Cost of the Iraq War

As of 6/3/06 the cost of the Iraq War has totaled over $285,688,000,000 to United States taxpayers, and the number is increasing at over a billion dollars each week. Instead we could have funded four-year scholarships for 13,849,097 college undergrads, or ended world hunger for 11 years, or funded 28 years of AIDS health programs worldwide, or put 37,838,323 kids in "Head Start" preschool for one year. Getting more personal, the war has cost each and every man, woman, and child (future taxpayer) almost $1,000 so far. That's about 10 fill-ups for your SUV, or maybe 35 for your Prius.

So much for your money. What about human suffering? The U.S. government reports that about 2,500 American soldiers have died in combat but provides no estimates on the number of Iraqi casualties. The current approximation of Iraqi civilians and police killed since 2003 according to the Iraq Body Count project is over 40,000. The number of injured and maimed could be ten times greater. No additional commentary here, except to note that our leaders' priorities seem to speak for themselves.

For a running tally on the Cost of the Iraq War (you can actually watch the little numbers spinning) click here.

Nuclear Message Units: "Can You Fear Me Now?"

As reported in the environmental online magazine Grist (www.grist.org), scientists are plotting to warn future generations about the dangers of tampering with radioactive nuclear waste.

A thousand or so years from now, a huge underground salt mine in Carlsbad, New Mexico, will collapse and bury the tons of radioactive, plutonium-covered detritus from nuclear-weapons production that are stored within. But the plutonium will be exceedingly toxic for another 249,000 years. How to make sure nobody digs it up 500 generations down the road? Scientists, futurists, and historians have tried to predict what the future will hold – Feminist corporations? Robots? Preindustrial tribes? – and how to communicate danger.

"No culture has ever tried, self-consciously and scientifically, to design a symbol that would last 10,000 years and still be intelligible," says one anthropologist. The current plan, which will take a century to complete, consists in part of a two-mile-long berm surrounded by concrete markers with warnings in a variety of languages and pictures of horrified human faces. A quarter-million years later, still apologizing for our mess.

Sources: www.grist.org, May 4, 2006.
Los Angeles Times, Charles Piller May 3, 2006.

China Builds A Green Manhattan

China is soon to build the world's largest green city. Dongtan, being developed by London's Arup Urban Design, will consist of village-style neighborhoods and will emphasize pedestrian-friendliness, renewable-energy generation, and self-sufficiency in water and food.

At three quarters the size of Manhattan and located on the third largest island in China at the mouth of the Yangtse River, Dongtan is expected to attract a wide range of commercial and leisure investments. Ecologically sensitive design will be a key element of the masterplan. The site is mostly agricultural land adjacent to a huge wetland of global importance.

Priority projects for Phase 1 include capturing and purifying water, waste management recycling, reducing landfills that damage the environment, and creating combined heat and power systems, linked to the use of renewables, that will provide the technology to source clean and reliable energy.

The planners' vision is to create a development with low energy consumption that is as close to being carbon neutral as possible. Dongtan should be able to support a population of 80,000 by 2020. This urban center, where people will be able to live and work in a high-quality environment, could be the template for sustainability in city planning, not only in seriously polluted China but throughout the world.

While visiting China last April, London Mayor Ken Livingstone introduced plans for a 1,000-home, zero-carbon development modeled on Dongtan.

Whereas the mass media has portrayed China as a potentially dangerous competitor, the true threat to U.S. security may be our own failure to plan for a sustainable future.

Sources: www.grist.org, May 5, 2006.
www.arup.com

CAN YOU FEAR ME NOW? Should we post images of expressionist Edvard Munch's famous painting, "The Scream," or perhaps the "Home Alone" movie boy, to protect future denizens from tampering with our deadly nuclear waste over the next 250,000 years?

Sweden Oil-Free By 2020

It's a small world. Last year when Hurricane Katrina knocked out some gulf coast refineries, Swedish petroleum reserves were diminished. Now the Swedish government is determined to become the world's first oil-free country.

To end their dependence on oil by 2020, Sweden plans to boost investment in alternative fuel research and development, offer financial incentives to suppliers of biofuels, tax breaks for households to convert from oil to renewable energy, and lure drivers into alternative vehicles with the promise of free parking in some cities. Your turn, Mr. Bush.

Source: The Ecologist, May 2006.

Better Than Organic? Go Local!

Local, rather than organic food, could provide the biggest boost to sustainable living, according to reports from American, Japanese, and UK scientists.

In the UK, researchers calculate that purchasing food grown within a 12-mile radius has a greater positive impact than buying organic food that is not local, substantially lowering the environmental cleanup costs from $2.3 billion per year to under $230 million. That's a 90% savings!

Japan's environmental organization Daichi-o Mamoru Kai found that switching to local food—specifically eschewing U.S. soy for homegrown—would be equivalent to reducing household energy use by 20 percent, easily enabling Japan to honor its five percent carbon dioxide emission cut under the Kyoto agreement.

While some international trade is inevitable—Vermonters craving South American strawberries in winter—most is duplicative and ecologically counter-intuitive. Heinz ketchup eaten in California is made with California-grown tomatoes that are shipped to Canada for processing and returned in bottles. In one year, the port of New York City exported $431,000 of California almonds to Italy and imported $397,000 of Italian almonds to the U.S. That's nuts!

Maybe "local versus organic" is a false dichotomy to begin with. Why not go both "local AND organic"? But what about that tasty organic Colombian coffee...?

Source: Adbusters, March-April 2006.

Do Gays Have A Choice?

Can we choose our sexual orientation? Religious conservatives often argue that sexuality is a matter of choice, whereas gay activist groups, as well as many therapists, counter that sexual orientation is something that we are born with.

U.C. San Diego's Robert Epstein conducted an exclusive national poll commissioned by Scientific American Mind which revealed diverse and conflicting opinions regarding the nature of sexuality.

According to Epstein, both genetics and environment play a role in determining sexual orientation. The majority occupy the heterosexual end of the continuum as a result of both genetics and social pressure. For people who fall near one extreme or the other (exclusive attraction to either same-sex or opposite-sex partners) choice about sexual orientation is very limited.

However, a distinct majority in the poll, 53%, said they believed that "a straight person may occasionally experience sexual attraction to individuals of the same sex." An even higher number, 62%, believed that "a gay person may occasionally experience sexual attraction to individuals of the opposite sex."

The belief that "all people have the potential to be sexually attracted to members of both sexes" was especially prevalent among adults younger than 30 (66%). Groups that disagreed with this statement included Wal-mart shoppers (58%), NASCAR fans (56%), and born-agains (59%). Must be a "red state" thing.

It seems to us that all this disagreement about sexuality itself makes the case for social tolerance. Doesn't the U.S. congress have something better to do than debate a gay marriage ban amendment? To paraphrase Rodney King (and Marvin Gaye), "Can't we all just get it on?"

Source: Scientific American Mind, April/May 2006.

One-minute Test For Alzheimer's

Prevention magazine reports that a UK scientists have devised a simple one-minute test which is highly predictive of early stage dementia. How many animals can you name in a minute? How many fruits? People with early Alzheimer's named an average of 10 to 15 animals or fruits within the time allowed. However, healthy adults listed 20 to 25. While the alzheimer's group thought of everyday words such as "cat" and "apple," they left out others not used as often, such as "zebra" and "kiwi."

This pattern was so consistent that researchers correctly identified ill patients based solely on word lists. Early diagnosis can help individuals receive medications and make lifestyle choices, including low-fat diets, exercise, memory games, which may slow the progression of the disease.

Source: Prevention, January 2006.

Women Who Pump Iron Reduce Middle-Age Spread

Women who lift weights twice a week can prevent or at least slow down "middle-age spread" and weight gain, a University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researcher reported on March 16, 2006 at the American Heart Association's 46th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

Gloria Kamil, longtime OPEN EXCHANGE lister, has advocated weight training for women for many years.

The "SHE" study (short for "Strong, Healthy, Empowered") of 164 overweight and obese women between 24 and 44 years of age found that strength training with weights dramatically reduced the increase in abdominal fat in pre-menopausal participants compared to similar women who merely received advice about exercise.

"On average, women in the middle years of their lives gain one to two pounds a year and most of this is assumed to be fat," said lead author Kathryn H. Schmitz, PhD, Assistant Professor, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. "This study shows that strength training can prevent increases in body fat percentage and attenuate increases in the fat depot—or 'belly fat'—most closely associated with heart disease."

Women in the two-year weight-training program decreased their body fat percentage by 3.7 percent, while body fact percentage remained stable in the controls.

Why does weight training facilitate fat loss? Does it act only by the increase in calories burned during the exercise? Does the resulting increase in body muscle mass cause an on-going higher rate of calorie burn that is not offset by higher appetite? Or does the exercise release endorphins or other compounds that decrease appetite? Perhaps it's some combination of all of these.

The Mayo Clinic notes that your metabolism slows as you age. This makes it harder to avoid gaining weight, but not inevitable. Not quite ready to pump iron? Their sensible recommendations include exercising regularly and eating right. Eliminating just a couple hundred calories a day from your diet by substituting vegies for pastries can make a big difference over time.

Sources: www.futurepundit.com
www.mayoclinic.com

Acupressure Relieves Back Pain Better Than Physical Therapy

Acupresssure---pushing with the fingertips at the same body points used in acupuncture---gave patients better, long-lasting relief for low back pain than conventional physical therapy in one important Taiwanese study.

"Acupressure was effective in reducing low back pain in terms of disability, pain scores and functional status," doctors at the National Taiwan University reported in the February 2006 issue of the British Medical Journal. "The benefit was sustained for six months."

The researchers recruited 129 people with chronic low back pain from a specialist orthopedic clinic. All of them filled out a standard disability questionnaire before being assigned to one of two different treatment regimens, with 64 people receiving six sessions of acupressure and 65 receiving standard physical therapy.

"Acupressure conferred an 89 percent reduction in physical disability compared with physical therapy," the researchers reported. The people who got acupressure also scored better on measures of pain and had took fewer days off from work or school.

All the people in this study received treatment from the same therapist to eliminate any difference in the treatment given. "How acupressure can be generalized to patients with low back pain is the subject of ongoing research." Researchers cautioned that the effectiveness of any manipulative therapy "is highly dependent on the therapist's technique and experience."

Dr. Marcos Hsu, acupuncture specialist at the University of Maryland Center, called the Taiwan report "quite amazing," because the benefits persisted for so long. But he added that he would like more information on the causes of back pain in the people treated in the study.

"I have seen good responses similar to those in the [study], but some people do not respond to it," he said. The response generally is good for musculoskeletal problems such as sprains, but when the pain is caused by problems with structural bones and tissues, as in arthritis, the treatment "may take longer to take effect." Hsu's patients usually receive painkillers as well, because "most people who come to us are on painkillers, so it is not advisable to stop."

The Taiwan study does have some flaws, added Richard E. Harris, a research investigator in the rheumatology division of the University of Michigan Medical School, who has also done work on acupressure. Harris said he'd like a more detailed account of the treatment given — which acupressure points were pressed, for example. And he noted that the participants weren't blinded to the treatment they were given. Patients who got acupressure knew they were getting it, which might have influenced their response.

Nonetheless, Harris agrees that the report's findings are significant and deserve follow-up.

Sources: HealthDay News, February 20, 2006
http://www.hon.ch/News/HSN/531087.html
British Medical Journal, February 18, 2006.

Exercise-Induced Asthma

Imagine biking up a hill while breathing through a straw. That is the sensation someone with asthma may feel when he or she experiences an asthma attack while exercising.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an astonishing 30 million Americans, or about one in ten, have been diagnosed with asthma. Asthma is a disease of the airways characterized by chronic inflammation of the lungs' airways, punctuated by a clamping down of the muscles that surround these tubes. It is the latter that is usually meant when people refer to an asthma "attack." Wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and a feeling of tightness in the chest or airways are all typical symptoms. Attacks may last minutes or days. It is not clear what causes someone to get asthma, and there is no known cure.

Join the Asthma Walk, September 30, in Oakland, San Francisco, South Bay and Sacramento. Form your own Asthma Walk team with co-workers, family, and friends, volunteer to help, or donate to support the Asthma Walk. You can help reverse the asthma epidemic. See the listing on p. 23 for details.

Many people with asthma find that exercising or playing sports can bring on asthma symptoms, particularly in cold, dry weather. Physicians call this Exercise-Induced Asthma or EIA. Adam Davis, MPH, MA, and Jessica Bowen Bazyl, MPH, of the American Lung Association of the East Bay offer the following advice for persons suffering from EIA:

There is evidence that increased breathing during exercise causes cooling and drying of the lining of the air passages, which may lead to a constriction of the airways. This explains why warm, moist air protects against Exercise-Induced Asthma and why so many people with asthma stop running and begin swimming. The air directly above swimming pools is very humid.

Should people with asthma avoid exercise? No, definitely not. In fact, enjoyable exercise is even more important for someone with asthma than for other people. Asthma attacks are hard work. One of the dangers in an asthma attack is fatigue, which may make you weaken in your fight to breathe. Obviously, it is good to have strong breathing muscles, and the best way to get strong breathing muscles is to exercise. Far from being prevented from getting exercise, children and adults with asthma should take as much exercise as they can enjoyably manage.

Many Olympic gold medal winners have been asthmatic and have suffered from Exercise-Induced Asthma. On the 1988 U.S. Olympic team, the 67 athletes with symptoms of EIA were responsible for winning 41 Olympic medals, including 15 golds and 21 silvers. These results should send a strong message to all athletes with EIA that, with proper medication and management, athletic performance does not need to suffer. The good news is that all the ordinary asthma medicines are acceptable to sports organizations, provided they are used in the recommended way and in the appropriate dosage, as prescribed by your health care provider.

Source: For more information about Exercise-Induced Asthma, speak to your doctor or contact the American Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG-USA. www.bayarealung.org.

Greening The Workplace At The McKinnon Institute of Massage

Kudos to longtime OPEN EXCHANGE lister McKinnon Institute (see the Schools category) for "Greening their Workplace," as recognized officially by the The Bay Area Green Business Program. Founded in 1973, the McKinnon Institute offers certification in massage and other bodywork through programs that blend technical expertise and compassion to acknowledge the whole person: mind, body, spirit.

The Bay Area Green Business Program is a partnership of environmental and waste management agencies, professional associations, and utilities that recognize and assist businesses that operate in an environmentally friendly way.

SOLAR POWERED TRAININGS: Kudos to Selene Lee, director of the McKinnon Institute for greening her workplace to the benefit of employees, clients, and the greater environment.

Selena Lee, the Director of the McKinnon Institute, explains that "a holistic approach includes the environment, the people, their happiness, and so much more." She says: "I believe a green environment is the foundation to a healing center. As an institution which teaches and promotes healthy practices for our students, I feel it is important to also follow business practices that are healthy for the environment and the surrounding community." These values mean "bringing in all aspects of the practice in line with the primary values of decreasing our footprint and increasing sustainability."

Greening the Workplace emphasizes conservation of water and energy, as well as the reduction of solid waste and pollution. McKinnon Institute has a model Green Workplace, which utilizes natural and energy-efficient lighting, ceiling fans instead of air-conditioning, low-VOC paints, wool-blend low VOC carpeting, and washable linens—all while supporting local businesses and in-house craftspeople!

"Here at the massage school," Lee explains, "people are able to witness the shift energetically and aesthetically." Students, teachers and clients alike have expressed appreciation for the healing and calming atmosphere of the renovated building. Students especially have noted the difference in the quality of their learning experience.

Lee concludes that health and the environment are interrelated, and cannot be disconnected: "In terms of health care, I don't see how the two can be separate." It's a growing trend within the conventional health care field as well as alternative health care practices and day spas.

Sources: The Bay Area Green Business Program www.greenbiz.ca.gov.
Massage magazine, April/May 2006, "Go Green! How Your Practice Can Help the Environment."