Category Archives: Rock on-Peace Out

Clear differences between organic and non-organic food, study finds | Environment | The Guardian

Organic food has more of the antioxidant compounds linked to better health and lower levels of toxic metals and pesticides, according to the most comprehensive scientific analysis to date.

The international scientific team behind the new work suggests that switching from regular to organic fruit and vegetables could give the same benefits as adding one or two portions of the “five a day” currently recommended.

The team, led by Prof Carlo Leifert at the University of Newcastle, concludes that there are “statistically significant, meaningful” differences, with a range of antioxidants being “substantially higher” – between 19% and 69% – in organic food. It is the first study to demonstrate clear and wide-ranging differences between organic and conventional fruits, vegetables and cereals.

via Clear differences between organic and non-organic food, study finds | Environment | The Guardian.

Exhibition on Nazi Occupation in the Works | News | ERR

For the first time, the Estonian History Museum will curate an exhibition on the Nazi occupation and its devastating effects on Estonian Jewish community.

A prominent place in the exhibition is given to the memories of Isidor Levin, 95 – the last living Jew who survived the Nazi occupation in Estonia, ETV reported on Wednesday.

Although the Nazi occupation during the Second World War was brief, it is a sensitive subject, said Olev Liivik, a researcher and curator at the museum, adding that the upcoming exhibition is the first of its kind in Estonia.

via Exhibition on Nazi Occupation in the Works | News | ERR.

Latino, Asian farmers lead strawberry industry | Turlock | Modesto Bee

The report is titled “Growing the American Dream: California Strawberry Farming’s Rich History of Immigrants & Opportunity.”

It said 65 percent of the farmers are Latinos, a quarter of them former field workers. The 20 percent who are Asian include Japanese American farmers, who have been part of the industry for about a century, and people with roots in Laos.

via Asian, Latino farmers lead strawberry industry | Turlock | Modesto Bee.

Tissue Alert – Free at last: Elephant ‘cries’ while being rescued after 50 years of abuse and being kept in chains in UP – The Times of India

An elephant that was kept in chains for 50 years and abused by a drug addict who used the animal to beg has been freed.

Raju had been beaten and starved since being poached from the wild as a baby and resorted to eating paper and plastic to fill his stomach.

The chains and spikes wrapped around his legs had left him with chronic wounds and arthritis and he was in almost constant pain.

But now he is walking free for the first time after a daring rescue by conservationists with a court order by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department to take the elephant from his abusive owner.

The charity took Raju in the middle of the night on Thursday, supported by police and state officials.

The elephant’s mahout and previous owner tried to stop him being taken by adding more chains and having people block the roads for the rescue lorry.

Experts worked for hours to gain the elephant’s trust with fruit and encouragement until they could get him into the van that would take him to a sanctuary.

When Raju was being rescued, volunteers said they saw tears rolling down his face.

Pooja Binepal, from Wildlife SOS UK, said: “The team were astounded to see tears roll down his face during the rescue. It was so incredibly emotional for all of us.

“We knew in our hearts he realised he was being freed.

“Elephants are not only majestic, but they are highly intelligent animals, who have been proven to have feelings of grief, so we can only imagine what torture half a century has been like for him.”

Kartick Satyanarayan, the charity’s co-founder, said the mahout tried to make the elephant charge by shouting commands.

He added: “We stood our ground and refused to back down – and as we did so, tears began to roll down Raju’s face.

“Some no doubt were due to the pain being inflicted by the chains, but he also seemed to sense that change was coming.

“It was as if he felt hope for the first time in a very long time.”

Almost two days later and 350 miles away in Mathura, the chains were removed after 45 painstaking minutes.

A video showed the moment they cut the painful spikes and chains binding the animal’s legs so he could walk freely for the first time.

Mr Satyanarayan said: “We all had tears in our eyes as the last rope which held the final spike was cut and Raju took his first steps of freedom.”

Other elephants at the Conservation and Care Centre at Mathura came to watch the new arrival.

He is being fed to restore him to a healthy weight and vets are treating his many wounds and abscesses from beatings and chains.

via Free at last: Elephant ‘cries’ while being rescued after 50 years of abuse and being kept in chains in UP – The Times of India.

Four Freedoms – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.”—Franklin D. Roosevelt, excerpted from the State of the Union Address to the Congress, January 6, 1941

via Four Freedoms – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bacteria that ‘eats’ odour could bring end to smelly toilets in mainland China | South China Morning Post

A must import for Rest stops on highways and in service stations! Mainland scientists have developed a “bioweapon” that can wipe out the notorious bad smell in public toilets.

Up to 75 per cent of the odour can be removed, with the rest suppressed by a natural, pleasant fragrance, according to researchers with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The magic is mainly done by bacteria in the Lactobacillus family, which is used in the production of yogurt, cheese, beer and chocolate.

Lactobacillus feeds on human waste, releasing lactic acid that eliminates the growth of most odour-making bacteria.

The “smell-free toilet” study was highlighted on the academy’s website last month as offering an “ultimate” cure to an “urgent” national issue.

via Bacteria that ‘eats’ odour could bring end to smelly toilets in mainland China | South China Morning Post.