What chemicals are contributing to making us fat?

No matter how much you try, does it seem harder and harder to keep weight off. Well part of the reason is that we are exposed to so many chemicals on a regular basis.

In her book ‘The 21st Century is Making you Fat’ former Ecologist Editor Pat Thomas details the full range of industrial and everyday chemicals known to encourage us to get fat

Organochlorines
Include the pesticides DDT, chlordane, aldrin, dieldrin and heptachlor and the now banned industrial lubricants PCBs, as well as dioxins and chlorophenols. High levels of organochlorines have been found to alter metabolism in the body and essentially stop us losing fat.

Organophosphates
Organophosphate pesticides, such as malathion, dursban, diazinon and carbonates, constitute 40 per cent of all pesticides used. These chemicals are mainly utilised inside buildings, as opposed to in agriculture. They are neurotoxic (harmful to nerve tissue) and hormone-disrupting.

Carbamates
Including aldicarb, bendiocarb, carbaryl, propoxur and thiophanate methyl, carbamates are used extensively in agriculture, forestry and gardening. They are suspected hormone-disrupters.

Organotins
These include tributyltin (TBT) and the mono- and dibutyltins (MBT, DBT). These chemicals have many applications, including as stabilizers in PVC, catalysts in chemical reactions. They are also found in glass coatings, agricultural pesticides, biocides in marine anti-foulant paints and wood treatments and preservatives. Organotins are damaging to the thyroid and immune system and potential hormone-disrupters.

Bisphenol-A (BPA)
An oestrogen mimic used to make clear, hard, reusable plastic products; it is also used in the manufacture of polymers, fungicides, antioxidants, dyes, polyester resins, flame-retardants and rubber chemicals, and some dental resins.

Phthalates
Hormone-disrupting chemicals, these are produced in large volumes and are commonly detected in ground water, rivers and drinking water, as well as in meat and dairy products. Around 95 per cent of phthalate production over the last few decades has been tied to the PVC industry. Phthalates can be found in many plastics and consumer products – everything from hair spray and nail varnish to plastic water bottles and T-shirts.

Polybrominated flame-retardants
These are added to many products, including computers, TVs and household textiles to reduce fire risk. They are also found in baby mattresses, foam mattresses, car seats and PVC products. Office workers who use computers, hospital cleaners and workers in electronics-dismantling plants are at particular risk from these chemicals. Polybrominated flame-retardants are oestrogen mimics and can also affect the thyroid.

Benzo[a]pyrene
A common food pollutant that belongs to a family of chemicals known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It is derived from coal tar and enters the atmosphere as a result of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. In animals it has been shown to cause weight gain in the absence of any detectable change in food intake. It is possible that other PAHs may have a similar effect.

Solvents
Neurotoxic chemicals that include xylene, dichlorobenzene, ethylphenol, styrene, toluene, acetone and trichloroethane are commonly found in human blood samples. They are necessary for a wide range of industrial processes and are found widely in adhesives, glues, cleaning fluids, felt-tip pens, perfumes, paints, varnishes, pesticides, petrol, household cleaners and waxes.

Cadmium
This is principally used as a protective plating for steel, in electrode material in nickel-cadmium batteries and as a component of various alloys. It is also present in phosphate fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides. Cadmium in the soil is taken up through the roots of plants and distributed to edible leaves, fruits and seeds, and is eventually passed on to humans and other animals, where it can build up in milk and fatty tissues. Cadmium is neurotoxic and a potential hormone-disrupter.

Lead
Professions that put their employees at risk of exposure to this neurotoxin include lead-smelting, -refining and -manufacturing industries, brass/bronze foundries, the rubber and plastics industries, steel-welding and -cutting operations, and battery manufacturing plants. Construction workers and people who work in municipal waste incinerators, in the pottery and ceramics industries, radiator-repair shops and other industries that use lead solder may also be among high-exposure groups.

They have done it before and they will do it again, We must take back our rights and stand up for them.

You may have heard my interview with Susan Lindauer. You most likely know about the Patriot act and Guantanamo bay. Perhaps fewer of you know about Americans that go missing when they denounce tyranny or invent technologies that threaten the corporate interests that pull most of the strings in Washington. The truth is they have been at the tyranny of manipulation and false detentions for a long time. Take a look at the article below to learn more of what happened to some protesting Americans some 65 plus years ago.

During World War II, many Japanese Americans were placed into internment camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. All along the Pacific Coast, 112,000 men, women and children of Japanese descent were forced from their homes and placed in “safe” places.

A few people designated for these camps protested and were placed in prison.

Gordon Hirabayashi was one of these.

In 1942, he was a senior at the University of Washington in Seattle. He refused a curfew set for Japanese Americans and did not board a relocation bus. His siblings and parents did, but he missed the last bus out of Seattle that would take him to one of the remote locations where the Japanese Americans were being placed for the duration of the War.

Gordon realized he did not agree with the curfew and subsequent internment. He wrote the now famous protest to the internment. “This order for the mass evacuation of all persons of Japanese descent denies them the right to live. I consider it my duty to maintain the democratic standards for which this nation lives. Therefore, I must refuse this order of evacuation.”

According to a newsletter from the University of Washington, Hirabayashi didn’t set out to be a rebel. He was prepared to go on the last bus, but then realized he had rights. He knew his parents were not eligible for naturalization, but he was born in America, and therefore as an American citizen, had rights. He said at the time “I didn’t think anything could happen to us. We were in for a rude awakening.”

According to the Associated Press, he fought a legal battle with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union. “When the case got to the federal courts I thought I might win it, since the primary goal of federal judges was to uphold the Constitution,” he said. “But the judge told the jury, ‘You heard the defense talking about defending the Constitution. That’s irrelevant. The issue is the executive order that the military issued.’ Under those circumstances, the jury came back very fast.”

He was jailed for two years, and finally exonerated in 1997 when a federal court finally issued a wrongly convicted ruling.

Hirabayashi eventually finished his education at the UW, earned his doctorate and taught sociology in Alberta and Edmonton, Canada until he retired. He died on January 2nd at the age of 93.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/internment-camp-civil-rights-rebel-gordon-hirabayashi-dies-at-93.html#ixzz1j6sWLxEd

From Democracy to dictatorship. Iowa caucus voting fraud and presidential bypassing of authority.

As more and more abuses of power ensue, many people ignorant of the values and make up of our nation’s great original intentions, stand by and applaud as Obama suggests it might be a good thing to assume more dictatorial powers. On one side of the equation some folks might think that taking such steps is warranted, given the seeming incompetence of congress to get anything done. However, such a naive belief in the ultimate goodness of a leader could easily become a slippery slope, which is why we need these protections in the first place.

For more information, check out this video with more of the details below!

Some senators are fighting the FDA for our supplements too. Let’s get active!

As the FDA continues its apparent goal to stymie access to supplements several senators have shown themselves to be on our side. We must all get active to keep our access free and unfettered.

Will it be enough to rein in FDA’s outrageous power grab?

ANH-USA, together with a number of supplement trade organizations, went to Capitol Hill to plead our case about the FDA’s profoundly flawed NDI (new supplement) draft guidance in the offices of two powerful senators and longtime friends of natural health, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Our visit was preceded by all the letters you have been sending to Congress, which have immeasurably increased the visibility of this issue. As you know, if this draft guidance stands, it would allow FDA to arbitrarily deny the sale of any supplement created (or modified) in the past seventeen years. Immediately after this meeting, Sens. Harkin and Hatch wrote to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg and formally asked the FDA to withdraw its guidance document.

The senators urged FDA to begin work on a new draft that provides needed clarification on what constitutes a New Dietary Ingredient (NDI)—but, in their words, does not undermine Congress’s desire to provide consumers with access to safe, affordable dietary supplement products. Exactly!

These senators were uniquely qualified to make such a request, since they were the principal authors of DSHEA, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. “When Congress included language in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) directing FDA to clarify when a dietary supplement ingredient is a new dietary ingredient, the expectation was that the guidance would be consistent with DSHEA,” they write. “Unfortunately, the draft guidance serves to undermine DSHEA in a number of important respects.”

They go on to outline the various arguments that we have been making in these pages for some time:

* The requirement for a manufacturer to submit an NDI notification for every dietary supplement containing an NDI is directly contrary to the language of DSHEA, which requires notification only of the intent to use an NDI;
* This new requirement is burdensome and would impose substantial additional costs on manufacturers, would not provide additional safety benefits, and would undermine access to the safe, affordable nutritional supplements that DSHEA was designed to ensure;
* The NDI guidance’s assertion that synthetic copies of ingredients can never be a dietary ingredient is without any statutory basis, and is contrary to longstanding FDA policy; and
* This guidance is contrary to Congressional intent by grandfathering in only ingredients that were marketed before the enactment of DSHEA—such an argument is particularly specious since “the term dietary supplement wasn’t even defined prior to DSHEA”!

The senators requested that FDA meet with interested parties to work through all of the issues raised in our and others’ comments. Fortunately, FDA can’t just ignore the senators’ request, because the agency is required to work within legislative intent. Otherwise they would be creating new law—which legally they cannot do. This is one of the arguments we have been making all along—that FDA is in fact making new law with this draft guidance, and now Congress is calling them on it!

We would like to thank Senators Harkin and Hatch for being such stalwart champions of natural health, and for their leadership in this battle to prevent the FDA from usurping powers that they are not legally entitled to. We also want to thank every one of you for contacting Congress and the FDA and being such a vital part of this process.

We aren’t out of the woods yet—we’ll have another update soon with additional action items for you. The time may come for more specific legislative action, and we may find ourselves battling FDA in the courts as well. That’s why your continued support and activism is so terribly important. Together we can win this one, preserve your access to supplements, and keep supplements from costing as much as drugs.

Listening and observing; keys to a good future for all. Great documentary.

This documentary below by Troy Ansley, invites us to see the world with different eyes and open our minds and hearts to a different and heart filling way forward.

The heroes and heroines of history’s past are so well-known they need not be mentioned. Lesser known and perhaps more integral, however, are the countless individuals whose stories remain untold and hidden by history. “Orlando Permaculture” is a documentary of the latter modern-day individuals. It is a story of a community of people who have read cover to cover the “story of pattern recognition in a sea of apparent chaos” of which Troy Ansley, speaks. They have also repeatedly heard the story modern culture sells them on how the world operates, and decided they would like to write a new, yet somehow ancient story of their own. A story of community, integrity, true sustainability and new beginnings. A story of belonging.

The film, “Orlando Permaculture,” poignantly reveals that great movements are birthed in the dreams of those who desire more, and molded between the hands of those who reach out to one another and to the land. Through visiting a variety of different people within the city of Orlando, the film and portrayals serve to inspire, enlighten and engage your heart & mind to dream of a more colorful and living world in which all are welcome. This is a world of possibilities, togetherness, and balance. Indicative of the subject matter, Ansley weaves a beautiful fabric of sound and image to ornately clothe this emerging community whose story otherwise might remain hidden by history. Listen to this story, dear viewer, so that you might share it and likewise reach out your hand and mold it with us. — Richard G. Powell December 20th, 2011 Orlando, FL

Why is the US letting China surge ahead of us and all at the cost of We The People!?

Most of us have heard of solar power and think it inaccessible from a budgetary standpoint. However China is producing and selling rooftop solar water heaters for less than $250 each. When you consider that a gas water heater for a family home in the US ranges from $350 TO $600 AND REQUIRES FUEL YEAR ROUND, this is a bargain we should all be taking advantage of. However do you think the gas and electric companies want us to know about this. Read below for the full scoop from Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute. Politics aside this is just pure common sense.

Harnessing the Sun’s Energy for Water and Space Heating Lester R. Brown The pace of solar energy development is accelerating as the installation of rooftop solar water heaters takes off. Unlike solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that convert solar radiation into electricity, these “solar thermal collectors” use the sun’s energy to heat water, space, or both. China had an estimated 168 million square meters (1.8 billion square feet) of rooftop solar thermal collectors installed by the end of 2010—nearly two thirds of the world total.  This is equivalent to 118,000 thermal megawatts of capacity, enough to supply 112 million Chinese households with hot water.  With some 5,000 Chinese companies manufacturing these devices, this relatively simple low-cost technology has leapfrogged into villages that do not yet have electricity. For as little as $200, villagers can install a rooftop solar collector and take their first hot shower. This technology is sweeping China like wildfire, already approaching market saturation in some communities. Beijing’s goal is to reach 300 million square meters of rooftop solar water heating capacity across the country by 2020, a goal it is likely to exceed. Other developing countries such as India and Brazil may also soon see millions of households turning to this inexpensive water heating technology. Once the initial installment cost of rooftop solar water heaters is paid back, the hot water is essentially free. In Europe, where energy costs are relatively high, rooftop solar water heaters are also spreading fast. In Austria, 15 percent of all households now rely on them for hot water. Germany is also forging ahead. Some 2 million Germans are now living in homes with rooftop solar systems. Roughly 30 percent of the installed solar thermal capacity in these two countries consists of “solar combi-systems” that are engineered to heat both water and space. The U.S. rooftop solar water heating industry has historically concentrated on a niche market—selling and marketing more than 9 million square meters of solar water heaters for swimming pools between 1995 and 2005. Given this base, the industry was poised to mass-market residential solar water and space heating systems when federal tax credits were introduced in 2006. Led by Hawaii, California, and Florida, annual U.S. installations of these systems have more than tripled since 2005. Despite the recent growth in U.S. installations, the country ranks 36th in installed capacity relative to its population, with just 0.01 square meters installed per person. Cyprus, on the other hand, currently leads the world in solar water heater area on a per capita basis, with 0.79 square meters per person. Israel ranks second with 0.56 square meters per person. Inspired by the rapid adoption of rooftop water and space heaters in Europe in recent years, the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) has established an ambitious goal of one square meter of rooftop collector for every European by 2020. Over the long term, ESTIF estimates that solar thermal has the potential to meet most of the region’s low-temperature heating needs. Numerous policies promoting renewable energy use for water and space heating exist around the world. Some governments have gone a step further, passing laws requiring solar water heaters in new construction.  For a quarter-century, Israel was the only country to have a national mandate for solar hot water in buildings.  Then in 2006, Spain began requiring that solar collectors be installed on all new or renovated buildings. Portugal followed quickly with its own mandate. In the United States, Hawaii now requires that all new single-family homes have them. Solar water and space heaters in Europe and China have a strong economic appeal, often paying for themselves from electricity savings in less than 10 years. With the cost of rooftop heating systems declining and more countries implementing favorable policies, the shift from fossil fuels to solar energy for heating water and space will likely accelerate. For more data and information on the rapid growth of renewable energy worldwide, see World on the Edge by Lester R. Brown at www.earth-policy.org.

Corporate responsibility: What a concept!!! The good thing is it can and is happening.

Isn’t it time we left the lizards behind and chose politicians that really care? A rare breed.

In this interesting video we learn pointedly how one of the top republican politicians has been bought all along.Do we want a bought president. You might ask why we are looking so political here on this site. This lizard like Newt has been completely bought off by the pharmaceutical industry. Is that who we want for a president. Watch below!

IBM’s sinister past. Seems globalization to our detriment has been around for a while.

In the video you are about to watch below, learn more of how we are not just being observed now but have been for some 70 plus years and what’s more one of our biggest US companies was instrumental in doing this and at the expense of countless lives.

Watch here!http://youtu.be/JEZG_YUOnsQ

Good News for the Holidays; LA city council votes a major beginning in change for our nation

Hi folks! Here is some great news that can, should and I believe will change our nation and the world for the better. Look over the short intro and watch the video below!

Hey, here’s some good news to brighten your day. The Los Angeles Council has made L.A. the first U.S. city to officially vote for a constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling that effectively granted corporate entities the same rights as individual citizens. (The ruling allowed unlimited funding of media campaigns for and against politicians and presidential candidates — legalising profit-motivated media brainwashing by powerful industry interests.)

The L.A. Council’s vote is an excellent step towards taking the money out of politics.

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