News — health

article Osterholm says we need to treat the virus like a wildfire and strategically shut down hot spots to prevent the spread.  We need "honest, effective leadership; and quickly undertook mitigation, testing and contract tracing"

Trees give off anti-microbial compounds. People exercise and socialize out in wild places. "It reduces the risk of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, premature death, and preterm birth, and increases sleep duration."

https://www.treehugger.com/health/huge-study-confirms-significant-health-benefits-nature.html

George Wuerthner sent out this

Breaking update: Governor Hickenlooper cut a secret deal with the oil and gas industry to take away your right to protect your family and future from fracking. After months of closed door negotiations, Governor Hickenlooper, Congressman Polis and the oil and gas industry announced last Friday that they had made a deal to address fracking. But one key piece of the legislation would take away the ability for a Colorado community to ban or place a moratorium on fracking. They want to pass this measure in a special session of the Colorado Legislature in the next few days. Tell your legislators to oppose this backroom deal! Find the names and contact info of your state senator and state representative here. Please tell them that you do not want this "backroom deal", where Gov. Fracken blooper and the oil and gas companies are trying to preempt the votes of the citizens. Also, please tell Rep. Polis that you want him to stop this deal of a special session of the legislature. Call (202) 225-2161 or send him a message. Tell him to allow the past votes to stand and sign the petition to get initiative 75 for local control onto the ballot. Please oppose the Hickenlooper fracking deal. It will take away the hard won victories - the moratoriums and bans on fracking in Fort Collins, Boulder, Lafayette, and Broomfield. These bans and moratoriums allow us time to find out the results of health and scientific studies. Then we can make an informed choice, instead of letting the powerful and greedy oil and gas industry to grab profits before we know for sure whether they are harming our health, the water, and our future. For more info go to fractivist.org, frackfreecolorado.com, deargovernorHickenlooper.com, and 350colorado.org.

I went to a preview of an almost finished documentary movie on lead poisoning, Mislead: America's Secret Epidemic. It shows that many cases of ADD, ADHD, and autism are caused by lead poisoning. 1/3 of the kids in the US have unsafe levels of lead. It recommends having kids' blood tested for lead and having houses tested for lead if the kids' level is high. Also it mentioned a report where most of the decline in violent crime is due to a decrease in lead from leaded gasoline. It might make a good play. It is going around to some film festivals. It reminded me of the syphilis play David Feldshur did (where doctors and officials chose not to treat black men with antibiotics who had syphilis, because they wanted to prove that black men would go through the same stages before death as white men, to whom they gave the antibiotics). Lead poisoning costs $50.9 billion per year, just for some of the costs. There was a court judgment in December, 2013, in California. Tamara, the director and interviewer in the film, spoke at the preview. She targets the movie at mothers and pregnant women between the ages of 20 to 42. The goal is to get them upset so they will pressure the government to force cleanups of homes and schools. There is a payback of between 20 and 200 to 1 for every dollar spent in prevention. The California case involved a tobacco lawyer and took 13 years, but it may be overturned or limited by the appeal court. Maybe an anti-tobacco law firm would be interested in financing the writing of a play. Maybe I should write a play. The director said that for TV, they want more of a story or reality TV slant showing how hard it is to live with a child with difficulties. The EPA is prevented from requiring cleanups of lead in schools and homes by the power of the paint and lead industries that lobby and donate money to politicians. What do you know about lead poisoning? Have you had your children tested? Leave a comment below.

Recent studies have shown that BPA-free plastics often used in cups, bottles, and containers can be just as dangerous as BPA plastics, if not more so. Most of the 80,000 chemicals in use have not been tested for safety due to lobbying, lawsuits, PR campaigns, and campaign contributions by chemical companies. Solution: Use STAINLESS STEEL and GLASS for BOTTLES and FOOD CONTAINERS (sippy cups, Tupperware, water bottles, especially for children). MINIMIZE the use of plastics. Estrogenic chemicals leach from many plastics and are correlated with breast cancer and altered childhood development. Read the Democracy Now interview and Mother Jones article for details on the struggle to publicize this research.