Solar and climate- no longer taboo

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

This image was generated by NASA via http://su...

Image via Wikipedia

Here is a post from WUWT of much interest. Somehow, climate scientists (some), had not worked out that the Sun did not directly affect near-surface temperatures on Earth. This, even though we personally experience heating from the Sun’s rays, feel the effects of cloud cover, night and day variations, Summer and Winter sun orientation and distance effects.

It is an article, from Anthony Watts, that is very relevant to the AGW debate.

Paul Hudson of the BBC writes:

This is an exciting time for solar physics, and its role in climate. As one leading climate scientist told me last month, it’s a subject that is now no longer taboo. And about time, too.

His article is, ahem, illuminating:

For as long as I have been a meteorologist, the mere suggestion that solar activity could influence climate patterns has been greeted with near derision.

Quite why this has been the case is difficult to fathom. But it’s been clear for a long time that there must be a link of some kind, ever since decades ago Professor Lamb discovered an empirical relationship between low solar activity and higher pressure across higher latitudes such as Greenland.

Perhaps the art of weather forecasting has become so dominated by supercomputers, and climate research so dominated by the impact of man on global climate, that thoughts of how natural processes, such as solar variation, could influence our climate have been largely overlooked, until very recently.

In fact new research published this week & conducted by the Met Office and Imperial College London, showing how solar variability can help explain cold winters, will come as no surprise to readers of this blog.

Most studies in the past have largely focused on the sun’s brightness, but this research has discovered that it’s the variation in the sun’s Ultra Violet (UV) output that’s crucial.

According to the new paper, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, when UV output is low, colder air than normal forms over the tropics in the stratosphere. This is balanced by a more easterly flow of air over the mid-latitudes. The cold air in the stratosphere then makes its way to the surface – leading to bitterly cold easterly winds across the UK and parts of Europe.

When UV output is higher, the opposite is true, with warmer air making its way to the surface, and carried across the UK and Europe from the west.

Of course there are other factors involved in determining our weather, and this alone does not mean scientists have discovered the holy grail of long range forecasting.

Looking globally the research makes clear that the impact of the sun’s changing UV output acts to redistribute heat, with cold European winters going hand in hand with milder winters in Canada and the Mediterranean, for example, with little impact on overall global temperatures.

The work is based on an 11 year solar cycle, with the regional temperature changes associated with the peaks and troughs of the UV cycle effectively cancelling each other out over that time.

But there are some scientists who believe that there are longer term cycles, such as the bi-centennial cycle and that on average over the coming decades solar activity will decline.

If so, not only will cold European winters become more common, but global temperatures could fall, too, although the general consensus amongst most scientists at the moment is that any solar-forced decline would be dwarfed by man-made global warming.

This is an exciting time for solar physics, and its role in climate. As one leading climate scientist told me last month, it’s a subject that is now no longer taboo. And about time, too.

I don’t know how it is possible to view the sun’s heating influence, whatever form or radiation frequency it may be, as anything other than the basic prime mover that it is. For there to be confusion as to UV or ‘brightness’ parameters being a measure of the heating, amazes me. I would have thought that these factors are so fundamental and obvious that what we read in the article seems ludicrous.

Anyway, there you have it. Definitely a positive step in assisting the understanding of the AGW debacle.  Thanks, Anthony!  Read his post here.

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Vaccines and autism: a new scientific review

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

Major brain structures implicated in autism.

Image via Wikipedia

Things often seem to come in series. Vaccines is the topic of the last few days.

Firstly, I have received notification of a website dedicated to the negative issues of vaccines. I intend replying to a comment of theirs and adding relevant links of which I am aware. This might be a better spot. Therefore:

The ‘Sott.net’ website that inspired this post has covered much in their “Health and Wellness” section. http://www.sott.net/

The ‘COTO Report’ site has an extensive ‘Vaccines’ Section. http://coto2.wordpress.com/2009-vax-scam/

‘Natural News‘, similarly keeps tabs on vaccine issues. http://www.naturalnews.com/vaccines.html

The new dedicated site I mentioned above is ‘The Vaccine Xchange’. http://vaccinexchange.org/

Overall, there is a great deal of coverage in the alternative press that is US! A David and Goliath story in progress, never to be won, but always there to help the public be aware of all the factors. A huge amount of counter-information is published to support vaccinations. Undoubtedly, some good outcomes can be claimed. However, the industry needs to clean up their act regarding safety, testing, honest reporting, blatant profiteering and their attitude to the public.

Back to the title story.

Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News, article in Sott.net:

For all those who’ve declared the autism-vaccine debate
over – a new scientific review begs to differ. It considers a host of peer-reviewed, published theories that show possible connections between vaccines and autism.The article in the Journal of Immunotoxicology is entitled Theoretical aspects of autism: Causes–A review.The author is Helen Ratajczak, surprisingly herself a former senior scientist at a pharmaceutical firm. Ratajczak did what nobody else apparently has bothered to do: she reviewed the body of published science since autism was first described in 1943. Not just one theory suggested by research such as the role of MMR shots, or the mercury preservative thimerosal; but all of them.Ratajczak’s article states, in part, that “Documented causes of autism include genetic mutations and/or deletions, viral infections, and encephalitis [brain damage] following vaccination[emphasis added]. Therefore, autism is the result of genetic defects and/or inflammation of the brain.”The article goes on to discuss many potential vaccine-related
culprits, including the increasing number of vaccines given in a short period of time. “What I have published is highly concentrated on hypersensitivity, Ratajczak told us in an interview, “the body’s immune system being thrown out of balance.”

University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. Brian Strom, who has
served on Institute of Medicine panels advising the government on vaccine safety says the prevailing medical opinion is that vaccines are scientifically linked to encephalopathy (brain damage), but not scientifically linked to autism. As for Ratajczak’s review, he told us he doesn’t find it remarkable. “This is a review of theories. Science is based on facts. To draw conclusions on effects of an exposure on people, you need data on people. The data on people do not support that there is a relationship. As such, any speculation about an explanation for a (non-existing) relationship is irrelevant.”

Ratajczak also looks at a factor that hasn’t been widely discussed: human DNA contained in vaccines. That’s right, human DNA.
Ratajczak reports that about the same time vaccine makers took most thimerosal out of most vaccines (with the exception of flu shots which still widely contain thimerosal), they began making some vaccines using human tissue. Ratajczak says human tissue is currently used in 23 vaccines. She discusses the increase in autism incidences corresponding with the introduction of human DNA to MMR vaccine, and suggests the two could be linked. Ratajczak also says an additional increased spike in autism occurred in 1995 when chicken pox vaccine was grown in human fetal tissue.

Why could human DNA potentially cause brain damage? The way Ratajczak explained it to me: “Because it’s human DNA and recipients are humans, there’s homologous recombinaltion tiniker. That DNA is incorporated into the host DNA. Now it’s changed, altered self and body kills it. Where is this most expressed? The neurons of the brain.
Now you have body killing the brain cells and it’s an ongoing inflammation. It doesn’t stop, it continues through the life of that individual.”

Dr. Strom said he was unaware that human DNA was
contained in vaccines but told us, “It does not matter…Even if human DNA were then found in vaccines, it does not mean that they cause autism.” Ratajczak agrees that nobody has proven DNA causes autism; but argues nobody has shown the opposite, and scientifically, the case is still open.

A number of independent scientists have said they’ve been subjected to orchestrated campaigns to discredit them when their research exposed vaccine safety issues, especially if it veered into the topic of autism. We asked Ratajczak how she came to research the controversial topic. She told us that for years while working in the pharmaceutical industry, she was restricted as to what she was allowed to publish. “I’m retired now,” she told CBS News. “I can write what I want.”

We wanted to see if the CDC wished to challenge Ratajczak’s review, since many government officials and scientists have implied that theories linking vaccines to autism have been disproven, and Ratajczak states that research shows otherwise. CDC officials told us that “comprehensive review by CDC…would take quite a bit of time.” In the meantime, CDC provided these links:

Interagency Autism Coordination Committee:
http://iacc.hhs.gov

Overview of all CDC surveillance and epi work:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/research.html

CDC study on risk factors
and causes: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/seed.html

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Vaccines: Monkey kidneys, spinal material, animal pus and more

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

1802 caricature of Jenner vaccinating patients...

Image via Wikipedia

Another ‘Natural News‘ enlightenment on medical wonders. Interesting, is it not?

I consider this worthwhile knowledge, just to make us think for ourselves and not take things for granted. Scary, when you think that safety testing is minimal or non-existent, claims of success are published by the manufacturers, and failure rates are hidden or denied.

(NaturalNews)
The issues surrounding the dangers of vaccines require a look into how they are made and to what we are exposing ourselves to. So, what are vaccinations exactly?

Generally speaking, vaccinations are inoculations that attempt to confer immunity against a specific disease. Our anti-body defenses are stimulated when weakened versions of bacteria or viruses are injected into our system.

Bacterial vaccinations are grown in petri dishes but viral vaccinations require a live host. Recent medical advances have widened the sphere of what “live host” actually means (http://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bri…).

Edward Jenner,
credited with discovering the small pox vaccine, observed that milkmaids who had been infected with cowpox ended up immune to smallpox. Jenner’s first “inoculation” was completed by injecting an 8 year old with the pus from the lesions of a milkmaid with cowpox (http://www.experiment-resources.com…).

Modern Day Vaccinations

Tragically, even with all of the strides made in modern medicine, vaccination preparation has actually gotten worse. Original vaccinations were contrived by using the infected matter from another human being and introducing it into the body.

Trouble began once animals began to be used as hosts. Enter Dr. Jonas Salk and the race to develop a commercially viable polio vaccine. Salk and his peers concocted from a mad scientist brew of ingredients including the minced up spinal cord from a 9-year-old deceased patient, water, blood, flies, feces, and human cell matter. This mixture was injected into the brains of monkeys, most of which died instantly or became paralyzed.

Undaunted, Salk plugged away eventually creating the commercial version of the polio vaccine, developed in part from “the feces of three healthy children in Cleveland.”

Ironically this infamous father of the polio vaccine just recently was exposed for his role in illegal experiments on mental patient(http://www.naturalnews.com/031564_J…).

While today’s formulations don’t contain feces, they are still derived from live hosts including cows, monkeys, pigs, chicken embryos, and human diploid cell.

Cell matter is extracted from these hosts, combined with toxic
chemicals like Thimerosol (mercury), formaldehyde, aluminum hydroxide and a variety of other substances, before being injected into our bodies http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pi… and www.vaclib.org/pdf/vaxcont2.pdf). The side effects are autism, diabetes, asthma, MS, SIDS, and more.

Vaccine Pollution

The viral cell matter presents a significant health
risk due to the plethora of dangerous animal viruses, RNA, DNA, and other foreign material that can’t be filtered out of the final preparation.

Award winning journalist Janine Roberts, author of Fear
of the Invisible and a host of other papers developing into the truth behind vaccine development, discovered that “vaccines are not filtered clean, but suspension from the manufacturers incubation tanks in which the viruses are produced from substrates of mashed bird embryo, minced monkey kidneys, or the infamous cloned human diploid cells only scanned for a few known contaminates – while the unknowns remain just that — unknown.”

Even worse, the government has provided legal protection to the vaccine industry and their polluted products via FDA regulations, more specifically 21 CFR.

“Virus interaction can’t be controlled — by their very nature they are mutating organisms. There is a well-founded concern that these animal viruses are able to cross species lines and adapt to their new host environment.”

Dr. Leonard Hayflick, a virologist at both Stanford and the University of California at San Francisco raised a concern that the common primary culture used for making vaccines with animals and bird embryos has created a situation where it is
“apparent that these cells contained many unwanted viruses, some of which were lethal to humans.”  (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index….)

For instance the SV40 virus that originates in monkeys made its way into the human population via the polio vaccination and has been tied to cancer non Hodgkin’s lymphoma and
brain tumors(http://www.informedchoice.info/poli…) (http://www.tetrahedron.org/articles…).

The World Health Organization is aware that MMR vaccines are tainted with avian leukosis virus that has been linked with leukemia (http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac…) (pg 19) and Rotatrix is one of the most recent vaccinations exposed as being contaminated with DNA matter from animals- in that case pigs (http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.co…).

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033834_vaccines_ingredients.html#ixzz1afH04vQ3

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Antibiotic widely prescribed for decades has dangerous side effects which can kill

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

Some more interesting health information from ‘Natural News ‘. This article by S. L. Baker reveals more than the medical profession are openly offering.

(NaturalNews)
You often hear that older prescription drugs are pretty safe. After all, if countless people have been taking them for many years, doctors would know by now if they were dangerous, right? Unfortunately, that’s a myth for several reasons. First, it can take decades for links between the use of a drug and other diseases to be obvious. In addition, side effects may be ignored, often chalked up as “all in the patient’s head,” or blamed on the disease the drug was prescribed to treat. All this instead of recognizing that the deteriorating condition of a patient, including death, may be caused by the treatment itself, i.e. the Big Pharma medication.

A dramatic example of the latter scenario has just been revealed in a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). The antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (sold as Septra, Bactrim and in generic forms) has been in wide use since 1968 — but scientists are now warning it is high time doctors realize the drug can cause serious adverse and even deadly reactions.

Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is the most commonly prescribed antibiotic for urinary tract infections (UTI) in Canada; about 4,000 people a week receive prescriptions for this drug in Ontario alone. It is also one of the top drugs used for UTIs in the US. In addition, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is prescribed to treat community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other bacterial infections including ear infections, bronchitis, traveler’s diarrhea and pneumonia.

“Although trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole has numerous benefits, particularly in the care of patients with HIV and methicillin-resistant S. aureus, it is associated with multiple toxicities,” stated researchers Joanne M. W. Ho, MD and David N. Juurlink, MD, PhD, of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research Drug Safety and  Effectiveness Cross-Discplinary Training Program.

Little known but serious side effects

So just how toxic are these side effects, exactly? Those involving the kidneys can be life-threatening. The antibiotic can cause super high levels of potassium (hyperkalemia), which can disrupt normal heart rhythm leading to death, and cause extreme low blood sugar drops (hypoglycemia). The drug is particularly dangerous to pregnant women and to people who have anemia (lack of red blood cells) caused by folic acid deficiency. It is also linked to liver damage.

In their paper, Dr. Ho and Dr. Juurlink pointed out that trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole easily crosses the brain-blood barrier, resulting a multitude of neurological symptoms. Curiously, these problems have only been reported in case reports and little research has been conducted on them — so they don’t show up as a big red flag in the “medical literature.” However, according to the Canadian scientists, brain related problems associated with the drug include delirium, tremors and gait disturbances.

Another recent study published in the British Medical Journal, shows that the elderly are especially at risk when they take trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole if they are already on the medication known as spironolactone for heart failure. The reason? It turns out that Bactrim-type antibiotics are often prescribed for these patients without doctors knowing — or bothering to look up — the fact that the combination can result in death.

That fact brings up an obvious question. How many seniors have died from cardiac arrest that was blamed on their heart failure or age when, in fact, it was the result of a fatal drug combination involving trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and spironolactone?

Elders beware deadly drug combo

Scientists from the University of Toronto, St Michael’s Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto investigated the records of thousands of patients taking spironolactone (sold under the Big Pharma brand names Aldactone, Novo-Spiroton, Aldactazide, Spiractin, Spirotone, Verospiron or Berlactone).

Although it has been shown to cause tumors in animal studies, spironolactone has been prescribed to millions of people since the 1960s to treat edema (fluid retention) in those with congestive heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver or the kidney disorder known as nephrotic syndrome. It’s also used to treat or prevent low levels of potassium in the blood (hypokalemia).

Heart failure, a condition in which the heart can’t pump enough blood adequately to meet the body’s needs, is a huge problem, especially among older people. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for example, 5.7 million people in the US have the condition and it results in about 300,000 deaths each year.
Unfortunately, the new research has found that people given spironolactone for heart failure are also given a trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole like Bactrim. The result can be soaring potassium levels that kill.

The BMJ study concluded that older patients receiving both spironolactone and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole were at a dramatically increased risk for being hospitalized for hyperkalemia; the authors warned this drug combination should be avoided.

“Increased awareness of this drug interaction among pharmacists and physicians is needed to ensure that the potential for life threatening hyperkalemia with this drug combination is minimized, either by selection of alternative antibiotics when appropriate or by close monitoring of
patients treated with both drugs,” the researchers wrote.

Bottom line: if you or a family member are prescribed any drug, do your homework. Don’t assume your doctor or pharmacist is aware of, or is paying adequate attention to both the side effects of a medication you should know about or the potential ramifications of combining more than one drug.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj….

http://www.cmaj.ca/

http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.15…

Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/033856_antibiotics_side_effects.html#ixzz1af2XKnYq

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Vaccinations – Perhaps increasing chances of ill-health.

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

This Natural News post ‘Study: Unvaccinated children far less prone to allergies and disease than vaccinated children’, by Ethan A. Huff, makes some interesting claims.

(Possible signs of censorship in the Zemanta program)

(NaturalNews)
It is commonly assumed that vaccinations are responsible for bringing about substantial improvements in public health, and that humans were much more prone to developing serious disease prior to their advent. But a new survey released by VaccineInjury.info debunks this myth by showing that unvaccinated children are far less prone to developing allergies, autoimmune disorders, neurological problems, endocrine diseases, and other illnesses compared to their vaccinated counterparts.

German homeopathic practitioner Andreas Bachmair
compiled health data on more than 8,000 unvaccinated children from at least 15 different countries, and compared it to health data compiled on more than 17,400 vaccinated children involved in a German study known as KiGGS – The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents.

The children involved in both studies ranged in age from 0 – 17, but most of the children involved in the unvaccinated study were eight years of age or younger. Both studies, however, used the same criteria for collecting data on children’s health, and both are considered to have arrived at valid results.

In every single health category evaluated as part of both
studies, the overall health of unvaccinated children was leaps and bounds ahead of the vaccinated children. The allergy rate among vaccinated children, for instance, was more than double the allergy rate among unvaccinated children. And worse, vaccinated children were found to be nearly eight times more prone to developing asthma or chronic Bronchitis than were unvaccinated children.

Another significant difference between the two groups was observed in the category of autoimmune disorders. While less than half of one percent of unvaccinated children were found to have developed an autoimmune disease, roughly seven percent of vaccinated children developed one — and according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), nearly 25 percent of Americans  today suffer from at least one autoimmune disorder.

The other health categories where unvaccinated children fared better than vaccinated children included neurodermatitis, herpes, otitis media, hay fever, hyperactivity, scoliosis, epilepsy and seizures, migraine headaches, and thyroid disease. The only category where disease rates were roughly equal between the two groups was in the category of diabetes mellitus, a disease which affects only about 0.2% of children under 20 anyway.

You can view the entire Bachmair vaccination study, complete with thorough details and visual graphs, by visiting:

http://www.vaccineinjury.info/vacci..

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033858_unvaccinated_children_health.html#ixzz1ae7seVxq

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Radiation News: Tokyo on the edge

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

Mount Fuji, Japan.

Image via Wikipedia

It’s time to revisit the nuclear holocaust scene that is Japan. So little mention in the main news. So many lies when we do hear something. Yet RADIATION certainly remains as a major health threat to millions.

This article by Mochizuki, on the ‘Fukushima Diary’ website, re-awakens the senses and provides excellent, up-to-date access to meaningful information.

Strontium 90 was measured in Yokohama, Kouhokuku. (5 mins by car from my apartment.)

The amount was 195 Bq/kg.

Detected by a university staff teaching engineering, so the measurement is trustworthy.

It has nothing to do with the historical world-wide nuclear test, because it was measured on the roof of and apartment, which was built only 5 years ago.

Now the test result was sent to Yokohama city government.

Yokohama city government is supposed to pretend to re-measure it and say it’s not a harmful amount at all.

The location was randomly chosen. The person who randomly found it is very upset and confused.

It means strontium 90 is already all around in Tokyo area.

Ministry of Education and Science found strontium 79km area on 9/30.

They kept asserting Plutonium and Strontium don’t fly further than 80km because they don’t want them to fly so much.

Professor Nojiri Mihoko (HIGH ENERGY ACCELERATOR RESEARCH ORGANIZATION, KEK) stated, plutonium, uranium, they never fly further than 20km by such a little explosion.

If she is right, Strontium must have taken a cab.

However, Yokohama is 245km away from Fukushima.

Tokyo is closer to Fukushima actually.

Strontium 90 is soluble in water. It is easily taken by plants and it causes leukemia when people eat vegetables or seafood.

To prevent you from having thyroid disease ,you need to take iodine, such as seaweed. (Profoundly bad idea to eat any seafood or sea vegetables from Japan for the next 24,000 years, at least)

In addition to Iodine-131, seaweed from the waters around Japan contains Strontium.

Choose one of two. Thyroid cancer or leukemia?

READ THE ARTICLE HERE.

Besides the re-enforcement of the extensive life-time of Strontium 90, and its dangers, it is suggested that small but nevertheless extremely dangerous, specks can travel large distances readily by clouds, rainfall, wind and even birds.  Much useful information comes from reading the comments.

More importantly, it strongly suggests confirms that lies are being told to the public. Almost an endemic process these days.

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3 Health Reasons to Cook with Cast-iron

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

cast-iron

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks to Sott.net for this post by Kerri-Ann Jennings, eatingwell.com

Cast-iron skillets may seem like an old-fashioned choice in the kitchen. But this dependable cookware is a must in the modern kitchen. Cast-iron skillets conduct heat beautifully, go from stove top to oven with no problem and last for decades. (In fact, my most highly prized piece of cookware is a canary-yellow, enamel-coated cast-iron paella pan from the 1960s that I scored at a stoop sale for $5.)  As a registered dietitian and associate nutrition editor of EatingWell Magazine, I also know that there are some great health reasons to cook with cast iron.

1. You can cook with less oil when you use a cast-iron pan.

That lovely sheen on cast-iron cookware is the sign of a well-seasoned pan, which renders it virtually nonstick. The health bonus, of course, is that you won’t need to use gads of oil to brown crispy potatoes or sear chicken when cooking in cast-iron. To season your cast-iron skillet, cover the bottom of the pan with a thick layer of kosher salt and a half inch of cooking oil, then heat until the oil starts to smoke.
Carefully pour the salt and oil into a bowl, then use a ball of paper towels to rub the inside of the pan until it is smooth. To clean cast iron, never use soap. Simply scrub your skillet with a stiff brush and hot water and dry it completely.

2. Cast iron is a chemical-free alternative to
nonstick pans.

Another benefit to using cast-iron pans in place of nonstick pans is that you avoid the harmful chemicals that are found in nonstick pans. The repellent coating that keeps food from sticking to nonstick pots and pans contains PFCs (perfluorocarbons), a chemical that’s linked to liver damage, cancer, developmental problems and, according to one 2011 study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, early menopause. PFCs get released – and inhaled – from nonstick pans in the form of fumes when pans are heated on high heat. Likewise, we can ingest them when the surface of the pan gets scratched. Both regular and ceramic-coated cast-iron pans are great alternatives to nonstick pans for this reason.

3. Cooking with cast iron fortifies your food with iron.

While cast iron doesn’t leach chemicals, it can leach some iron into your food…and that’s a good thing. Iron deficiency is fairly common worldwide, especially among women. In fact, 10% of American women are iron-deficient. Cooking food, especially something acidic like tomato sauce in a cast-iron skillet can increase iron content, by as much as 20 times.

About the author:

Kerri-Ann, a registered  dietitian, is the associate editor of nutrition for EatingWell magazine,  where she puts her master’s degree in nutrition from Columbia University to work writing and editing news about nutrition, health and food trends.

In addition, there are questions about the use of aluminium cooking utensils:

The first stamped and cast aluminum cookware  was manufactured in 1892 by the Pittsburgh Reduction Co., which later became  known as ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America).

At the 1901 Pan-American  Exposition in Buffalo, New York, the new aluminum cookware was introduced to  housewives, who viewed it with suspicion because of quality concerns. It would  take about 50 years before aluminum pots and pans gained acceptance.

But old concerns about aluminum have been replaced by new medical ones in the  past years.  The main worry is toxic levels of aluminum could be absorbed into  the body when cooking with the metal, possibly even causing Alzheimer’s  disease.

Aluminum is almost impossible to avoid in the environment.  It is the third  most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and can be found in our air and  water. It is also found in medicines and, of course, in aluminum cookware.

The average person intakes anywhere from 3 to 50 mg of aluminum each day.   People using aluminum cookware can expect to ingest 3 to 6 mg each time they  cook with the pots and  pans.

Although not a heavy metal such as lead, aluminum is still toxic in excessive  amounts. The intake of too much aluminum might impair the kidneys, which excrete  the metal. Toxic levels of aluminum have also been linked to anemia, decreased  liver function, poor coordination, calcium deficiency and memory loss among  other health issues.

Alzheimer’s: One of the biggest worries of consumers is that using aluminum pots and pans  might cause the brain disease Alzheimer’s. Researchers conducting autopsies on many, but not all, Alzheimer’s patients discovered higher levels of aluminum in  their brains. Contentious arguments abound on both sides of the debate whether  aluminum might or might not be a factor in developing Alzheimer’s. Studies are  cited by both camps, but a majority of scientists believe that aluminum is not a  contributor to the disease. Also, the FDA has stated that ordinary use of  aluminum is safe. (S0?, we know not to trust them).

Leaching: Lightweight, low-priced and a great heat conductor, aluminum is found in  about half of manufactured cookware. But aluminum is also highly reactive.  Cooking acidic foods such as tomatoes or tomato sauce can cause leaching. The  food actually absorbs the aluminum from the pot or pan, which means you will be  swallowing aluminum particles traced back to the cookware. In addition to  avoiding cooking acidic foods in aluminum cookware, it is also advisable not to  store them in aluminum products.

Alternatives: Cast iron, glass or stainless steel pots and pans are alternatives to using  aluminum cookware. Another option is using anodized aluminum cookware. This  process uses a chemical bath and electrical current to bind the aluminum to the  pot or pan, which then makes the utensil non-porous and non-reactive. This  non-stick and relatively scratch-resistant surface means that aluminum will not  leach into acidic or salty foods.

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Hypocrisy at it´s most naked, the USA again/still!

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

UN Security Council Chamber in New York.

Image via Wikipedia

This post on NSNBC by Alan Hart, clearly tells of the lack of support for peaceful solutions throughout the world by the US whilst their lying and hypocritical ramblings reveal the exact opposite.

Russia and China’s veto of the UN Security Council resolution which condemned Syria over its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters and contained a weak reference to the possibility of sanctions against Damascus proved (again) one thing – that despite torrents of soaring rhetoric to the contrary by our leaders, international politics is not about doing what is right and in the best interests of all nations and peoples, it’s only about the short-term, short-sighted, political self-interest of leaders and their governments. And the statement by U.S. ambassador Susan Rice, described by the New York Times as “one of her most bellicose speeches in the Council chamber”, was pure, unadultered hypocrisy at its most naked.

But let us first of all be clear about the meaning of hypocrisy (hypocrite is from hypokrite, the ancient Greek for actor). The definitions of hypocrisy are “a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not… the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion.” The synonyms for hypocrisy are “cant… dissembling… insincerity… piousness.” The antonyms are “genuineness… sincerity.”

If I was contributing to the updating of dictionaries, I would add another definition of hypocrisy – American foreign policy.

In her statement after Russia and China had vetoed and before she walked out of the Council chamber, Susan Rice said: “The United States is outraged that this council has utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge and a growing threat to regional peace and security.”

This is, of course, the same Susan Rice who will cast the U.S. veto to kill the Palestinians’ bid for Security Council recognition of their statehood (if the bid gets to the Security Council). It is apparently of no concern to her and her master that the Security Council has utterly failed, time and time again, to address the criminal policies of the Zionist (not Jewish) state of Israel, policies which present a far more urgent moral challenge and growing threat to regional peace and security than what Bashar al-Assad’s monster regime is doing in Syria.

Rice also said: “Today the courageous people of Syria can now see who on this Council supports their yearning for liberty and universal human rights and who does not.”

Quite so, madam ambassador, but is it of no concern to you that almost the whole world (of peoples not governments) is aware of who on the Security Council supports the Palestinian yearning for liberty and universal human rights and who does not?

If there was a Nobel prize for hypocrisy, Susan Rice would have to be added to the list of nominees for it along with President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. (Question: What do those two gentlemen have in common? Answer: In the context of targeted assassinations, it can be said that both are cold-blooded killers).

On another matter… The jury in my mind is still out on the question of whether or not professor Shlomo Avineri, the Polish-born Israeli political scientist, is a hypocrite. His most recent article is in Ha’aretz with the headline No realistic chance of permanent Middle East peace. The following is its opening paragraph.

“In his speech to the UN General Assembly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas once again made a common Palestinian mistake: a Palestinian leader does not have to persuade the nations of the world, but rather the Israelis. A Palestinian state will arise only if the Palestinians convince the Israelis that they are indeed ready to live in peace and mutual recognition.”

In theory that makes a lot of sense, but it ignores the fact that most Israeli Jews have been brainwashed by Zionist propaganda and, as a consequence, need to feel threatened, need to believe they are the victims and not the oppressors. Put another way, most Israeli Jews do not want to believe that the Palestinians (the vast majority of them) have long been ready for peace on terms which any rational government and people in Israel would have accepted with relief.

That being so, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of peace unless and until an American president has the freedom and the courage to use his leverage to compel Israel to end its occupation of all Arab land grabbed in 1967.

First published 5 October 2011 at www.alanhart.net

Read the NSNBC post here.   Thanks to COTO for alert.

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Read here for current ‘Doom & Gloom’, and Injustices.

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

Organic certification

Image via Wikipedia

This has been a very busy week, completely disrupting my routine.

So as not to get too far behind with more usual postings, here are a list of posts that would probably have triggered my own:

Health, per ‘Natural News’:

Raw organic foods have stronger ‘energy field’ than cooked or pasteurized
conventional foods

Injustices, also per ‘Natural News’:

Students denied education because of disabilities

World facing worst financial crisis IN HISTORY, Bank of England

Monsanto is secretly poisoning the population with Roundup

More Injustices, per ‘COTO’:

Melbourne penalizes city folk who grow veggies on vacant land

US:The National Counsel of Syria and U.S. Unconventional Warfare. Execution by Secret White House Committee

Sorry for lack of personal input, looking forward to getting stuff off my chest soon.

 

 

 

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Global Turmoil not Just about Oil!

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Ken McMurtrie

Map of NATO historic enlargement in Europe

Image via Wikipedia

The UN seems to be fully committed to continued wars and takeover of sovereign countries. (They certainly should be “committed”, for inhumanity and war crimes).

It is sad that we have reached the stage of civilization whereby the organizations having some authority and supposed interest in justice and humanity are now the ones not only in a position to make prejudiced judgements on war crimes, but are actually instrumental in committing them.

Could this possibly be true?

Reading the following NSNBC post by Dr. Christof Lehmann, “France Threatens Iran With Military Action at U.N.” might enable readers to assess for themselves if it is or not!

On Tuesday the world came one step closer to an overt global conflict when French Ambassador to the UN Gerard Araud openly threatened Iran with war. Had this statement been made ten years ago political analysts would have seen it as a gimmic to divert attention from internal scandals or for satisfying a need to remind them selves of Napolean times. Today it is a serious threat that brings the world one step closer to global disaster.              by Dr. Christof Lehmann

While Israel is armed with 200 nuclear warheads, while the US is moving missiles to bases in Romania that effectively threaten both Iran and Russia, and while both Turkey, Israel and the United States intelligence services are actively involved in illegal proliferation, as discovered by whistle-blower Sibel Edmonds, Iran has a legal nuclear program, for peaceful purposes, in cooperation and under non proliferation agreements and inspections with Russia.

It is against the backdrop that the United nations has lost any remainder of credibility since it´s per facto sanctioning of yet another crime against peace, countless war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide in Libya, as well as the per facto sanctioning of the ongoing NATO insurgency into Syria as a step in an long planned aggression against Russia and China, that the open threat with military action by  French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud is understood with it´s full implications. “If we don´t succeed today to reach a negotiation with the Iranian, there is a strong risk of military action” said Araud. Had the UN any credibility the speaker at the meeting would have shown Mr. Araud the door and asked France to give an unequivocal excuse for such appalling aggressive behavior in ” the chambers of this most august institution”. That this was not the case is but one more symptom that provides evidence for, that the evaluation by the author of this article, published on nsnbc yesterday in”UN DONE The 66th Session of the General Assembly. Reflections by Dr. Christof Lehmann” namely that the UN has become the instrument to provide an impression of legitimacy to the outrages of the Empire, and that it urgently needs to be UN DONE is correct. The world needs the courageous initiative of Russia and China and no one knows why it has not yet been forthcoming. The world also needs courage from Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Brasilia, Zimbabwe, Syria, Island, Greece and any other nation that is under attack by the Anglo American Empire to walk out of the UN.

I remember US President Ronald Reagan speech, where he said: ” how small would all our differences look if there was an alien threat against mankind, and yet, is not an alien threat against mankind already among us“. The alien threat among us, mankind, the threat against mankind comes at this time from within his native country, and from within the very organization that claims to act on it´s behalf.

Dr. Christof Lehmann, original post linked here.

I can’t see why Russia and China won’t put a stop to a UN approval, but they have no control over NATO who are independent of the UN yet are supported by the Western countries of the UN. What do you think?

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