War! What is it good for?....Nothing!! The David Suzuki Foundation.

War and climate change fuel a survival-threatening cycle War is insane. Humans spend enormous amounts of money, consume massive resources, develop jaw-dropping technologies, destroy infrastructure and natural areas and kill millions of people, including many non-combatants, often just to stroke the egos of petty power-seeking men. Our killing technologies may have advanced tremendously, but our mindsets haven’t evolved much from 3,000 years ago when Homer wrote his epic story The Iliad, about a bloody battle over perceived loss of “honour” when Paris, prince of Troy, absconded with Spartan king Menelaus’s wife Helen. Wars have since become far costlier, in lives, resources and money, but their justifications seem no less absurd. We often hear how expensive it is to address the climate change and biodiversity loss crises, but it’s a pittance compared to spending on weapons and destruction — and addressing environmental crises is necessary and offers numerous benefits. Wars rarely do any good other than to enrich weapons manufacturers and, now, the fossil fuel industry.

Wars rarely do any good other than to enrich weapons manufacturers and, now, the fossil fuel industry.

That’s not to say that military and defence spending isn’t sometimes needed. In a world rife with conflicting ideologies and power-hungry leaders, people sometimes have to fight back against those who threaten freedom, democracy and human rights, or who engage in genocidal actions. And militaries often help out in times of disaster, such as hurricanes and other extreme weather–related events. But the overall concept of war is suicidal. It’s a testament to how little our thinking has evolved that we still don’t have better ways to settle differences. Not only do wars prevent us from resolving serious, survival-threatening emergencies such as climate change and biodiversity loss — by sucking up money and resources and prioritizing destruction over problem-solving — they also contribute greatly to those problems. A recent study by researchers in the U.S. and U.K. found greenhouse gas emissions generated during the first two months of the war in Gaza — more than 99 per cent from Israel’s devastating retaliation for Hamas’s brutal October 7 attacks — were greater than the annual emissions of more than 20 of the nations most vulnerable to climate change impacts. Those figures are a significant underestimate, as they’re based on just a few carbon-intensive activities. They include emissions from warplanes, tanks and other vehicles, building and using bombs, artillery and rockets and flying weapons and equipment from the United States to Israel. Other studies show the numbers could be as much as eight times higher if emissions from the entire supply chain were included.

Not only do wars prevent us from resolving serious, survival-threatening emergencies such as climate change and biodiversity loss — by sucking up money and resources and prioritizing destruction over problem-solving — they also contribute greatly to those problems.

Considering these conservative estimates are from just the first two months of a conflict that has escalated over more than a year, one can only imagine the current toll with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the many other conflicts worldwideadded. Although military emissions contribute significantly to global heating, reporting on them is voluntary. They’re mostly kept secret and aren’t included in United Nations climate negotiations. According to the Guardian, “Even without comprehensive data, one recent study found that militaries account for almost 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually — more than the aviation and shipping industries combined.” The U.S. is one of the largest contributors to overall military emissions, about 20 per cent from protecting oil and gas interests in the Persian Gulf region — which is warming twice as fast as the rest of the inhabited world. Beyond their emissions, military actions and war create a lot of other toxic pollutants. And, the UN reports, “while conflict exacerbates the effects of climate change, climate change, at least indirectly, drives conflict.”

Imagine what we could accomplish if all the resources used to kill and destroy went into solving the existential threats we’ve created.

David Boyd, UN special rapporteur for human rights and the environment (who has done work for the David Suzuki Foundation), told the Guardian, “This research helps us understand the immense magnitude of military emissions — from preparing for war, carrying out war and rebuilding after war. Armed conflict pushes humanity even closer to the precipice of climate catastrophe, and is an idiotic way to spend our shrinking carbon budget.” Millions of people in the Middle East, Ukraine and around the world are being killed, maimed, orphaned, displaced and starved as a result of war and climate change. Imagine what we could accomplish if all the resources used to kill and destroy went into solving the existential threats we’ve created. We’d better come to our senses before it’s too late.

By David Suzuki, with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Editor and Writer Ian Hanington

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Attention world leaders. Respect for human dignity is important.

Universal Truth, Facts & Life

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Posted by 

Shiv Tandon

 

May 25

RESPECT :

"I heard my mother asking the neighbors for salt." But we had salt in the house. I asked her why she was asking the neighbors for salt. And she answered me: —Because our neighbors don't have a lot of money and often they ask us for something.

From time to time, I also ask them for something small and inexpensive, so that they feel that we need them too. This way they will feel more comfortable and easier for them to keep asking us for everything they need."

Respect for human dignity is undoubtedly one of the noblest feelings.

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From the DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION. Our life-support systems are starting to disintegrate.

Climate and biodiversity solutions offer endless positive possibilities There’s no real reason for the climate and biodiversity crises to have gotten to this point, and there’s no good reason for them to continue getting worse. We’ve known for decades what the problem is — while we had ample time to address it — and we have no shortage of solutions. Many of those solutions are already creating positive change and more are being developed every day. The world is rapidly shifting to electric power, and renewable energy sources — mainly solar, wind and hydro, with storage — are supplying an ever-increasing amount: 30 per cent in 2023, according to the Energy Institute, up from 29 per cent the previous year. Policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States are showing results, such as lower emissions, cleaner power and increased electrification. Spinoff benefits include reduced pollution and related health care costs, good employment and economic returns.

We’ve known for decades what the problem is — while we had ample time to address it — and we have no shortage of solutions.

It’s not enough. Coal, oil and gas made up 60 per cent of electricity generation in 2023, with polluting coal making up the largest share. Nuclear power generation — which is expensive, potentially dangerous and takes a long time to build — remained steady at nine per cent. Global oil production reached record highs in 2023. We also know that protecting and restoring natural areas provides a hedge against runaway climate disruption, because oceans, plants, peat bogs and wetlands sequester carbon and keep it from entering the atmosphere. At the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, countries agreed to a 30X30 plan – “to halt and reverse nature loss, including putting 30 per cent of the planet and 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030.” Progress will be reviewed at COP16 in Colombia later this month.

The problem is that rapidly digging up and burning fossil fuels, logging forests and paving over wetlands for development are all extremely profitable.

Technology won’t get us entirely out of the mess we’ve created, but it is and will continue to be a big part of the cure. Technological advances over the past few decades show there’s no reason to think we can’t come up with even better remedies. Most of us now casually carry mini-computers more powerful than the computing systems that put people on the moon! Renewable energy and storage technologies are rapidly improving and dropping in price. We also need to use less energy and use it more efficiently — which shouldn’t be difficult because those of us living in the industrialized world use exponentially more than necessary. In 2022, Canada had the seventh-highest energy consumption per capita and the U.S. was 10th. Qatar is number one. On average, a person in Canada consumes more than 20 times the energy as a person in Pakistan or the Philippines. Even among northern countries, Canada uses close to twice the energy per capita as Sweden or Germany. The problem is that rapidly digging up and burning fossil fuels, logging forests and paving over wetlands for development are all extremely profitable. There’s a reason the automobile industry has long focused on building vehicles that require enormous amounts of fuel. Our current capitalist economic system, which measures progress through growth in gross domestic product, or GDP, encourages wasteful consumption. More growth in everything from population to industrial development creates more profit (albeit mostly concentrated in the hands of a few), which leads to more devastation.

We can and must change the systems that have brought us to this point where our life-support systems are starting to disintegrate.

Now we’re exceeding six of nine planetary boundaries and are close to breaching a seventh. These are “processes that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth system.” As the Stockholm Resilience Centre warns, “Crossing boundaries increases the risk of generating large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes. Drastic changes will not necessarily happen overnight, but together the boundaries mark a critical threshold for increasing risks to people and the ecosystems we are part of.” Climate change, introduction of novel entities (synthetic chemicals Earth can’t process), change in biosphere integrity, modification of biogeochemical flows, land system change and freshwater change have all been transgressed to varying degrees, and “Ocean acidification is approaching a critical threshold.” Only ozone depletion and atmospheric aerosol loading are stable or improving, thanks to international agreements. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have solutions. But we need to exercise more foresight and imagination. We can and must change the systems that have brought us to this point where our life-support systems are starting to disintegrate.

By David Suzuki, with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Editor and Writer Ian Hanington

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Liver-Protecting Fennel Juice [Vegan]

This is a juice that you’ve probably never tried before. It uses the vegetable fennel which many people seem to disregard. But once you discover the health benefits of this baby, I’m sure you’ll begin incorporating it into your diet a whole lot more! This nutrient-dense green fennel juice is sweet and spicy with so many incredible health benefits.

What Is the Most Survivable Cancer?

Most of the cancers, if diagnosed and treated in the early stages, are definitely survivable. 

Most of the cancers, if diagnosed and treated in the early stages, are definitely survivable. The main issue is timely detection. Many types of cancer are still very difficult to detect in the early stages because of their location, vague symptoms, and late reporting by patients. Higher survival rates are large because of several factors including not only early detection but also better treatment approaches. Treatment options have been revolutionized. A few decades ago, surgery and chemotherapy were the main treatment. However, now many more options are available such as immunotherapy and targeted drugs, hormone therapy, and radiation therapy.

According to the American Cancer Society, below is the list of survivable types of cancer, provided they are detected in stage I or localized stage.

Sr. No. (From most to least)	Type of cancer	Patients expected to survive five years after their diagnosis (percent)
1	Prostate cancer	99
2	Thyroid cancer	98
3	Testicular cancer	97
4	Melanoma (Skin cancer)	94
5	Female breast cancer	91
6	Hodgkin lymphoma (blood cancer of the lymphocytes)	88
7	Cancer of the uterus	83
8	Bladder cancer	78
9	Kidney and renal pelvis	75
10	Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (blood cancer)	74
11	Cancer of the cervix	69
12	Cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx	68
13	Colon and rectal cancer	66
14	Leukemia (Blood cancer)	65
15	Larynx	62
16	Myeloma (White blood cell cancer)	52
17	Ovarian cancer	48
18	Brain and nervous system cancer	35
19	Stomach cancer	32
20	Esophageal cancer	21
21	Lungs and bronchial cancer	19
22	Liver and bile duct cancer	19
23	Pancreatic cancer	9

What are the most common types of cancer?

Cancer is a leading cause of deaths worldwide. The most common types of cancer include

• Men: Prostate, lung and colorectal
• Women: Breast, lung and colorectal
• Children: Leukemia, brain tumors and lymphoma

What are the common causes of cancer?

Cancer arises from mutation of the normal cells into cancer cells in a multistage process. Below are a few common causes of cancer.

The Development and Causes of Cancer.

The Development and Causes of Cancer

The fundamental abnormality resulting in the development of cancer is the continual unregulated proliferation of cancer cells. Rather than responding appropriately to the signals that control normal cell behavior, cancer cells grow and divide in an uncontrolled manner, invading normal tissues and organs and eventually spreading throughout the body. The generalized loss of growth control exhibited by cancer cells is the net result of accumulated abnormalities in multiple cell regulatory systems and is reflected in several aspects of cell behavior that distinguish cancer cells from their normal counterparts.

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Types of Cancer

Cancer can result from abnormal proliferation of any of the different kinds of cells in the body, so there are more than a hundred distinct types of cancer, which can vary substantially in their behavior and response to treatment. The most important issue in cancer pathology is the distinction between benign and malignant tumors (Figure 15.1). A tumor is any abnormal proliferation of cells, which may be either benign or malignant. A benign tumor, such as a common skin wart, remains confined to its original location, neither invading surrounding normal tissue nor spreading to distant body sites. A malignant tumor, however, is capable of both invading surrounding normal tissue and spreading throughout the body via the circulatory or lymphatic systems (metastasis). Only malignant tumors are properly referred to as cancers, and it is their ability to invade and metastasize that makes cancer so dangerous. Whereas benign tumors can usually be removed surgically, the spread of malignant tumors to distant body sites frequently makes them resistant to such localized treatment.

Figure 15.1

A malignant tumor of the uterus. Micrographs of normal uterus (A) and a section of a uterine sarcoma (B). Note that the cancer cells (darkly stained) have invaded the surrounding normal tissue. (Cecil Fox/Molecular Histology, Inc.) 

Both benign and malignant tumors are classified according to the type of cell from which they arise. Most cancers fall into one of three main groups: carcinomas, sarcomas, and leukemias or lymphomas. Carcinomas, which include approximately 90% of human cancers, are malignancies of epithelial cells. Sarcomas, which are rare in humans, are solid tumors of connective tissues, such as muscle, bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissue. Leukemias and lymphomas, which account for approximately 8% of human malignancies, arise from the blood-forming cells and from cells of the immune system, respectively. Tumors are further classified according to tissue of origin (e.g., lung or breast carcinomas) and the type of cell involved. For example, fibrosarcomas arise from fibroblasts, and erythroid leukemias from precursors of erythrocytes (red blood cells).

Although there are many kinds of cancer, only a few occur frequently (Table 15.1). More than a million cases of cancer are diagnosed annually in the United States, and more than 500,000 Americans die of cancer each year. Cancers of 10 different body sites account for more than 75% of this total cancer incidence. The four most common cancers, accounting for more than half of all cancer cases, are those of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon/rectum. Lung cancer, by far the most lethal, is responsible for nearly 30% of all cancer deaths.

Table 15.1

Ten Most Frequent Cancers in the United States. 

Cancer Chemotherapy...jokes!

                 CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY JOKES...HA! HA!

                  1.        Vaseline Intensive Care proverb 101... Small holes always need grease!

                   2.         To Pee or not to Pee, dear Yorick, is not an option!! Run to the bathroom!!

                   3.         Wake up! WAKE UP!! Your pillow is drowning you!! Change pillows fast!!  

                   4.         Doctor! Why is it called therapy?

                   5.         Do not take candy from a baby but... the baby powder?  Of course NOT!

                   6.         Always swipe with baby swipes for big babies!

                   7.         When I look into your eyes, gentle nurse, I forget the needle in your hand!!

                    8.        Did I mention how I...OUCH!...hated needles!! 

                     9.        Damn cat keeps peeing on the floor! What!!? We don't have a Cat?

                    10.      BUT DOCTOR! I LOVE POTATO CHIPS, SOFT DRINKS, AND CANDY BARS!!

                    11.      I am not embarrassed to take my clothes off. I always wanted to be a nudist!

                    12.      Why do they leave hospital gowns open in the back? 

                    13.      Is it true? Are they using viruses to kill Cancer tumours?