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January 2013

Japan Experts: Fukushima Unit 4 is the Immediate Crisis…Entire World is Concerned — No Good Solution for Speeding Up Fuel Removal

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Published January 31, 2013, in ENVIRONMENT, WORLD

Report from Jiji on January 30, 2013 meeting of the Fukushima accident council with summary translation by Fukushima Diary:

[…] Mr. Kurokawa, the chairman of the governmental accident investigation committee commented the SFP of reactor 4 is the crisis in front of us. The entire world is concerned about that.

Mr. Kitazawa, the chairman of the council stated it takes a while to remove all the spent fuel from the pool. There is no appropriate solution for that.

Systran Translation

[…] The same nuclear plant 4 the anxiety for the used nuclear fuel pool of the machine was shown from the group of members […]

[…] Kurokawa which is National Diet accident pitch chairman is clear Science Council of Japan former chairman “the crisis which is immediately. The inside of the world feels concern” […]

[…] Chairman Hiroshi Kitazawa who serves the chairman of intellectual person meeting, points out that time is required for the fuel removal. “There is no good solution method” […]

Read original here: http://enenews.com/japan-experts-fukushima-unit-4-immediate-crisis-entire-world-concerned-good-solution-speeding-fuel-removal

Scientists Now Ridiculously Claiming Alcohol Addictions Can be Cured with Vaccine Shots

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Published January 31, 2013, in HEALTH

As predicted, the mainstream scientific community’s obsession with vaccines has reached a new pinnacle of absurdity as researchers from Chile are now claiming to have successfully developed a vaccine to treat alcoholism. According to reports, the vaccine allegedly works by triggering immediate hangover symptoms the moment alcohol enters the body, which of course is meant to deter drinkers from imbibing.

The concept is so ludicrous that reports of it almost seem like satire news stories. But this so-called alcohol vaccine is very real, and those who came up with it have already run it through preclinical trials in Chile. The next step is to test the vaccine on real human beings, and basically hope that it does not induce permanent harm in those who receive it. At this point, nobody really knows how actual humans will respond to the vaccine, but the study’s authors agree that its effects are permanent.

“The vaccine, which would be effective for between six months and a year, works by sending a biochemical message to the liver telling it not to express genes that metabolize alcohol,” explains a report in the Deccan Herald about the jab. “If someone who’s been vaccinated tries to drink alcohol, they will immediately experience severe nausea, accelerated heartbeat, and general discomfort. Once the vaccine has been administered it cannot be reversed.”

As explained by the study’s authors, who hail from the Institute for Cell Dynamics and Biotechnology at Universidad de Chile, the vaccine deliberately alters the liver’s ability to produce a compound known as acetaldehyde, which is normally responsible for producing hangover symptoms after a certain amount of alcohol has been consumed. In those who have been vaccinated; however, such hangover symptoms will appear immediately, along with various other harmful side effects.

If you’re dead, you’re no longer addicted

Like most other vaccines currently available, this alcohol vaccine sounds as if it is potentially more dangerous than the disease it is intended to treat. Who is to say that the “severe nausea” and “accelerated heartbeat” produced by the vaccine will not endanger the lives of those who receive the shot? If an alcoholic is dead, he is technically no longer addicted to alcohol — perhaps this will be the argument used by proponents of the vaccine to validate its efficacy.

In all seriousness, the fact that researchers are even coming up with vaccines that supposedly cure conditions like alcoholism, depression, and even food poisoning just goes to show how seriously off-its-rocker the conventional medical system has become. The foundational “science” behind vaccines has long purported that the injections assist the immune system in warding off infectious disease by helping it to produce antibodies — since when are headaches and a propensity for alcohol addiction immunologic conditions?

Ask About Addiction Treatment

It just goes to show that mainstream vaccine dogma is based on nothing but pure junk science that continually and conveniently evolves to suit the purposes of the vaccine industry. Is obesity still a problem? We can make a vaccine for that. Oh, you are not particularly fond of vegetables? Time to make a vaccine for that. As silly as this all sounds, this is precisely the thought process that goes into the production of so-called vaccines for virtually every condition under the sun. Even the original premise behind how vaccines work is pure bunk.

“If we look at the science of the vaccination profess itself, it’s becoming evident that … (it) actually suppresses a lot of your immune system, particularly in young children,” explained neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock in a 2012 interview with Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, about vaccines. “We found out that … [vaccines cause] the immune system to switch to what we call TH2 type cytokine production, which inhibits immunity.”

Homeland Security Has Advice for Confronting Mass Murders: Scissors

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Published January 31, 2013, in GOVERNMENT

WASHINGTON — Is your workplace getting shot up by a crazed gunman?

No problem — just grab a pair of scissors and fight back!

That’s some of the helpful advice in a new instructional video from the Department of Homeland Security that was posted on the agency’s Web site just a month after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

“If you are caught out in the open and cannot conceal yourself or take cover, you might consider trying to overpower the shooter with whatever means are available,” says the narrator in the video, which shows an office worker pulling scissors out of a desk drawer.

The video, titled “Options for Consideration,” also advises that people who get caught in an “active shooter” situation should run away, hide under a desk or take cover out of the line of fire.

The nearly four-minute-long video opens with chilling scenes from the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, and the 2011 attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords.

But the video quickly shifts to hokey footage of office workers scampering under desks, crouching in corners and racing into closets to hide from a rampaging gunman on the loose.

“To protect your hiding place, lock the door if you can. Block the door with heavy furniture,” recommends the male narrator, speaking in measured, authoritative tones.

Other survival strategies promoted in the video include hiding “behind large items such as cabinets or desks. Remain quiet. Silence your cellphone or pager. Even the vibration setting can give away a hiding position.”

Richard Feldman, president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association, said he has a better option for consideration than a pair of scissors when confronting an armed mass murderer — a legal firearm.

“That’s why I prefer a gun, and I usually do carry a gun when it is lawful to do so,” said Feldman. “Clearly, you use whatever you can” to fight for your life, he said.

So if scissors are all you’ve got, grab them by all means.

The video is part of the Obama administration’s ongoing campaign to reduce firearm violence in the wake of the horrific mass murder last month of 20 children and six teachers in Newtown, Conn., said a Homeland Security official.

Homeland Security has operated an active-shooter preparedness-training program for years, and the “Options for Consideration” video was in production prior to the Dec. 14 shooting in Newtown.

The video was released to coincide with President Obama’s sweeping proposals to curb gun violence in America, said the official.

Obama’s most controversial proposals include a ban on military-style assault rifles and high-capacity ammo clips, as well as expanded background checks for firearm purchases.

Security consultant Andrew Scott called the information in the video “adequate.”

He conceded that Homeland Security was correct in recommending that people use scissors to attack a gunman but only in a “last, worst-case scenario.”

“Just the suggestion [to fight back] is a positive move,” said Scott, a former SWAT commander in North Miami Beach. “You don’t want to be sheep for the slaughter.”

But if you do arm yourself with shears, the narrator warns you to drop them when cops arrive.

“Put down any items. Immediately raise your hands,” is the closing advice.

Read original here: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/shear_bravery_beats_guns_feds_d9BanDpupuVezePd6trYoM

5 Tips for Packing a Non-GMO Lunchbox

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Published January 31, 2013, in HEALTH

Most parents are concerned about the foods their children eat. Worried about the effects genetically modified foods might have on your child? Here are some ideas to ensure that your child is carrying a healthy and delicious non-GMO lunch.


1) Educate yourself
GMOs are lurking in the overwhelming majority of conventional processed foods that we pack in kids’ lunchboxes, including granola bars, lunch meats, crackers, and breads. Learn about the common culprits and become a label sleuth when you are grocery shopping.

2)  A lunch is only healthy if it gets eaten. As simple as it sounds make sure you are packing a lunch your child is excited to eat. Help them make a list of their favorite lunch foods—then visit the Non-GMO Project website to ensure that they are non-GMO.

3) Make it fun. Go with you child to your local natural foods store and experiment with new foods. Looking for the Non-GMO Project verification mark can be made into a game that is both fun and helpful for identifying foods that are non-GMO.

4) Start with the basics. Thankfully, GMOs are not very common in the produce aisle or in foods that are not processed–keeping your child’s lunchbox healthy AND non-GMO is much simpler when you use whole foods like: grapes, carrots, celery sticks, almonds, or a favorite piece of fruit. Visit our “What is GMO” page to see a complete list of GMO food ingredients.

5) Remember that just because a product is “natural” does not mean that is non-GMO
“Natural” products are just as likely to be GMO as conventional products. Even natural products purchased at the health food store may contain GMOs. Need help finding verified products when you are shopping? Download the Non-GMO Project iPhone app from the Apple store.

Excerpted from original here: http://www.nongmoproject.org/2012/09/04/back-to-school-with-the-non-gmo-project-five-tips-for-packing-a-non-gmo-lunchbox/

September 4, 2012

 

One of the best things about starting a new school year is the opportunity to develop new habits. The classroom is organized, desks are clean, and your child’s backpack is full of untouched school supplies. All of these are reminders of the fresh start that comes with being another grade older.  Make the most of this transition back to school and ensure that your child is carrying a healthy and delicious non-GMO lunch.

 


1) Educate yourself
GMOs are lurking in the overwhelming majority of conventional processed foods that we pack in kids’ lunchboxes, including granola bars, lunch meats, crackers, and breads. Learn about the common culprits and become a label sleuth when you are grocery shopping.

2)  A lunch is only healthy if it gets eaten. As simple as it sounds make sure you are packing a lunch your child is excited to eat. Help them make a list of their favorite lunch foods—then visit the Non-GMO Project website to ensure that they are non-GMO.

3) Make it fun. Go with you child to your local natural foods store and experiment with new foods. Looking for the Non-GMO Project verification mark can be made into a game that is both fun and helpful for identifying foods that are non-GMO.

4) Start with the basics. Thankfully, GMOs are not very common in the produce aisle or in foods that are not processed–keeping your child’s lunchbox healthy AND non-GMO is much simpler when you use whole foods like: grapes, carrots, celery sticks, almonds, or a favorite piece of fruit. Visit our “What is GMO” page to see a complete list of GMO food ingredients.

5) Remember that just because a product is “natural” does not mean that is non-GMO
“Natural” products are just as likely to be GMO as conventional products. Even natural products purchased at the health food store may contain GMOs. Need help finding verified products when you are shopping? Download the Non-GMO Project iPhone app from the Apple store.

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GMO Scandal – The Long-Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans

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Published January 31, 2013, in HEALTH

By: F. William Engdahl

One of the great mysteries surrounding the spread of GMO plants around the world since the first commercial crops were released in the early 1990’s in the USA and Argentina has been the absence of independent scientific studies of possible long-term effects of a diet of GMO plants on humans or even rats. Now it has come to light the real reason. The GMO agribusiness companies like Monsanto, BASF, Pioneer, Syngenta and others prohibit independent research.

An editorial in the respected American scientific monthly magazine, Scientific American, August 2009 reveals the shocking and alarming reality behind the proliferation of GMO products throughout the food chain of the planet since 1994. There are no independent scientific studies published in any reputed scientific journal in the world for one simple reason. It is impossible to independently verify that GMO crops such as Monsanto Roundup Ready Soybeans or MON8110 GMO maize perform as the company claims, or that, as the company also claims, that they have no harmful side effects because the GMO companies forbid such tests!

That’s right. As a precondition to buy seeds, either to plant for crops or to use in research study, Monsanto and the gene giant companies must first sign an End User Agreement with the company. For the past decade, the period when the greatest proliferation of GMO seeds in agriculture has taken place, Monsanto, Pioneer (DuPont) and Syngenta require anyone buying their GMO seeds to sign an agreement that explicitly forbids that the seeds be used for any independent research. Scientists are prohibited from testing a seed to explore under what conditions it flourishes or even fails. They cannot compare any characteristics of the GMO seed with any other GMO or non-GMO seeds from another company. Most alarming, they are prohibited from examining whether the genetically modified crops lead to unintended side-effects either in the environment or in animals or humans.

The only research which is permitted to be published in reputable scientific peer-reviewed journals are studies which have been pre-approved by Monsanto and the other industry GMO firms.

The entire process by which GMO seeds have been approved in the United States, beginning with the proclamation by then President George H.W. Bush in 1992, on request of Monsanto, that no special Government tests of safety for GMO seeds would be conducted because they were deemed by the President to be “substantially equivalent” to non-GMO seeds, has been riddled with special interest corruption. Former attorneys for Monsanto were appointed responsible in EPA and FDA for rules governing GMO seeds as but one example and no Government tests of GMO seed safety to date have been carried out. All tests are provided to the US Government on GMO safety or performance by the companies themselves such as Monsanto. Little wonder that GMO sounds to positive and that Monsanto and others can falsely claim GMO is the “solution to world hunger.”

In the United States a group of twenty four leading university corn insect scientists have written to the US Government Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanding the EPA  force a change to the company censorship practice. It is as if Chevrolet or Tata Motors or Fiat tried to censor comparative crash tests of their cars in Consumer Reports or a comparable consumer publication because they did not like the test results. Only this deals with the human and animal food chain. The scientists rightly argue to EPA that food safety and environment protection “depend on making plant products available to regular scientific scrutiny.” We should think twice before we eat that next box of American breakfast cereal if the corn used is GMO .

F. William Engdahl is author of Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order. He may be contacted via his website at www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net.

Read original here: http://truththeory.com/2013/01/23/gmo-scandal-the-long-term-effects-of-genetically-modified-food-on-humans/

Look Out, Your Medicine is Watching You – Big Pharma to Begin Microchipping Drugs

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Published January 31, 2013, in HEALTH

(Reuters) – Novartis AG plans to seek regulatory approval within 18 months for a pioneering tablet containing an embedded microchip, bringing the concept of “smart-pill” technology a step closer.

The initial program will use one of the Swiss firm’s established drugs taken by transplant patients to avoid organ rejection. But Trevor Mundel, global head of development, believes the concept can be applied to many other pills.

“We are taking forward this transplant drug with a chip and we hope within the next 18 months to have something that we will be able to submit to the regulators, at least in Europe,” Mundel told the Reuters Health Summit in New York.

“I see the promise as going much beyond that,” he added.

Novartis agreed in January to spend $24 million to secure access to chip-in-a-pill technology developed by privately owned Proteus Biomedical of Redwood City, California, putting it ahead of rivals.

The biotech start-up’s ingestible chips are activated by stomach acid and send information to a small patch worn on the patient’s skin, which can transmit data to a smartphone or send it over the Internet to a doctor.

Mundel said the initial project was focused on ensuring that patients took drugs at the right time and got the dose they needed — a key issue for people after kidney and other transplant operations, when treatment frequently needs adjustment.

Longer-term, he hopes to expand the “smart pill” concept to other types of medicine and use the wealth of biometric information the Proteus chip can collect, from heart rate and temperature to body movement, to check that drugs are working properly.

Because the tiny chips are added to existing drugs, Novartis does not expect to have to conduct full-scale clinical trials to prove the new products work. Instead, it aims to do so-called bioequivalence tests to show they are the same as the original.

A bigger issue may be what checks should be put in place to protect patients’ personal medical data as it is transmitted from inside their bodies by wireless and Bluetooth.

“The regulators all like the concept and have been very encouraging. But … they want to understand how we are going to solve the data privacy issues,” Mundel said.

A technology that ensures a patient takes his or her medicine and checks that it is working properly should deliver better outcomes and justify a higher price tag.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler. Editing by Robert MacMillan)

Read original here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/08/us-summit-novartis-proteus-idUSTRE6A754720101108

30 Years of Secret, Official Transcripts Prove Vaccine Schedules in US and UK are Based on Government Lies

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Published January 31, 2013, in HEALTH

A comprehensive investigation into the inner workings of the U.K.’s nationalized healthcare system has revealed a shocking legacy of corruption and lies concerning the country’s vaccine policy. According to Dr. Lucija Tomlijenovic, Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia in Canada, the advisory and governing bodies that set vaccination policy in the U.K. have, for many decades now, hidden the truth about vaccine dangers, and deliberately pushed unsafe vaccines on the public in order to uphold the official vaccination schedule.

Official documents uncovered from secret meetings of the U.K.’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent body that helps set vaccination schedule policy in the U.K., reveal that JCVI ignores independent data showing vaccines to be unsafe, and reinforces questionable data produced by vaccine companies claiming that vaccines are safe. The group also discourages all research that might question the safety of vaccines, and knowingly lies to parents in order to increase the overall vaccination compliance rate.

“[T]he JCVI made continuous efforts to withhold critical data on severe, adverse reactions and contraindications to vaccinations to both parents and health practitioners in order to reach overall vaccination rates which they deemed were necessary for ‘herd immunity,’ a concept which with regards to vaccination, and contrary to prevalent beliefs, does not rest on solid scientific evidence,” writes Dr. Tomljenovic in her paper.

“Official documents obtained from the U.K. Department of Health (DH) and the JCVI reveal that the British health authorities have been engaging in such practice for the last 30 years, apparently for the sole purpose of protecting the national vaccination program.”

The 45-page paper blows the lid off the myth that government vaccination policy is based on sound science, and instead shows that vaccine advisory committees, which help set vaccine policy, are typically padded with vaccine industry shills that specifically promote vaccines in spite of evidence showing their dangers. This has been true in the U.K. since at least the early 1980s, and it is certainly true in the U.S. as well.
(http://www.naturalnews.com/033455_Institute_of_Medicine_vaccines.html)

Dr. Tomlijenovic explains; for instance, how JCVI has known since as early as 1981 that the measles vaccine, which is part of the government’s official vaccine schedule, is linked to long-term neurological damage and death. She also outlines, with full citations, evidence showing that JCVI has long been aware that many of scheduled vaccines cause permanent brain damage in children, but have continued to promote those vaccines anyway.

JCVI knew MMR vaccine was capable of causing brain damage

Another stunning discovery in Dr. Tomlijenovic’s paper deals with the MMR vaccine, and how JCVI was aware that this controversial jab can cause brain damage. The transcript from a 1990 meeting of the JCVI CSM/DH Joint Sub-Committee on Adverse Reactions notes that JCVI was aware that MMR was definitely linked to causing at least 10 known cases of both meningitis and encephalitis.

JCVI addressed the issue of MMR safety again in 1991, noting that in a follow-up review of the earlier cases of meningitis and encephalitis that were definitively linked to the vaccine, two of the children developed permanent neurological damage as a result. One other developed behavioral problems, which are linked to autism, and another developed cerebral astrocytoma, a type of brain tumor. None of this critical information was publicly disclosed.

You can read Dr. Tomlijenovic’s full 45-page paper on vaccine corruption here:
http://www.ecomed.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/3-tomljenovic.pdf

‘Paycheck Fairness Act’ Would Require Employees To Share Workers’ Salaries

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Published January 31, 2013, in GOVERNMENT

A ‘Paycheck Fairness Act’ introduced in Congress last week would require employers to show pay disparity is related to job-performance and prohibit employer retaliation for sharing salary information with coworkers.

Senator Barbara A. Mikulski and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, both Democrats, said their legislation is aimed at closing the pay gap between men and women and would also address loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act.

Currently, the law allows employers to sue or otherwise punish employees for sharing their salary information and women still make just 77 cents on their male counterpart’s dollar, according to Sen. Mikulski’s office.

In President Barack Obama’s Inaugural address on Jan. 21, he said a priority in his current term would be effectively closing the pay gap. During the first few weeks of his first term, Obama’s signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which overturned the 180-day statute of limitations for women to contest pay discrimination.

Mikulski and DeLauro said the Paycheck Fairness Act would also allow women to seek punitive damages for pay discrimination, establish a grant program to strengthen salary negotiation and other workplace skills and require the Department of Labor to enhance outreach and training efforts to eliminate pay disparities.

Read original here: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/01/31/mikulskis-paycheck-fairness-act-would-allow-employees-to-discuss-salaries/

Frackphobia from the Perspective of a Mud Engineer

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Published January 30, 2013, in GOVERNMENT

By: Ken LaRive, The Liberty Beacon

Added to a virtual barrage of You Tube videos expounding the dangers of hydraulic fracking, two new feature-length films, “Promised Land” and “FracNation,” show the new techniques of fracking from the perspective of a fearful propagandized paranoia, unsound speculation, and outright lies.

I know this, because I did fracking for 30 years as a mud engineer.

Fracking, along with new specially designed muds, and innovative directional tools, has produced an unprecedented amount of Natural Gas here in the US. It has become so prolific, the price of Natural Gas is at an all- time low, with the assurance, even in our Progressive White House, that there will be more than enough for export. It promises to also transition our infrastructure from oil to natural gas, along with state of the art LNG export facilities. It is hoped that clean-burning Natural Gas will revive our long stagnant economy, and clean up our environment as well. It promises to bring another, unsurpassed and long-awaited, oil-patch boon. And 100 years of clean energy.

And yet, the green-machine wants nothing to do with it. They see other ways to make money for themselves.

It isn’t surprising that Matt Damon’s “Promised Land” is funded by elements inside of the United Arab Emirates, because they know full well that America can finally become energy independent. How comically cartoonish to drench a miniature farm with common household chemicals and then set it on fire. A bit reminiscence of Mr. Bill on Saturday Night Live, “Oh, no!”

In FracNation, a homeowner claims that the fracking procedure polluted his ground water with weapons-grade uranium, and New Yorkers Against Fracking has the Statue of Liberty torching drilling rigs as they flee in fear. Please note that Frack in FracNation is misspelled.

“In no case have we made a definitive determination that the fracking process has caused chemicals to enter groundwater.” -Lisa Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency, April, 2012. In front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, in May 2011, Ms. Jackson previously stated: “I’m not aware of any proven case where the fracking process *itself has affected water.” Please note the word “itself,” that Ms. Jackson used above. I will explain the reason she used that word below…

The EPA backed her claims, both then and now. Published in California’s San Jose Mercury News was an amazing imperative by the state’s oil and gas supervisor, Tim Kustic. Taken out of a long context he said: “In the 41 years that I have supervised oil and gas exploration, production, and development in South Dakota, no documented case of water-well or aquifer damage by fracking of oil or gas well, has been brought to my attention.”

Here is the truth, as I know it by experience. You be the judge.

Spending nearly 30 years of my life as a Mud Engineer, or what some in the industry might call a Fluid Engineer, what is stated above is probably true. Fracking does not, in and of itself, pollute ground water, but there is more to this story… Note above that Ms. Jackson said *”itself,” and that is the rub. They know that fracking is not the whole story of drilling, and that is a CYA word. Here is how drilling actually works, in a nutshell.

Surface hole, especially in the basin and Gulf Coast, is drilled through sand, gravel, and then varieties of hydrateable clay. This is usually where fresh water is encountered, and it is sometimes in communication with surface water, like wells and even lakes and ponds. The mud used to drill these formations vary on circumstance, but most often has a fresh-water clay base for viscosity, Premium Wyoming Bentonite, and a small amount of caustic or lime for flocculation, to help carry up the pea gravel and cuttings to the surface. As we drill into a firmer shale, strong enough to accept a casing shoe, those fresh-water formations are cemented behind casing, safe and sound. But every well is different, and all around the world, and sometimes an inhibitor has to be used in those top zones so that indigenous clays will not hydrate. That’s when Lignite and what is called chrome-lignosulfonate are used.

Chrome is a heavy metal. Without that, drill pipe will stick. I have seen times in west Texas when these clays were so water sensitive the mud was pumped out like tooth paste, to be shoveled by roustabouts under the rig floor, and the shale shaker completely bypassed. Nightmare scenarios, but we drilled the well. That was our job, and because of that, you have gas for your car, lipstick and plastic, clothes and rubber, insecticides and fertilizers, even petroleum jelly.

Now chrome is indeed a cancer causing agent in large quantities, but what is diluted into the environment is in such a minute amount it is virtually undetectable. I know this because I did the testing. It is like trying to determine emission on a jet airplane traveling at 33,000 feet. Everyone knows the emissions are toxic, but they are diluted to the point where it is not a concern.

You check to see that you have a good cement job by performing what is called a leak-off test, under a prescribed pump pressure. The outcome is duly recorded on a chart and kept as part of the permanent rig records, by strict laws.

Definitely, a bad cement job can contaminate ground water, but it is quickly detected and fixed by what is called a “squeeze.” By mathematics, it can easily be determined where the leak is and cement is squeezed to seal the leak. Another test is done, and possibly another squeeze, until the test shows stability under pump pressure. And all of these procedures came under the description of what was considered my job, and my responsibility, as a field fluid engineer. The cementer did the pumping, and we compared calculations, along with the Company Man in a pre-job meeting. We all compared our calculations, and safety and rig time was our primary criteria, along with the job.

I was the first to experiment with “drill in” fluids designed for directional and fracking procedures, and I mixed lignosulfonates, synthetic polymers, and oil based muds for deep hot wells all around the world. I considered myself responsible, and took my job seriously, as one mistake in my calculations or inattention on the pits could have blown us all to bits. I answered to the Company Man, and the Tool Pusher only, and I was considered their adviser. If they did not feel comfortable with my advice, they had the ability to immediately and with extreme prejudice, replace me. I worked internationally all around the world, from the North Sea, Saudi, Equator, Africa, Mexico, to India, on deep sea submersibles to drill ships, jack-ups to floaters. I was also considered a work-over and completion hand as well.

I saw regulations change to the point where one could be run off of a job for a flip word (bad attitude), not wearing ear plugs or safety glasses, or being caught urinating over the side. Zero discharge, and that was strictly enforced. Part of my job was to do a daily visual monitor of the surface of the sea down-wind and current, and was required to record any anomaly. My rig could get fined heavily if a surprise inspection indicated this paper work had not been done, or was bogus, and I would be given no second chance. Anything discharged over the side was tested my me, from chlorides to solid content, and recorded in my daily mud report. If something happened, and this was brought even to the supreme court, my words were held as evidence to the truth of the matter.

Though I have never experienced a blow-out on my watch, I have killed other wells with barite and iron oxide as heavy at 19.5 pounds. In my day, nearly all mud engineers were college graduates, chemistry and math teachers looking for a more lucrative profession.

Believe what you will, but it is undeniable that money makes the world go around, and those who control the black-gold machine, the drug machine, the war-machine, and the new green machine, would do or say anything to make a buck. Fortunately we still have rule of law, and some of it still protects truth, and those who live by it. I believe this, even after all of my years standing on the shaker looking for transition zones. I can’t conceive of living in a world where it is not…

The oilfield was once a world primarially of men, tenacious, resolute, and professional, and we learned quickly that everything we did had a consequence. If anyone couldn’t take responsibility for that, they went to the house. And that is exactly the same today, but for a few amazing women who seem to fit in perfectly.

Politicians wouldn’t last long in the oil patch.

Medical Marijuana Reduces Chronic Pharmaceutical Use, Study Finds

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Published January 30, 2013, in HEALTH

Medical marijuana may help reduce the use of pharmaceutical drugs among the elderly, providing a safer alternative to drugs that often carry serious side effects, according to a study conducted by researchers from Tel Aviv University. The researchers also found that elderly participants who took medical marijuana achieved not just pain reduction, but also improvement in markers of physical, emotional and cognitive health.

The study was conducted on 19 residents of the Hadarim nursing home in Israel who were between the ages of 69 and 101 and suffered from medical conditions including pain, muscle spasm, tremors and lack of appetite. Participants used medical marijuana (cannabis) in the form of smoke, vapor, oil or powder three times per day. Over the course of a year, participants were monitored for physical improvement and for improvement in quality of life factors such as mood and facility with everyday activities.

Within one year of treatment, 17 of the 19 patients had achieved a healthy weight, with some of the participants experiencing weight gain and the others experiencing weight loss, as needed. Muscle spasms, stiffness, tremors, pain, nightmares, and flashbacks related to post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) were significantly reduced among participants, while sleeping hours were significantly increased. Participants also experienced a significant improvement in mood and in communication skills.

Use of pharmaceutical drugs reduced

Notably, participants also significantly reduced their use of pharmaceutical drugs such as antipsychotics, painkillers, mood stabilizers and drugs for Parkinson’s disease. After one year of medical marijuana treatment, 72 percent of study participants had reduced their use of pharmaceuticals by an average of 1.7 drugs per day. Researcher Zach Klein noted that this finding is of particular importance because so many of the drugs that patients were able to discontinue can carry severe side effects.

Marijuana is gaining increasing medical attention as a treatment for chronic conditions ranging from pain to cancer to PTSD. It is known to act as an effective pain reliever, appetite regulator and sleep aid even in cases that prove resistant to pharmaceuticals.

Another recent study, published in October in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, found that medical marijuana is effective at reducing debilitating muscle stiffness in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This stiffness, which is highly resistant to current MS treatments, affects 90 percent of MS patients and regularly interferes with mobility, sleep and daily function.

Klein is currently working on another study, to test whether medical marijuana can be beneficial to people who suffer from dysphagia, or trouble swallowing. Dysphagia is a common concern in the critically ill, and can actually lead to starvation if not treated properly. Klein hopes that medical marijuana will prove beneficial in treating dysphagia because it has previously been shown to stimulate the part of the brain that is thought to regulate the swallowing reflex.

According to a 2012 poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, three of every four U.S. residents oppose federal prosecution of medical marijuana dispensaries, growers, sellers and users in the states that have legalized medical marijuana.

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