Ojibway Prayer

Grandfather,
Look at our brokenness.
We know that in all creation
Only the human family
Has strayed from the Sacred Way.
We know that we are the ones
Who are divided
And we are the ones
Who must come back together
To walk the Sacred Way.

Grandfather, Sacred One,
Teach us love, compassion and honor
That we may heal the earth
And heal each other.

A Native American Prayer

Mohawk Prayer

Oh Great Spirit, Creator of all things;
Human Beings, trees, grass, berries.
Help us, be kind to us.
Let us be happy on earth.
Let us lead our children
To a good life and old age.
These our people; give them good minds
To love one another.

Oh Great Spirit,
Be kind to us
Give these people the favor
To see green trees,
Green grass, flowers, and berries
This next spring;
So we all meet again
Oh Great Spirit,

We ask of you.

Eternit in France

Asbestos demonstration Paris, October 2012
("Asbestos kills = 3,000 deaths a year)

Eternit and the Great Asbestos Trial 

Editors: David Allen and Laurie Kazan-Allen

On 13 February 2012, the verdict of the “trial of the century” was delivered against Stephan Schmidneiny and Louis de Cartier de Marchienne, the principal directors of the Swiss asbestos-cement company, Eternit.  The book, “Eternit and the Great Asbestos Trial” was published by associations for the defense of asbestos victims in 11 countries. It describes Eternit and its owners, the Schmidheiny family, the activism in Casale, Italy, which led to the trial, the implications of the trial, and what is happening in other countries where Eternit factories were located and judicial actions there. Following is an excerpt from the book on Eternit’s asbestos-cement factories in France. The book is available for free on Scribd.com and has been translated into other languages. (See also International Ban Asbestos Secretariat which describes what is happening regarding asbestos worldwide.)

As introduction, here is a brief portrait of the asbestos tragedy in France:  In 1976, asbestos was classified as carcinogenic in France, but its use was banned only in 1997.  Some 2,000 persons died in 1996 from asbestos-related illnesses.  The number could reach 5,000 by the year 2020.  Mortality continues to increase in younger people:  between 1990-93, over 138,000 workers were exposed to asbestos in the building, naval construction, metallurgy and other industries.  (Ref: "La Société Cancérigène" by Geneviève Barbier and Armand Farrachi, 2004.)

Eternit in France (Extract from “Eternit and the Great Asbestos Trial”)

by Marc Hindry

Chernobyl: The Great Cover-up

For 50 years dangerous concentrations of radionuclides have been accumulating in earth, air and water from weapons testing and reactor incidents. Yet serious studies of the effects of radiation on health have been obscured – not least by the World Health Organisation.

Chernobyl:  The Great Cover-up

by Alison Katz, Le Monde Diplomatique, April 2008

In June 2007 Gregory Hartl, World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman for Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments, claimed that the proceedings of the international conference held in Geneva in 1995 on the health consequences of the Chernobyl disaster had been duly published (1). This was not so. And the proceedings of the Kiev conference in 2001 have never been published either. Challenged by journalists a few months later, the WHO repeated the claim, providing references to a collection of abstracts for the Kiev conference and just 12 articles (out of hundreds) submitted to the Geneva conference.

10 Creepy Similarities Between Mobile Phones and Cigarettes

Phones And Smokes : 10 Creepy Similarities 

by RMR, posted on Techtree, 15 November 2012

The parallels between mobile phones and cigarettes are on many planes.

We'd all agree that cell phones are addictive: Most of us feel pangs of some sort if we're kept away from them for extended periods. But I've noticed that the similarities between these two objects of passionate desire are disturbingly broad-ranging. Here are ten.

1. Addiction
First up is the most obvious: Cigarettes and phones are both addictive. Here's a sober quote I found about this: "Cell phone dependency is now called compulsive communicating. Chain diallers call continually to get another fix." One statistic — for what it's worth — is from a survey commissioned by T-Mobile: "63% of smartphone users would climb through trash to find a lost phone." That's quite a bit like people on railway platforms looking for cigarette butts.

The Toxic Effect of VTech Tablets on Factory Workers and the Development of Young Children

Last night, I received the following message from a young boy in the Philippines:

"IT seems parents are the one who are killing us kids because we are being addicted to playing angry birds, fruit ninja, etc. Now please, STOP buying tablets for us!!! i'm david brendia of philippines age 8."

And from a parent:

"We parents should be the first to protect our children's welfare & future but it seems we are the one destroying them. save our children, ban all tabs!"

I am extremely grateful to these persons for speaking up.

After a Facebook contact called the VTech Inno Tab 2 tablet a piece of “carcinogenic technojunk”, I decided to research this gadget that will be placed under many Christmas trees this season. Wading through dozens of references on Google, I could find no information on the composition of these products, just a vague mention of plastic and rubber. Almost all sites promoted the positive features of these tablets, inciting parents to buy them for their kids. At $80 per gadget, this means big bucks for Vtech and retailers. French-speaking Switzerland’s most popular consumer magazine, “Bon à Savoir” (391,000 readers) promotes the Vtech tablet as a popular Christmas gift for children, comparing only prices in various stores, with no mention of its “toxic” effects on factory workers producing these gadgets, or on the development of young children.

Boeing Uses Potatoes Instead of People to Test Wi-Fi

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

UPDATED: 31 January 2013:
This is the ultimate in disregard for our health : Boeing testing in-flight Wi-Fi with sacks of potatoes, saying the potatoes’ ‘interactions’ with electronic signals mimic those of the human body. All Boeing is concerned about is for people to get the strongest possible Wi-Fi signal in the air. So, now we humans are reduced to sacks of potatoes! 

Boeing filled airplane passenger seats with 20,000 lbs (9,000 kg) of potatoes in sacks to test Wi-Fi.  One person has commented on WEEP News that perhaps the problems with the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner have to do with Wi-Fi, however, it's not clear that Wi-Fi is actually available on these new planes, except for Qatar Airways.  View this Boeing video of Wi-Fi testing.

Boeing's cutting-edge science and potatoes enable Wi-Fi advance (4 min.) (27 December 2012)

Boeing uses potatoes instead of people to test wi-fi
BBC News, 21 December 2012

Potatoes' 'interactions' with electronic signals mimic those of a human body, according to Boeing

US planemaker Boeing used an unusual substitute for passengers to test its in-flight wi-fi system - potatoes.

Vienna Medical Association Calls for Cell Phone-Free Zones in Public Spaces

from Alex Swinkels, International EMF Alliance, The Netherlands, 6 December 2012 (Google translation – the editor of this blog has taken the liberty of correcting the English.) 

People need to be made aware of the use of mobile technology – recycling measures required

Vienna (OTS) – The Vienna Medical Association has called for the establishment of cell phone-free zones, similar to the smoke-free areas in public buildings. This was necessary in order both to minimize radiation exposure and to make people aware of the use of mobile technology, says the Head of Environmental Medicine at the Vienna Medical Chamber, Piero Lercher.

The judgment of the Italian High Court that excessive calls with mobile and cordless phones can cause an 80 percent disability, clearly demonstrates the related health risks. In its view, it was “extremely serious” that medical health advice and recommendations were ignored. Action must be generated by court decisions.

Global Actions Against the Big Six Agrochemical Companies

Atrazine indicator species portrait.
The Swiss company Syngenta is the
 primary manufacturer of atrazine.

This message, dated 6 December 2012, came from the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) Session on Agrochemical Transnational Corporations. Please organize and join in actions against BASF, Bayer, Dow, Dupont, Monsanto, and Syngenta. 

Global actions against the Big 6 agrochemical companies

1. Thousands Call on BASF, Bayer, and Syngenta to End Sales of Highly Hazardous Pesticides:  (Hamburg, 3 December 2012)  Every year, large numbers of people worldwide are victims of pesticide poisonings. BASF, Bayer, and Syngenta, the three largest global pesticide companies, are to a significant extent responsible for these pesticide poisonings. A broad alliance of some 10 000 people and 127 organizations from numerous countries have now joined PAN Germany to support a letter authored by PAN Germany and dated 3 December 2012 that calls on these multinational companies to discontinue sales of highly hazardous pesticides throughout the world. Read more at http://www.pan-germany.org/deu/~news-1213.html

Decline in French Sperm Count Should Be Considered Global Warning

A study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, revealing a significant decline in sperm concentration among French men should be considered a health warning, and could be linked to environmental factors, say its authors. Regarding environmental factors, an article in the Tribune de Genève about the study stated: “Studies have mentioned a correlation with smoking, the consumption of saturated fats or even the use of Wi-Fi!” Perhaps Geneva is waking up!  Read the next post.

Decline in French sperm count should be considered global warning 

by Liat Clark, wired.co.uk, 5 December 2012

A study revealing a significant decline in sperm concentration among French men should be considered a health warning, and could be linked to environmental factors, say its authors.

The paper, published in the journal Human Reproduction, calculated the results after comparing 26,600 samples from France's national register on in vitro fertilisation. The samples, derived from 126 assisted reproduction technology (ART) centres in France, covered the period 1989 to 2005 and were all from men whose partners had chosen in vitro because their fallopian tubes were blocked or missing -- the man's sperm was not considered an issue in any of these cases. This latter point is important because many male fertility studies have, over the years, solely analysed men with pre-existing fertility problems; this study should therefore be a truer representation of the wider population.