One thing we need right now, in the midst of the pandemic, is masks that are approved to protect people from an airborne virus.  Doctors, nurses, and all other people working with those who are infected, or might be infected, need them first.  They are top priority.  Masks alone of course are not all that is required.  But it is a crime that our medical care providers don’t even have enough to protect themselves while they are providing care.

Here is a petition to ask the president to do more: https://www.change.org/N95MasksNow

If you already agree, here are two simple steps action steps you can take:

1.  Sign this petition:Petition

2.  Share the petition with others

If you want more information, read on…

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is an ongoing crisis that was triggered by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.  Japanese nuclear reactors were critically damaged, radioactive fallout was released, and radioactive contamination is still being released.  It is spreading worldwide through air, water, and food, and we need to do something about it.  To explain why we need to do something about it, I will begin by talking about cancer.

Cancer always has a cause.  It used to be a rare disease, now it is an epidemic.  Yet we rarely stop to think about why.

Cancer happens when a cell of the body gets hit in the right spot, and uncontrolled cellular growth happens.  It can happen in one step, or multiple steps.  The main causes of cancer are radiation and chemicals.  The process can be very complicated, as when radiation or chemicals cause a mutation in DNA, which is passed along to the next generation creating an increased susceptibility to cancer, if it is triggered… again usually by radiation and or chemicals.

Therefore, radioactive fallout and leakage from Fukushima is a bad thing, not just because of immediate illness caused by radiation exposure, but by the long term consequence of cancer, which can take months, or years to show up.  (Cancer is not the only health affect, but one I am the most familiar with.  Miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects, infertility… are other health effects of radiation exposure.)

Many radioactive fallout materials stay harmful for thousands of years.  There are materials from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and above ground nuclear tests from the 1950s that continue to harm people today.  But they have spread throughout the world, and are added to what is called “background radiation”.

On my birthday in 2011, the Fukushima incident happened.  Corporations who profit from nuclear power don’t want the world to know how serious it was, and continues to be, because if people knew the truth all nuclear power plants would be shut down.  Corporations have been able to convince most politicians and media sources not to publicize or even believe that the Fukushima nuclear reactors are continuing to harm the public, both from radioactive fallout spreading, continuing leakage, and the risk of further damage by earthquakes.  The silence is deafening.

Senator Ron Wyden is a rare exception.  He toured Fukushima, and saw that the situation is worse than reported.

All of this is overwhelming.  If it weren’t for my 4 year old son, I might be tempted to pretend it isn’t happening.  But I have a responsibility to make the world safer for his sake, if not for my own.

That is why I am so happy that another mom, Kimberly Roberson, is doing something about it.  She started the Fukushima Fallout Food Safety Petition on Change.org to demand that the US government monitor what is going on, work to keep products contaminated with radioactive fallout off supermarket shelves, and come up with ways to stop the continuing spread of radioactive contamination.

As part of informing people about what is going on, she has written a book called “Silence Deafening”.  She is working on a second book also to raise awareness of this threat, and to come up with solutions.  Because she is doing something about the problem,  I support her 100 percent.

By the way, I don’t believe that the people running nuclear power plants, or those that support them are evil.  I think they are just in denial about the dangers and harm they are causing.  Denial is something humans are very good at.

In summary, the Fukushima nuclear reactors are continuing to cause harm, and action is required.  I hope everyone in the USA will sign the petition started by Kimberly Roberson on Change.org.  There are other petitions that address the Fukushima issue, including ones not directed at the USA, but I am focusing on Kimberly Roberson’s efforts right now.

It is a big, overwhelming problem, but there are two things most people can do easily from the comfort of their homes.  1.  Sign this :Petition   2.  Share the petition

Here are some links that I hope people will check out:

1.  Petition:  http://www.change.org/petitions/urgent-fukushima-radioactive-fallout-food-safety-petition

2.  Book: http://www.silencedeafening.com

3.  Senator Wyden’s press release:  http://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/after-tour-of-fukushima-nuclear-power-station-wyden-says-situation-worse-than-reported

Pesticides, which in includes herbicides and “weed killer” are poisons.  They are harmful to human health.

Think about it.  If you have dandelion in your yard and you jump up and down on it, and pull its head off… it survives.  A human being would not.  It takes a lot of strong poison to kill a dandelion.  And the poison doesn’t magically disappear in a few days, or after it rains.  Most of the weed killers sold to homeowners in the USA are illegal in Ontario Canada, because they are harmful to human health.

People have been brainwashed into thinking that we must have lawns, and that they must contain only grass.  I disagree.  If I see a lawn with dandelions, I believe the homeowner cares more about the health of his or her family, than about having a weed free lawn.

From my friend Cyndi Norwitz: People focus on the individual mandate part (which has its issues but is far from being the whole of healthcare reform). What many forget is that a large portion of healthcare reform was getting rid of insurance company abuses like what is depicted here.