Desecrating the earth

Blogging is a form of self-expression, isn't it? So, I just want to express something that's really bothering me.

A friend of mine e-mailed to me a copy of a report about how the government tried to railroad a nickel mining project in Mindoro Occidental and Oriental. I'm talking about Intex Resources' Mindoro Nickel Project which is described in the company's website http://www.intexresources.com/projects.cfm?path=

Like the cause-oriented groups that denounce large-scale mining operations in the Philippines or anywhere else in the world, I am also against mining.

Why am I against mining when the government says that it will make our country rich? Really? How come, with all the gold and other mining operations going on around the country, the Philippines still lags behind in economic development? Where and what has mining brought us? Who got rich? Did the local residents who hosted the mining projects become wealthy? I don't think so. Only the investors and the company officials who live far from the Philippines got wealthy. Oh, and probably the government officials who approved the mining projects. Did those companies truthfully declare the real value of the minerals that they extracted such that they paid the right taxes to our government? Probably not. Why? Those companies hire the experts, our government mostly have corrupt people in office who are not metallurgists. So, the mining companies can easily get away with much profit. I don't have anything to prove this; I only have my mind to come up with suspicions which could be nearer to the truth than what our government fabricates and passes on as press releases.

Why am I really, really against mining? A few years ago, I had the privilege of entering the premises of Marcopper Mining Corporation in Sta. Cruz, Marinduque together with a few companions. We were not allowed to take photos. What I saw got indelibly stored in my brain. Whole mountains were destroyed to extract copper to be sold abroad, the profits of which would go to the pockets of just a few people. Of course, Marcopper management built a school, a hospital, a club house, a church, and other facilities inside the mine site to cater to its employees and their dependents. Now, those facilities are closed (except the church) and rendered useless ever since the company's operations have stopped because of the mine talings spill.

I did not study metallurgy so I couldn't make proper calculations as regards the amount of copper extracted from the site. Still, I couldn't stop wondering: with all the mountains that they have leveled in that particular mine site, how much copper did they actually extract? To put it simply, if you have one dump truck full of mine tailings will you be able to have half a kilo of high grade copper? I don't know but the environmental destruction that I saw was simply and utterly staggering! And to think that 1.6 MILLION cubic meters of mine tailings were already dumped into the Boac River which caused its death 12 years ago, 24 March 1996 to be exact. How much more are still left in the site? And it's heartbreaking to know that up to now, the people of Marinduque have yet to receive compensation for the damage that was inflicted upon them by the mine tailings spill. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/june/26/yehey/top_stories/20070626top8.html

Maybe the Marcopper people thought that they can hide their dastardly act by not allowing visitors to take photos. Unfortunately for them, they can't hide much because of the advances in technology. If you want to see what I saw, especially the big black toxic pond that is threatening to inundate the municipality of Boac should the dam that is holding it in burst, visit my flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/28794370@N03/2688681721/in/photostream/
where I've posted screencaps of satellite photos of the Marcopper mine site. The white zigzagging lines that emanate from the mine site are the paths that the mine tailings took, eventually killing Boac river. Satellites don't lie, do they? And if you travel by bus to or from Marinduque, there are spots where the road runs parallel to Boac river. Sadly, the mine tailings are still there. No amount of dredging could possibly bring that river back to life.

And where are the owners of Marcopper Mining? They're abroad, enjoying their millions of dollars. And the people of Marinduque, especially those directly hit by the mine tailings tragedy? Where are they? Still in Marinduque, poor and hardly making both ends meet, especially during these very hard times. They had money while the mines were in operation. Now that Marcopper has already shipped out, they're probably back to where they were before, or even poorer. Yes, definitely poorer, because no one can ever resurrect a dead river that used to teem with life or bring back one's health after ingesting toxins that flowed with the mine tailings.

Why don't we serve fresh, hot, steaming mine tailings soup to our least popular and very greedy President of the Republic and her pro-mining cohorts so that they'll get their dose of cyanide, arsenic, barite, calcite, fluorite, radioactive materials, mercury, sulfur, cadmium, hydrocarbons, sulfamic acid, sulfuric acid, activated carbon, calcium (uhm, healthy, eh), PAX (Potassium Amyl Xanthate), MIBC (Methyl Isobutyl Carbinol), and SEX (Sodium Ethyl Xanthate). Yummy!!! Or, if they want dessert, why not give them vanilla ice cream laced with fine, freshly ground mine tailings. Tailings can actually be as fine as iodized salt. They'll never even know they've ingested it. At least, they'll have a little taste of what the grossly affected Marinduque residents had. (Source: wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailings; inspiration for these yummy recipes are from the film, "Erin Brokovich.")

Now, here comes Intex Resources aided by our own government. It's only money that they see, nothing else, nothing more. So selfish. So corrupt. So greedy. I wonder which particular mountain ranges between Sablayan and Victoria they are planning to blast, bulldoze, and level to get nickel and cobalt. Which part are they planning to turn into another Marcopper? I'm sure Engr. Eder of NCIP-Mindoro Occidental can use some mine tailings soup to wake her up and shake her brains.

Ah! God, help us.

Prayer for our country

Father,
you guide and govern everything with order and love. Look upon those who seek solutions to the problems of our country and fill them with the spirit of your wisdom. May they always act in accordance with your will so that their decisions will be for the peace and well-being of all. May genuine compassion for our suffering people reign in their hearts so that they will serve the poor without vested interests.

This we ask through Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer for God's direction

Almighty Father,
the love you offer
always exceeds the furthest expression of our human longing,
for you are greater than the human heart.

Direct each thought, each effort of our life,
so that the limits of our faults and weaknesses
may not obscure the vision of your glory
or keep us from the peace you have promised.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

from The Vatican II Sunday Missal, Alternative Opening Prayer for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Prayer for Healing

Heavenly Father, I call on You right now in a special way. It is through Your power that I was created. Every breath I take, every morning I wake, and every moment of every hour I live under Your power.

Father, I ask You now to touch me with that same power. For if You created me from nothing, You can certainly recreate me. Fill me with the healing power of Your spirit. Cast out anything that should not be in me. Mend what is broken. Root out any unproductive cells.

Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild any damaged areas. Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection.

Let the warmth of Your healing love pass through my body to make new any unhealthy areas so that my body will function the way You created it to function.

And, Father, restore me to full health in mind and body so that I may serve You the rest of my life.

I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

- Anonymous

What happens when we sleep (and why less sleep is bad for one's health)

By Emily Laber-Warren, Women's Health

As we struggle to allot enough time to the job, kids, family, friends, Lost, and Joaquin Phoenix message boards, sleep stands out as a suspiciously long block of idle hours. We set the alarm early, stay up late, and order a tall whatever-we-want to help us get by on the minimum. But the fact is: When you lose sleep, you lose your health.

Experts say most of us need about 8 hours of sleep a night, but half of us don't get it. And more than 80 percent of working women report exhaustion. According to the National Sleep Foundation's annual survey, in 2005 U.S. adults got, on average, just 6.9 hours of sleep a night. Now researchers are discovering that a decline in sleep time means a decline in your health. Some examples:

Getting just an hour or two less sleep than needed per night can impair brain function.

Insufficient sleep is associated with cancer, heart disease, obesity, and dia-betes not to mention early death.

It's also a risk factor for depression, infertility, miscarriage, and postpartum depression.

To top it off, sleeping less to do more doesn't even work: People who skimp on sleep may be devoting more hours to getting things done, but they work more slowly and accomplish less. "There really isn't a good substitute for sleep," says Donna Arand, Ph.D., a psychologist and the clinical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Kettering Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio.

Scientists haven't yet grasped all the functions of sleep, but they know that sleep is needed every bit as intensely as food or water. It enables our bodies to regulate temperature and fight off infection. It may help our brains retain things we learned the previous day. If you take a peek inside your body and brain during a typical night's sleep, you'll find out how it rejuvenates you and why you should care.

Let's start at the beginning, as your day is winding down....

9:34 P.M. It's been a crazy week, but with your 2-year-old tucked in, tonight you found a much-needed hour to address invitations to your mom's retirement party. Now it's not even 10 o'clock and you're actually in bed, alone, with a mug full of peppermint tea and a new cookbook you've been dying to page through. When you start having trouble grasping the distinction between chiffon and meringue, you realize you're getting drowsy and reach for the light.

10:01 P.M. At this moment your bloodstream is full of a sleep-triggering chemical called adenosine. Adenosine is created whenever your body does work. So as you went about your day thinking, talking, driving, digesting adenosine was accumulating, gradually telling your brain that it was time to sleep. If you were to drink a cup of coffee right now, it would jolt you awake because caffeine wedges itself into the places in brain cells where adenosine would normally attach, preventing the fatigue signal from reaching your brain.

10:03 P.M. When you're awake, the electrical activity in your brain is varied slow, fast, strong, faint. But when you fall asleep, your brain waves slow and synchronize. You initially enter a doze, known as Stage 1 sleep, from which you can be easily awakened. Falling asleep should take at least 5 minutes; tonight it took you 2. According to experts, that's a sign of a problem it means you're overtired. "One of the major misconceptions is that it's a good thing if you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow," says Kathryn Lee, Ph.D., a sleep specialist and nursing professor at the University of California at San Francisco. "Actually, it means you're a sleep-deprived person."

Over the next hour or so, you transition into increasingly intense slumber. Next comes Stage 2. This is "baseline" sleep over the course of the night you'll spend half your time in this state, but not all at once. Right now you spend just 15 to 20 minutes here before entering Stages 3 and 4, known as slow-wave sleep, the deepest and most restorative kind. You're breathing evenly and slowly, the very picture of serenity. Then everything changes. You shift into REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Your brain emits a cacophony of electrical signals, it's as active as when you are awake. But you're not awake, of course. REM sleep is the phase when most dreaming occurs. Your eyes dart back and forth, and the muscles in your arms and legs are paralyzed. Sleep researchers believe this inertia may have evolved to prevent us from acting out our dreams.

11:38 P.M. One 90- to 110-minute sleep cycle ends and the next begins. Each of the following cycles will contain a different proportion of light, medium, deep, and REM sleep.

Although experts don't yet fully understand what sleep is for, they know it is crucial: Rats normally live 2 years or more, but when deprived of sleep they die within 3 weeks. If you stay awake for 24 hours straight, you will involuntarily begin undergoing regular bursts of "microsleep" 2- to 3-second intervals in which you essentially lose consciousness. An Australian study published in the journal Nature found that people kept awake for 28 hours did as poorly on a hand-eye-coordination test as did people who were legally drunk (having a blood alcohol concentration of 1.0).

But you don't have to pull an all-nighter to feel the effects of sleep loss. The past few nights, you've stayed up late to work, pay bills, help your husband pack for a business trip. You think you do fine on 6 hours' sleep, but you're actually accumulating a "sleep debt." Recent research shows that spending just a couple of hours less in bed each night for a week or two -- basically your normal schedule lowers your spirits. "Sleep deprivation has significant impacts on mood in healthy individuals," says J. Todd Arnedt, Ph.D., a University of Michigan sleep specialist. "People get more depressed; they may get more anxious." Sleep loss also slows your reflexes and impairs your memory, judgment, and mental acuity. In a landmark 2003 University of Pennsylvania study, people who were limited to 6 hours of sleep per night for 2 weeks did significantly worse on tests of alertness and reasoning than people who got their full 8 hours.

But get this: The subjects in the Penn study had no idea how impaired they were. They reported an initial increase in sleepiness, but as time wore on they did not complain of additional exhaustion, though their test scores continued to decline. "One of the first things that goes in our brain is our insight," says Joyce Walsleben, Ph.D., a psychologist at New York University's Sleep Disorders Center. "A sleepy person generally does not perceive how badly they are functioning."

Thankfully, your sleep debt can be paid, and you don't have to make up every lost hour. When you're overtired you slip more quickly into slow-wave sleep and stay there longer, which helps you recover faster. But don't make a practice of playing catch-up repaying your sleep debt works only in small doses (and there's no set ratio for how much makeup time is needed). If the deprivation is chronic, catching up won't work. "When you stress the system, you can recover. Will it always recover 100 percent? Some of those problems are more likely to stay with you as time goes on," says Damon Salzman, M.D., director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in White Plains, New York.

3:21 A.M. You're awakened by a noise...Olivia! You grope for your slippers, go into her room, then sit with her as she sinks back to sleep. If only it were that easy for you. Back in bed, you can't stop your mental gears from grinding. Should you ask your sister to chip in for the party expenses? What will you say in your toast?

3:56 A.M. You glance at the clock for the third time and feel the pressure. Recent research reveals that getting an hour or two less sleep than you need on a regular basis doesn't just slow your brain and make you irritable, it's a risk factor for illness, including heart disease and diabetes. Sleep loss also hampers your immune system, making you more susceptible to colds and the flu. And it might make you fat. People who sleep less than 7 hours a night are more likely to be obese, and in 2004 researchers at the University of Chicago discovered one of the reasons why. In people who had slept just 4 hours for two consecutive nights, they found an 18 percent decrease in leptin, a hormone that tells your brain you're full, and a 28 percent increase in ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger.

4:03 A.M. You happen to be in the second half of your menstrual cycle. That means your body is producing lots of progesterone, a reproductive hormone that in animal experiments has been shown to induce sleep. So you fall back to sleep. If instead you were about to get your period, a time when progesterone levels drop, you might have had more trouble. If this is a monthly problem, experts suggest you take sleeping pills just for those couple of days.

4:25 A.M. The time between now and your alarm the last few hours of sleep may be especially important: Recent research suggests that this is when your brain rehearses what you learned the previous day. And "sleeping on it" does more than help you remember new things it may make you better at them. In a 2002 study, scientists asked people to type a sequence of numbers over and over. The volunteers got faster with practice, then plateaued. Tested later in the day, they performed no better, but the next day, after the benefit of a good night's sleep, they sped up an additional 20 percent. Curtailed sleep eliminates those sorts of gains.

So as for that cake-decorating class you took yesterday: Right now, your brain is reviewing how to color the icing and choose the appropriate nib for the pastry bag. Thanks to tonight's sleep, when you bake a cake for your mom's party, you'll fashion sugary roses more expertly than you did in class. "It will feel sort of magical to you, but your performance will have improved," says Robert Stickgold, Ph.D., a Harvard Medical School neuroscientist who coauthored the typing study.

7:00 A.M. Banh banh banh banh...You fumble for the alarm. You've never been a morning person now it turns out your preference for sleeping in is genetic. Coordinating basic daily needs to earth's 24-hour light/dark cycle is so crucial to survival that even the most primitive creatures possess internal biological clocks. These clocks tell them when to forage for food, when to rest, when to mate, when to migrate. In humans the clock regulates sleep through the release of the hormone melatonin that substance sold as a sleep aid at health food stores.

In recent years biologists have discovered at least 10 "clock" genes, and these genes, it turns out, occur in more than one variety. Some people inherit genes that make them natural early birds; others are born to be late risers. It's biology that makes your inner morning person reassert itself after cramming for a deadline. "When the pressure to change goes away, you're likely to slip back," Dr. Salzman says.

Now that you've showered, though, you're feeling unusually chipper. It's been a while since you felt so rested. You actually have the energy to multitask, scanning the headlines as you make Olivia's lunch. And when you snap her into her car seat to drive her to day care and yourself to work, that extra sleep will make you both safer. The National Transportation Safety Board estimates that driver fatigue causes at least 100,000 auto accidents a year; crashes are more likely in people sleeping less than 6 hours a night.

Maybe, you think, you should try harder to get enough sleep. You make an effort to accomplish so many other things. And what could be more important than your mood, your health, and your family's safety? "It's just a matter of prioritization," says Eric Olson, M.D., codirector of the Mayo Sleep Disorders Center in Rochester, Minnesota. "People have to decide where sleep falls in how they're going to spend the 24 hours we're all limited to."

Last Updated: 12/01/2006 09:18:26
2007 Rodale Inc. All rights reserved. Women's Health ® is a Registered Trademark of Rodale Inc. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Rodale Inc.

taken from:

http://health.yahoo.com/sleep-overview/special-report-shhhh-this-is-your-brain-on-sleep/womens-health--26006.html

Why women are different from men

I was looking for an explanation why women and men think, feel, and act differently. You may already know most of it but reviewing it wouldn't hurt, would it? This is not just for wives and husbands but also for the women and men we relate to at home, at work, in the church, in the streets, in school, wherever and whenever.

Here's what I found:

His Brain, Her Brain: How Divinely Designed Differences Can Strengthen Your Marriage

Whenever your spouse says or does something that baffles you, you experience one of the many differences between men and women. But once you understand how differently God has designed male and female brains, you can learn how to use those differences well in your marriage.

Then the gender differences won’t alienate you and your spouse; they’ll complement you both to strengthen your marriage. Here’s how:

Realize just how profoundly men and women differ from each other. Male and female brains are dramatically different anatomically, chemically, hormonally, and physiologically. Those differences cause fundamentally different ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
Appreciate and honor those differences. Recognize that it was God who designed men and women to be different – and to accomplish good purposes. Instead of being frustrated by the gender differences, decide to respect them and learn how to work with them instead of against them.

Understand the differences in how men and women process information. The male brain is highly systemized, with a high ability to compartmentalize, a low ability to multitask, a high ability to control emotions, a low relational orientation, a high project orientation, a high ability to “zone out,” a tendency to act first and think later when faced with stress, an aggressive response to risk, and a tendency to compete with other males. The female brain is highly empathetic, with a low ability to compartmentalize, a high ability to multitask, a low ability to control emotions, a relational orientation, a low project orientation, a low ability to “zone out,” a tendency to think and feel before acting in response to stress, a cautious response to risk, and a tendency to cooperate with other females.

Understand the differences in how men and women communicate. While men’s conversations tend to focus on facts, women’s conversations tend to emphasize the feelings behind the facts. Men solve problems best by thinking about one issue at a time, usually on their own. But women generally need to talk through problems with someone else to process their thoughts. Men approach situations with a strong desire to make decisions and take action, whereas women sometimes just want to talk about how they feel about those same situations. Men tend to speak directly and use words literally, while women tend to speak indirectly. So, wives, give your husbands the time and space he needs to think through issues on his own, be willing to work with him to find solutions you can both act on, and speak to him in direct ways he can clearly understand. Husbands, listen to your wives when they’re sharing their thoughts and feelings about the issues you face, and ask questions to clarify the meaning of what they’re saying.

Understand the differences in how men and women approach sex. Men tend to be physically oriented, whereas women tend to be relationally oriented. Men are usually stimulated by images and sight, while women are stimulated by feelings, smell, touch, and words. Men can often initiate sex at any time and in any place, whereas women usually initiate sex less frequently. Men are quick to respond sexually and difficult to distract during sex, while women are slower to respond and easier to distract. Husbands, keep in mind that women respond to what they feel, so make frequent deposits into her emotional bank account to maintain a close relationship that will encourage her to connect with you sexually. Wives, keep in mind that men respond to what they see, so pay attention to your appearance to maintain an attraction that will encourage him to connect with you sexually. Recognize the sex is critical to a happy marriage relationship, because sex causes reactions in both the male and female brains that strengthen the couple’s bond.

Understand conquest versus nurture. Men are motivated by conquest. They tend to define themselves by their work and accomplishments. Women are motivated by nurture. They tend to define themselves by the people for whom they care. So husbands, realize that your wives have a strong desire to nurture you. Wives, realize that your husbands have a strong desire to succeed in their pursuits, and to know that you admire their efforts.

Understand provision versus security. Men are wired to provide financially for their families, while women are wired to provide the emotional security of a peaceful home. Husbands need to know that their wives are doing their best to provide an orderly and inviting home even when they’re also contributing to the family financially, and wives need to know that their husbands are doing their best to provide financially for the family even when they’re also helping with household duties. Both husbands and wives need the emotional security of knowing that their spouses truly love them and their children.

Understand respect versus love. Men need their wives to respect and admire them and their efforts and accomplishments, and to take a genuine interest in their work and hobbies. Women need their husbands to express love for them frequently through words and actions. Husbands want their wives to respect their judgment and abilities, and to express that respect in both public and private. Wives want their husbands to love them by paying attention to them, pursuing them, holding and hugging them, helping them with the children and household chores, and telling them they’re beautiful.

Serve instead of seeking to be served. Decide to meet your spouse’s needs without demanding that your own needs be met, and be willing to make the necessary sacrifices. By keeping your focus on serving rather than being served, you’ll improve the dynamic of your marriage relationship, and inspire your spouse to freely serve you. In the process, you’ll both discover that you’re stronger and more effective together than separately.

I got this from: http://bigsis222.multiply.com/journal/item/358/The_Difference_Between_Mens_and_Womens_Brains