Iraqi War Casualties
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq: 1,297,997+
SOURCE:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
U.S. Military Deaths
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America'sWar On Iraq: 4,209+
SOURCE: http://icasualties.org/oif/
The Wages of War
The War And Occupation Of Iraq Costs:
$581,036,704,569+
SOURCE: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home
Censored News: Over One Million Iraqi Dead
The death toll from the U.S. led Iraq War and subsequent occupation now exceeds one million men, women, and children, rivaling the mass killings of the last century. So reports Project Censored, which puts this item at the top of its list of news stories censored or underreported by the corporate media in 2008.
When polled, most Americans believe that only about 10,000 Iraqis have died as a result of fighting in that war-torn region. And contrary to media impressions, most of the violence against Iraqis is not perpetuated by Iraqis themselves but by U.S. forces.
Moreover, Iraq is far from secure to this day. Although most Iraqis would like to live peacefully in their own communities, 5 million have been forced to abandon their homes, and 2.5 million are now living in exile in Jordan, Iran, Egypt, and surrounding countries.
All this begs the question: Will the U.S. Government accept moral responsibility for its actions in Iraq? During the run-up to the war, Colin Powell expressed his "Pottery Barn" theory: "You break it, you bought it." But "Shock and Awe," genocide, and torture are no mere accidents. And who should pay the price? Should the architects of this misguided war be tried for war crimes? If we forgive and forget will it happen again?
SOURCES: Censored 2009: The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2007-08, Peter Phillips, Andrew Roth and Project Censored, Seven Stories Press, 2008.
The Times, "Obama's First Problem is US War Crimes," Andrew Sullivan, 11/30/2008
Tough Love For Obama?
In Barack Obama we finally have a president whose instincts are good, but who may be hamstrung by realpolitik. Should anti-war advocates pressure Obama publicly to bring the Iraq War to a quick conclusion, or merely lobby quietly, out of sight? Progressives in labor, the environment, and education are also weighing their options. In the 1960s Martin Luther King asked President Kennedy to support the Civil Rights Act. JFK replied, "I have an election coming up. I can't initiate this Act. Make me do it." So King and his people went to Birmingham and got busy. Blogger Walter Ebmeyer writes, "We all love Obama to pieces, but he might appreciate a little heat from us now and then."
Tourist Money Helps Natives Flee
The new president of the Maldives, a tiny nation comprised of low-lying islands and atolls in the Indian Ocean, has said the country will begin using a portion of its tourism money to buy a new homeland for its citizens given that sea-level rise from climate change may eventually make many of the islands uninhabitable. "We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own and so we have to buy land elsewhere. It's an insurance policy for the worst possible outcome," said President Mohamed Nasheed.
SOURCE: Grist Environmental Magazine, www.grist.org, 11/10/2008.
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Solar Taxi Travels the Globe
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U.N. Initiative's Green New Deal
The economic, food, and climate crises can be tackled in one fell swoop, says the United Nations Environment Program, UNEP. The organization's Green Economy Initiative is comparable to Franklin Roosevelt's Depression-tackling New Deal. "Investments will soon be pouring back into the global economy," says Pavan Dukdhev of Deutsche Bank, which is working with the initiative. "The question is whether they go into the old, extractive, short-term economy of yesterday or a new green economy that will deal with multiple challenges while generating multiple economic opportunities for the poor and the well-off alike." UNEP specifically encourages investment in clean-tech and recycling; small-scale rural energy generation; forest conservation; green building; and small-scale, organic agriculture, which UNEP head Achim Steiner says "could make a serious contribution to tackling poverty and food insecurity."
SOURCE: Grist Environmental Magazine, www.grist.org, 10/23/2008.
Recession Vegetable Choices
In a perfect world, many of us would buy all of our groceries organic. Unfortunately, organic food is still more expensive (although the price is continually dropping) or even unavailable. To make wiser consumer choices here is a list of produce with the highest level of pesticide contamination. The following list is based on information and studies by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Consumer Reports, and the Environmental Working Group.
MOST CONTAMINATED:
Nectarines – 97.3% of nectarines sampled were found to contain pesticides.
Celery – 94.5%
Pears – 94.4%
Peaches – 93.7%
Apples – 91%
Cherries – 91%
Strawberries – 90%
Imported Grapes – 86%
Spinach – 83.4%
Potatoes – 79.3%
Bell Peppers – 68%
Red Raspberries – 59%.
LEAST CONTAMINATED:
Here is a list of fruits and vegetables found to contain the least amount of pesticides. Notice that many of these have thick, inedible skins which protect the fruit.
Asparagus
Avocados
Bananas
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Corn (However, almost all corn is genetically modified)
Kiwi
Mangoes
Onions
Papaya
Pineapples
Sweet Peas
SOURCE:
http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/slowfoodorganiclocal/a/organicproduce.htm
Universal Healthcare For Iraq but Not the U.S.
While President Bush says, "A government-run health care system is the wrong prescription" for Americans, he made sure that Iraq would get one. According to Article 30, Paragraph 1 of the new Iraqi constitution which the U.S. helped draft, "The state guarantees social and health insurance, the basics for a free and honorable life for the individual and the family...." While 44 million Americans go uninsured, the Bush administration awarded contracts for universal healthcare in Iraq.
A universal health insurance system works well for the major industrial nations in the world and keeps them competitive in the global market place. General Motors, for example, would not be facing bankruptcy if its workers had had access to nationally subsidized healthcare. Indeed, uninsured medical expenses are the cause of most personal bankruptcies. Nevertheless, the Republican Party, the AMA, big-pharma and insurance companies, continue to extol the virtues of private, for-profit models.
SOURCE: http://www.americanhealthcarereform.org/
Sing Your Stress & Flu Away!
University of California Irvine researchers found that singing out loud lowers your body's levels of the stress hormone cortisol by 30%. "Fewer stress hormones translates into a whole host of benefits, everything from a lower risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer to better health." Furthermore the mood boost and extra oxygen you get from singing more than doubles levels of IgA, a potent antibody that helps fight colds and flu.
SOURCES: Women's World, 10/27/2008.
http://livebeyondstressandillness.blogspot.com/2008/04/sing-for-health-of-it.html
Uncertainty More Stressful Than Bad News For Neurotic People
Neurotic people are more stressed by uncertainty than outright bad news, according to a new study published in Psychological Science. The opposite was true for people with low scores for neuroticism. These people exhibited more stress when faced with negative feedback than uncertainty.
"Objectively speaking, uncertainty is better than clearly negative information, but this is not true for people who are highly neurotic," says University of Toronto doctoral candidate and study researcher Jacob Hirsh. "These people do not deal with uncertainty very well."
"The idiom 'the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know' perfectly characterizes the attitudes of highly neurotic people," Hirsh says.
People who know they have a strong negative reaction to uncertainty should attempt to avoid it whenever possible. In the current economic climate that might mean turning off the nightly news and reading the funny pages instead of the financial section of the newspaper.
SOURCE: www.webmd.com.
Barack Obama's Music Playlist
Barack Obama's openness to new ideas is reflected in his diverse music tastes. He enjoys Bruce Springsteen; Yo-Yo Ma; Sheryl Crow; Jay-Z; The Rolling Stones; Elton John; Charlie Parker; Earth, Wind & Fire; and Bob Dylan. He especially likes "Maggie's Farm," a song about trying to be yourself when everybody wants you to be just like them. "I have pretty eclectic tastes," Obama observed in a Rolling Stone interview. We wonder if he sings out loud....
SOURCE: Psychology Today, September/October 2008.
Future Learning: Innovative Ed Thrives Despite Recession
In good times and bad there is always a substantial number of people in job training programs. In bad times especially, when individuals are losing their jobs, education becomes a means to open up new opportunities. With fewer jobs to go around, potential students are more likely to return to school and polish their skill sets. Losing your $8 an hour job at the local shopping mall or fast food restaurant provides a nice incentive and a fresh excuse to return to school for a few years—or even just a few months—in order to return to the job market making a living wage as a massage therapist or natural foods chef.
Careers, and the college majors for preparing for them, are becoming more specialized, signaling the growth of unique new career specialties. Instead of simply majoring in business, more students are beginning to explore niche majors such as sustainable business, strategic intelligence, and entrepreneurship. Other unusual majors that are capturing students' imaginations: neuroscience and nanotechnology, computer and digital forensics, and comic book art. Yes, comics! The market for comic books and graphic novels in the U.S. has grown 12% since 2006.
SOURCES: Morningstar, 10/15/08.
THE FUTURIST, World Trends & Forecasts, Sep-Oct 2008.
More Americans Believe in Angels & Virgin Birth than in Darwin
According to a Harris Poll conducted in November, 2008, most Americans believe in God, miracles, the survival of the soul after death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Virgin birth. A substantial minority also believes in ghosts, UFOs, witches, astrology, and reincarnation. Overall, more people believe in the devil, hell and angels than believe in Darwin's theory of evolution.
Some of the interesting findings include:
80% of adult Americans believe in God, unchanged since the last time Harris asked the question in 2005.
75% believe in miracles; 73% heaven; 71% angels; 71% that Jesus is God or the Son of God; 70% in the resurrection of Jesus; 68% in the survival of the soul after death; 62% in Hell; 61% in the virgin birth of Jesus; and 59% in the devil.
Only 47% believe in Darwin's theory of evolution, slightly ahead of creationism at 40%, but still a minority.
Sizeable minorities believe in ghosts (44%), UFOs (36%), witches (31%), astrology (31%), and reincarnation (24%).
SOURCE:
Harris Interactive Inc., www.harrisinteractive.com.
Religion Encourages Honesty
"As wacky as some dogmas are," says a new study by two University of British Columbia psychologists, religious faith does appear to make people more generous, altruistic, and honest.
Apparently most people tend to behave better when they think someone is watching. Participants cheated less on a test when they were told that the ghost of a dead student was haunting the room. Another study found that just being under the gaze of eyes on a poster tripled contributions to an office coffee kitty. The belief in "morally concerned gods" seems to be a key component to the human psyche.
SOURCE: THE WEEK, October 24, 2008.
Positive Futures
"When many people hear the term 'green' today, they still automatically think the message is probably for a fancy, eco-elite set—and not for themselves. And as long as that remains true, the green movement will remain too anemic politically and too alien culturally to rescue the country."—Van Jones Yale Law graduate and internationally acclaimed activist Jones calls for a "Green New Deal" to tackle the twin problems of poverty and environmental degradation. Jones' new "green-collar" jobs should, like blue-collar jobs, pay family wages and provide opportunities for advancement along a career track. While many green-collar jobs are brand new, others require only a modicum of retraining in the transition to a clean energy economy.
As Jones explains, "Much of the work we have to do to green our economy involves transforming the places we live and work in and changing the way we get around. These jobs are difficult or impossible to outsource. For instance, you can't pick up a house, send it to China to have solar panels installed, and have it shipped back.... Cities and communities should begin thinking now about ways their green strategies can also create local jobs." Will the new alliance between unemployed rust belt workers, chronically underemployed minorities, and the environmental elite bear fruit? There's reason to be hopeful. "Van Jones demonstrates conclusively that the best solutions for the survivability of our planet are also the best solutions for everyday Americans," cheers Al Gore.
"A book by that most far-seeing and heretical of economists, Herman Daly. For twenty-five years now, Daly has been thinking through a new economics that accounts for the wealth of nature, the value of community and the necessity of morality."
"Considered by most to be the dean of ecological economics... Daly challenges the conventional notion that growth is always good, and he bucks environmentalist orthodoxy, arguing that the current focus on 'sustainable development' is misguided and that the phrase itself has become meaningless." —Mother Jones "In Beyond Growth, . . . [Daly] derides the concept of 'sustainable growth' as an oxymoron. . . . Calling Mr. Daly 'an unsung hero,' Robert Goodland, the World Bank's top environmental adviser, says, 'He has been a voice crying in the wilderness.'" —G. Pascal Zachary, The Wall Street Journal An iconoclast economist who has worked as a renegade insider at the World Bank in recent years, Daly has argued for overturning some basic economic assumptions. He has won a wide and growing reputation among a wide array of environmentalists, inside and outside the academy. In the January-February 2009 edition of Adbusters, Daly promotes the "Big Idea" of a steady-state economy: "The Earth as a whole is approximately in a steady state.... The most important change in recent times has been the enormous growth of one subsystem of the Earth, namely the economy, relative to the total system, the ecosphere. This huge shift from an 'empty' to a 'full' world is truly 'something new under the sun'.... Clearly the economy must conform to the rules of a steady state—seek qualitative development, but stop aggregate quantitative growth.... We have lived for 200 years in a growth economy. That makes it hard to imagine what a steady-state economy would be like." Of course, the fate of the planet, or rather the fate of post-industrial civilization, depends upon our constructing a sustainable economy. To that end Daly calls for a number of specific programs, including resource cap-and-trade, pollution taxes, re-regulating international commerce, population stability, banking reform, and protecting the natural "commons." |
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Secrets To A Longer Life
Until immortality comes in a pill or a computer upload, these are some of the best, time-tested strategies for living a longer, healthier, and happier life:
- Eat less, live longer.
- Eat unprocessed whole grains, beans and nuts.
- Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
- Don't smoke.
- Walk or exercise daily.
- When thirsty drink water, not juice or soft drinks.
- Moderate your alcohol intake.
- Have a positive outlook of life; practice gratitude.
- Consider water or juice fasting once a month.
- Meditate, pray, or listen to music regularly.
- Make friends and stay in touch. "Social support is a major factor in individual health on a par with the more commonly accepted biological factors of blood pressure, cholesterol, bacterial and viral exposure, and aging itself," says Dr. Stewart Wolf, Professor at Temple University of Medicine in Philadelphia. Your social connections—family members, friends, neighbors—make your life healthier, less stressful, and possibly longer.
- Visit your doctor at least once a year for complete checkup (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, liver function, etc.) Immediately report any warning signs of cancer, symptoms of heart disease, or signs of stroke.
Add these "superfoods" to your menu:
- Green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells, fights infection, and reduces the risks of heart attacks and stroke.
- Eating apples can reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, a dangerous prediabetic condition, by 27%.
- Garlic and onions can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol.
- Eating one banana per day provides can reduce the chances of getting a stroke by 40%.
Healthy lifestyle choices:
The book The Long Life Equation by Dr. Trisha Macnair recommends the following life-extension activities:
- Washing your hands adds two years.
- Good dental hygiene can add six years in your life.
- A stable married partnership can add seven years to life, according to a 2006 UCLA study. Married people are healthier and happier, too. A divorce can strip away 3 years.
- Regular exercise adds about two or more years to your life, according to a Harvard Alumni Study. You should aim to burn at least 2000 calories a week working out.
- Cigarette smoking can reduce 8 years from your life as tobacco smoke contains highly toxic chemicals.
- Smoking, no exercise, fast food and a stressful life can strip away 20 years total.
"Blue Zones" where people live longer:
Dan Buettner refers to them as Blue Zones — geographical locations people reside that appear to give them an advantage when it comes to living longer, active, healthier lives. Buettner has been traveling the globe in search of these locations, discovering both unique and common characteristics of people who not only live much longer than most of us, but are defying the stereotype of what it means to age. They are healthy and active well into their 80s, 90s, and beyond.
What are the secrets to longevity? Buettner shares his observations at Blue Zones:
- Women who felt empowered by their society.
- Adequate daily exposure to sunshine.
- Gardening.
- Constant moderate physical exercise.
- Not smoking.
- Maintaining a healthy weight.
- Keeping meat in the diet to a minimum.
- Staying connected and actively involved with family, friends and community.
- Living at a higher altitude. It appears that people who live in higher altitudes have lower blood pressure.
SOURCE: http://hopeandhealing.com/2008/secrets-of-longevity-quest-to-the-blue-zones/
Blueberries Enhance Memory
Blueberries have long been considered a "superfood" because of their high levels of antioxidant chemicals called flavenoids. Now British scientists have found that a daily dose of blueberries can also increase memory capacity, and might even be able to stave off degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's. "A diet-based approach could potentially be used to increase memory capacity," says lead researcher Dr. Jeremy Spencer. Keep in mind, however, that just about all fruits, nuts, and veggies are "superfoods," each with specific health enhancing and cancer fighting benefits.
SOURCE: THE WEEK, December 19, 2008.
Dr. Andrew Weil's Rx To Banish The Winter Blues
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a common form of depression affecting some 14 million Americans. Dr. Andrew Weil offers some "bright ideas" to shake seasonal sadness and elevate mood. These include:
- Regular exercise—get up and get moving!
- Stick to a sleep schedule to help manage mood.
- Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as oily fish or freshly ground flax seeds.
- Get exposure to natural sunlight.
- Consider light therapy. In studies, sitting in front of a 10,000-lux light box for 30 minutes every morning was as effective as taking antidepressants.
SOURCE:
Dr. Andrew Weil's Self Healing Newsletter, December 2008.
Tap Water Versus Pepsi
Tap water is making a comeback. That's bad news for PepsiCo, whose quarterly earnings were down 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 because of declines in sales of soda and bottled water in the United States.
In response, the company plans to eliminate 3,300 jobs and close as many as six plants to cut costs. Sales of carbonated soft drinks have been declining in the United States for several years, as consumers turn to a growing number of new beverages like enhanced waters, sports drinks, and energy drinks. But the problems have accelerated in a volatile economy, with consumers eating at restaurants less and buying fewer grab-and-go beverages.
In addition, consumers are increasingly choosing tap water over other beverages at restaurants and at home to help save money and the environment. Both Pepsi and rival Coke "could lose a generation of carbonated soft drink consumers."
Not unexpectedly, PepsiCo hopes to make up for lost market share by expanding international sales. In a more perfect world, the 3,300 people who lost their jobs at PepsiCo would be retrained in sustainable agricultural practices, community gardens, and farmers' markets.
SOURCE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/business/15pepsi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Natural Headache Remedies
Nine out of ten people have at least one headache each year, according the American Headache Society. With $1 billion dollars spent annually on over-the-counter medications, many of which don't always work and produce unwanted side-effects, it's worth exploring drug-free remedies.
"Regular and sufficient sleep, relaxation and mind-body therapies and aerobic exercise are very helpful in migraine prevention," says Dr. Stewart J. Tepper, director of research at the Center for Headache and Pain. Eat a balanced diet, drink plenty of water, don't skip meals, and try cutting back or eliminating caffeine. Also consider alternative approaches including acupuncture, chiropractic, yoga, and biofeedback.
Some herbs and vitamins have performed well in randomized controlled studies. An article in Current Vascular Pharmacology cited a study in which the herb butterfur cut the number of migraines by more than half in 45 percent. Anecdotal reports also credit Vitamin B12 and CO Q10 with providing relief.
Headache may be caused by eyestrain. If you're spending your working hours at the computer, try taking breaks outside and make a point of focusing on distant objects.
Also, consider eyewear with additional glare protection.
Headache may be a symptom of a more serious medical condition, but most often it can be handled by a combination of stress reduction and lifestyle modifications.
SOURCE: E Magazine, July-August 2008.
Blueberries Enhance Memory
British scientists have found that a daily dose of blueberries can also increase memory capacity. Wait a minute! Stop us if we've already told you this. We've been getting a bit forgetful lately. Pass the blueberries, please....
SOURCE: THE WEEK, December 19, 2008.