Our oceans are overfished and still we continue catching millions of fish every year. 1/3 of them end up as fish-food for pets and other aquariums. The Brits Jason and Wilcow Drew have come up with an alternative that is not only good for the environment but is also financially rewarding.
They are breeding flies in South Africa who’s protein can be used to produce fish-food. This idea could save our oceans!
While killing flies may not be the most ethical thing to do for many, it does serve as a great alternative to traditionally produced fish-food and may reduce fishing drastically. The protein can even be used as chicken-food.
And we can learn another thing from this, that not every capitalist is as evil as some environmentalists like to paint them. We need to work together and every single person who is ready to do so, will probably be much more successful than the one’s busy pointing fingers!
The Indian government has decided to outlaws unnecessary experiments and dissections in its research institutions, hospitals, universities and the like. The decision was taken based on the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960) and is a milestone for animal rights and the first one of its kind.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) argued that effective alternatives now existed and therefore made testing on live animals would be redundant.
Though tests in the field of molecular research are still allowed, the life of thousands of animals will now be safe.
What can you do? Many animals are still suffering so dont forget to sign petitions every now and then and only buy products from companies that clearly state that they do not test on animals or that any of the ingredients they use have been tested on animals.
In an investigation by Tehelka many high officials in the Delhi police have given horrible statements regarding rape. They claim that it is usually the woman’s fault if she gets raped and that most women ‘ask for it’.
Women (as well as men) who have been victims of rape have a hard time dealing with it already, making them responsible for it is unacceptable. Victims of rape and sexual harassment should never be blamed for what has happened to them.
More than 2 out of 3 women I talk to in Delhi have experienced some kind of sexual assault – these numbers speak for themselves.
I can only hope that this ignorance is due to a lack of education. This petition asks for ’strict actions (…) against such statements’ among other things.
The German national news today reported that soldiers in Germany are given the Malaria medication ‘Lariam’ as prophylaxis. Lariam has horrible neuropsychological side-effects like psychosis, anxiety, panic-attacks, hallucinations or depression. It is also knows as Mefloquine hydrochloride and Mefaquin.
Every fourth person receiving this medication will suffer from some kind of neuropsychological side-effect. The soldiers are not informed about this when they receive the medication. In the US it is believed to be connected with suicide in the army. In Norway the army is not given Lariam anymore, however, in dozens of other countries the pharma-industry seems to have the upper hand and the health of soldiers is ignored, disrespecting human life.
This once again should be a wake-up call to those that think that the pharma-industry only does good and is trying to help us all – in fact it is a business like any other! This is about money, not about saving lives. Many drugs are put on the market despite awful side-effects during the test-phase. You will not find these side-effects listed on the packing as they are not ‘officially’ seen to be in connection with the drug itself. Other drugs are put onto the market without proper research and a test-phase.
So watch out and stay away from pharmaceuticals as much as possible. Natural and holistic healing is the way and pharmaceuticals should only be your last resort! Dont be a guineapig the pharma-industry is testing on and doesn’t care one bit about. In the case of Lariam the known side-effects are simply ignored. If the government is ready to give it to their soldiers, they will probably be ready to give it to you too.
We all should have seen it coming… the freedom of the internet is slowly taken away from us and with every day there are less videos to watch, less songs to listen to. SOPA did not pass but that doesn’t really matter because while everyone was going crazy about SOPA, the whole world has been signing a treaty called ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). Without letting the public know countries like the US and Japan and the entire European Union signed it.
The idea is to protect intellectual property – however, the treaty can be interpreted in many ways and could lead to websites like youtube to be closed down forever. Among other things it says that if a third party’s property is uploaded on a website and the owner of the website does not take action against it, the website may be closed down.
So basically any website could be closed down if the government wants to do so. And if they really want a specific website out of the way, they can just upload some intellectual property themselves and blame the website’s owner.
I am worried and I feel uncomfortable because for the first time my freedom is being taken away. But, even if they take the internet – we have the world.
Laws in Europe have been changed in regard to the testing of biocides. Institutions all over Europe have decided to decrease testing requirements by 40%. This means thousands of animals like dogs and rabbits will not have to go through horrible and painful testing procedures.
The changes are the following:
no more dog-poisoning study with a duration of 12 months
lethal dose skin, inhalation and injection tests are no longer a mandatory requirement
recognition of new test methods to reduce animal testing by 40-70%
alteration of testing that tests on more than one species or route of exposure
legal text to encourage combining several evaluations into one, hence, possibly reduce testing on animals
Of course there is still a long way to go but January 19, 2012 can be seen as a milestone towards an animal testing-free world.
Keep your eyes open for products that are clearly marked to have not been tested on animals. If you are not sure, write to the company or an animal organization.
Coincidentally I stumbled upon the live screening of the question & answer session with Vladimir Putin today. I had seen a lot of question & answer sessions in the past but this one was different to any of them. All of Russia was asked to send in emails, letters, videos and ask Putin whatever they wanted to know from the presidential candidate. Even foreign journalists were welcome to do so.
Being in Europe, and having received most information on Russia through the western media, I expected pro-Putin questions that would depict him in the best way possible. I was surprised to see that he did indeed answer uncomfortable questions, often with unexpected answers.
When asked what he thought of the anti-Putin protesters and bloggers, he said that it was just part of democracy and that he had to accept it the way it was. He also made clear that he was against internet censorship and that he hoped to build a more positive picture of Russia in the world.
Putin argued that the US never had allies and used the war on terror (mostly unsupported by so called ‘allies’ of the US) as an example. He also pointed out the dangerous development in American domestic politics and the importance of Europe and Russia to work together. According to him, both cultures were built upon Christian values and shared more ideologies than any other culture. However, he believes that the old aggressive and imperial picture of Russia in the world was stopping friendships from being built.
Putin appeared transparent and highly politically correct.
He ended the three hour long session with a joke when he was asked if he was still ready to have question & answer sessions if he became president. He laughed and answered: Of course not, I will be the leader and do whatever I want – no, of course I will do it. Why wouldn’t I?
the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) passed the House of Representatives last night. Now all that is left is Obama’s signature and the bill will become law. This will mean, that you can be indefinitely detained as a terror suspect without trial. You, that is an American citizen! Reasons for this include, keeping food for more than 7 days or having missing fingers! Clearly, this is ridiculous. If you do not believe it, read the bill. These are your rights and you are the one who can do something against this. It is not too late yet.
History has shown that once a government gets power, it will use it and you can be sure that this law is not just passed for the sake of it. It is passed to control you and to make sure you follow the leaders.
You have closed your eyes when hundreds of innocent people were (and still are) tortured in prisons like Guantanamo. Now it is time for you to get up and end this madness because you may be next.
The military has been training for martial law and arresting people from their houses in American suburbs for a while now (I know this first hand, not from some conspiracy video on youtube) and soon you might find yourself like a sheep having to do whatever it is told.
Get people together, call the White House, protest, make your voice heard! A government that is killing innocent people abroad every day, will also be more likely to do the same to you.
I worry for all my friends and hope you will get out of this safe. Also note that with the NDAA comes the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) that makes it possible for the government to control the internet and censor it. Wikipedia has already announced to take their site down for 24hrs to make people aware of this dangerous bill!
Please open your eyes. Keeping them closed has led my country (Germany) into the Third Reich.
The value of the Euro keeps falling and credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s have become more powerful than ever.
They rate countries according to their financial abilities… countries that are in Europe and are currently trying everything they can to save the Euro from a total collapse. The rating agencies however are American and a strong Euro is the last thing they want on their platter right now. A stronger Euro would mean a weaker Dollar – or in the current situation even an absolute collapse of the Dollar!
Over the last months the American credit rating agencies have been rating European countries into the ground, even those that are in much better standing than the U.S. The bad ratings are making it hard for the EU to save the Euro and even countries like Austria got low grades.
Could this be some kind of ‘low credit rating warfare’? The EU seems to think so and is already talking about establishing their own rating agencies to get away from this war game.
Poor EU! It is hard to save a currency when outsiders check upon it and have an interest in keeping it low!
Though the side effects are clearly written on the package insert, many do not read it or just tell themselves they won’t be the ones affected. However, reality gives us a very different view on the contraceptive pill. In fact you can be quite sure that most of the dysfunctions you are experiencing in your body right now, are a result of taking the pill. One of the most wide-spread side effects being depression, the pill also weakens your immune system (leading e.g. to chronic diseases) and often leads to heart attacks as early as the age of 20 (especially when smoking or exposed to smoke on a regular basis).
Common side-effects, that means side-effects that are seen to be ‘normal’, are: weight gain, nausea, dizziness, increase or decrease in acne, headaches, high blood pressure, loss of libido, depression, vaginal infections.
The following are less common side-effects: blood clots in legs, lungs, brain and the heart, strokes, heart attacks, cervical cancer.
I know that it is convenient to take the pill but I strongly advice any woman that is taking the pill right now to go through the list of side-effects and think whether she really wants to risk her health or is already experiencing one or several side-effects. Other options are available and can save your life!
A Case Study:
“I started taking the contraceptive pill when I was 14 years old. There did not seem to be any bad effects of it: no more PMS-cramps, a regular period, not having to worry about getting pregnant and even being able to ‘skip’ a period if I was not in the mood for it. I thought it was an absolutely amazing solution and milestone for all the women in the world. I became the pill’s advocate (the devil’s advocate I should call it today) and praised the contraceptive pill in every conversation about PMS or contraception.
It was only a few months later that I had it the first time: my heart started beating abruptly and out of the blue while I was sitting in class one day, so fast that I felt I was going to faint and my whole head started turning. After a few minutes the whole thing was over and I blamed coffee or too much sugar for the rapid beat of my heart. At around the same time I started suffering from a sinus infection which was treated with antibiotics, and I step by step started developing the first signs of depression.
The following years were a gradual downward path for my mental and physical health. My depression had become so severe that my psychologists were thinking of diagnosing me with ‘schizophrenia’, ‘bipolarity’ and even ‘borderline’. My sinus infection was getting worse and worse giving me headaches that resulted in tests for a possible brain tumor – luckily this was not the case! I changed schools, I fought with my parents, I hated myself and more and more became less able to explain the thoughts I had which seemed to be the thoughts of another person.
After more than 7 years on the pill my heart started beating rapidly more and more often, and for a longer period of time (even though I had left coffee, ate a very healthy organic diet, practiced yoga, did only drink occasionally and did not smoke). The moment that made me wake up and look more into what may be behind it was a several-minute long rapid heartbeat that made it difficult for me to breath and even resulted in my vision being blurry for several minutes.
I started researching day and night on the internet what could be the cause of the rapid heartbeat and everything (especially when adding my depression and meanwhile chronic sinus infection to the side effects) led to the contraceptive pill. I took the strangely difficult decision to get off the pill. Why difficult? I cannot explain what it was but I felt that I was so used to the pill that the thought of being ‘off the pill’ seemed very odd to me. I still decided to give it a chance.
The first week without the pill turned into a mental rollercoaster for me. My thoughts were running up and down my mind, I could not get any sleep and did not know what I was feeling, what I wanted – everything seemed out of place. Now, that I know that the pill has been faking a pregnancy in my body for seven years I am not longer surprised that I had withdrawal symptoms. Within the next few weeks I was for the first time without any signs of depression – anyone having suffered from depression may know what an incredible feeling this is! I felt free and energetic and if something went wrong it was sad but not the end of the world. Unfortunately the contraceptive pill also left some marks of memory for life: moles. In the three months after being off the pill I noticed more and more moles on my body and now got to know that this is a result of the hormonal changes in the body when stopping to take ‘fake hormones’ like those in the contraceptive pill.
I advice any young girls or women to not even start to take the pill or to stop taking it immediately even if it seems to be the most convenient method of contraception. I have lost a lot of precious life time to depression and am still fighting with my sinus infection that is only slowly healing. Still I consider myself lucky now, knowing about cases of 20-year-old girls who suffered a heart attack as a side-effect of the pill or have become infertile.”
