Danger: Wireless Technology

Published by Jordan July 15th, 2008 in Mind Body Medicine and Sustainability. 0 Comments

I’m taking a lesson from modern journalism and using a blog title that grabs your attention, even if I am not 100% sure of my facts. However, anyone who says that wireless technology is proven to be safe is simply not telling the truth. The truth is - we really don’t know. It’s a new technology. What a growing body of evidence is telling us though is that there is cause for extreme caution - an alarming increase in brain tumors, for example, over the past few decades.

Wireless technology has been on my radar now (all puns intended) for a few years. I do use a cell phone, even though I often use the speaker function and hold it at elbow’s length from my brain.  The safety question refuses to evaporate whenever I soberly examine the information available from all sources.

On the one hand, we have the FCC and industry spokesman saying there are no credible scientific studies pointing to harm by cell phone use, etc. There’s nobody out there dying with a smoking cell phone in their hand (an absurdly unrealistic standard to hold the safety of the general public hostage by).

On the other hand, we have various activist groups pointing out that - just as oilmen run the EPA, just as pill pushers (past and future pharmaceutical execs often hold high positions at NIH), executives at corporations like Motorola (and their hand picked friends) are in charge of the FCC.

Another difficulty I have in falling into line behind public pronouncements of safety towards wireless technology is that what little “science” is directed towards studying its safety, is largely funded by industry. In other words, there is biased science which is non-science (nonsense).

In one of the video’s below, a scientist shares how his research was increasingly filtered through the mouthpiece of industry (where the funding was), until he decided to sever his connections on ethical grounds.

We need independent science and for that, we need politicians and regulatory officials who aren’t in the pockets of industry.

Thanks Amanda for getting me back on track with this. Check out these excellent videos (about 30 minutes each) by the Council on Wireless Technology:

Part one of video:

Part two of video:

Peak Oil

Published by Jordan June 6th, 2008 in Sustainability and Peace. 0 Comments

I just finished watching “A Crude Awakening”, the latest film attempting to jolt human beings into meaningful action towards averting a global catastrophe of epic proportions. Whenever a film moves me deeply, the first viewing is required for emotional processing. On the second viewing my cognitive brain starts to grapple with the issues raised. See this movie. Meanwhile, I offer you a blend of my emotional and cognitive impressions:

One of the most riveting scenes was aerial footage of a high mountain, showing beautiful meadows leading gradually upwards to a set of ominous jagged teeth on the horizon. The Phillip Glass (Koyanisqattsi, Kundun) soundtrack escalates into a psychotropic beat while a voice – eerie in its calmness - states that once we’ve exceeded the sustainable peak supply of oil (with the heavy implication that that time could very well be right now – 2008), what is then important is the view that comes into sight on the other side (beyond our current profligate consumption of oil). The camera then rises beyond the summit to reveal a sheer cliff hidden in deep shadows.

Now the sobering facts: “We are moving into an era of scarce and expensive energy.” The oil we are consuming now is literally the blood of the dinosaurs – cooked over 90 to 150 million years of geological time. This happened once in Earth’s history, and in the space of a few centuries, we have nearly exhausted this supply.

98% of all transportation energy is currently derived from oil. A microchip requires 630 times its own weight in oil to produce. The average car requires somewhere between 25-50 barrels of oil to produce. Every calorie you eat in the U.S. Requires 10 calories of hydrocarbon energy to produce.

Historians estimate there were about 300 million humans on the planet at the time of Christ. This slowly grew to about 600 million by the early 1800s – the dawn of the era of coal and oil. Today, there are 6.4 billion humans on the planet. According to current trends, global population will reach 9 billion by 2042. This population rise is due in large part to the “green revolution” - the transformation of traditional farming by massive application of petrochemical (oil based) fertilizers on the Earth, as well as a steady march of larger and larger fossil fuel burning farm machinery.

Boom to Bust

The first oil boom began in the 1870’s in Baku on the shores of the Caspian Sea in what is now the country of Azerbaijan. Venezuela and Texas soon followed in the early decades of the 20th century. For a time up until the 1950s, the U.S. was the leading producer of oil in the world. But as the mayor of a bust town in Texas wryly commented “they aren’t making dinosaurs anymore”.

Oil is a Magnet for War

Oil starts wars. It prolongs them. It intensifies them. World War II was “the war of engines” and was won by the Allied Powers in large part because of the Russian (Baku) and U.S. (Texas) oil production capacity. The current Iraq war, launched in 2003 was not a war on terrorism, as was claimed at the time by our government leaders. All evidence now points to the fact that the war was motivated by oil. Maps of oil fields were involved in planning the war as early as 1998. The Iraq war underscores the dangerous predicament of the American and global economies: More and more of the oil today comes from less and less stable political regions.

The Numbers Don’t add up

Since 1985, OPEC nations have been exaggerating their reserves in order to keep up production quotas. The wealthy sheiks are apparently not interested in sustainability, but instead wish to maximize their short term profits so that they can purchase and maintain gilded palaces, mega yachts, luxury cars and of course some diversified foreign investments.

Every year, these countries state the same amount of reserves, inexplicably denying the fact that as billions of barrels are pumped out of the ground, nothing is replacing that pumped oil. These leaders will all be dead in 20 years. More about the increasing destabilization of the Saudi regime a bit later on.

U.S. oil production peaked in 1970 at about 10.2 million barrels per day. In 1956, Dr. M. K. Hubbert, a geophysicist for Shell Oil predicted that peak production of oil for the U.S. would occur in 1970. His prediction proved extremely accurate, although at the time, he was nearly laughed out of his profession. In 1969, he predicted that peak oil for the world would occur by the year 2000.

Whether or not global peak oil has already occurred, is occurring now, or has not yet occurred is widely debated. What is agreed upon – when it is not outright ignored much of the time – is that peak oil is a certainty. When the oil is gone, there will be no more oil.

The Middle East is the only area of the world where production has perhaps not yet peaked – and we are now witnessing what is likely to become a generation or two of oil resource wars until all the oil is gone – unless we collectively develop the vision and willpower to end our unsustainable addiction to oil now. We need to both reinvest heavily in alternative energy research and development, and implement massive energy conservation programs - at all levels of society - individual, family, community, town, county, city, state, country, world.

Global Demand keeps rising, supply flattening out

Global demand for oil and energy continues to rise. The Chinese economy is doubling in size every 7 years based on a 10% annual growth rate. India is poised to pass China as the world’s most populated country and they too seem eager to step up to the party plate and join the American way of life – a car for every individual. Only now, “the glass is half empty.”

The United States has 4.5% of the world’s population. We have 2% of the global oil reserves inside our borders, and yet we consume 25% of the oil. Even if every car on the planet were magically transformed into a Prius hybrid electric, in five years, our demand for oil would still exceed supply. The demand for energy simply keeps expanding without any apparent restraint.

When the crash happens, American suburbia will be in deep trouble because it is built around people stepping into their car and driving 50 to 100 miles round trip each day. It’s only viable if gas is cheap.

As long as there is cheap gas in America, there will be no incentive for change. However, time is getting short, and unless we prepare, we may be faced with “a crude awakening” - unemployment, bankruptcy, poverty, starvation. The U.S. needs to lead the world in conservation and alternative energy research, but the politicians have little incentive to push such measures unless the general public supports them, otherwise, they will be quickly voted out of office for advancing unpopular measures.

Beginning in 1945, U.S. foreign policy was very clearly linked to oil based upon America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia. We offered the ruling elite military protection, and they provided us with oil.

Ten years ago, the per capita income in Saudia Arabia was $28,000. Today it is $6,000. The average Saudi youth and young adult feels alienated within their own country, left out of the global economy. Fundamentalism is sharply on the rise, and the stability of the aging regime is increasingly questionable. If the regime were to collapse, the pressure coming from the U.S. corporate controlled government to step in militarily would be immense.

In the end, this “liberated” Saudia oil will only extend the American lifestyle of excess for a decade or two, but at an incredibly high price – more young American war dead and wounded, an even deeper cancerous effect on the American economy and debt our children will inherit, certain terrorist retribution, and making the transition to a non-petroleum based economy even more abrupt due to continued denial of the basic problem – right up until the oil is all gone. Haven’t we learned anything from Iraq?

Technology to the Rescue?

Hybrid cars are not the answer. Hydrogen fuel cell technology is “conceptually a good idea.” But there are numerous challenges for both developing this resource and creating a market for it. A few experts suggest it will take another 30 to 50 years before this can even begin to start meeting global energy demands. Biomass similarly will only provide a proverbial drop in the bucket in terms of meeting demand. In addition this technology has ethical shortcomings as it appears to be playing a role in the current world food shortages. People are literally starving because palm oil plantations and speculation in similar crop futures are crowding out food for human consumption.

Nuclear power similarly faces huge questions in safety – both operational and storage of wastes, as well as vulnerability to terrorist attack and plutonium bomb making materials becoming available on the black market. Even if we were able to build the 10,000 plants that it would take to meet current global demand for energy (in the absence of oil production), the world’s supply of uranium would be gone in 10 to 20 years.

Solar power still faces huge challenges to make it viable on a large scale. The number of solar panels in existence might cover about 10 square kilometers when what we need is to cover an area about half the size of the state of California. Oil shale extraction technologies are incredibly expensive and inefficient at present.

Air Travel will essentially end

Air travel will essentially come to an end for all but the super rich. Our entire way of life will radically change and the longer we wait to prepare for the inevitable justice meted out by the Earth, the less able we will be able to adapt successfully. Global population is certain to decline. As the parent of a five year old, it troubles me to think of her fighting for her survival, but her uncertain path is up near the jagged ridge line - a beautiful meadow on one side, dark abyss on the other. Her future - and the future of her generation, depends upon what we do right now. Will it be a continuation of life? or the beginning of survival?

First, we need to conserve – and I’m not just talking about recycling paper and pop cans. We need to go a lot further - like rethinking the rationale for producing nonessentials such as pop, beer, and ten thousand other consumer products (the vast majority involving plastic and petrochemicals. Think how much cleaner our cities and towns would be without beer and beverage trucks belching diesel into the air? We need to stop thinking “life as usual” and start preparing for phase two of the oil era. BIG changes folks.

Consider not using your clothes dryer and put up a clothesline. Ride your bike or take mass transit. Get rid of your car if you can. Plant an organic garden. Invest and participate in local sustainable economies (like community acupuncture). Think about right livelihood in terms of a sustainable global economy. If you work involves extensive travel, rethink that now. Your options are definitely going to be reduced very soon. Finally, let’s get real about U.S. foreign policy. There is no place for a superpower in a dominator role as the world’s police force. Soon there will be no maritime fuel to power the aircraft carriers. No jet fuel to power the jets. Better to dismantle the killing machines now so that when the walls of Rome II (that’s America) come tumbling down, the millions we have oppressed do not repeat history with a modern campaign of barbaric revenge against the empire. All of this may be only a few years away unless we pull our heads out of the sand and take a serious look at the gathering storm clouds on the horizon.

Now, it’s up to us to think about every human being alive, not just our own selfish concerns. May all beings develop a compassionate mind, with concern for every living being. May we all be happy as we learn to live with less.

 

Cultivating the Inner Garden - Respecting the law of Karma

Published by Jordan May 30th, 2008 in Mind Body Medicine, Community Acupuncture and Peace. 1 Comment

Beneath the surface reflections of our meandering Wellness blogs, we’ve been emphasizing a common theme. Wellness, though obviously linked to the food we eat, physical exercise, patterns of rest, sleep, regular acupuncture, and lifestyle, ultimately begins in the mind. The implications of this are both vast and obscured by the hurried, materialistic concerns of daily life.

In short, we’re multi-tasked to the point of exhaustion – consumed by our work, relationships, rushing to get our kids to school, trying to squeeze yet another volunteer meeting into our week, and so on. Even in our so-called leisure time, we are often acutely aware of the ticking of the clock It seems we are deathly afraid of slowing down and looking at our mind, unable to remember what it is to simply be alive, to feel our breath rising and falling.

Why is this? Are we able to accept that we have at least partial responsibility for our life situation or is it all the fault of our parents or a plethora of social injustices? If we accept some level of personal responsibility, what governs our choices?

The American way of thinking is an ancient operating system that programs us to seek happiness outside of our minds – in prestige and reputation, money, possessions, experiences, sense pleasures and so on. Does it actually deliver on its promises? Are you deeply and permanently happy? Or are you like a nervous laboratory rat plagued by roller coaster emotions, running through a maze, frantically searching for a lever to press to obtain your next momentary reward?

Rather than simply moan and groan about this difficult challenge, or run away from it, recently I did something about it. I stepped out of the express lane of my life, into a three day meditation retreat at Sravasti Abbey, a Buddhist community in eastern Washington. The theme of the retreat was karma.

What is karma? In the West, where anything “eastern” is snapped up by consumer culture mentality, the term karma has been widely misunderstood to mean fate or destiny. For example, even though people usually feel some level of compassion for people affected by natural disasters, we may sigh inwardly and say to ourselves – “alas, it was there karma”, perhaps even harboring some ill examined idea that “everyone gets what they deserve”. Do we feel greatly magnanimous going to the Red Cross website and with a few clicks of our mouse, sending some money? Our thinly disguised pity reinforces our deluded sense of superiority. Rarely do we consider a wider perspective grounded in deep truths such as the interdependence of all life.

The dead and wounded in Iraq, Sichuan and Myanmar, the homeless in New Orleans or Seattle, the soldier recently returned from Iraq with PTSD, and all beings suffering everywhere – are our brothers and sisters. We are all part of the same family of life on this increasingly crowded blue marble in space. We all have the same basic physical and emotional needs – clean water, nourishing food, adequate, shelter, medicine and education. None of us wishes to experience pain, trauma, hunger, war, injustice.

If we are able to eliminate the frantic craze to obtain our own personal pleasure and security, to release our mental tightening around Me, I, Mine – we enter into a vast spacious freedom and our compassion and sense of connection with all beings blossoms. We remember what it means to be alive and begin to make concerted efforts to live our lives in the most meaningful way possible. We sense the possibility of transforming our lives and the world into an all-inclusive peace. That has been the message of all established spiritual traditions for thousands of years.

However, this inner transformation will not happen unless we step off the merry go-round of our conditioned existence. We need to slow down and learn to be more conscious of the effects of our actions. We need wisdom and that begins with an understanding of karma. Karma – from a Buddhist perspective – is actually rather complex and beyond the scope of this article, but in brief:

The Sanskrit word karma, in its simplest translation simply means “action”. Every moment of our life we create actions with our body, speech, and mind. These actions plant seeds – energetic potencies – in the mind. The continuum of our mind - being nonphysical in nature – extends infinitely into the past and future. In its most subtle form the mind does not depend upon the brain which ceases at death. The karmic potencies or seeds, thus planted in our “mindstream” ripen in the future depending upon various conducive causes.

Returning to the analogy of our American operating system – we are usually preoccupied with results. We want them sooner rather than later. We may even believe that the success of our academic, personal and professional endeavors depends more on momentary campaigns of cleverness rather than a long term campaign of kindness, ethical discipline, study, and work. Perhaps a doubt may arise here. What about those lazy people who seem to do nothing special and the money and worldly success just pours in while they hang out at the beach? Their wealth and apparent success is the result of their previous actions – in this or prior lifetimes. The actions they create now will bring their concordant result in the future.

If we desire to be happy in the future, we need to create the causes for happiness now. If we wish to avoid suffering in the future, we need to avoid creating the causes for suffering now. Therefore, we need to understand what are the causes of suffering and happiness.

Using our body, speech and mind to bring benefit and happiness to other beings causes us to experience happiness in the future. Engaging in actions of body, speech, and mind which bring harm to others causes us to experience suffering in the future.

Lastly, as living beings, we create actions in every single moment of our life. Our thoughts are “actions” in terms of their karmic potential to influence our future experiences. Our communication – whether verbal, or written as in email, or even gestures – constitute actions. Physical actions are karma. Karma is quite profound and sobering if you contemplate this for any length of time. May all beings only plant the seeds for their own and other’s happiness. Happy gardening!

a first timer speaks of acupuncture

Published by Serena May 20th, 2008 in Community Acupuncture, Stories and Testimonials. 1 Comment

Kristel described so well her first impressions of getting acupuncture that I invited her to write a post explaining from her POV. A true word merchant, here is what she sent us:
Here’s my tale to tell the world:

I had tried everything. I bought new pillows. I rotated my mattress. I slept sitting up. I took a break from exercise. I stretched. I stopped stretching. I exercised. I returned the new pillows. I slept flat as could be. I took Tylenol. I stopped taking Tylenol and tried Advil. For two weeks, I couldn’t move my head because of the severe pain in my neck and right shoulder.

Driving on the Alaska Way viaduct, I hoped no one was in the other lane because I couldn’t turn to see them of they were there.

I asked my massage therapist what I should do, thinking that a nice massage would do the trick.

Au contraire, she said. Go to an acupuncturist. Go to CommuniChi.

Uhhh, no thanks. Needles? Poking me? I assured her that I was sure I’d be fine in a day or two.

I was not fine. I was getting worse. I wasn’t sleeping. I had bags and dark circles under my eyes. I was getting really desperate thinking that nothing would help. I’d honestly tried everything.

Except…

I forgot all about the needles and my apprehension. I made an appointment and all I cared about was being able to move pain-free and to sleep again.

On my first appointment, I met with Serena, who is a fireball of energy, compassion, and information. She placed the needles, and as I sat in the chair for over an hour, I could feel tingling, energy pulses, and a variety of “unwinding” up and down my spine. By the time I left, I could turn my head without wincing – I was almost as good as new. After over two weeks of intense pain, I was “cured” in an hour.

Now I’m a complete devotee to acupuncture. It lifts my spirits, gives me energy, and helps alleviate my stress and anxiety (last week I actually could feel the tension melting away from my body). I tell everyone I know that if only I’d known how great I’d feel, I would have started years and years ago.

And the needles? They are nothing. Serena explained that 17 acupuncture needles can basically fit into just one “regular” hypodermic needle. There’s not an appointment that goes by that I’m not continually impressed and amazed how these little needles can do so much.

Kristel Wills

 

blood-building soup

Published by Serena May 19th, 2008 in Nutrition, Mind Body Medicine and Sustainability. 0 Comments


We’re always told to eat more greens. Dark and leafy, they are good for us: Eat more! Doing so for some recalls barely palatable memories of mushy spinach. Others balk at the idea of eating greens because they’re unsure of how to prepare them. Knowing how to cook these super nourishing veggies means the difference between actually eating them and wallowing in self-recrimination. Anyway, when I was in acupuncture school, we learned a green soup recipe that was the foundation for my blood-building soup. The former was a bitter, one-note concoction that screamed healthy - my variation demonstrates a considerable improvement over the green soup of old.

1 Tbsp canola or grapeseed oil
1 bunch collard greens (chopped)
1 bunch chard (any color, chopped)
1 red onion (chopped)
1 organic bouillon cube (vegetable or meat)
1/2 cup red wine (or 2 tsp balsamic vinegar)
1/2 tsp ground celery seeds
3-4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 Tbsp fresh ginger (chopped)
1 Tbsp ground cumin or curry powder
1 tsp chili powder or hot sauce
1 tsp cinnamon
Ground or diced lemongrass to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Fry onions and garlic in oil. Add wine or vinegar after onions become translucent (approximately 5 minutes). After 10 minutes, add ginger. Continue frying until ginger is pliable.

Place onions, garlic, ginger, greens, broth, and spices in pot, cover with water and simmer for 20 minutes or until greens break down. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Blend in food processor until smooth. For added textural interest, lightly steam chunks of carrots, potatoes, or sweet potatoes, adding them to puree.

July 2008
M T W T F S S
« Jun    
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031