There have been numerous studies that have indicated that consuming genetically modified foods is risky at best. I will call out a few of them but any Internet search may yield some unpleasantly surprising and numerous results.
The Red Line that IS Syria
I remember when the internal strife in Syria first began back in the spring of 2011. Like most people, I considered it to be a continuation of the events that had begun in Tunisia and made its way through Egypt; another Middle East dictator swiftly ousted at the hands of the “Arab spring.” Yet two [...]
Weaponry Before Welfare
In early summer, a small, heavily militarized country invaded its southern neighbor. The local conflict soon grew regional as other nations allied with both original participants began to support their respective friends, thereby making escalation a serious concern. Three years later, over 1 million people had died as a result of the disastrous war, yet [...]
Four Major Lies About Obamacare Taxes
There is an popular opinion piece on FoxNews.com right now by John Kartch of Americans for Tax Reform called “Five Major Obamacare Taxes that will hit your wallet in 2013.” Shockingly, it is very misleading on nearly every issue it discusses.
What is Obamacare?
There is a reason that presidents have been fighting for a better health care system for 100 years. In 2010, over 50 million Americans went about their daily lives with no health insurance. If they got sick, odds are they went bankrupt and you had to foot the bill. Insurance companies could look at an application of a newborn infant, born with a defect, and deny the child coverage. A man who had diligently paid for his own health insurance for his entire life, could get cancer, and the insurance company could drop him. Insurance companies would set annual or lifetime dollar limits on needed care, leaving patients who thought they had coverage with massive medical bills and no hope.
Producers and Roasters Seek Fair Trade Beyond Certification
Whether or not to allow plantations into the fair trade model is not the only debate raging within the specialty coffee industry. Another, and more wide-reaching debate, is whether certification schemes benefit producers, or if they are in fact barriers to trade. While millions of small-scale coffee producers have benefited from certification systems like Fair [...]
Books about Modernity and Liaisons With Technology, Social Interactions, and the Mind
It is a reasonable assumption that many readers of the Conducive Chronicle or students around the world enrolled in some type of college social science class featuring elements of post modernism are familiar with the concept of modernity. Modernity has been both categorically and lexically challenging to define since the term is immensely expansive. Subsequently, [...]
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Environment
The Bicycle Movement Needs Reinforcements
It was a typical afternoon in Los Angeles as cars rolled by in the streets and people were walking or riding their bicycles on the sidewalks. Suddenly, a taxicab stopped in front of a man riding his bicycle. The man broke immediately but was tossed onto the ground. This man wasn’t any ordinary rider, it happened to be Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Creating Solutions
World Hunger: From GMO Chemistry Set to Table?
So, how do corporations and politics, food production and distribution tie in with world hunger? As previously mentioned, it’s complex. While there are many “experts” who point the finger at overpopulation for the reason that nearly one billion people in the world go hungry, I submit that the root cause lies within inherently flawed production and distribution systems.
Creating Solutions
Vandana Shiva and The Navdanya Farmers Network
Navdanya, a network of seed producers and organic farmers located in 16 states across India, has helped to establish community seed banks across the country and train farmers in seed and food sovereignty and sustainable agriculture (the word “Navdanya” refers to the nine crops that form India’s source of food security).
Creating Solutions
Food Deserts and Urban Farm Markets
Former NBA draft pick and MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” Fellow, Will Allen has devoted his life to improving access to healthy foods in these urban food deserts. Recognizing that a diet consisting mainly of convenience-store and fast-food fare leads to health issues such as diabetes and obesity, Allen developed the holistic farming model of food cultivation and efficient urban food distribution that led to establishing the non-profit organization Growing Power, Inc.
Environment
Moratorium on Deep Sea Drilling Expires — Really, What Would It Take to Get People’s Attention?
On October 13 the moratorium on deep sea oil drilling in the Gulf, put in place after the catastrophic oil spill caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April, was allowed to expire by the Obama administration. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that industry insiders may not be pleased with the [...]
Environment
Sustainable Vegan Farming Practices Empower the World’s Hungry
It stands to reason that sustainable, crop-based agriculture offers the least expensive, yet most productive, method for feeding and empowering the poorest members of the world’s population. Smallholders empowered by self-sufficiency and the ability to generate income by selling their surplus crops can potentially lift themselves and their children out of a downward spiral of hunger and poverty.
Current Events, Politics & Economy
What Will the Italian Youth Do?
Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is currently serving his third stint in power. Berlusconi is a fitting example of the problem with this so-called gerontocracy, rule by the elderly, particularly in Italy, where corruption and cronyism are almost as widespread as pizza and pasta. A recent article in Time reports on proposed changes to the Italian criminal justice system that if made into law would alleviate Berlusconi from current charges of tax-fraud and corruption. Reporter Stephan Faris writes, “the country’s crop of political players hasn’t been updated since the early 1990s, when a series of corruption and Mafia scandals upended the electoral landscape.”
Creating Solutions
How Does Mindful Farming Help Solve World Hunger?
It is important for us to keep in mind that most of the soy and corn grown in the United States goes toward livestock production and not to feed undernourished people in this country and abroad. Mindful, compassionate farming practices–farming to support a vegetarian lifestyle–would make more land available to grow grain for distribution to the world’s hungry. Soy and grain would no longer be diverted to livestock.
Creating Solutions
A Mindful Approach to Food Fosters Compassion for the World’s Hungry
Mindful eating brings us in touch with our food, both in terms of what and how much we eat. Respect for food reflects our gratitude to the sun and to the Earth for providing us with sustenance. Mindful eating also introduces another level of awareness to our lives: namely, compassion for those who do not share our bounty and a desire to do something about it. Mindful farming practices free up resources that can be used to produce more food for the world’s hungry.
Current Events, Politics & Economy
Cambodia: Portrait of Hunger
Today I will share my interview with Ms. Pry Phally Phuong, the director of Building Community Voices, a capacity building and community networking NGO in Cambodia, as well as a survivor of chronic hunger under the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge Regime.
Creating Solutions
Focus on Hunger: Interview with Vandana Shiva
Today marks the beginning of my second exploration of world hunger, as part of Conducive Chronicle’s 21 days for Hunger. For these two days I will be focusing on women in hunger, a topic I covered last May in my first souljourn for world hunger. As Kenda mentioned in the Intro to the series yesterday, [...]
Creating Solutions
21 Days for World Hunger
925 million people. 21 days. 5 writers. Joining forces and uniting voices to help those living with hunger. Together we embark on a journey to learn, share, explore, write and make whatever effort we can to help reduce the global catastrophic crisis of world hunger. Welcome to day one of twenty-one days for world hunger. [...]
Mind & Body
Scientific Evidence For Yoga
The ancient practice of yoga represents self-managed evolution, according to John deMinico, internationally-renowned teacher of yoga and Eastern philosophy. Evolution—if defined as moving from an overwhelmed, irritable self to a relaxed, healthy self—is a bonus for the 15 million adults in the U.S. who practice this increasingly popular form of mind-body exercise.
Literature, Media & Entertainment
Weeds: Taking Stock of Nancy Botwin
This fall finds us in the middle of the sixth season of Showtime’s popular and award winning series Weeds. Since the Botwin family fled Agrestic, the fictional Los Angeles suburb where they lived during the first three seasons, the evolution of the show has been a hot topic among critics and audiences. What started as [...]
Environment
Alaska waters hard hit by toxins, waste: Part 1
With the cruise ship season currently at its end, many Alaskans are prepping for the long, dark days of winter. However, just as the last cruise ship has left, it still leaves behind a potential threat that will sit, frozen in the mud flats of Alaska, until breakup thaws the toxins in the spring.
Current Events, Politics & Economy
FBI Raids Offices of Peace Activists
First, they were cheating on their tests. Now, they’re raiding the homes and offices of anti-war activists, gathering up documents from Minneapolis, Chicago, and North Carolina. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is charged with domestic law enforcement in the United States. Apparently, domestic law enforcement also entails criminalizing points of view. Back to the most [...]
Mind & Body
Theoretical Trends and their Promise of Societal Change: Part II
because new trends are showing greater alignment in the diverse fields of psychology, philosophy, and science, we can begin to have more confidence that a new worldview, one with new assumptions and corresponding values, is developing. What does this mean for the common person who may or may not be interested in philosophy? It means that the societal institutions, through which all of us operate, will significantly change. Our economy, our fields of medicine, our schools, and even our politics will be transmuting. At a time when humanity seems to be digging itself into a deeper whole, I show, through an overview of progressive interdisciplinary trends, why dramatic change for the better is in store as the century unfolds.
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