Sanctuary

Month

June 2011

The Business of Being Born

Anyone who is thinking about having a baby, or who is already pregnant, should watch this movie (“The Business of Being Born”). As of this writing, it is available for instant streaming on Netflix.

The synopsis of the film, from the website:

Birth is a miracle, a rite of passage, a natural part of life. But birth is also big business.

Compelled to explore the subject after the delivery of her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to question the way American women have babies.

The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal.

Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?

Everything about the way that Western Medicine has ‘medicalized’ labor creates a less-than-optimal environment for the mother and the baby.  Inducing labor hugely increases the potential for fetal distress,  which will likely compel a C-section (compared to non-induced birth).  Women lying in a prone position does not support the path of the child down the birth canal, increasing the possibility that forceps and vacuum suction will have to be used.  The pelvis is narrower when a woman is lying down than when she is standing, which again may increase the chances of the need for an epidural and other interventions which can harm the mother and the baby.  Watch the movie to learn more.

Jun 30, 20115 notes
#fertility #pregnancy #women's health #healthy baby #c-section #Caesarian Section
Jun 23, 2011512 notes
Jun 23, 2011
really, fox news?: Does This Sound Misinformed To You? → reallyfoxnews.tumblr.com

reallyfoxnews:

Does This Sound Misinformed To You?

In response to Jon Stewart’s claim that Fox News viewers are consistently the most misinformed, Fox Nation posted some startling viewer poll results under the heading “Does This Sound Misinformed To You?”

• 91 percent believe the stimulus legislation lost jobs

• 72 percent believe the health reform law will increase the deficit

• 72 percent believe the economy is getting worse

• 60 percent believe climate change is not occurring

Actually, yes. This sounds incredibly misinformed. According to the Washington Post,

“Obama’s much-maligned economic stimulus package added as many as 3.3 million jobs to the economy during the second quarter of this year, and may have prevented the nation from lapsing back into recession, according to a report released Tuesday by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.”

The CBO has also projected that repealing the health reform law would increase the deficit, while leaving it intact would lead to a decrease.

According to AlterNet’s Joshua Holland,

“The consensus among economists is that the U.S. economy is in a very sluggish, lackluster period of recovery. A few predict that we may be heading toward a “double-dip” recession at some point in the future, but I’m unaware of a single expert, anywhere on the political spectrum, who would argue that the economy is now actually getting worse than it has been over the past three years. Yet seven out of 10 Fox viewers believe it is.”

Finally, climate change is occurring. Conservative politicians cannot fight the scientific community on this for much longer, because the evidence is overwhelming.

In 2010, 97 percent of scientists internationally believed that man-made climate change was real and occurring. The surge of natural disasters in 2011 alone should also be a pretty significant indicator.

So, in short, yes, Fox News, this all sounds pretty misinformed to me. Let us also not forget, as Raw Story points out, that 40 percent of Fox News viewers believe that Muslims want to establish Sharia law in the United States, and 82 percent said it would be a good idea to investigate American Muslims for extremism.

Jun 22, 201170 notes
Jon Stewart Reads Off Laundry List of False Statements by ‘Lying Dynasty’ Fox News | Gawker → gawker.com

reallyfoxnews:

Jon Stewart has always been critical of Fox News, but this week, the Daily Show host turned the volume up several notches. After shaming the network for selectively editing his Fox News Sunday interview with Chris Wallace on yesterday’s program, Stewart spent several minutes tonight reading off a list of statements by Fox that independent fact-checking organization PolitiFact has proven to be false.

Video.

Jun 22, 201168 notes
Jun 22, 201195 notes
“Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.” —Jacques Cousteau (via 122782)
Jun 22, 2011456 notes
Jun 22, 2011
Jun 22, 201129,138 notes
“Get over it, We’re magnificent, we’re going to continue to be.” —Sgt. Maj. Micheal Barrett, US Marine Corps, on DADT
(via zainyk)
Jun 21, 201143 notes
#fabulous #quote #quotes
Jun 21, 2011
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Jun 21, 2011
12 Things That The Mainstream Media Is Being Quiet About → endoftheamericandream.com

terrorofexistence:

The following are 12 things that the mainstream media is being strangely quiet about right now….

#1 The crisis at the Fort Calhoun nuclear facility in Nebraska has received almost no attention in the national mainstream media.

#2 Most Americans are aware that the U.S. is involved in wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.  However, the truth is that the U.S. military is also regularly bombing Yemen and parts of Pakistan.  If you count the countries where the U.S. has special forces and/or covert operatives on the ground, the U.S. is probably “active” in more countries in the Middle East than it is not.  Now there are even persistent rumors that U.S. ground units are being prepared to go into Libya.  Are we watching the early stages of World War 3 unfold before our eyes in slow motion?

#3 The crisis at Fukushima continues to get worse.  Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, recently made the following statement about the Fukushima disaster….

“Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind”

TEPCO has finally admitted that this disaster has released more radioactive material into the environment than Chernobyl did.  That makes Fukushima the worst nuclear disaster of all time, and it is far from over.

#4 Members of Congress continue to mention Christians as a threat to national security.  For example, during a recent Congressional hearing U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee warned that “Christian militants” might try to “bring down the country” and that such groups need to be investigated.

#5 China’s eastern province of Zhejiang has experienced that worst flooding that it has seen in 55 years.  2 million people have already been forced to leave their homes.  China has already been having huge problems with their crops over the past few years and this is only going to make things worse.

#6 Thanks to the Dodd-Frank Act, over the counter trading of gold and silver is going to be illegal starting on July 15th.  Or at least that is what some companies apparently now believe. 

#7 All over the world, huge cracks are appearing for no discernible reason.  For example, a massive crack that is approximately 3 kilometers long recent appeared in southern Peru.  Also, a 500 foot long crack suddenly appeared recently in the state of Michigan.  When you also throw in all of the gigantic sinkholes that have been opening all over the world, it is easy to conclude that the planet is becoming very unstable.

#8 According to U.S. Forest Service officials, the largest wildfire in Arizona state history has now covered more than 500,000 acres.  But based on the coverage it is being given by the mainstream media you would think that it is a non-event.

#9 There are reports that North Korea has tested a “super EMP weapon” which would be capable of taking out most of the U.S. power grid in a single shot.  The North Koreans are apparently about to conduct another nuclear test and that has some Obama administration officials very concerned.

#10 All over the United States, “active shooter drills” are being conducted in our public schools.  Often, most of the students are not told that these drills are fake.  Instead, students often go through hours of terror as they think a hostage situation or a shooting spree is really taking place.

#11 NASA has just launched a “major” preparedness initiative for all NASA personnel.  The following is an excerpt about this plan from NASA’s own website….

A major initiative has been placed on Family/Personal Preparedness for all NASA personnel. The NASA Family/Personal Preparedness Program is designed to provide awareness, resources, and tools to the NASA Family (civil servants and contractors) to prepare for an emergency situation. The most important assets in the successful completion of NASA’s mission are our employees’ and their families. We are taking the steps to prepare our workforce, but it is your personal obligation to prepare yourself and your families for emergencies.

#12 Over the past week over 40 temporary “no fly zones” have been declared by the FAA.  This is very highly unusual.  Nobody seems to know exactly why this is happening.

So what do all of these things mean?

It would be nice if the mainstream media would examine some of these important issues more closely and do some honest reporting on them.

Jun 21, 2011368 notes
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“Awareness is unstructured, natural radiance your own mind, so how can you say that you cannot see the Buddha? There is nothing at all to meditate upon in it, so how can you complain that meditation does not arise? It is manifest Awareness, your own mind, so how can you say that you cannot find it? It is a stream of unceasing radiant wakefulness, the face of your mind, so how can you say that you cannot see it? There is not so much as a moment of work to be done to attain it, so how can you say that your effort is unavailing? Centred and dispersed states are two sides of the same coin, so how can you say that your mind is never centred? Intrinsic Awareness is the spontaneously originated three modes of being, which is achieved without striving, so how can you say that your practice fails to accomplish it? It is enough to leave the mind in a state of non-action, so how can you say that you are incapable of attaining it? Your thoughts are released at the moment of their inception, so how can you say that the antidotes were ineffective? It is cognition of the here and now, so how can you say you do not perceive it?” —The Flight of the Garuda (via clothedinsky)
Jun 21, 20114 notes
World's oceans in 'shocking' decline → bbc.co.uk

mohandasgandhi:

bringtheruckuss:

The oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to an expert panel of scientists.

Well, this isn’t shocking to those who have studied and paid attention to the serious issues concerning the oceans.

This is more important than you realize. You can help save our oceans.

Oceanic biodiversity is what breathes life into ecosystems on land, including us.

1/4 of the world’s coral reefs, which are home to 20-30% of the ocean’s species are currently in danger due to pollution. Between 10-15% of all coral reefs are considered to be totally dead and 60-70% are in imminent danger. 

Currently, about 30% of all fish species are overfished and 80% of about 200 commercially important fish stocks in the U.S. alone are fully exploited or overfished.  If we continue to do what we’re doing now, we can expect the ocean to collapse by 2048.

Phytoplankton, which behave as one of the most fundamental components of the food chain, have declined by 40% since 1950 due to a rise in oceanic temperatures by just 1 degree. The temperature of the ocean is expected to rise by 3 degrees relatively soon.

Ocean acidification, which has been said to be just as if not more threatening than global warming itself, has greatly disrupted the PH balance of the oceans, resulting in an increase of acidity by about 30%.

Please, start caring about our oceans.

Jun 21, 2011288 notes
Jun 21, 2011210 notes
Jun 21, 2011644 notes
Jun 21, 20111,169 notes
Jun 21, 201126,401 notes
Jun 21, 2011
#genealogy
Jun 21, 201157 notes
Restaranteur Fighting City Meals Tax

neighborhoodr-richmond:

via fanrva

Jake Crocker created the Repeal the Meal Tax Facebook page last week. So far more than [280] people have liked Crocker’s Facebook page. Crocker, who is part owner of Lady N’awlins and F.W. Sullivan’s in Richmond’s Fan District, wants the city to get rid of the tax it places on restaurant and other prepared foods.

Jun 21, 20117 notes
Jun 21, 201119 notes
“You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing. You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, f*ck it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing. I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.” —Republican N.Y. state senator Roy McDonald, reversing his stand against same-sex marriage, quoted in The NY Daily News. (via washingtonpoststyle)
Jun 21, 20111,176 notes
History of Tantra → markdkashi.com

clothedinsky:

Mark Dyczkowski delivers an excellent lecture on the ^ from right back into the pre-tantric traditions which gave birth to the different classical traditions, shedding much light and deposing a number of persistent myths, humorous as well as delightfully loooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggg.

Jun 21, 20113 notes
Jun 21, 2011602 notes
Play
Jun 21, 201136 notes
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Play
Jun 21, 2011434 notes
Jun 21, 201139,441 notes
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Jun 21, 201148 notes
“

In a message to Congress in 1977, I said the country should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program of treatment for addicts. I also cautioned against filling our prisons with young people who were no threat to society, and summarized by saying: “Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.”

These ideas were widely accepted at the time. But in the 1980s President Ronald Reagan and Congress began to shift from balanced drug policies, including the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, toward futile efforts to control drug imports from foreign countries.

”
—

Jimmy Carter

I didn’t realize Carter was so forward-thinking about drug policy in 1977.  Read his whole op-ed in Today’s NY Times.  It’s great:

Call Off the Global Drug War - NYTimes.com

(via charlietodd)

Jun 21, 201130 notes
Jun 21, 2011480 notes
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Jun 21, 2011499 notes
Richmond, Virginia: RVA inventor catches Quirky's eye → richmond.neighborhoodr.com

atrichmond:

image

Sometimes the glow from your computer monitor just isn’t enough if you’re typing in a darkened room. Other than turning on the lights (duh), there’s got to be a better way to see the keys, right?

Richmond’s Clinton Fleenor came up with a solution: a task light that clips to…

Jun 21, 20116 notes
“You are insane.” —

Jon Stewart to Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday this morning, while arguing that “Fox is an activist propaganda organization.”

(via reallyfoxnews)

Jun 21, 201123 notes
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