Just finished this book by Annette McGivney.  I ran across it because of a review in the Boatman's Quarterly, and got it from the local library.  It tells three parallel stories which all intersect: that of a young Japanese woman who was murdered, a young Havasupai man who killed her, and the author's story.  What brings the three stories together, aside from the murder, is a history of trauma.  Annette gives a rich and sympathetic review of the horrific history of indigenous tribes in the US and lands at the end on generational trauma which impacts the modern culture of all of our tribes.  She is respectful of Japanese culture and the drivers that brought the young woman into contact with the landscapes and people's of North America.  And she is honest in telling her own tale, superficially at first then deeper as her memories return of her own childhood abuse.  This is a worthwhile read for all those who enjoy broad cultural perspectives and those wishing to grasp the origins of violence in our culture today, and specifically that of the tribes.

This is a great post with a few specifics about gestures that mean something different in other places.
http://www.scienceofpeople.com/2014/07/gestures-shouldnt-making-abroad/
by Michiel Andreae from The Netherlands
( Read more...Collapse )

Nuclear power sounds like a good idea, until something like this happens. The cleanup process at the Fukushima reactors is slow going and high stakes. Humans must in essence give their lives to save the lives of others, and while this sounds glorious in some military venues I don't think many of us would volunteer. The fuel rods need to be removed, the normal systems for their removal have been destroyed, and a mistake could cause a meltdown that would additionally contaminate the immediate area severely and the planetary atmosphere as well, though at what level it is impossible to know. There is talk, and some movement by those who have the means, away from higher risk areas. The southern hemisphere is likely to be far safer than the northern with regard to radiation for the foreseeable future. What interests me is how few people here in the US seem to care one whit about it. Radiation is invisible, and we already have cancer, so how much worse could it get? And will we continue to sell nuclear reactors around the world for the purpose of powering televisions and washing machines? Is there any movement toward less dangerous low tech solutions? I'm not seeing it.

TYPES OF HANDEDNESS
Redirected handedness = learned handedness
Natural handedness = genetic or inherited
Pathological handedness = caused by brain injury or other pathology

( notesCollapse )

HOMEWORK ATSDR CSEM
Taking an Environmental Health History
atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=17&po=o (or pdf on moodle
complete post-test questions 1-8 by next class

class on week 11 is when we get the take-home final
due friday week 12
homeworks will be reviewed over Thanksgiving
and notice given to students who haven't complete them
no homeworks will be graded late

ACAM & AAEM conference in PDX this week
Marianne Marchese is speaking, 2002 NCNM grad
her book: 8 Wks to Wmns Wellness
( notes (melanoma notes integrated from this date back, radiation notes integrated from this entry to radiation protocol)Collapse )

Or not. Gazillions of jellyfish are swarming around nukes in Japan, Israel and Scotland. They've forced 3 nukes to shut down. Any large industrial facility that uses ocean water in volume is at risk of filter overwhelm, including desalinization plants and coastal power plants. They're cleaning up Jellyfish in droves from beaches in Lebanon to keep tourism going. In Savanna, Georgia they're saying that warmer water temperatures brought them in early. It may be that this is just an early and generous "jellyfish season" that has nothing to do with nukes or global warming. In the image below a workman is emptying a filter in a Mediterranean water cooling system for a coal burning plant, and getting a load of jellyfish.(  Images behind cut.Collapse )

I don't believe the powers when they tell me to panic. And I definitely don't believe them when they tell me NOT to panic. I think back to 9/11, when all those people in burning skyscrapers, just hit by airplanes, were told to remain calm and stay at their desks. The ones who decided for themselves that the situation was fubar and ran down the stairs were the ones who survived.

For this Japanese quake and tsunami the media machine has been spewing something constantly. Panic. Don't panic. Nothing to worry about. All under control. Oooops, out of control. Whoopsie.

It's up to us to decide what to do for ourselves.

Japan reportedly to rate nuclear crisis at highest level
By Chico Harlan, Monday, April 11, 9:30 PM

TOKYO — Japanese authorities planned Tuesday to raise their rating of the severity of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis to the highest level on an international scale, equal to that of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, according to the Kyodo news agency.

A level 7 accident, according to the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, is typified by a “major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japan-to-raise-rating-of-nuclear-crisis-to-highest-level/2011/04/11/AFxrFEND_story.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert

Nuclear plants in Japan are melting down, and radioactive clouds are headed our way across the Pacific. We have time to prepare...but what should we do? I am full of ideas, but mind you, this is not medical advice! Just the random rantings of some stranger on the internet! With that said, maybe it is a good time to increase your antioxidant intake, and keep it high for the forseeable future. Also, because much radioactivity is carried from such events in the form of radioactive iodine, maybe it's time to fill all your iodine receptors with healthy non-radioactive iodine. That way you reduce the amount of radioactivity your body takes in. The thyroid is the #1 place that iodine is used, and guess where is #2? The breast! Yes. And especially in teenage girls, the risk of cancer if iodine levels are low is radically increased--even when no noxious clouds are headed our way. Studies after the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed that the people who survived best and had least symptoms of radioactivity poisoning were the ones with the highest iodine intakes. It even helps to take iodine after the exposure, but it's better to get it in preventatively.

Here's one explanation in the news:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/954256--explainer-how-iodine-pills-protect-against-radiation
( more on exactly what I'm doing---and on what NOT to do!!!!Collapse )