Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Infant Allergies linked to Air Pollution
What can You Do to Protect Your Children?

Image by Genesis EcoFund: Shielding Infants from Air Pollution Could Help Prevent Allergies
"Allergic diseases constitute one of the most prevalent childhood illnesses. Several population studies have reported increased risks of developing allergy in relation to ambient air pollution exposure. However, there are only few studies on specific sensitization following children over longer time periods, with detailed assessment of exposure to air pollution.”
~ AAAAI American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology; January 2012
Landmark Canadian study surveyed 2,700 Children; Shows risk of Infant Exposure

We can add another study to the growing body of evidence that air pollution increases the chance of allergies and asthma in children. This new Canadian study is the first to link pollution and allergies to food, mould, pets and pests in infants.
"This study started by recruiting pregnant mothers in 2008. That continued until about 2012," Brauer told CBC News.

"The idea is to follow moms during pregnancy and the kids as they age, to look at the development of allergy and asthma in quite a detailed way."

 "Those kids that had higher exposure to air pollution during their first year of life were at an increased risk of developing sensitivities and allergies," Brauer said.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/infant-allergies-linked-to-air-pollution-by-new-canadian-study-1.3060312
The study did not find a link between neo-natal exposure to pollution and allergies in children.

You can read the complete study by clicking the image/link below:

Image: Environmental Health Perspectives Infant Allergens Study

Of interest, was the finding that sensitivity rates appeared highest in Vancouver.

Image by Genesis EcoFund: Percentage of Children who develop sensitivity to Allergens, by City

Brauer told the CBC that the higher rates in Vancouver were not linked to air pollution but other factors, including the general affluence of the population in Vancouver.
"We know that populations that tend to be wealthier tend to have higher rates of allergies. Allergy is something that we seem to link to more affluent lifestyles, globally. So there may be something going on there," said Brauer.

 "Of course there's other things: the vegetation, food, lifestyles — other factors that may differ between Vancouver and the other cities."
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/infant-allergies-linked-to-air-pollution-by-new-canadian-study-1.3060312
General Effects of Air Pollution

Air pollution causes a range of respiratory symptoms, including
  • coughing,
  • throat irritation,
  • chest tightness,
  • wheezing,
  • shortness of breath
Higher air pollution levels have also been associated with a higher incidence of heart problems, including heart attacks, and toxic air pollutants can increase the risk of developing cancer. The following poster/pdf provides more information:


So What Can be Done?

Interestingly, the study found that several factors seemed to lower the risk of developing sensitivity to allergies, including:
  • A cat or dog in their house.
  • No attached garage on the house.
  • Eating dairy products, eggs, nuts or grains during the first year of life.
  • Attending daycare.
  • Having older siblings in the house.
The researchers also evaluated the use/type of the home’s ventilation system; with exposure to traffic-related air pollution assessed by measuring nitrogen dioxide levels at each child’s home address.

There seems to be an interesting connection between exposure to natural elements versus industrial ones. That is, exposure to pet hair, dander, etc. as well as other children or another sibling seemed to reduce sensitivity to allergens.

If we consider the ability of an indoor ecosystem to break down synthetic compounds and VOC’s, it seems like a natural extension to any preventative program to reduce allergies. Ecosystems  not only clean the air of pollution which many home ventilation  systems cannot filter, they also produce freshly oxygenated air, as well as ionized water vapour which acts like a magnet attracting airborne particles.

Genesis Eco Fund looks forward to the day when there is a critical mass of ecosystems in homes across Canada so similar studies can compare the effects of ecosystems on the development of sensitivities to allergies in children.

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Tuesday, December 9, 2014

One Million Children in Meditation
Show us the Power of Ecosystems

Image by GenesisEcoFund: Flower of Life Blooms in Thailand: 1 Million Children Strong  
Credit: BBC Video  Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21016612

“The first goal is to get 10,000 students practising Transcendental Meditation in the U.S. to create a wave of peace in America that will be a catalyst for peace in the world…”
~ David Lynch 
 

A few weeks ago we wrote a blog asking What can the Ferguson Riots teach us About Ourselves and the Flower of Life? And while this was all well and good, today we offer an expansion on the subject of the flower of life, morphogenetic fields, the impact of collective energy and consciousness on our well being. This time, from what we hope will be a more positive example.

According to organisers of the V-Star Change the World project, their most recent event—which brings together schoolchildren for a day of meditation—was attended by one million children. The event was held at Phra Dhammakaya Buddhist temple near Bangkok, Thailand.

As the following BBC report states, the event has not been met without some controversy in the past, with critics claiming it to be everything from a publicity stunt to a cult. Nonetheless, the Temple believes bringing children together to meditate on masse can indeed change the world.

Video Screenshot & Link: 'One million children' join Buddhist meditation event

So what does a million children have to do with ecosystems?

As we previously explored in the aforementioned post about Ferguson MO, we each have an electromagnetic field which, when it is compounded with that of others, creates a more intense energy field.

We asked the question, “How is it that one person’s negative energy can interfere with the electromagnetic field of hundreds of people?”  The answer was “the flower of life,” an ancient symbol describing the interaction of electromagnetic fields in 3-dimensional space and the resulting phenomena of the morphogenetic field and the bizarre and/or violent behaviour of individuals caught up in “crowd mentality.”

The following video excerpt from Thrive shows how this happens:

Video: How electromagnetic fields (torus) compound each other to create powerful morphogenetic fields, shown in “the flower of life.”

Just as negatively-charged morphogenetic fields have a negative effect on individuals, positively charged ones will have a positive, beneficial effect.  

And it’s not just people who generate these fields. All living things have an electromagnetic field, even the planet itself (which is the source of the aurora borealis). In fact, the planet’s field is partly made up of the field of every living thing living on it. This is where the claim a million meditating children can change the world comes from…it’s literally true that a million beings resonating in harmony will have a positive harmonic effect on the whole.

Now imagine being a part of that resonance field…a field of harmony, peace, joy, happiness, and love? Innocence, intensely expressed, compounded.

We cannot orchestrate such events on a regular basis in our life. But what we can do is create a similar space of love where we live, work and heal using a high order rainforest ecosystem.

Image: An ecosystem 

Like one million meditating children, an ecosystem has the benefit of numbers. Though not in the millions, ecosystems work in the range of billions of organism—yes, billions…we cannot discount the existence of bacteria and other microbes whose function is paramount to collective harmony and symbiosis of the superorganism.

Ecosystems resonate with one shared frequency of balance and harmony. And, even moreso than children, ecosystems are innocent. They have no ego to speak of. This naturally cleansing environment is why people are so drawn to escape big cities and the collective consciousness of chaos of modern living to seek refuge out in nature. We need to surround and immerse ourselves in the energy which only nature can provide: pure, balancing, refreshing…truly alive.

Truly, we all stand to benefit from getting the flower of life to bloom in our lives.


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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

If at first you don’t Suck-Seed, MODIFY THE CHILDREN
The GMO Industry’s “Next Generation” Propaganda

Video: Bill Nye Sells a Whole New Generation on GMO’s
“If you set aside for a moment from the usual debate about whether GMOs are bad or good, a curious fact emerges. For a rich and powerful [industry] that seems to excel at nearly everything it does, [GMO companies] suck in one important aspect: spin control.”
Clearly, the GMO industry has a PR problem. A growing number of people are expressing real concerns about the safety of “frankenfoods,” not just in terms of health, but also the environment.

Genetically engineered organisms are NEW SPECIES, unlike anything the world has seen before. And let’s face it: we human beings are caught between two insanely irrational psychological bents…
  • FEAR ANYTHING’S THAT’S NEW on the one hand, and
  • EMBRACE EVERY NEW TECHNOLOGY PRECIPITOUSLY on the other.

With GMO’s there are real concerns. These concerns have been well documented and voiced by many groups and individuals—including prominent scientists, biologists, bio-ethicists, and geneticists—David Suzuki among them.

So while the GMO industry keeps advancing, pushed by soaring profits (and they would say “the global demands on industrial agricultural food production”), they are feeling the pinch in terms of public opinion. Not only are GMO’s banned in many countries, the demand for GMO labelling of food products is gaining ground in many jurisdictions. 

“What to do!? Never fear! Bill Nye is on the case! (Suck our GE eggs, Suzuki!)” – GMO lobby.

When you’re losing battle on one front—consumer population and regulators—why not launch a flanking maneuver on a whole new WEAKER FRONT? “If we can’t convince THIS generation of the safety and reliability of GE organisms, why not get at the NEXT generation, while they’re still vulnerable?”

Psychologically Modified Offspring (PMO’s)

Children are naïve and impressionable, right? Kids will believe practically anything they’re told by authority figures, teachers, and the people who they watch all the time…personalities TV they admire, find smart and amusing, look up to and like to watch. TV personalities like BILL NYE.

But hold on! There’s a catch. Children have been growing up WAY TOO FAST in recent years. The double-edged sword of this is while they make for ravenous consumers and impressive “influencers” for adult purchases (expert naggers), they also are much better informed on issues than ever before! 

Video: Rachel Parent proves children are not so gullible


So, it’s not enough for Bill Nye to come out with gloves swinging outright against the fear-mongering camp. He can’t just come right out all “rah-rah” for the GMO lobby. It has to be MORE SUBTLE. After all, their kids…the industry has YEARS to propagate subtle, suggestive hints buried in superficially “balanced” reporting on the science and safety of GMO. 

Consider the opening video to today’s article. Nye begins by expounding on how we’ve been tinkering with agriculture for centuries, and why agricultural organisms are not really “natural” anyway.

At 3:35, thrusting a pair of papayas toward the camera like a prize fighter, he asks, “Is it GOOD versus EVIL? Or is it another step in the march of industrial agricultural progress?”

Again, this rhetorical question implies that the whole GE issue is NOT really an issue at all! There’s no “right or wrong” here, there’s just the inevitable step forward in human progress.

This is followed by the classic argument for GMO’s (that the farmers of GMO crops don’t have to use as much pesticide, and their crops are practically chemical free). This turns out to be flat-out WRONG. (Sorry, papaya-man). 

A study by Food & Water Watch found that the promise of less herbicide use has not come to fruition. Based on USDA and EPA data, the study echoed the findings of a similar study by Washington State University conducted by Professor Charles Benbrook.

Image: Increase in herbicide use since introduction of GMO crops.

According to these studies, the problem appears to be the emergence of “superweeds,” which appear with repeated application of a pesticide which selects for chemical-resistant weeds. To what end?

“This has meant huge profits for agribusinesses developing and selling genetically engineered seeds, herbicides and pesticides.  Seed revenues have septupled (increased seven fold) since 1998.”

Quote & Image: Revenues from GE Seed Grows like Weeds.

Ah-ha. Now we see the sparkle in “Nye’s Eye.”

Keep in mind that Bill Nye is AN EXPERT at communicating to children. He does it for a living. He is wildly popular in his ability to explain complex scientific concepts to young kids. He’s wacky, zany, loveable, charming…the makings of a very powerful influencer.

This is propaganda on a very large yet very subtle and seemingly “harmless” scale. There may be some of you saying, “C’mon! This is the least of our worries! What with ISIL, EBOLA, the economy, THE RUSSIANS!”

Well, just remember how the illusionist is able to perform his tricks right before our eyes without us knowing it.

If you care about your children and their future, and want to expose them to science programming on the TV, you’ll turn off Bill Nye and let your children watch David Suzuki instead. Too bad our American Neighbours to the south don’t have that alternative.


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Thursday, September 18, 2014

Why “Education” Gets a Failing Grade;
Ecosystems Encourage “Growth Mindset”

Image: The Teacher from “The Wall”
We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
Video: Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall, Part Two (Official Music Video)
Source: YouTube: http://youtu.be/HrxX9TBj2zY

How little has changed in 35 years.

Oh, we know: the educators will cry foul at a statement like that. But the truth hurts sometimes. And that’s the point of today’s blog. To truly get better, one better get used to the idea of failure.

Real learning comes by way of trial and error, exploration, discovery and—effectively—self-learning. But our education system—and indeed culture—worships “success” and fails to recognize the immense importance failure plays not only in the learning process, but in personal growth, all manner of progress and evolution itself!

Allow us to change the dark tone to a more positive one by way of sharing a video from Khan Academy.

Video: You Can Learn Anything 
Credit: Khan Academy

Salman Khan started the not-for-profit Khan Academy on his earnest beliefs that:
  1. Anyone can learn anything—evidenced by so-called neuroplasticity of the brain.
  2. Everyone should have free access to learn anything—why his online academy is 100% free.
  3. Failure should be celebrated and efforts rewarded—in the struggle to succeed one will naturally and inevitably face failure, and that’s a good thing since failure teaches us more than success.

In a recent blog post, Salman Kahn describes a heartwarming story of his son reading a story out loud, struggling for over a minute before finally pronouncing the word “gratefully.”
“He then said, ‘Dad, aren’t you glad how I struggled with that word? I think I could feel my brain growing.’ I smiled: my son was now verbalizing the tell¬-tale signs of a ‘growth¬ mindset.’…I decided to praise my son not when he succeeded at things he was already good at, but when he persevered with things that he found difficult. I stressed to him that by struggling, your brain grows. Between the deep body of research on the field of learning mindsets and this personal experience with my son, I am more convinced than ever that mindsets toward learning could matter more than anything else we teach.”
~ Salman Kahn
Brilliant. Finally, decades since the release of The Wall, educators are coming around to the conclusion that their job is about teaching how to think not what to think.  To create a learning mindset: immersing children in a culture of trial and error, where failure and success receive equal billing; children are rewarded for overcoming obstacles, not for succeeding at tasks that came relatively easy to them. Can calls this the “growth mindset.”

Of course, the challenge is we live in a culture which lives in a “fixed mindset.” Not only does society tell us what to think, how to feel, what we need to be, buy and/or experience to be happy, etc. Our culture also glorifies success. We are inundated with advertising, game shows, reality TV contests, films, newscasts, sports stars, celebrities and “success stories” of all kinds proclaiming “the glory of victory” and “the agony of defeat.”

More than anything else, our culture worships “celebrity”—sports stars, actors, billionaires, royal couples, religious icons, even mobsters and famous criminals like Bonnie and Clyde. This tendency to embrace a “cult of personality” suggests our conditioned belief that talent (such as intelligence) is fixed—something we are born with, in our genes, etc.—for the masses to celebrate (and envy). 

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell turns the ideas of innate intelligence and ambition—“born talent”—on its head. He argues that environmental factors and one’s attitude to achieving success through constant struggle and effort are paramount to success.

Image: Outliers Cover 
Credit: Malcolm Gladwell, Penguin Books Australia


In said book, he coins the phrase “the 10,000 hour rule,” implying that mastery emerges only after thousands of hours of efforts, failures and renewed efforts.

In fact, one “superstar athlete” Gladwell mentions in his book would like to take a minute to go on record and apologize if he added to the mass contemporary cultural delusion which forgot the old adage, “success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.”

Video: Michael Jordan 'Maybe It's My Fault' Commercial
Source: YouTube: http://youtu.be/9zSVu76AX3I

Controversial as Gladwell’s argument and Kahn’s “growth mindset” may be to those entrenched in their fixed mindsets and established worldviews, one cannot argue Michael Jordan’s first-hand experience, nor the fact that we are products of our environment. Even the recent science of epigenetics indicates that genetics are not “fixed”—that environmental factors can turn certain genes on and off.

Finally, we come to evolution and nature itself. In nature, nothing is fixed. We recommend watching the videos posted on PeapodLife’s Blog Article: Meditations in Motion, Living Ecosystems Give Life to see the significance of that statement.

Evolution is both success and failure. We recently coined the phrase, survival of the most fitting, in response to Darwin’s erroneous conclusion that evolution came down to survival of the fittest. The fact is that the environment of the ecosystem is an intelligent growth environment. Like the growth mindset described by Khan, it gives equal billing to success and failure.

What we know for certain is that evolution takes time. Ecosystems are patient; far more patient than individual organisms. Nature tests…nature experiments…nature explores…nature discovers and surprises itself.

Nature is not just always about ripping the throats out of prey, chasing off competitors, etc.  Evolution tries new directions with new species, and abandons species which longer serve the “superorganisms”—ecosystems, biosphere. Ecosystems function on collective harmony and symbiosis. Darwin’s model would turn nature into nothing more than a bleak free-for all and terrible chaotic anarchy.

Perhaps it’s no wonder that our world, fixated as it is on “fixed mindsets,” on success, on glorifying and rewarding winning while denouncing and punishing failure, on competitiveness and “survival of the fittest” is looking more and more like a bloody mess. And why, all too often, has degenerated and degraded into scenes right out of Pink Floyd’s legendary Rock Opera.

So here we’ve come full circle and wound up back in the dark, cold classroom of that rock and roll hell. Before we sign off, let’s do so on a positive note about the growth mentality, and receive some valuable advice and a hearty “Thumbs Up for Rock and Roll!” by a true expert on learning, and what it means to succeed.

Video: Thumbs Up for Rock and Roll! 
Source: YouTube: http://youtu.be/eaIvk1cSyG8


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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Give Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders a Breath of Fresh Air!


Image Collage by Genesis Eco Fund: Donate Now to Put Ecosystems in Autism Spectrum Disorder Special Needs Home.
Image Credits & Sources: lanc.org.uk: LANK UK: What is Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)? ;

Your Donation will Open New Worlds & Change Families Lives

Now that Genesis Eco Fund is able to accept donations online via PayPal, we eagerly announce one of our first fundraising campaigns to raise money to help a special-needs home/school for Autism Spectrum Disorder children to be able to acquire an indoor ecosystem. (Location/School TBD).

Nature is used extensively as a therapy for ASD. Not only are ecosystems engines for purifying indoor environments, they also fill the space with the soothing, stimulating colours and sounds of nature. Last but not least, they change the energy of a space; this, we feel, is why nature has been shown to have such a profound impact on individuals suffering from ASD.

Genesis is eager to conduct real-world research to determine the impact of high-order indoor ecosystems on the lucidity of children suffering from autism-spectrum disorders. The research will be carried out under the supervision of Genesis working in conjunction with an Academic Institutional Partner. (also TBD).

Upon successful funding of this campaign, Genesis Eco Fund will award funding for an ecosystem to the Special Needs Home Partner.  Said ecosystem will be made available to the centre at cost courtesy of PeapodLife (a $40K value).  PeapodLife’s parent company, Wo-Built, Inc., will provide the installation.

Additional funding may be required for materials (i.e. monitoring equipment, computers and other equipment) required for research. We hope one or more foundations dedicated to the study of Autism Spectrum Disorders will step up to the plate, together with an Academic Institution interested in participating in the research project.

For more information on this and other fundraising campaigns, please visit: genesisecofund.org: Genesis Eco Fund:: Initiatives:: Fundraising:: Fundraising Campaigns

Look for the “Donate” button on GenesisEcoFund.org, or better yet, click it now!




List of Autism Spectrum Disorders?

Autism Spectrum Disorders are more common than you may think. Individuals with ASD’s may experience/exhibit any one or more of the following:
  • ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
  • ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper-Active Disorder)
  • OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
  • Auditory Processing
  • Anxiety
  • Tourette’s
  • Specific Learning Difficulties
  • Depression
  • Gifted

Characteristics of Autism 

Life with Autism can be challenging, debilitating and also tremendously stressful on families.

Image: Some of the different characteristics associated with autism.
Source: awareuk.homestead.com: Airedale & Wharfedale Autism Resource: Autism


Help Genesis Eco Fund bring a breath of fresh air into the lives of these children. Donate Now.

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