Wednesday, March 22, 2017

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How to Make Your Own Natural Paint

Paint has not been kind to us — humankind — over the years. It seems that, despite knowing different ingredients were carcinogenic or otherwise detrimental to our health, corporations have elected to put them into our household paints. These are the paints we give our children for art. These are the paints we put on the walls of our bedroom. But, these paints are toxic.

There are solutions to the issue. There are companies that make safe products with “zero” VOCs (volatile organic compounds), the major players in what makes paint questionable to use. There are also companies that make full-fledged non-toxic paints. Either one of these options, of course, ups the price, sometimes doubling it.

Then, there is always the option of making a natural paint right at home. It seems a massive stretch – if paint were easy to make, why have we all been buying it all this time? Well, those are deeper, darker answers than we are prepared to delve into for this article. For the time being, let’s just take on the how-to of it.

What’s in a Paint?

First, we should break paint down into its major components. What exactly is that goes into making paint? Pigments to color paints, and in conventional paints, these are sourced from toxic compounds and heavy metals (Ah, anyone remember the days of lead?). Binders are what adhere paint to surface, and they are normally derivatives of the oil industry. Fillers, like chalk or limestone, bulk paint up, while solvents — full of VOCs (We are all very familiar with this smell) — thin it back into a workable consistency. Manufacturers also include many unlisted additives to help the paint dry faster or resist mold (biocides).

Making These Components Naturally

Skreidzeleu/Shutterstock

Seemingly, if we can replace all the toxic ingredients of paint with something safe and natural, we’d be doing ourselves a big favor. Lucky for us, this isn’t all that difficult. There are many naturally sourced — from plants and minerals (Vegans, be careful not use those create from insects) — color pigments. Flour is a fantastic binder, as is linseed oil. Clay is a great filler, especially paired with flour, and citrus can make an effective thinner (and natural turpentine is a thing, too). What’s even better is that these elements are often a bit kinder to the things they painted onto, allowing them to “breathe.”

Things to Consider Before Mixing It Up

Obviously, just as with commercially produced paints, there are things to consider before making paint at home. Namely, we have to consider whether the paint is for interior or exterior use. After that, considering the climate might help us adjust the recipe, and of course, noting the type of surface — wood versus stone versus drywall, etc. — can make a massive difference. Flour paint is usually a good choice for interior surfaces, while oil-based (linseed oil) paints tend to hold up a bit better to weather exposure outside.

How to Make Flour Paint

Well, this paint won’t be gluten-free (and it probably isn’t all that tasty anyway), but it should work well for painting wood, drywall, stone, wallpaper, plaster or masonry. What it doesn’t do well is hold up on a surface that is cleaned frequently. As for making it, there are couple of things to know. It’s food, so it will go bad if it isn’t used. And, flour paint doesn’t jive with rollers and can be rough on brushes, so go with a cheap brush and have a few extras around.

Start by mixing a cup of flour with two cups of cold water, whisking it until smooth. Add this mixture to a cup and a half of boiling water, simmering it all into a thick paste. Once it’s a paste, remove it from the heat and slowly dilute it with a couple more cups of water. In a separate container, combine a cup of clay filler (available in natural colors) with a half-cup of natural powder filler, such mica or limestone. Add the mixed fillers to the diluted paste until the paint becomes the consistency of paint.

How to Make Linseed Oil Paint

The difficulty with oil paints and glazes is that they take a long time to dry, a reasonable expectation being about 48 hours between coats. However, the plus side is that they can withstand wet weather and help to preserve surfaces. They are particularly good for wood and also work on cement or unglazed brick. The general consensus is that the best results come with a coat of natural oil primer (equal parts raw or stand — not boiled — linseed oil and natural citrus thinner, either store-bought or homemade) applied first.

Start by adding color pigment a little at a time to a few tablespoons of linseed oil. Different pigments absorb the oil differently, but we are basically after a sort of dough consistency. From there, add oil until the thick mixture it such that it can be poured. Then, a citrus thinner can be added until the oil mixture becomes a paint-y mixture. If there are lumps in it, it can be finished through a strainer.

Amazingly, it’s that easy. You can paint your interiors and exteriors – and do it all naturally! You can make it all at home and save loads of money, too. By not relying on the companies who value profits over their customers’ well-being, we can ensure that our families and friends are safe from unwanted toxins and chemicals. Plus, nothing feels quite so good, bring about quite the same pride in a paint job, as empowerment.

Image source: Arthito/Shutterstock

MNN.com > Food & Drink > Healthy Eating

The secret ingredient behind the Mediterranean diet

Combining olive oil and veggies produces nitro fatty acids, which are linked to multiple health benefits.

The Mediterranean diet is heavy on fruits, vegetables and olive oil. (Photo: Marian Weyo/Shutterstock)

You've probably heard of the Mediterranean diet. It's touted everywhere from morning news shows to magazine articles as one of the most healthful eating styles around, but you may not know how or why this diet — which is filled with fruits and vegetables from places like Italy, Greece and Turkey — is so good for you.

Science is only just beginning to decipher why eating some foods, skipping others or combining them in the right ways can thwart illness and ward off disease.

What does the Mediterranean diet look like?

"The Mediterranean diet includes foods and beverages native to the land for which it's named. Rich in fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, beans, legumes, a variety of herbs and spices, wine, fish, seafood and olive oil, this meal plan may reduce the risk of heart disease and other inflammatory conditions like arthritis," says Martina Cartwright, a registered dietitian.

The foundation of the diet consists of fruits like apricots, citrus, dates, figs, grapes, apples and pears; veggies like tomatoes, avocados, kale and dark green leafy spinach, onions, garlic and leeks, celery, carrots, cabbage and cucumbers; beans and legumes like chickpeas (hummus), fava beans and kidney beans; nuts like cashews and almonds; red wine (a glass a day); fish three times a week and a serving or two of low-fat dairy or yogurt each day (think Greek yogurt). Olive oil is recommended for cooking and is the main source of dietary fat in salad dressings and baking along with fats from avocado and nuts.

Why is this food regimen so healthful?

"The Mediterranean diet has been shown to significantly reduce risk for cardiovascular disease and for recurrence of cardiac events. It also reduces risk for type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and Alzheimer's disease, and is associated with fewer cardiovascular- and cancer- related deaths, decreased risk of stroke and depression, improved physical functioning, and a slower rate of cognitive decline," says Julieanna Hever, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition."

"The mechanism for how the diet works is unclear. However, the theory is that since the diet is rich in anti-inflammatory fats (olive and fish) and antioxidants (which help with cell repair and include vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene and phytochemicals), it helps the body’s repair mechanisms," Cartwright says.

A 2016 study presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress backs up the heart health benefits, even among those who are already showing signs of cardiovascular disease.

Using 25,000 random adults from the Italian region of Molise, researchers found 1,197 with histories of heart disease. Those participants who adhered closely to the diet saw their death rate from any cause drop by 37 percent over the study's seven year period. The researchers acknowledged that their study was "observational" and that further research was needed to establish a causal link.

The Molise researchers may need only to look at a 2014 study that may have unearthed a "secret ingredient" that gives the Mediterranean diet such a powerful effect on health and longevity. When the unsaturated fat in olive oil meets the naturally occurring nitrates that many Mediterranean vegetables (such as tomatoes, eggplant, garlic and leafy greens) are rich in, a special kind of molecule is produced called nitro fatty acids.

Lowering heart disease risk may not be the only thing the diet's good for, either. A2017 study published in the journal Neurology shows that the Mediterranean diet also helps with brain health.

Researchers followed the eating habits of 967 Scots around the age of 70 who showed no signs of dementia for three years. MRIs were conducted on 562 to measure brain volume at the start of the study, with 401 of them receiving another brain scan at the end of the study. Scans were compared to how closely the participants followed the diet, and researchers found that those who didn't stick to the diet showed a higher loss of total brain volume over three years than those who did. The results remained the same when researchers accounted for other facts such as education, age and blood pressure.

"In our study, eating habits were measured before brain volume was, which suggests that the diet may be able to provide long-term protection to the brain," said study author Michelle Luciano. "Still, larger studies are needed to confirm these results."

How do nitro fatty acids work?

Researchers from King's College London and the University of California, Davis used genetically engineered mice to figure out how this biochemical process worked.

Beneficial omega-6 fats are normally broken down in the body by an enzyme, but these nitro fatty acids block the action of that enzyme. As a result, the "good fats" stay in the blood longer, where they may have a long-lasting effect.

"The Mediterranean diet may reduce inflammation and blood pressure through a unique combination of dietary fats and nitrogen-rich vegetables. When consumed together in a meal, this dynamic duo form a type of fat that may help reduce blood pressure, bad cholesterol and perhaps inflammation," Cartwright says.

The theory is, the longer the good fats stick around, the more opportunity they have to elicit healthful benefits in the body.

Hever says she believes the benefits of the diet stem from the fact that it is plant-heavy, providing opportunities for synergy to occur, as mentioned in the research. "Synergy between phytochemicals and other nutrients in plant foods work harmoniously to enhance immune function and protect against chronic degenerative diseases," she says.

In fact, she believes there are likely thousands of similar reactions that are the result of consuming a wide variety of plant foods.

How to make the Mediterranean diet work for you

If you want to incorporate the Mediterranean diet into your life, Cartwright says to start with plenty of fruits and veggies, then add some unsalted nuts, seeds and legumes to the mix. Sprinkle in plenty of antioxidant-rich spices like curry, cinnamon, paprika, cumin, turmeric and ginger. Add fatty fish two to three times a week. Switch to olive oil for cooking and homemade salad dressings. Eating whole grains plus some low-fat dairy are great ways to get started with this Mediterranean-inspired meal plan.

This story was originally published in September 2014 and has been updated with new information.

ON THE SUBJECT OF TIME... By Joseph Raglione.

Time in and of itself does not exist except as changing energy. The Big Bang theory claims the Universe started from nothing with a tremendous explosion. We can only ask what fueled the explosion in the first place and how did that fuel come into existence?

The concept of eternal energy terrifies the human mind and we humans have created Gods in order to sooth our fear of change from the conscious state of mind to the inanimate unconscious state of existence within eternal energy. The idea that a God created all things leads to the question of where did God come from?

When humans began to very slowly discover repetitive constants within nature, our species created a tool called 'Science' to classify and keep track of what we discovered. With Science, our Homo Sapient species jumped far ahead of all the other Species surviving on Earth and science today uses a great amount of experimenting and a great amount of measuring to understand what exists within the Universe.

Happily for us we now have lightning-fast computers to help us speed up the process of discovery but even so, one of the oldest inventions on Earth, the Clock, continues to be one of our most important tools. For example: when we measure the speed of changing energy we use a precise invention called an Atomic Clock to measure and compare the change. In other words we link our culturally created Time-Clock concepts we call: seconds, minutes, days and years to changing energy in order to measure energy speeds.
All energy (including Life energy) will change form within the universe and the speed of those changes we measure with our Time-Clocks.

We use our Clocks to discover how quickly or slowly energy changes around us in comparison to our interior energy. Some scientists we call Doctors closely monitor the changes within their patients in order to keep them alive as long as possible. Many research scientists are dedicated to understanding the chemical compositions and interactions which are required for the existence of Biological life on Earth.

Clocks themselves are transformed from one form of energy to another and we humans have discovered ways to combine Atoms and Molecules into new and different forms not found in nature. The problem with these new discoveries is that we have created a social economy based almost totally on the time consuming production of new products. This industrially generated fast production of products is quickly and dangerously replacing and destroying the delicate life sustaining balance-of-Nature. The joke is that these inventions have been labelled energy saving devices!
Nature is much slower at creating and preserving life on Earth while artificial processes often pollute and destroy nature at a very fast pace! They are not saving energy but shaping it into forms that are dangerous to life on Earth!

We are literally changing the natural energy systems keeping us alive!
The world wide production and use of tools and products is creating an artificial economic culture sadly not based on Nature! We are now using time-clocks and fast computers to run our lives! The operating word being run!

Humans need to live at the pace of Nature and not work industrially to destroy Nature!
Energy constantly changes. The conundrum is this: logic forces us to believe energy is eternal within the Universe and cannot be created or destroyed. Our Time-Clock invention, therefore, is only useful as a human measure of all changing Energy and both the clock and the energy it measures are eternal. They will change form but will never disappear! Time is our human cultural name and measure for changing energy speed and since Energy is eternal so is Time. In fact the words 'changing energy' should replace the word Time.

Energy can certainly be manipulated and changed and diverted into different forms and unhappily for life on Earth, we humans have and are creating too many energy changes!
Energy does not care if it is animate or inanimate and we humans can by destructive neglect, change ourselves back to inanimate energy in the blink of an eye!

There is some positive changes happening, however, which may keep our species alive on this little Blue planet. Electric cars are now on the market at reasonable prices and people are finally awakening to the reality of global warming and the fact we need more protection for Nature's life sustaining systems. We need more Trees planted everywhere on Earth and we need to slow our Human population growth. We need millions more home vegetable gardens and non polluting energy systems. These energy changes are positive and life sustaining but slow and fragile. Nature is in a global war with humans who have directly opposing economic vested interests! These ignorant humans are tragically opposed to life sustaining energy systems!

If we wish to sustain life on our small Blue Planet Earth, we have to make some fast non-polluting Energy changes.

Thanks for reading!
Signed: Joseph Raglione.
Executive director: The World Friendly Humanitarian Peace and Ecology Movement.
Please feel free to copy and pass on this message because Time is limited for life on Earth.
Human4us2.blogspot.com

Monday, March 20, 2017

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ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France Discusses the Environment with French Students | International Space Station | March 20, 2017: Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency discussed life and research aboard the orbital laboratory and his view of the Earth from orbit during an in-flight question and answer session March 20 with students gathered in France to recognize “World Water Day”. Pesquet is in the midst of a six and a half month mission on the station.

https://youtu.be/tjxRGQ2kSf8

Now laugh till it hurts with Victor Borge!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMKIE8vjBQI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMKIE8vjBQI

Saturday, March 18, 2017

I have had enough! I am fighting back against vested interests and the giant oil companies who are attempting to dominate the economy of the United States and of Canada and of the world!

This is a drive for investment funding. There is a new and powerful solid state Glass Battery ready to replace the Lithium Ion battery and I am asking for investment capital to get in on the ground floor! The same inventor of the Lithium Ion Battery, John B. Goodenough, has invented a better long lasting Battery and the time to invest is now!
http:// human4usbillions@gmail.com

OUR STORIES › NORTHEAST DISPATCH

Small Towns Fight Big Oil on the Hudson

New Yorkers are resisting efforts to sextuple the number of anchorage grounds in the river and transform their backyard into a parking lot for oil barges.

March 06, 2017 Jenny Shalant

This article was originally published on NRDC.org.

Last fall, a whale made a go of Manhattan. The humpback, eventually named Gotham, chased schools of herring from New York Bay into the Hudson River, as delighted onlookers snapped photos of its tail flukes framed by the city skyline. For a couple of weeks, the whale rose to social media stardom; it even started tweeting.

Wildlife experts say both the whale and its abundant prey testify to the improving water quality of the Hudson, which is a federally designated American Heritage River as well as one of the largest Superfund sites in the United States. The river has come a long way since General Electric and other companies dumped toxic waste into its channel, but new threats may be on the horizon. The U.S. Coast Guard is considering a proposal to allow the construction of 10 anchorage grounds for massive oil barges (currently there are two). If approved, an influx of tankers up to 600 feet long would be able to dock in riverside communities between the George Washington Bridge and the Port of Albany.

Fossil fuel companies hope to take advantage of a recently lifted ban on crude oil exports by making the river a conduit to ports overseas. Meanwhile, environmental advocates fear the recovering river — a resource for wildlife, recreation, and drinking water — will once again be steeped in industry.

Proposed oil barge anchorages for the Hudson River between Yonkers and Kingston-Rhinecliff, New York. Courtesy: Hudson River Trustee Council

The anchorage proposal submitted last year by the Maritime Association of the Port of NY/NJ, which represents oil and shipping interests, threatens to transform more than 2,400 acres of the waterway. In the south, the 43 new berths would extend down to Yonkers — a city in the midst of revitalizing its blighted industrial waterfront. On the northern end, the barges would dock in Kingston, which fronts one of the river’s only public swimming beaches. All but one of the berths would allow for long-term anchorage, which would essentially convert the Hudson into a parking garage for crude oil.

During the comment period that ended in December, more than 10,000 people voiced their objections. Some opponents, like Mark Chertok, an environmental lawyer who represents the Hudson River Waterfront Alliance, pointed to the industry’s practice of stockpiling oil on barges — as it does in the Gulf of Mexico — until higher market prices make it advantageous to unload its cargo. “This use of the river for arbitrage purposes would be an abuse of federal navigational authority,” wrote Chertok. The project, he said, would enable “an invaluable public resource to be converted into free warehousing for private commercial benefit.”

Sending more crude down the Hudson would also make old problems even worse, because much of the cargo may not be just any oil, but tar sands oil. Once stripped out of Canada’s boreal forest, this volatile fossil fuel is transported by pipeline or train, then refined in a highly carbon-intensive process. Global Partners LP has applied for a permit to add new equipment to its storage facility at the Hudson port of Albany for the processing of tar sands oil. The company’s refinery sits right beside the Ezra Prentice Homes, a low-income housing development.

Oil barge on the Hudson, 2016. Courtesy: Carolyn Blackwood

“It’s a classic example of a polluting facility being sited directly adjacent to a low-income community of color,” says Rob Friedman, a campaigner on NRDC’s environmental justice team. “Public housing is often built on the cheapest land in a community, and here you have people breathing in toxic fumes every single day, next to a facility that has already been shown to be violating the Clean Air Act.”

NRDC is currently suing Global Partners and challenging its permit as part of a clean air case represented by Earthjustice. The lawsuit asks the court to force Global to apply for a new air pollution permit and prohibit the Albany facility from handling Bakken crude oil.

“It’s amazing to have communities up and down the river in a state of resistance saying we’re not going to stand for this,” Friedman says. Beyond worries about how the barges will affect the look and feel of the river, it’s the prospect of an oil spill that has many local citizens taking action.

Communities have ample right to be concerned. When a crude oil barge collided with a towboat on the Mississippi River in February 2014, responders were able to recover only a tiny fraction of the spilled fuel — just 95 of about 30,000 gallons. And tar sands crude is particularly disastrous for river ecosystems, explains NRDC staff attorney Kimberly Ong. “This oil immediately sinks to the bottom, and there is, to date, no known way of effectively cleaning it up.” (Just ask the residents of Kalamazoo, Michigan.)

Oil spill on the Mississippi River, 2014. Coast Guard Photo

“The Hudson is extremely turbid, so it’s silty and there are a lot of suspended sediments in the water,” adds Friedman, who once worked on the river conducting water sampling tests for Riverkeeper. “If there were to be a spill of crude oil in the river, it’s likely that a very small percentage would be recovered based on its turbidity and the fact that the Hudson is a tidal estuary,” he says. “It’s changing directions constantly.”

In September, Riverkeeper’s boat captain, John Lipscomb, gave a town hall presentation in Rhinebeck, New York. He discussed the deadly “bomb train” derailment in the Quebec town of Lac-Mégantic in 2013. In addition to killing 47 people, the accident sent 26,000 gallons of crude into the Chaudière River. In the year that followed the spill, government-commissioned biologists found unprecedented levels (up to 47 percent) of deformities in many of the river’s fish species. Lipscomb, who has spent the past 17 years on the Hudson conducting pollution patrols and scientific studies, fears that lessons from the Chaudière are going ignored.

“Here we have endangered species that we’ve prioritized for recovery in the Hudson,” Lipscomb said, referring to species like Atlantic sturgeon and bog turtles. “And we’re running a product that if spilled can’t be collected and has proven to cause problems for wildlife in the river.” These incidents are also a toxic threat to the surrounding communities, he points out—and not just to the people who fish on the river. “The 40 percent of it that flashes off into fumes, if it happens in your community, is mutagenic and carcinogenic.” (While few studies have examined the long-term impacts of oil spills on human health, many Gulf Coast residents were still suffering from respiratory and cardiovascular problems, memory loss, and other degenerative issues five years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill.)

In light of New York’s clean energy priorities, plus those 10,000 public comments and the pressure from organizations like NRDC, Riverkeeper, and Earthjustice, Friedman remains hopeful that the new anchorages will be scrapped.

Protest in Albany, NY against Bakken crude oil coming into the Port of Albany. Pilot Girl/Flickr

Hudson Valley residents will need to keep this pressure up to protect the waterway in their backyards, but this is not just a local fight. By blocking the expansion of the tar sands industry, they’re going to bat for all of us — from Alberta’s First Nations, whose lands have been poisoned by the open-pit mining of this toxic fuel, to upstate New York residents breathing fumes from refineries next door, to the countries trying to curb carbon emissions instead of unleash them, and finally, to the odd whale that chases its dinner up a welcoming river.

Monday, March 13, 2017

A flower for all of you on Google+

THE WORLD FRIENDLY HUMANITARIAN PEACE AND ECOLOGY MOVEMENT.