Daily Loaf

Below, is an interview I just conducted with Arlen Slobodow, a local filmmaker who just completed a documentary about air pollution caused by fossil fuels in the Tampa Bay area and how it affects our health and the health of our planet. Also, see my last post which goes more in depth about the film.

The following interview was conducted by phone on the evening of Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

Matt De Vlieger (M): How did you get involved in documentary filmmaking?
Arlen Slobodow (A): I have always been interested in social change work and have found mass media a good way to accomplish that. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever heard the Vietnam-era quote, “war is not healthy for children and other living things?” It is a staunchly obvious and painstakingly reasonable appeal that cuts to the ethical core and casualties of war.  I read an article this week that reminded me of it, but instead of war, the murderous culprit in this story is climate change.

A new report by the Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF) says that global warming already kills about 300,000 people a year.  If that projection is not startling enough– or if you have more of an economic mind, and are not much swayed by stacks of human figures—the report also says that climate change costs around $125 billion in economic losses annually.
Read the rest of this entry »

the Meridians, photo healingfabrics.com

An acupuncture study conducted in Seattle, released this month by the Archives of Internal Medicine, that substituted acupuncture needles with toothpicks to stimulate the meridian points, has acupuncture physicians and other Natural Health practitioners scratching their heads. The study used pointed toothpicks to stimulate the body’s meridian or acupuncture points and the results in pain relief were nearly identical to the cases where acupuncture needles were used.

“This study missed the point, ” said Acupuncture Physician Dr. Christy Giallourakis of  the Center for Oriental Medicine in Tarpon Springs, Florida. ”The problem with Western studies of traditional Chinese medicine is that the person conducting the study has to use experts on the placement of the meridian stimulus so that any results will be accurate.  There are 26 meridians but there are many, many, extraordinary points and these points can be inadvertently stimulated by someone who does not understand the system.”  What is used to stimulate the points has little effect on the outcome of the stimulation. “If you put any kind of stimulation to the point you will have a reaction.”

Acupuncture is based on the energy meridians of the body: these meridians are pathways of subtle energy that connect and compliment every organ and function in the body. Along these pathways is an interconnected system of subtle energy that can interrupt pain or enhance sensation depending upon the combinations of stimulated points. The interruption of pain is an important factor in healing. Read the rest of this entry »

Since the mainstream media has shoved off to cover the last moments of America’s Next Top Model and the finals of the American Idol competitions, I want to bring you up to date on the Swine Flu. 

First of all it is important to understand that in the USA’s rush to make the naming of this virus politically correct and to protect the flagging pork industry, they settled on H1N1 virus. H1N1 is a group of viruses, influenza A(H1N1).

Viruses are not typical and change often so by using this general title for this virus, Public Health has dumbed us down. Other groups of influenza viruses are A(H3N2) and B/Yamagata and B/Victoria viruses but the list is massive and complicated. To call this virus H1N1 is like using the term car to categorize a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. Yes it is a car but, there are many cars and among cars the 612 Scaglietti is most unique.  This “swine flu” is an A(H1N1) but it is not the only A(H1N1) virus. Read the rest of this entry »