Ramble: Moving houses

We sold our house on the plateau overlooking the Metro to permanently move into the heart of it. 

It wasn't a rash decision, being something my husband and I had talked about for many years. Even before the pandemic, we were no longer living at home on a daily basis. 

But it made other people sad. 

I guess I am really strange, because I had moved several times in my life and I don't recall being sad. Or maybe I just conveniently forgot about the sadness.  

What I do remember is being happy and excited. 

First move

When I was small we moved from our house (one my mom's parents had given her as a wedding present) to an apartment that belonged to my mom's sister. I didn't question the reason or the need for the move, for sure I was then too young to do so. 

This move though, had something that made me sad. It included using this brown car that I did not like. I remember telling the family driver to drop me off a distance from where my friends were because I did not want them to see me in that car because I was ashamed of it because it was ugly. Much later on, I found out it was a highly respected European car brand -- actually, it was a Renault. 

grabbed from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1971-1976_Renault_16_TL_hatchback_%282015-07-14%29_01.jpg

But in terms of the apartment/house itself, I was simply excited about the new rooms and spaces.

Second move

I also remember moving to another aunt's house. This was even more exciting. They had a big yard. And a colored television! Something like this

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8066774/sony-trinitron-colour-television-1969-1970-television-receiver

I don't recall being sad about moving to that house, what I remember is getting sick and having to move from an upstairs room to a downstairs room, and pass through the living room where my eldest sister was having a teenager's party. 

But I was not happy then because I was sick, and I did not want to bother her party. The rest of the time, I was happy.

Third move

Then there was a move to my grandmother's downstairs house. Still on my mom's side. My father's family was in Mindanao. And thinking about it now, those moves were probably because of him, so we would not have been moving in with his family. My parent's eventually separated in fact, became legally separated, and obtained a Declaration of Nullity from the Catholic Church. But that's another story. Back to my house moves. 

Moving to my grandmother's downstairs house was exciting. There was an even larger yard, a "nipa hut", a pond with crossing stones, and a secret garden. There was a large Calachuchi tree that let us climb to the roof -- in our own home there was a malunggay tree that let us access the roof, so we spent quite some time on the roof, especially when we were running away from our dad's mother's punishments, but that's another story too. 

Two memories in my grandmother's downstairs house and her roof were getting burnt by the Bhagwan (TM) water heater and sitting on the roof watching the house across the street go up in flames and feeling the heat. Hot memories. 

Final move

Our next move was to our new house that our grandmother had helped my mom build on another aunt's property. My mom had wonderful sisters, and I still have three wonderful aunts up to this day who continue to support us with their love and prayers. And I'm sure my mom and her sister with her in heaven are both praying for us and loving us till too! 

Of course moving to our own new home was exciting. It was big! There were big stairs. It had tile floors and "anay" finish walls. and large windows. The room I shared with my twin looked over the garden and had two big cabinets, shelves and drawers. It was a happy room! 

So, no, moving houses when I was a child did not make me sad. I didn't dwell on what I was leaving behind. Or at least I don't remember being sad about it. I know I never questioned my parents about the moves. But thinking about it now, maybe I should have. And maybe I should have been more of a support for my mom.  

What about you? Have you had to move as a youngster? How did it make you feel? 

Lessons in Humility

Note: I wrote this eight (8) years ago, but somehow did not get to publish it. So the post says I'm 42 years old, but I'm actually already 50. The baby in the story is already seven, abut to turn 8, 

I'm a 42-year old milk machine

No longer so efficient

Some may even go so far

As to say I am deficient.

My fifth baby was born last month, fourteen years and 7 months after my fourth, and she has brought me one lesson in humility after another.

The lessons started with the realization that I was possibly pregnant. At a time when my life felt finally settled for the next few years, it was disturbing to think of the disruption a pregnancy would cause. I didn't even think then of the disruption a baby would be after he/she was born. It was also scary to think that I was already so much older than when I had my first four children, and I was quite unfit, physically. And the financial burden was another matter to worry about.

The first lesson in humility I got from my baby was the uncertainty and insecurity the possibility of pregnancy brought.

I put off confirming the pregnancy, but I knew that doing so could put my baby at risk. So I looked for a friend I hadn't seen in years who had become an Ob-Gyne. I needed someone who would understand my fears and treat me lika a friend, not just another patient in a whole line of patients.


My second lesson in humility was the need to seek out help. For me, who had always been self-sufficient and independent, going out of my way to ask for help was a new experience.

At around six months I went for my checkup and told my Ob-Gyne that I felt my uterus pressing down. She did an internal exam and confirmed that it was indeed low. She prescribed bed rest to ensure the baby didn't come out prematurely.  I was used to working or proceeding with my regular activities until the day before delivery, and having to stay in bed at six months was a real blow to me. This was my third lesson in humility, that I was indeed unfit to carry my pregnancy through under normal circumstances.

It was a blessing for me that my boss allowed me to work from home from my bed. I wasn't always very good about the staying in bed part of it, but just being spared the daily travel from home to work which took 3-4 hours was a huge blessing in ensuring I didn't deliver prematurely. This was my fourth lesson in humility, having to ask for special consideration at work.

A fifth lesson in humility which was not at all difficult for me, but which I consider a lesson in humility nonetheless, was the gift of an aunt of quite a large sum of money to help with my delivery. I am very grateful to her and all the others who extended (and continue to extend) a helping hand, quite often with a cash gift included. 

Thirty-six weeks, the milestone we were watching out for, came and went and we were relieved that the baby was not born premature. I had two incidents of early contractions which, thankfully, stopped. And the day came when I was really going to give birth.

The delivery gave me two huge lessons in humility. I was so proud of my four normal deliveries, all without anesthesia and with me wide awake. I was so good at delivering babies I didn't utter a single bad word nor moan nor groan much.  But now it was different. At a certain point the nurse remarked that my pain tolerance was so high, I wasn't complaining. She didn't know I had just texted my Ob-Gyne to please put me to sleep and give me an epidural for the delivery. My Ob-Gyne replied: Do you want to be asleep now or during active labor? Oh my! I wasn't even in active labor yet and already the pain seemed more that I could take. She decided to put me to sleep so I would be awake to push during active labor, and I had about an hour of sleep. I woke up to find that they were preparing me for the epidural. But before the anesthesia took effect I still had some time of contractions that were so painful and so long it seemed that there was no rest between them. I couldn't help myself I groaned and moaned and cried. The pretense of a high pain threshold was totally abandoned. I was weak and I couldn't take the pain. The sixth lesson in humility was this total dissolution of the stoicism I had been proud of from my days as a child playing stupid pain challenging games in the playground.

The seventh lesson came close at the heels of the sixth. My pride at having had four normal deliveries was totally gone. I got, as I had asked for, an epidural. I couldn't take the labor pains millions of women handle every day all over the world. From reading "The Good Earth" by Pearl Buck, I had always had the idea that delivering a child should be as easy as going out to the fields and squatting on the ground. At least it should be that easy for a strong woman. This was my seventh lesson: to have to accept that I was not a strong woman; that I was not the strong woman I believed I was. I even needed help from the doctors and the nurses to push my baby out.

The interesting thing about having an epidural was that this was the first time I really felt the baby coming through the birth canal, first the head, then the shoulders followed by the body until the feet came out. It is really quite a strange feeling.

After the delivery, the baby was allowed to latch on and I got to hold her for a while. However, something was wrong with me so they had to take the baby away and put her in the nursery. I was looking forward to rooming in with her but my blood pressure had gone up and the doctors needed to stabilize it first. I gave birth at around 4 pm and it was only around 6 am the following morning when I was deemed well enough to go to the nursery to feed my baby. To my chagrin I learned that my baby had been given formula. This inability to breastfeed my baby in the best way has been a continuing lesson in humility (my eighth). I, who always had so much milk in the past now struggle to feed my baby. The pediatrician thinks she isn't gaining enough weight and I am worried that on our next visit to the pediatrician she will say I need to supplement my breastmilk with formula. I am eating twice the amount of food I normally would to make sure I am not lacking in nutrition. I am taking a supplement to increase lactation and drinking a milk product as well.

The ninth lesson in humility is having to deal with the depression hormones bring after delivery. I've always prided myself in being very mentally stable. Psychiatrists I have had the need to converse with have always remarked how sane I was. Now I cry without reason at odd times of the day. I have sometimes put the baby down and left her to cry. I've gone as far as mixing her formula and trying to feed her from a bottle.

And the tenth lesson in humility? It is that, despite four grown up children and one grandchild, this baby is like my first child all over again. I feel so ignorant and so unprepared. And I guess it shows, because I have been asked by various people, including total strangers, nurses and other medical staff: "Ma'am, is this your first child?"

No, she is not my first child, she is my fifth child. But for the first time I have been granted the gift of these ten lessons in humility, for which I am truly grateful. 

Living by His Grace

It's been over a year since my last post.

Since then, my husband and I have both quit work, and he's started his own law firm, with me as his secretary, receptionist, researcher, writer, editor, driver, messenger and all around assistant.

We've been living by God's grace, totally dependent on Him for cases and clients. God works through our family, friends and other people around us, of course. But we have been given the special grace to  be aware, accept and be grateful, that the work that comes to us a blessing from above.

My mom has passed away, and we have been reminded that heaven is real, and is the future we should all work for, and train our children towards.

Striving for Poverty in Spirit

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, 

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3)

In his Message for the World Youth Day 2014, Pope Francis says:

"You might ask me, then: What can we do, specifically, to make poverty in spirit a way of life, a real part of our own lives? I will reply by saying three things.

1. Try to be free with regard to material things.
2. Experience a conversion in the way we see the poor. We have to care for them and be sensitive to their spiritual and material needs.
3. The poor are not just people to whom we can give something. They have much to offer us and to teach us ... about humility and trust in God."

Do read the Message to get his explanation. It's a wonderful document that says so much more than what I've quoted above.


For this post, I'd like to reflect on these three things in my life.

1. Try to be free with regard to material things.

Detachment from material things is something I have been consciously striving for from a young age. Way back in high school, the only material things I cared for -- and spent my allowance on -- were books. And then I had a family at a young age; a sure way to limit, if not totally obliterate, one's discretionary income. Between wanting stuff and staying sane, I opted to detach and keep insanity at bay.

But recently I got a nudge that I still have to be aware of the pitfall of desire and envy for stuff. Sometime in the middle of last year I discovered eBay. I actually went so far as to order an iPad online. The ad called for a cash deposit, but before I could make it, my children warned me not to. After all, how could I be sure to get the product after depositing the cash. They asked me if I had even checked out the seller's credentials. They also advised me to schedule a meet-up instead. So I tried to call the seller and I texted a few times. As they warned, I never got to arrange a meet-up.

Six months later two of my children have hand-me-down iPads and I still don't have one. And one morning a strange but familiar voice inside me whined "Why do they have iPads and I still don't. Didn't I say I wanted one six months ago?"

I know it's just me talking to myself, but I was still surprised. I thought I'd successfully vanquished the green monster decades ago. I had not. I've realized I still have to be on the watch against him, or else I might one day find him overcoming me.

2. Experience a conversion in the way we see the poor. We have to care for them and be sensitive to their spiritual and material needs.

One of the major life adjustments of marrying young, for me, was having to take public transport. When I was younger, there was always a car and driver to take me and my siblings to and from school and wherever we wanted to go. But then I had to learn how to commute, and at some point had no choice but to take public transport.

This opened up a whole new world to me. I saw and met people I would never have known about had I remained cocooned in an air conditioned car. Not just the people in the vehicles with me but the poor people on the street. And while I have tried to be sensitive to the material needs of the poor I have encountered -- sharing food when I have some; giving some money when asked; even giving away a jacket I was wearing to an old man in the rain -- this is the first time I have been confronted with the fact that I should also be sensitive to their spiritual needs. More thought on this needed!

3. The poor are not just people to whom we can give something. They have much to offer us and to teach us ... about humility and trust in God.

Sometimes when I see poor old people on the street selling stuff or doing some kind of hard labor, I think to myself I would not be as indefatigable. I imagine I would just quit working, sit on the sidewalk and beg. An attitude which points out I don't think very much of beggars. But this message from Pope Francis makes me think that beggars are the best teachers of humility. Maybe it is not that easy to be a beggar. Humility is easy when one chooses to be humble, but having it thrust upon oneself, I am made to think now, could also be a very painful experience.

Also, there is some irony in learning to trust in God from the poor. If trusting in God works, and the poor trust in God, should not God reward the poor and lift them from their poverty? But they remain poor! So how do we learn trust in God from them? Even more thought needed on this.


What about you? How do these three "things" work out for you?







 


 

Therese in the footsteps of the saint

Marie Therese turns 15 today. She's named after St Therese of Lisieux, and seems to have inherited some of the saint's characteristics.

According to the website of the Society of the Little Flower she was precocious and sensitive and needed a lot of attention. (Yes, that sounds like my own Therese.) Also, Saint Therese, after an experience that changed her at the age of 14 years, turned her energy and spirit "toward love, instead of keeping herself happy."

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my Therese recently. She was telling me how sad it was that youth nowadays are being taught to help others because helping others will make them (the youth) happy.

"What's wrong with that?" you may be asking.

While it's true that helping others brings with it a warm fuzzy feeling, surely the motivation to help should not come from the selfish desire to achieve that warm fuzzy feeling. There will be times when that warm fuzzy feeling may not come, and then you are left regretting the waste of effort or resources. Also, if you help others only to gain something for yourself, you are not likely to help others when there is a cost to oneself greater than the potential gain.

I know I'm not explaining very well, just ponder it yourself. At least I know that my Therese has got it right, and in her own little ways, makes little sacrifices to make life better for others, even if they don't make her happy. 
 



  

Blessie's Blessing

And the king will say to them in reply, 

'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did 

for one of these least brothers of mine, 

you did for me.' -- Matthew 25:40

(Thank you, Blessie, for taking the time to view this blog and for your advice. If you look to the right of this, you'll see I followed it.)

Blessie is a writer, editor, homeschooling mom and rabbit raiser. See more about her here. Her blog,  The Nanay Notebook, is the only blog I follow. Yesterday morning I sent her an email to let her know I was reviving this blog. To my pleasant surprise I got an email back from her with advice to add a Follow by Email gadget to this blog.

I've done as she suggested; so please, if you are reading this, do enter your email into the text box at the right under Follow me :). Thank you in advance.   

So anyway, I've got that bible verse up there because Blessie's act of kindness reminded me about it. Jesus himself, in effect, is clearly saying we should feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome strangers, clothe the naked, care for the ill and visit prisoners.

We can extend the idea to the extent that any good thing we do for anyone is a good deed done to Jesus. And then we can jump to the reverse of the idea: any good thing done to us by anyone is a blessing from God. Does that make sense? Well, that's the train of thought that made me think of the verse: Blessie's advice is God's way of helping me out with this blog. After all, it is called "living by his grace" because I hope to share how my life has been, and is constantly, shaped by God's grace.

So, as much as I dislike the Pollyanna route to happiness: "There but for the grace of God go I."

Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas

I don't know much about Saint Thomas or Natural Law. And much as I wish I had time to study about both, right now I don't.

But the Internet is really a wonderful resource and in less than five minutes, I've found out a nugget about St. Thomas: he wrote hymns!

A YouTube search resulted in this find, may it be a good start to this Tuesday.

 

New Year's Resolution

January is almost done and I haven't even made my list of resolutions for 2014.

Here's the first one: write for this blog.

Recently I was asked by someone I'd just met: "So, you like to write?"

I didn't know what to say. I no longer know if I like to write. Editing has been my bread-and-butter for years now, writing seems unreal.

Do I enjoy writing? I don't even know what to write about. I think I don't have enough of an ego to write. I don't have anything to say. I don't have anyone to say anything to.

These are just some of the thoughts that have come to me in response to the question.

But I remember now, this morning. I used to want to be a writer. I used to know that I had the skill to write. I had the ideas. I had the nerve.

So my first resolution for this no-longer-so-new year is to write right here. Once a week. Preferably on Monday when work hasn't piled up over my head yet. Write for myself. Try to gain back the writing mojo.

Thank you, new friend, for asking me that question. 

Saint Joseph Cathedral, Balanga, Bataan

I was able to visit the St. Joseph Cathedral in Balanga, Bataan, on March 9, 2012.

Posture modifies pain tolerance

Can standing erect and adopting a powerful pose increase a person's pain tolerance?

This is the question Scott Wiltermuth and Vanessa K. Bohns set out to answer in their study "It Hurts When I Do This (or You Do That)" published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
And they found out that it does indeed.
Wiltermuth and Bohns had two hypothesis: The first was that people who were made to pose in positions that express dominance would have increased pain thresholds while those who adopted submissive postures would have decreased pain threshold. The second hypothesis was that when the subjects would be made to interact with dominant or submissive people, they would adopt the postures that would complement the behavior of the person they were interacting with, and their pain thresholds would be affected accordingly.
The research involved 44 female and 45 male participants. To test the first hypothesis, yoga poses were used. For the second, the interaction partners varied their body positions, the volume of their voices, and the space between themselves and the subject to present either a dominant or submissive persona. Pain threshold for both experiments was measured using a blood pressure cuff which was tightened until the subject said “stop.” For the interaction experiment, handgrip strength was also measured.
Results were positive for both hypothesis. That is, as stated in the report's abstract “participants who adopted dominant poses displayed higher pain thresholds than those who adopted submissive or neutral poses,” and “participants who interacted with a submissive confederate displayed higher pain thresholds and greater handgrip strength than participants who interacted with a dominant confederate.”
The results are important because of their implications for pain management. From the first experiment it is clear that the simple act of adopting dominant poses can increase pain tolerance. On the other hand, the second experiment has lessons for interactions between patients with pain and their caregivers, including doctors, nurses and family members. It appears that the people who care for patients in pain must make an effort to become more submissive and let the patient become the dominant person in their interactions.
Scott Wiltermuth is an assistant professor of management organization at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, and Vanessa K. Bohns is a postdoctoral fellow at the J.L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Right lessons learned now wrong

The world of Science is always growing, changing.

Recently, two very basic things I learned as true I found out are false.

1. The main function of sex is to promote genetic diversity. FALSE.
"Rather, it's about keeping the genome context -- an organism's complete collection of genes arranged by chromosome composition and topology -- as unchanged as possible, thereby maintaining a species' identity." Read about that here.

2.  Organisms with identical genes will develop in the same way under identical conditions. Except for identical human twins, that is. FALSE.
Read about that here.

There was another one, but I am getting old and I forgot what it was.

I love ScienceDaily. :)

SHS makes teens addicts

Research shows that exposure to second hand smoke from cigarettes can make children aged 11-15 years old who don't smoke into nicotine addicts if they are exposed to smokers.

Jennifer J. McGrath, senior author of the study, explained the findings of their study in a press release as that "Children exposed to the same amounts of secondhand smoke as adults absorb higher doses of nicotine.” She adds that “Early findings suggest that secondhand smoke exposure could possibly trigger addiction in the brain – before kids actually start smoking themselves."

This should serve as a wake up call to parents and other adults who deal with children.

Aside from the physical addiction, the social aspect also affects the teens' behavior. McGrath's co-author Simon Racicot explained "Preteens who were surrounded by more smokers believed that there are greater advantages to smoking," and they don't see it as unhealthy behavior. He spells it out: “Smoking by parents, siblings, and friends increases risk factors for later smoking."

According to the researchers, it is one of the first studies that clearly shows how teens who don't smoke experience nicotine dependence symptoms, including craving for cigarettes. They studied 327 sixth and seventh graders enrolled in French-language public schools in Montreal.

The researchers suggest that prevention efforts must be undertaken targeting young teenagers that are exposed to secondhand smoke. They also point out the need for the general public to be educated on how smoking around youth can make the dangerous habit appear normal.”

The research, "An Investigation of Social and Pharmacological Exposure to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke as Possible Predictors of Perceived Nicotine Dependence, Smoking Susceptibility, and Smoking Expectancies Among Never-Smoking Youth," was published in the Nicotine & Tobacco Research  journal.

Locking up radioactive iodine

Researchers at the University of Sheffield in England report on a way to trap radioactive iodine and keep it from moving around and wreaking havoc.

After the earthquake and tsunami destroyed Japan's Fukushima nuclear power station, many rumors spread advising people to buy iodine tablets and swab their necks with iodine solution.

Radioactive iodine is dangerous because it spreads quickly, is easily absorbed by the body, and can cause cancer. It is especially dangerous for children, where ingestion of iodine-131 can result in thyroid cancer after 10 years or more.

Iodine 131 has been emitted by the Fukushima power plant as a gas since March 11. Although officials report that radioactive iodine levels that are constantly being monitored are well beyond the allowable limts, it is still a matter of concern that on May 28 there were reports that fish in Hong Kong were found to have the radioactive isotope. Some grey mullet from a wholesale market in Hong Kong had 7.7 becquerels per kilogram. The government guideline was is 100 becquerels per kilogram. Now it has been raised to 250 becquerels per kilogram. Officials were quoted by the report as saying "Based on risk assessment, normal consumption of grey mullets at this low radiation level will not pose any health risk to the consumer."

But for workers involved in rehabilitation work at the plant, the news is not as good. Already two workers have been found to have 10 times more radioactive iodine levels in their thyroid glands than their fellow workers, according to news reports. The two workers are not sick but have been stopped from working, according to reports. They will be monitored with more checkups.

<b>Microwave iodine</B>

Now researchers have found a new way to handle the radioactive iodine: radioactive forms of iodine can be immobilised by microwaves.

The idea is to make a solid that will contain the radioactive iodine, that can be disposed of in a proper manner. Professor Neil Hyatt and colleagues found that lead iodovanadinite(Pb5(VO4)3I) can work this way.

They heated a mixture of lead iodide, lead oxide and vanadium oxide with a microwave set at the frequency used in typical household microwave ovens to produce the Pb5(VO4)3I. This traps the iodine and keeps it from getting back into the air.

The material and process are being developed further, and it is hoped to develop a cheap and simple way to trap iodine that can easily be used in another nuclear accident.

Professor Neil Hyatt explained in a press release: "In spent nuclear fuel, the iodine is not immobilised, so once the containment is breached it simply gets dispersed.” He added "Our new method offers a way of safely and rapidly containing this radionuclide, reducing the potential long term impact on human health from discharge to the environment."

Monsanto v. small farmers

Organic farmers go to great lengths to make sure that their produce are free of synthetics chemicals, pesticides and fertilizer. It turns out that hovering over them is a threat that their crops will be contaminated by genetically modified strains, and, on top of that should that nightmare happen, it would be possible for agriculture giant Monsanto to sue them for patent infringement.

Surely a world that would allow this to happen must be some kind of nightmarish Wonderland or Twilight Zone.

But it is happening here, now, in our world.

On June 1, Wednesday, the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT http://pubpat.org/ ), on behalf of family farmers, seed businesses, and organic agricultural organizations, amended their complaint against Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified seed, and added more plaintiffs for a total of 83 complainants representing hundreds of thousands of farmers and organizations, according to a report from the Center for Food Safety (http://truefoodnow.org/2011/06/01/family-farmers-amplify-complaint-against-monsanto%e2%80%99s-gmos-reinforcing-their-arguments-with-two-dozen-additional-plaintiffs/#more-1650)

Daniel B. Ravicher, PUBPAT executive director, explained that they are just asking Monsanto to reassure the farmers and organizations involved that Monsanto will not accuse them of patent infringement if their crops are contaminated with Monsanto's seed.

The original suit was filed in March, and after that Monsanto said then that they would not assert their patents against farmers who suffer "trace" amounts of transgenic contamination.

Heartened by this statement and hoping to resolve the case PUBPAT wrote to Monsanto to ask them make this promise legally binding. Sadly, in response, Monsanto's lawyer rejected the request and then stated that Monsanto may claim patent infringement against organic farmers whose plants get contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed.

Jim Gerritsen, a farmer from Maine and the president of lead plaintiff the Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association (OSGATA http://www.osgata.org/) noted that Monsanto’s failure to address the farmers' concerns reaffirmed the importance of the lawsuit.

Francis Thicke, an organic dairy farmer from Iowa, summed up the problem: "It is bad enough that we face the threat of contamination of our organic and non-transgenic crops. The least Monsanto can do is give us assurance that they won’t sue us for their own genetic trespass."

Ruth Chantry of Nebraska expressed the anger of the group: "It is outrageous that our entire farm, family business, and livelihood could be at risk because of Monsanto’s backward and oppressive response and enforcement towards farmers in regards to transgenic pollen drift, unasked for and unwanted—and the subsequent results in fields and farms." She added, "Any transgenic pollen drift that would ever come onto our farm is of great detriment to us, and as such, it is an invasion upon and a contamination of our crops, the multi-species habitat we are assisting and creating here—and to the integrity of how we are farming organically and Biodynamically."

Monsanto has, in the past, sued a family farmer in Canada over seed that had contaminated the farmer's fields. Monsanto demanded that Percy Schmeiser (http://www.percyschmeiser.com/conflict.htm) pay the $15/acre technology fee that Monsanto charges its customers because he "grew" their genetically modified canola plants. Schmeiser did not want to grow Monsanto's canola because he had his own canola plants that he had developed.

Monsanto won at the federal court level, but the Canadian Supreme Court said that Schmeiser did not have to pay Monsanto the technology fee. However, Schmeiser's other concerns were not properly addressed.

The present suit against Monsanto raises many other important issues, most important of which is the safety of the food we eat, as the issue of the safety of GMOs has not yet been properly addressed.

Kansas wheat farmer Bryce Stephens, who is vice president of OSGATA and spokesman for the Organic Crop Improvement Association-International explained that when GMO crops were first allowed by the U.S. Government, they were labelled as Generally Recognized As Safe based on internal studies and company-funded research. He noted: "With the long-term health consequences of GMO food yet to be understood and in the absence of objective studies, we have all been involuntarily co-opted into a giant biotech industry experiment … Our citizens and the people of the world deserve better than that."

Australia launches renewable ARENA

Renewable energy gets a big boost Down Under as Australia creates the independent Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced July 8, 2011 by Christine Milne, Australian Greens deputy leader, in Canberra.

Milne reportedly explained that she was the one announcing the agency instead of the government because it resulted from their arguments in the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee. She is quoted as sating that “It has been obvious for years that renewable energy programs in Australia are a mess of badly-designed schemes run as photo opportunities rather than helping build the industry. ARENA will change all that.”

On the other hand, some reports present the side of the government, reporting that Energy Minister Martin Ferguson and Climate Minister Greg Combet had issued a joint statement that "The government has a strong record of delivering support to our renewable sector and ensuring that Australians get value for money on their investments."

They are said to have included in their statement that "The establishment of ARENA will build on this record."

At least both sides agree that ARENA sill bring better things for renewable energy.

The reports give ARENA's working budget at $3.2 billion in renewable energy funding. This includes taking over the management of existing projects: Solar Flagships Round 1; Renewable Energy Demonstration Program; ACRE Solar Projects; Geothermal Drilling Program projects; Australian Biofuels Research Institute (ABRI) initiatives; Emerging Renewables Program; Renewable Energy Venture Capital Fund; Australian Solar Institute; Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund (Solar); Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development Program; and unallocated funding from the Connecting Renewables Initiative.

The ministers' joint statement clarifies that “Around $1.7 billion in uncommitted funding from the range of consolidated programs will be available for the ARENA Board to direct investment in new renewable energy projects between now and 2020.”

Initiatives will include solar, geothermal, and biofuel development.

Meanwhile, as Australia is waiting for the announcement of the governments carbon tax policy on Sunday, the reports about ARENA are rife with issues of politics and dealing and power plays.

We can just hope that ARENA doesn't become merely a political arena for Australia, but become a working agency that will push renewable energy forward, benefiting not just Australia, but the rest of the world. After all, even if Australia is a bit away down under, global warming is still global

Vit. D deficient NFL players get injured

Even professional athletes – National Football League players at that – can be deficient in vitamins. This was found in a study conducted by some doctors analyzing the relationship between muscle injuries and Vitamin D levels.

Michael Shindle, MD, lead researcher of the team that undertook the study that is being presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, said in a press release that “Eighty percent of the football team we studied had vitamin D insufficiency.” He added that “African American players and players who suffered muscle injuries had significantly lower levels.”

Vitamin D aids in calcium absorption for bone growth. Thus, too little vitamin D can lead to osteoporosis, rickets, and other bone diseases. The vitamin also plays a role in the functioning of the nerves, muscles, and immune systems. It is obtained from diet – particularly from gg yolks, saltwater fish, and liver – and supplements. The body also forms it naturally after being in sunlight, but sunlight exposure is not really recommended anymore.

The study involved 89 football players coming from one NFL team. The players' Vitamin D levels were measured as part of routine pre-season tests. The team provided data on which players had muscle injuries. Vitamin D levels were then classified based on player race and time lost due to muscle injury.

It was found that 27 players had deficient levels (<20 ng/ML) of Vitamin D, and 45 had insufficient levels (20-31.9 ng/mL). The remaining 17 players had values within normal limits (>32 ng/mL). It was also found that there was a difference in vitamin D levels in white players (mean of 30.3 ng/mL) compared to black players (mean of 20.4 ng/mL). Sixteen players suffered a muscle injury with a mean Vitamin D level of 19.9.
Shindle's fellow researcher, Dr. Scott Rodeo, MD, Co-Chief of the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service at the Hospital for Special Surgery noted that “Screening and treatment of Vitamin D insufficiency in professional athletes may be a simple way to help prevent injuries.” Also, Dr. Joseph Lane, MD, Director of the Metabolic Bone Disease Service at the Hospital for Special Surgery expressed that “Further research also needs to be conducted in order to determine if increasing Vitamin D leads to improved maximum muscle function.”

Prehistoric marine life extinction may happen again

The possibility of mass mortality in the oceans that happened when the earth experienced a greenhouse effect during Late Cretaceous Period could happen again, researchers warned.

Studying 85 million-year-old layers of ocean bed sediment drilled off the coast of western Africa, professors Martin Kennedy from the University of Adelaide and Thomas Wagner from Newcastle University discovered a significant amount of organic material from marine life buried within deoxygenated layers of the sediment.

According to the geologists, high amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere together with increasing temperature caused hypoxia – or severe lack of oxygen – in the oceans, eventually leading to mass extinction of some life forms.

In the past, according to Professor Kennedy in a press release, "hypoxia in the deep ocean … occurred relatively rapidly – in periods of hundreds of years, or possibly even less – not gradually over longer, geological time scales, suggesting that the Earth's oceans are in a much more delicate balance during greenhouse conditions than originally thought, and may respond in a more abrupt fashion to even subtle changes in temperature and CO₂ levels."

Considering that the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has doubled in the past 50 years, Kennedy said it is "like hitting our ecosystem with a sledge-hammer' compared to the very small changes in incoming solar energy (radiation) which was capable of triggering these events in the past.”

Thus, he said, "This could have a catastrophic, profound impact on the sustainability of life in our oceans, which in turn is likely to impact on the sustainability of life for many land-based species, including humankind."

"We know that 'dead zones' are rapidly growing in size and number in seas and oceans across the globe," Professor Wagner added. “These are areas of water that are lacking in oxygen and are suffering from increases of CO₂, rising temperatures, nutrient run-off from agriculture and other factors."

On the upside, the geological record studied also showed that a hypoxic phase is naturally followed by improved oxygen concentration in the oceans and the return of marine life. Specifically, the natural processes of carbon burial occur, and soil-formed minerals collect and bury the organic matter dissolved in seawater. This burial of excess carbon ultimately results in the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere, which results in the cooling of the ocean and the planet.

Professor Wagner explained, "This is nature's solution to the greenhouse effect and it could offer a possible solution for us. If we are able to learn more about this effect and its feedbacks, we may be able to manage it, and reduce the present rate of warming threatening our oceans."

The study, Clay mineral continental amplifier for marine carbon sequestration in a greenhouse ocean by Martin J. Kennedy and Thomas Wagner was published in the May 17, 2011 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

On mommy guilt

Recent racket about mommy guilt; with many thanks to those who shared:

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12 steps away from mommy guilt

Mommy guilt — these two words go together so well, as every working mother knows.

What mom has not had tears come into her eyes as she kissed her sleeping angel goodbye in the early morning to go to work? Has not had her heart wrenched when she handed her crying bundle of joy to the yaya before walking out the front door? Or has not felt the deepest sadness when she had to board an airplane that would take her far far away to work, knowing it would be months, even years, before she would see her “baby” again?

The question then, is: How do I deal with it?

1. Quit work
I was very surprised when a quick Facebook survey to which nine friends responded showed that three of my friends quit work to stay home. Their main issue was the quality of care that their children were receiving.
Betsy, a marketing executive who was working in Indonesia, found it difficult to find the same quality of caregivers that we have available in the Philippines. She quit work to make sure that her sons “developed adequate study habits and manners, ate well and were clean.”

But even when the care was more than adequate, it still wasn't enough, as Faith, a scientist based in the U.S., said “Everyday for 2 ½ years, I called the daycare to ask how his day was going! It didn't take long for me to realize that I'll never be content with whoever was taking care of my children, as good as they may be.”
Of course not everyone is financially stable enough to quit work, so that brings us to the second tactic for dealing with mommy guilt.

2. Work from home
While the best deal would be to get your current employer to allow you to work from home, there are now also all sorts of regular employment opportunities such as writing, transcribing, being a personal assistant, etc. which are available because of the Internet.  For those who feel that they don't have much to offer in terms of skill, there is Amazon Mechanical Turk (https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome) which offers simple tasks that allow users to earn a little bit and get some training as well. Blessie, an editor who works from home, blogs about mommy-guilt and other mommy issues in her blog Nanay Notebook (http://nanaynotebook.blogspot.com/) which is slowly adding to her monthly work-from-home paycheck.

But for moms who really have to work out of the house, rest assured there are more things that you can do to ease your guilt.

3. Explain the situation to your child
Children are often smarter than we give them credit for, and they understand more of the adult world than we know. Elizel, an HR practitioner and single-mom, explained, “I try to explain to him (her son is 6 years old) that I have to work so that I can earn and buy him what he needs like food and stuff like toys and also we can go out together such as going to the beach or just simply playing at Time Zone.” Explaining the situation to your child in terms he can understand will let you know that he or she knows that you don't work just because you want to leave him, and emphasizes that you love him very much and will take care of him.

4. Plan your daily work schedule to maximize time with your children
Perhaps you can arrange your daily work schedule so you get off work early enough to fetch your children from school. This is what Faith did when she went back to work after her kids started going to school. Or put him in a daycare near the office so you can check on him during the day. Lisa, a fifth grade teacher in Chicago, arranged her son's schedule so the nanny would take him to her school in the middle of the day so she could spend thirty minutes with him.

5. Plan your weekly and monthly schedules too
Aside from your daily schedule, you should plan your work schedule weeks ahead if you are in a position to schedule meetings and out of town trips. Malou, a doctor, explained that she would “Plan in detail. Make sure I didn't miss any MAJOR school activities.” Of course holidays and birthdays are also important.

6. Let the office value you as both an employee and as a mom
As a valued employee, you are allowed to take care of yourself and your family. Malou makes sure that “the boss and colleagues appreciate how hard I work and try my best to deliver results when needed so that they will understand when I tell them I need time to attend to mommy duties even during work hours or days.”

7. Have quality time
After they've made sure to make time with their children, many moms make it a point to ensure the time is “quality time.”
Mel, an event organizer, said that because of her work she was “constantly out with my artists, doing gigs and working day and night shifts.” She was particularly sad that she wouldn't be there when her girls “would wake up and before they would go to sleep.” So to ease her guilt, she would sometimes wake them up purposely in the middle of the night for some quality mommy-daughter time.

8. Just be present and let them do their own thing
Not all the time you manage to carve out with your children needs to be high-intensity extremely focused time. It is also important to just be around the children as they learn to do things on their own. Anissa, a stay-at-home mom who homeschools her four children, still feels mommy guilt because she has to work from home and can't attend to their studies as well as she would like. She said “I just try to make it up to them by spending as much time with them as I can. I also try to motivate them to show initiative in their learning.”

9. Shower them with affection
Malou reiterates the need for mommy presence even when the mom and the children are doing different things. She says it is more important to shower the family with affection all the time. “I really don't believe in quality time only. Kids need their moms to be around them, more at certain periods of growth, less in others, but ALWAYS for moms to be ever present in one way or another. That means both quantity and quality.”

10. Use technology to keep in touch during the day
Whether it be a landline or cellphone, the telephone is still the easiest technology to use for keeping in touch with your children or their caregivers, and hearing a baby's coo can be a balm for a guilty mom's heart. But when you are in different time zones because you are a working mom in another country, it isn't always feasible. Stella, a professional in Dubai, follows her daughter's Facebook page to keep current with her daughter's friends, activities, and life in general. They also use the social networking site to send each other messages and chat when they happen to be online at the same time.

But beyond physical presence, there is something else we can do for our children and to lessen our mommy guilt:

11. Trust and pray
When my youngest daughter was in Junior Kindergarten, she would be sad and scared every time I would leave her in her classroom – and I was teaching at the same school then, so it wasn't like I was very far away! To make her feel more secure, I told her that she had a guardian angel watching over her when I was not beside her. Somehow, she picked up on the thought and came up with the idea of exchanging guardian angels. My guardian angel would stay with her, and her guardian angel would stay with me.
Also, Elizel does “pray hard that I'll be able to bring up my son as a responsible kid even if half the time I'm at the office.” Blessie, on the other hand, prays that she can stop working even from home and be a truly full-time mom.

And then there's also the most radical thing you can do about mommy guilt, something that I personally advise moms to do:

12. Know yourself and reject the guilt
Mabel, a banker in Minnesota, admits that she suffered from mommy guilt. “I always felt that I was not selfless enough to give up my career to raise the kids by myself instead of leaving them with babysitters or at the daycare facility.” But, she said, “I rationalized by convincing myself that I am a better person by working and that I will damage the kids more if I were a stay at home mother. I also rationalized my action by believing that since my husband's job was not stable we could not just rely on him.” Now, both her children are in college and she is the vice president of a bank. The family is financially stable despite the recession in the U.S., and they enjoy traveling and doing things together as adults.

These are real tactics from real moms, and I hope you pick up something that will help you deal with, and reject, your own mommy guilt. Stay strong.

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Getting distracted

I've had two more article published on The Earth Times, and I'm still happy about it. But I am getting a bit guilty about getting distracted from my mission: a portal/homepage for Filipino catholic families.

An old friend of the family's who just passed away gave a rather formal speech for a simple family gathering last year. He mentioned how he would visit with my grandfather and my aunts because he enjoyed the intellectual discussions.

This resonated with me because I had been reflecting on the idea for several months since a conversation I had with poet ands artist Noel Beduya. What I took from that talk was his desire -- need -- for intelligent intercourse -- not the green variety!

I realized that I was blessed because when I was growing up I had this with my parents, siblings and friends. When I got married and had children, I always had my husband and my children to talk to and argue with, which partly made up for the fact that I had isolated myself from friends.

But I also realized that a lot of people don't have that anymore, even in their own families. I had a student, a very pretty and talented high school senior, who told me that she was sad because when she got home from school she couldn't talk to her mother because she (the mother) would be busy watching Korean telenovelas.

Even sadder, of course, are the many children growing up while their  parents work abroad. A male friend of mine narrated how, when he had just started working abroad, his wife and two young boys would go online everyday to say hello and chat. As the days went by though, they would be online less often, and after several months, he would only get to chat with them once a week.

And there are some families who communicate even less often.

So the idea is a homepage for every family that uses the best features available for websites so that families can share and communicate and be together, even if only virtually. There's Facebook of course, but that's got too many things going on ... too much distraction.

So that's my mission from which I am getting distracted.

But it'll have to be realized on a part-time basis because I do have to keep a steady income source to make sure my own family can keep sharing, communicating, and being together.

Writing about it here, I hope, will mark the movement of the concept out of my mind and onto the Web.

On being an environmentalist

I just got a bylined article published in The Earth Times! It's called Microblog post saves truckload of dogs in China.

I read "The Silent Spring" when I was in grade school. In highschool there wasn't much action going on in terms of environmental activism. Well, everyone was too busy studying.

In college I joined the Marine Biological Society. That was about the greenest group on campus at that time, I guess, aside from the Mountaineers.

Two notable friends from there went on to work for Earth Island and Greenpeace.

Me, I became a mom. But in my own way tried to instill earth-friendly attitudes and behavior in my children. I tried to explain that turning off the lights to save electricity was not just about saving money for the family but for saving the world too.

I taught them the importance of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and was very very proud when my daughter told me that Repair should also be included.

Now I get a chance to do a little bit more for the earth by writing for The Earth Times.

I'm so happy.