News: South Pacific Rim
» 2009
September 27, 2010
Survey looking at vitamin D deficiency
Many New Zealanders may be blocking out the health benefits of sunshine and becoming vitamin D deficient, researchers say. Growing evidence of vitamin D deficiency, including the re-emergence of childhood rickets, has prompted two health researchers to conduct an online survey of mothers and health professionals to find out how much they know about the essential vitamin. "There is emerging evidence that sections of the New Zealand population, ranging from newborn babies to the elderly, are vitamin D deficient," Massey University Vitamin D Research Centre co-director Pamela von Hurst said.
Read article in The New Zealand Herald
Comment: Vitamin D deficiency is becoming a worldwide problem. In the United States, Canada, the UK and throughout the EU, for example, deficiencies of the vitamin are now widespread. Significantly, therefore, Anthony Norman, a distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry and biomedical sciences and an international expert on vitamin D, notes that half the people in North America and Western Europe get insufficient amounts of vitamin D and that merely eating vitamin D-rich foods is not adequate to solve the problem. Elsewhere in the world, the problem is no less serious. Pregnant Arab women, for example, have an "extraordinarily high prevalence" of vitamin D deficiency, whilst India is also now home to a growing epidemic of vitamin D deficiency.
September 20, 2010
"Manufacturing Dissent": the Anti-globalization Movement is Funded by the Corporate Elites
Under contemporary capitalism, the illusion of democracy must prevail. It is in the interest of the corporate elites to accept dissent and protest as a feature of the system inasmuch as they do not threaten the established social order. The purpose is not to repress dissent, but, on the contrary, to shape and mould the protest movement, to set the outer limits of dissent. To maintain their legitimacy, the economic elites favor limited and controlled forms of opposition, with a view to preventing the development of radical forms of protest, which might shake the very foundations and institutions of global capitalism. In other words, "manufacturing dissent" acts as a "safety valve", which protects and sustains the New World Order. To be effective, however, the process of "manufacturing dissent" must be carefully regulated and monitored by those who are the object of the protest movement.
Read article by Michel Chossudovsky on the Centre for Research on Globalization website
August 16, 2010
Mankind is using up global resources faster than ever
The growing world population and increasing consumption has pushed the world into ‘eco-debt’ a month earlier this year, according to the latest statistics on global resources. Think tank the New Economics Foundation (NEF) look at how much food, fuel and other resources are consumed by humans every year. They then compare it to how much the world can provide without threatening the ability of important ecosystems like oceans and rainforests to recover. This year the moment we start eating into nature's capital or ‘Earth Overshoot Day’ will fall on 21st August, a full month earlier than last year, when resources were used up by 23rd September.
Read article in the Daily Telegraph (UK)
August 6, 2010
Google accused of betraying internet golden rule in net neutrality row
Google, the internet giant, has been accused of betraying one of the most widely accepted "laws" of the internet called net neutrality; the principle that everyone has equal access. The firm has admitted that it has been in talks with the US communications provider Verizon and even agreed an outline plan on how internet traffic should be carried over networks. However, many have already voiced fears that if the plan becomes public, it could serve as a blueprint for how to carve up the internet and sell the best performance to the highest bidder.
Read article in the Daily Telegraph (UK)
Comment: Internet freedom advocates have described this plan as the "doomsday scenario" that "marks the beginning of the end of the internet as you know it". In short, the Google/Verizon pact potentially sets the stage for a corporate takeover of the Internet that could, in future, restrict your freedom to learn about cutting-edge research in natural health, the pharmaceutical business with disease and the Nazi roots of the Brussels EU. To learn about the campaign to protect internet freedom and net neutrality, click here.
July 28, 2010
Pesticide levels in NZ food unacceptable – lobbyists
The levels of pesticide residue present in New Zealand fruit and vegetables, shown in a study released yesterday, are the worst ever, say pro-organic food lobby groups.
Read
article in the New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Comment: The recent New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) survey reported on in this article revealed that 94 per cent of fruit and vegetable samples contained traces of pesticides, with 11 out of 23 cucumber samples containing residues of the banned chemical endosulfan and 9 out of 24 bok choy samples containing illegal levels of chlorothalonil. Worryingly, therefore, studies carried out in other areas of the world have resulted in similar findings. A report published in the European Union (EU) in 2008, for example, found that fruits, vegetables and cereals sold in the EU now contain record levels of pesticides. Almost half of the fruits, vegetables and cereals examined were found to be contaminated with pesticides, with 23 pesticides being detected at levels high enough to present an acute risk to public health – according to the EU’s own risk calculations.
May 17, 2010
Australian Parents ‘Pimp’ Their Kids For Flu Trial?
A controversy appears to be emerging in Australia over payments made to parents who have enrolled children as young as six months old in H1N1 flu vaccine trials sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline. In some instances, parents were enrolling three children at a time and receiving $900, according to The Herald Sun, which notes the payments may breach national ethical guidelines.
Read article at pharmalot.com
March 2, 2010
Farmers, exporters warn GM animals could damage 'brand New Zealand'
Organic farmers fear "brand New Zealand" will be damaged if plans proceed to expand the range of genetically modified animals. Farmers and exporters told a panel deciding whether to allow Agresearch to put human genes into goats, sheep and cows that overseas customers might stop buying New Zealand products if there were further trials.
Read article in the New Zealand Herald
February 27, 2010
The other drug war - the politics of big business
Big Pharma spends millions every year buying influence in Canberra. Adele Ferguson and Eric Johnston investigate the ruthless tactics, the money and the spindoctors behind the scenes.
Read article in the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
February 5, 2010
Australians “uncomfortable” with GM food
Australians remain uneasy about eating genetically modified (GM) foods, according to research from Swinburne University. The University’s fifth National Science and Technology Monitor found most people well informed about GM but still very mistrustful of the institutions that commercialise GM foods. “A major target of public mistrust is Monsanto, the world’s biggest seed company that owns patents on over 90% of all commercial GM soy, corn, canola and cotton crops that are grown,” Gene Ethics director Bob Phelps asserted.
Read article on the Australian Food News website (Australia)
January 9, 2010
Chemical in plastic bottles 'poisoning us'
A leading toxicology scientist believes tighter regulations are needed to prevent chemicals leaking into the human body from common plastic drink bottles and packaging. University of Canterbury professor of toxicology Professor Ian Shaw says it is crucially important to decrease the amount of the chemical BPA from New Zealanders' diets. BPA, which leaches from food and drink containers into the body, has consistently been found in overseas tests in blood, urine and even the amniotic fluid protecting a foetus. Such chemicals are linked to health problems that can include reduced sperm count in men, early puberty in girls and increased incidence of breast and testicular cancers - and countries such as the US, the UK and Canada have become alert to potential risks.
Read article in the New Zealand Herald