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 Crisis Conduct
By: Stephan A. Schwartz
I created Crisis Conduct to help you gain and maintain control of your life during times of great stress and challenges. Each step-by-step experiential CD is a unique technology based on worldwide university and laboratory research to alter your consciousness.
Combining literally hundreds of research studies with ancient and honored inner-pilgrimage traditions, these powerful transformative experiences become your life-time toolkit to navigate through challenging times, whenever you need them
Available Now!! Click here for details and ordering information.
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| Thursday, 17 May 2012 |
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Sulfur Finding May Hold Key to Gaia Theory of Earth as Living Organism
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| Here is a fascinating new piece of research. I don't think this will prove to be the whole story but I do think we are slowly, at least those of us who actually have a fact based reality, discovering what all spiritual (as opposed to religious) paths have taught through the centuries: all life is interconnected and interdependent. |
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Science Daily |
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Is Earth really a sort of giant living organism as the Gaia hypothesis predicts? A new discovery made at the University of Maryland may provide a key to answering this question. This key of sulfur could allow scientists to unlock heretofore hidden interactions between ocean organisms, atmosphere, and land -- interactions that might provide evidence supporting this famous theory.
The Gaia hypothesis -- first articulated by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the 1970s -- holds that Earth's physical and biological processes are inextricably connected to form a self-regulating, essentially sentient, system.
One of the early predictions of this hypothesis was that there should be a sulfur compound made by organisms in the oceans that was stable enough against oxidation in water to allow its transfer to the air. Either the sulfur compound itself, or its atmospheric oxidation product, would have to return sulfur from the sea to ... |
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Peru's Coffee Growers Turn Carbon Traders to Save Their Farms From Climate Change
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| Here is how climate change is playing out in the developing world. One can see the pain and suffering it is causing, and how truly vile the Republican attempt to block anything that would mitigate climate change actually is. This is real evil and, in my view, a form of war crime. |
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LUCY SIEGLE - The Observer (U.K.) |
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SIERRA PIURA, PERU -- In the foothills of the Andes, in the Sierra Piura region of Peru, the problems faced by coffee farmers are clear. Up to 6,600 farmers produce here for the Central Piurana de Cafetaleros co-operative (Cepicafe), growing 4,000 tonnes a year of the finest Peruvian coffee on family plots scattered across the mountainside. Together, year in, year out, they bring in this special harvest, the arabica coffee cherries, which are painstakingly picked by hand, processed and dried in the sun.
However, thanks to "weather change", a continual topic of conversation in the area, the harvest is unpredictable. Last year, there was too little rain in the region. This year there has been a deluge: in some areas an increase of 500% on the "norm".
"I still think coffee is worthwhile," says 47-year-old Gusto Regis. "It's not yet as bad as 1983." That was when the ... |
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3-D Printing’s Radical New World
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| This new technology is going to have a massive effect on our culture, and decentralize manufacturing, allowing communities to meet their own needs. |
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DENNIS DRAEGER - Salon |
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3D printing is a hot topic right now, especially with reports of this incredible technology entering the consumer marketplace. The prices are dropping as more companies attempt consumer-grade machines. Is it time to start looking forward to a time when we all have a Star Trek-like replicator at home to produce everything we want, when we want it?
AlterNetWhile the technology isn’t nearly as versatile or as user-friendly as the science fiction dream, the implications include the potential to provide the things we need in much greener, less-centralized, less resource-intensive way. But, as with any new technology, there are also potential negative effects to balance the scales. Over the long run, the human imagination will no doubt concoct new uses that appear grotesque to us now but may make sense as the technology becomes ubiquitous and famiiar.
In short: as with so many human inventions, the future of ... |
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US's Dolphin-safe Tuna Labels Banned by Court Calling Them 'Unfair' to Mexico
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| This is an issue that can only be settled by consumer choice. None of us should be eating tuna fish anyway; all tuna species are endangered. |
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SUZANNE GOLDENBERG - The Guardian (U.K.) |
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The international trade court has effectively outlawed the sale of dolphin-friendly canned tuna in American supermarkets, ruling such labels were unfair to Mexican fishermen.
The ruling, delivered on Wednesday, was the third from the World Trade Organisation against the use of a voluntary system of labels for dolphin protection and was immediately denounced by conservation groups.
"It's an absurd decision," said Mark Palmer, a marine mammal expert at the Earth Island Institute which devised the voluntary standard for canned tuna.
The label system was introduced 20 years ago to protect dolphins in the eastern tropical Pacific, the source for almost all of America's tuna.
Campaigners say the labels have been successful in reducing the number of dolphins killed by tuna fishing fleets, and the system has strong support from the Obama administration and from congress.
But the WTO said in its ruling that the labels ... |
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| Wednesday, 16 May 2012 |
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Difference Engine: Tailpipe Truths
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| As a person who is in the market for a new car -- the one I am currently driving is 15 years old -- I have been seriously studying the ecological options, in the course of which I came across this. As you can see the issue is more complicated than it at first appears. |
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The Economist (U.K.) |
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Getting the equivalent of 106 mpg (2.2 litres/100km), the Nissan Leaf electric car would seem a motoring skinflint’s dream come true. Even an advanced plug-in hybrid like the Chevrolet Volt (Opel/Vauxhall Ampera in Europe), with an energy consumption equivalent to 61mpg, sounds pretty miserly, too. Yet, for all their frugality, neither has been selling particularly well, despite the present sky-high price of petrol (see 'Priced off the road”, July 15th 2011).
With big-ticket items like motor cars, consumers have learned to do their calculations carefully. As far as electric cars are concerned, motorists have sussed out that they do not make particularly good financial sense, even with a $7,500 handout from the federal government. They would have to keep their hybrids or plug-in electrics for seven to ten years to recoup the reward of better fuel economy. Few keep their cars anything like that long. Even in these depressed ... |
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More Than 230,000 Lose Unemployment Benefits in Eight States Due to Cuts
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Not much is being made of this, but it represents a cost of tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in additional publicly funded expenses because those individuals who have now lost their unemployment benefits will not get proper medical attention, so their small problems will become chronic or life threatening illnesses treated in last resort emergency rooms. It means an increase in hungry children, increased homelessness. Like so many of our toxic nasty-minded conservative social policy decisions we save pennies to ultimately spend hundreds if not thousands.
It is worth noting that in those "socialist" states, say Scandinavia, where they make national wellness a priority they save billions in public costs because they deal with these problems at the cheap end. |
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Daily Kos |
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More than 230,000 people stopped being eligible for unemployment insurance benefits over the weekend-not because they got jobs, but because the emergency extended benefits program providing their benefits was cut as part of the payroll tax deal earlier this year. The number of weeks of benefits available in states drop as unemployment drops, which hit California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas on Saturday.
While "as unemployment drops" may make this sound like good news, consider that California, where 100,000 jobless people will no longer be getting unemployment insurance, has an unemployment rate of 11 percent. Nationally, more than 5 million people have been unemployed for six months or longer, and there are 3.4 job-seekers for every job opening.
That makes things especially hard for people like Jennifer Moss, a divorced mother of three who has been unemployed since October 2010:
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Catholic School Drops Student Health Care to Protest Contraception Coverage
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| I am beginning to think that we have an invisible pandemic in the U.S. Something in the environment -- hormones in the water, cell phone usage, toxins? -- is causing changes in the brain structure of a large percentage of the population resulting in a level of fear and hate that is completely irrational. How else to justify something like this? |
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KATE SHEPPARD - Mother Jones |
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Franciscan University of Steubenville, a Catholic school in Ohio, made news today for dropping its student health-care plan in protest of the Obama administration's decision that health insurers must cover contraception. (Via the Huffington Post.)
The school announced online that it will no longer offer student health care starting this fall:
The Obama administration has mandated that all health insurance plans must cover 'women's health services' including contraception, sterilization, and abortion-causing medications as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Up to this time, Franciscan University has specifically excluded these services and products from its student health insurance policy, and we will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life.
Although the contraception decision has sparked outrage from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, as ... |
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House Foods Tofu Gets Non-GMO Project Seal of Approval
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| It may not be possible to get the government to mandate that GMOs be identified as being present in food. The corporate control over our Congress is too powerful. But perhaps, as this good news demonstrates, it may be possible to get thoughtful food providers to voluntarily label their absence. Support this movement; buy their products. |
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SASHA ORMAN - Food & Drink |
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It’s hard out here for a tofu fan that wants to stay away from genetically engineered food products. With GMOS making up 94 percent of the United States’ soybean crops, it can be hard to know where to turn. But hey, here’s some good news: House Foods America has just announced that it has received Non-GMO Project Verification for its entire line of tofu products.
According to House Foods America’s website, the company – a subsidiary of Osaka-based curry giant House Foods Corporation – has a longstanding philosophy of environmental awareness. But talk is cheap without anything to back it up. Verification from a third-party organization like the Non-GMO Project is a smart move for gaining consumer confidence, especially at a time when so many other major companies seem to be struggling with transparency.
'We have always been dedicated to creating our tofu with US-grown, non-GMO soybeans here ... |
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| Tuesday, 15 May 2012 |
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U.S. Coal Generation Drops 19 Percent In One Year, Leaving Coal With 36 Percent Share Of Electricity
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| Here is some good energy news. It is still old energy, but at least it shows a major decline in one of the worst old energy sources. |
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STEPHEN LACEY - Climate Progress |
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Power generation from coal is falling quickly. According to new figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coal made up 36 percent of U.S. electricity in the first quarter of 2012 - down from 44.6 percent in the first quarter of 2011.
That stunning drop, which represented almost a 20 percent decline in coal generation over the last year, was primarily due to low natural gas prices. As EIA explains, natural gas generation will climb steadily this year, while coal will see a double-digit drop by the end of 2012:
Natural‐gas‐fired generation continues to expand its share of total generation at the expense of coal‐fired generation. During the first quarter of 2012, natural gas accounted for 28.7 percent of total generation compared with 20.7 percent during the same quarter last year. In contrast, coal’s share of total generation declined from 44.6 percent to 36.0 ... |
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Louisiana Has the Highest Imprisonment Rate in the Country
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This is not only a commentary about what is going on in Red value states; much the same could be said of Arizona, or Texas, for instance. What I really want to point out is that this is happening because of the privatization of the prison system. When judges, wardens, prison guards, construction companies, small towns and on and on all have their rice bowls tied to private prisons for profit the drive to arrest and incarcerate people turns the poor into valves that open the money spigots. Louisiana is a pretty benighted state for many reasons, but this is real evil loose in the community.
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ANDREW JONES - The Raw Story |
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No place in America or the world has a larger prison population per person than the state of Louisiana, according to an explosive report from The Times-Picayune.
Louisiana’s incarceration rate is not only the largest in the country, but is triple the rate in Iran, seven times greater than in China, and 10 times more than Germany’s. A major factor in the southern state’s numbers is the large presence of prisons owned by private companies, often run by rural sheriffs.
$182 million has generated by the prison industry in Louisiana, providing incentive to keep the inmate population at a high volume. Louisiana also leads the country in the most homicides, contributing in the state’s prison population doubling in the past two decades.
Former University of Louisiana-Lafayette professor Burk Foster explained how his state’s attitude toward imprisonment would be very difficult to change.
'You have people who ... |
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Germans Can't Fathom US Aversion to Obama's Healthcare Reform
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| This is what we look like to the strongest economy in Europe. Note the linkage of healthcare and economic success. |
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MIRIAM WIDMAN - Der Spiegel (Germany) |
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As the United States Supreme Court considers whether requiring people to have health insurance is unconstitutional, Germans are bewildered as to why so many Americans appear to be against universal coverage.
They also question the continued portrayal of US President Barack Obama and his health reform backers as socialists and communists, noting that healthcare was introduced in Germany in the 19th century by Otto von Bismarck, who was definitely not a leftist, and is supported by conservative and pro-business politicians today.
"It's a solidarity principle," says Ann Marini, a spokesperson for the National Health Insurers Association. "Not every 'S' automatically means socialism."
Marini and others say that mandated coverage is something that is simply not questioned in Germany. Furthermore, even the most pro-market politicians wouldn't dare to dismantle the country's health insurance system.
System Only Works if Everyone Takes Part
The requirement that everyone buy ... |
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Marijuana May Ease Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms
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Over the years I have heard several friends with MS tell me this, now it is actually being explored. If you have MS, or know someone who does, you might try this or pass it on.
Source: REPORT 3 OF THE COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH (I-09) Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes (Resolutions 910, I-08;921, I-08;and 229, A-09) (Reference Committee K) |
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AMY NORTON - Reuters |
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- People with multiple sclerosis have long said that smoking marijuana helps ease their painful muscle cramping. And a new clinical trial suggests they are not just blowing smoke.
The study, published Monday, found that for 30 MS patients with muscle "spasticity," a few days of marijuana smoking brought some relief.
Some people with MS are already using medical marijuana to treat certain symptoms, including spasticity -- when the muscles in the legs or arms contract painfully, in something akin to a "charley horse."
There is some science behind the idea: The body naturally produces cannabinoids, the group of chemicals found in marijuana. And studies have suggested the cannabinoid receptors on our cells help regulate muscle spasticity.
But the evidence that pot smoking actually helps with spasticity has been anecdotal.
"We've heard from patients that marijuana helps their spasticity, but I ... |
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