Slow Death by Rubber Duck by Rick Smith, Bruce Lourie and Sarah Dopp (Book Review)

From the publisher:

“Funny, thought-provoking, hopeful, and incredibly disturbing, Slow Death by Rubber Duck is an alarming yet informative book about the toxic elements around us. It reveals that just the living of daily life creates a chemical soup inside each of us, and empowers readers by offering some simple ideas for how they can protect themselves and their families and change things for the better.”


What intrigued me about this book was that the two authors, both environmentalists, Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie, decided on a whim to expose themselves with a variety of chemicals and see what kind of test results might be produced. They wanted to know what kind of chemical toxins their children were exposed to. These chemicals are ones that everyone is exposed to on a daily basis and all of them are toxic to the human body. It made me aware that toxins in the products available to consumers have more impact on a personal level than other environmental concerns such as global warming and oil spills. And it is very, very scary that corporations care more about their profit margin than the current health and future health of the consumers that purchase their products. It’s also appalling corporations get away with this.

Although I had already changed some brands of my daily toiletries and cosmetics to ones that have less toxic substances in them, this book provided a real eye opener to others. For example, “flame-retardant chemicals from electronics and household dust polluting our blood; toxins in our urine caused by leaching from plastics, run-of-the-mill shampoos, toothpastes and deodorants; mercury in our blood from eating tuna; and the chemicals that build up in our body when carpets and upholstery off-gas.”

When did this start? When companies brainwashed consumers through advertisements that they needed these products to have a cleaner, safer home and neighbourhood environment. Early ads for DDT told families it was safe to use, and later it was discovered not to be safe at all. Use Teflon so your eggs don’t stick! Use flame retardant clothing on your children in case they play with matches!

The topic seems to be overwhelming, but the light approach taken by the authors provides information and a variety of avenues the consumer can make to change their choice of products in order to limit their exposure and that of their children. They explain about their research into several of the more toxic products on the market: Teflon coated frying pans; triclosan in toothpaste, cosmetics and a variety of other household products, toys, water; PCBs, PBDEs, phthalates in food, food processing, household products, toys and other products. There is medical research outlining triclosan’s “interference on thyroid activity”. Further, “In Scandinavia, government officials have discouraged the use of triclosan as a result of possible endocrine disruption as well as potential bacterial resistance.”

Many chemical manufacturers continue to produce substances which are considered by the Environmental Protection Act [EPA][U.S.] to be hazardous waste materials. These substances are used in food, clothing, cosmetics, fragrances, household items, toys and other products.

People need knowledge of the information that is provided by this book to help provide change in the products consumers purchase. There are various websites listed and intelligent insights about the research conducted on the various products within the book. The authors have provided a positive approach for others to take control of reducing their exposure to harmful toxins.

To assist in remembering which plastic containers are safe to use, the authors made a mantra of “5, 4, 2, 1: all the rest are bad for you.” They also provide a “handy plastics guide” containing the recycling symbol, plastic type and description.

It is important for consumers to be aware of any possible health risks in the use of certain products by providing full disclosure on the package about the ingredients/chemicals within before they are purchased. Consumers have the right to make a well informed decision about any product available especially when there is the possibility of exposing young vulnerable children to it.

This book is a MUST READ for all parents, prospective parents and care givers. Please enlighten yourself about the products you use.


"A fascinating and frightening read leavened by frequent references to pop culture--everything from Saturday Night Live episodes to quotes from Miss Marple--as well as the authors' brio in using their own bodies as test subjects."
The Globe and Mail

"Alarming, engrossing, and just plain loony at times, their experiments drive home just how mundanely day-to-day our mass chemical poisoning has become."
Adria Vasil, author of Ecoholic


About the authors:

RICK SMITH is one of Canada's leading environmentalists and executive director of Environmental Defence. He holds a doctorate in biology from the University of Guelph.

BRUCE LOURIE is an environmental professional with expertise in toxic pollution and mercury. He works closely with governments, businesses, foundations and non-profit organizations. He is president of the Ivey Foundation.

SARAH DOPP is a veteran grassroots organizer, political staffer, and campaigner.

They all live in Toronto.

Book format: Paperback, 340 pages
Publisher: Vintage Canada, an imprint of RandomHouse Canada

Website: www.slowdeathbyrubberduck.com

Available at:

Amazon.com

chapters.indigo.ca

You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe - Christopher Potter (Book Review)

Mr. Potter has an easy way of explaining the meaning of what we call the universe. He begins with the story of how something evolved from nothing and how that something became everything, while exploring everything in between.

A brief excerpt provides an excellent example:

“We do not like to think about the universe because we fear the immensity that is everything. The universe reduces us to a nub, making it difficult to escape the idea that size matters. After all, who can deny the universe when there is so much of it? ‘Spiritual aspirations threaten to be swallowed up by this senseless bulk into a sort of nightmare of meaninglessness,’ wrote the Anglo-German scholar Edward Conze (1904—1979). ‘The enormous quantity of matter that we perceive around us, compared with the trembling little flicker of spiritual insight that we perceive within us, seems to tell strongly in favour of a materialistic outlook on life.’ We know that we must lose if we are to contest the universe.

Just as terrifying is the idea of nothing at all. A little while ago each of us was nothing, and then was something. No wonder children have nightmares. The something of our existence ought to make the nothingness that preceded life an impossibility, since we also know, as King Lear observes, that ‘nothing can come of nothing’. And yet every day in the annihilation and miraculous resurrection of the ego that is going to sleep and waking up, we are reminded of that very nothingness from which each of us emerges.”

Mr. Potter weaves an entertaining narrative following the history of early scientists and philosophers with their perceptions of gravity, life, whether the earth or the sun is the centre of the universe.

There is an interesting chapter on the original humans in Africa, including descriptions of the various types of fossils found of humans’ hominin ancestors and subspecies, like the Neanderthals. He writes in detail of the different branches of hominins related to chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.

This book provides current scientific thinking from quarks to galaxy superclusters, quantum physics, string theory and details are described of the different sizes of things in space until suddenly distances in the universe are understood.

The examples Mr. Potter uses to explain the infinite space and particles of the universe are wonderful, and I whole-heartedly recommend this book to others.

Format: Hardcover
Publication Date: March 10, 2009
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Pages: 304

Quantum Shift in the Global Brain by Ervin Laszlo (Book Review)

How the New Scientific Reality Can Change Us and Our World




Our world is in a Macroshift. The reality we are experiencing today is a substantially new reality--climate change, global corporations, industrialized agriculture--challenging us to change with our rapidly changing world, lest we perish.

In this book, Ervin Laszlo presents a new “reality map” to guide us through the world shifts we are experiencing--the problems, opportunities, and challenges we face individually as well as collectively--in order to help us understand what we must do during this time of great transition. Science’s cutting edge now views reality as broader, with multiple universes arising in a possibly infinite meta-universe, and deeper, extending into dimensions at the subatomic level. Laszlo shows aspects of human experience that had previously been consigned to the domain of intuition and speculation are now being explored with scientific rigor and urgency. There has been a shift in the materialistic scientific view of reality toward the multidimensional worldview of multiple interconnected realities long known by the world’s great spiritual traditions. By understanding the interconnectedness of our changing world as well as our changing “map” of the world, we can navigate with insight, wisdom, and confidence.

The current reality experienced is the beginning of a rapidly changing world. It is important for humans to understand the new transition in science: multiple universes and how to interact with them. Ervin Laszlo acknowledges a shift from the “scientific view of reality toward the multidimensional world-view of multiple interconnected realities long known by the world’s great spiritual traditions.” It all comes down to change or become extinct. It is well known that complex systems evolve and science, as we know it, is in the midst of a paradigm shift.

We are headed toward a collapse of the economic and political processes, and military fallout…it is a necessity to transform ideas into solutions to combat these processes, to negate the collapse of economic and political processes, and prevent ecological shortages.

Currently humans are at the brink of extinction unless a positive outlook is formed and fresh opportunities are developed to evolve into a new civilization. All complex systems that evolve through bifurcations and species mutating to avoid extinction are known as macroshifts.

Ervin Laszlo presents a different approach for his ‘reality map’ which guides us through the changes in science and discovery for individuals and society. Quantum science has many shifts related to the worldview, values and Mr. Laszlo provides explanations on the maximum code, on how to manifest a new reality. This is humans’ time of great transition of old ways yielding to new multi-dimensional realities.

The current method of human morality is out-dated by allowing people to live any way they desire. Those at the top of the scale, the rich and mighty, consume a disproportionate share of the planet’s resources while blocking access to vital resources to the less privileged. The suggestion presented is in developing a new planetary ethic where others less fortunate are able to live properly and without resentment towards those who control the greater quantity of essential items to provide the ability to live.

In supporting his theories of making these global changes, Ervin Laszlo discusses life and mind-transforming experiences of people who have had a near-death experience returning to life with a changed consciousness and awareness of a new energy: they have achieved inner peace, empathy for others, a reverence for nature and a new found appreciation of existence. For those who dismiss this, I have personally had two near-death experiences which left me with a realization of being part of a larger plan and all people on this planet are inter-connected though we are individuals. It is through spiritual emotions that we are all connected, whether by use of negativity or positive thoughts. It is preferable to create positive emotions in order to create a new methodology of saving our planet and ourselves. Currently there is an excess of negative emotions which is dragging down mankind and creating unnecessary struggling. With these ideals Ervin Laszlo is trying to provide an explanation of how we might overcome these negative struggles to a better and more positive lifestyle that benefits everyone.

In creating a globally interdependent and interacting world the ethic must be an amalgamation of all the ethics of mankind to produce what Mr. Laszlo calls a ‘planetary ethic’. There have been ongoing changes in how some sub-culture organizations and individuals who desire a better lifestyle through the development of producing natural and organic foodstuffs, alternative healthcare, personal development and a stable ecological lifestyle.

He goes on to explain the new fundamental concept of reality as it relates to science as opposed to what most people believe. Everything is composed of different elements of energy complete with information: there are no bits of matter floating around in empty space. The universe is constantly changing and evolving into new realities.

Scientists working on quantum science have rediscovered a cosmic meditative state that has been in existence for thousands of years known as “akasha”, a Sanskrit term for the most fundamental of the five elements of the cosmos, from an Indian philosophical tradition. As “akasha” underlies all the manifest phenomena of the cosmos, it can be sought through spiritual practice of meditation, reached and implemented to manifest phenomena.

This is the same reality that a person who has a near-death experiences touches, if only briefly. There is nothing on earth quite like it.

Ervin Laszlo continues with probable explanations on how to evoke the next evolution of human consciousness by gradually developing the ability, not unlike the mystics, sages, healers and yogis who are able to raise their intuitive levels to seek their answers or manifest healing properties.

Ervin Laszlo, twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, is editor of the international periodical World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution and Chancellor-Designate of the newly formed GlobalShift University. He is the founder and president of the international think tanks the Club of Budapest and the General Evolution Research Group and the author of 83 books translated into 21 languages. He lives in Italy.

This is a book I recommend for those who are interested in quantum physics and the meditative state as it is written in a style I was able to understand, considering my strengths are not in science and mathematics.

Publisher: Inner Traditions International
Pages: 184