Saido and Hideto Sato, Ph.D found in their American Chemical Society 2009 study: significant amounts of BPA were found at every one of the more than 200 sites in 20 countries surveyed in doses ranging from 0.1 ppm to 50 ppm.
800px-Sex_toyz[1]
Bisphenols were, and are, used in everything from glue (epoxy), water bottles, to the lining of our aluminum cans and even sex toys. The industry’s reaction to knowledge that the plastic they are using is essentially a genetic poison was to merely switch to a similar, but different, poison and hope they make more than enough money before anyone figures out exactly what they did. The labeling of such products as “BPA free” is a huge slap in our collective face.
These substances reduce not only fertility, but also the genetic stability. Their use, especially in so many processes, is not only irresponsible: it is insane. To add to the insanity, the FDA and the National Toxicological Program do not advise any regulatory recommendations, since the biological results of these substances are not directly deadly at any dose. The FDA’s stance is that BPA, in low doses, is alright to have in your food. Obviously, this stance also applies to all the various other Bisphenols currently in use.
That said, it may be that not all plastics are equal, but statements by interested parties about quantities being too small to be harmful make me nervous, especially considering the non-linear relationship between consequences and the size of the dose.
There are many reasons that our cancer rates are so high, that our biosphere is in danger of collapsing, and that too few know about these issues. It is in the financial best interest of the companies producing such products to avoid acknowledging these problems and their consequences. Unless people care enough to really inform themselves and others about these issues then they will never be resolved: we will just keep jumping from the original poison to the equally poisonous mimic, meanwhile ignorantly celebrating the fact it isn’t the original poison.

Sources:
1)  How cells communicate
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9924/
2)  Munoz-de-Toro et al, 2005. Perinatal effects of BPA.
http://endo.endojournals.org/content/146/9/4138
3) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130122191412.htm
4) Vandenberg et al, 2011. Low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses.
http://edrv.endojournals.org/content/early/2012/03/14/er.2011-1050.abstract
5) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100323184607.htm
6) http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm064437.htm

The best punishment... African punishment.

An African tribe does the most beautiful thing.
When someone does something hurtful and wrong, they
take the person to the center of town, and the entire
tribe comes and
surrounds him.
For two days they'll tell the man every good thing he
has ever done.
The tribe believes that every human being comes into
the world as Good, each of us desiring safety, love,
peace, happiness.
But sometimes in the pursuit of those things people
make mistakes. The community sees misdeeds as a cry
for help.
They band together for the sake of their fellow man to
hold him up, to reconnect him with his true Nature, to
remind him who
he really is, until he fully remembers the truth from
which he'd temporarily been disconnected:
“I AM GOOD.”

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