The conscious Earth energy
is the standard of our balance.
When we are not in attunement,
we become ill, aggressive, depressed.
To destroy the Earth is to destroy
ourselves. How is it that so many
do not understand this?
Seek your balance, harmony
with all so that you will
know serenity and good health.
Your life will improve beyond
your greatest dreams. You
will become all that you are.
The revelation comes in the wake of the international furore over the killing of Marius, a healthy 18-month-old giraffe, by Copenhagen Zoo. It has since been established that five of the animals have been put down by zoos in Denmark since 2012.
Across Europe, 22 healthy zebras, four hippos and two Arabian Oryx were also put down. The Oryx were killed at Edinburgh and London zoos in 2000 and 2001.
Several German zookeepers were prosecuted in 2010 for killing three tiger cubs at Magdeburg Zoo. However, some zoos, such as Twycross in Warwickshire, have a policy of not putting down healthy animals.
Dr Lesley Dickie, executive director of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (Eaza), told BBC Radio 4’s The Report that between 3,000 and 5,000 healthy animals are put down every year across Europe. “That’s our estimate for all animals management euthanised in the zoo, be it tadpoles…
Assisted by some two dozen other Żegota members, Sendler smuggled some 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto and then provided them with false identity documents and with housing outside the Ghetto, saving those children during the Holocaust.
Irena Sendler was born as Irena Krzyżanowska on 15 February 1910 in Warsaw to Dr. Stanisław Krzyżanowski, a physician, and his wife, Janina. Her father died in February 1917 from typhus contracted while treating patients whom his colleagues refused to treat in fear of contracting the disease, among them many Jews. After his death, Jewish community leaders offered her mother help in paying for Sendler’s education. Sendler studied Polish literature at Warsaw University, and joined the Socialist party. She opposed the ghetto-bench system that existed at some prewar Polish universities and defaced her grade card. As a result of her public protest she was suspended from the University of Warsaw for three years.
She married Mieczyslaw Sendler, but the couple divorced in 1947. In 1947, she married Stefan Zgrzembski, a Jewish friend from her university days. They had three children, Janina, Andrzej (who died in infancy) and Adam (who died of heart failure in 1999). She divorced Zgrzembski in 1959, and remarried her first husband, Mieczyslaw Sendler. This rematch also failed. She lived in Warsaw for the rest of her life, and is survived by daughter, Janina “Janka” Zgrzembska.
~~World War II~~
During the German occupation of Poland, Sendler lived in Warsaw (prior to that, she had lived in Otwock and Tarczyn while working for urban Social Welfare departments). As early as 1939, when the Germans invaded Poland, she began aiding Jews. She and her helpers created more than 3,000 false documents to help Jewish families, prior to joining the organized Żegota resistance and the children’s division. Helping Jews in German-occupied Poland meant all household members risked death if they were found to be hiding Jews, a punishment far more severe than in other occupied European countries.
“Every child saved with my help is the justification of my existence on this Earth, and not a title to glory.” (Irena Sendler)
On 14 March 2007, Sendler was honored by the Polish Senate. Aged 97, she was unable to leave her nursing home to receive the honor, but she sent a statement through Elżbieta Ficowska, whom Sendler had helped to save as an infant. Polish President Lech Kaczyński stated she “can justly be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.” Also in 2007 the Polish government presented her as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
This initiative was officially supported by the State of Israel through its prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and the Organization of Holocaust Survivors in Israel residents. The authorities of Oświęcim (Auschwitz in German) expressed support for this nomination, because Irena Sendler was considered one of the last living heroes of her generation, and demonstrated a strength, conviction and extraordinary values against an evil of an extraordinary nature. She was passed over that year for the Nobel Peace Prize, which was given to Al Gore, and to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
On 11 April 2007, she received the Order of the Smile (the oldest recipient of the award).
In May 2009, Sendler was posthumously granted the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award. The award, named in honor of the late actress and UNICEF ambassador, is presented to persons and organizations recognised for helping children. In its citation, the Audrey Hepburn Foundation recalled Sendler’s heroic efforts which saved some 2,500 Jewish children during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. Sendler was the last survivor of the Children’s Section of the Żegota Council to Assist Jews, which she had headed from August 1943 until the end of the war.
Irena Sendler died in Warsaw on 12 May 2008, aged 98.
It’s National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and this amazing infographic is a great resource for raising awareness of how the unrealistic images we see in media and advertising can affect the self-esteem of girls and women. It’s filled with facts such as: “Ten years ago, plus-size models averaged between size 12 and 18. The majority of plus-size models on agency boards today are between size 6 and 14.”
Girls are inundated with visions of beauty in ads and other media that are unattainable and often photo-shopped. This awareness week offers an excellent opportunity to talk with the girls in your life about these types of media messages and body image-related issues and we’ve pulled together several resources to help.
For a wonderful guide to help girls understand how the images seen in such advertising are illusionary, we recommend “All Made Up: A Girl’s Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype to Celebrate Real Beauty” for ages 10 to 14 at http://www.amightygirl.com/all-made-up
For books for parents that address body image issues, including the helpful guide “101 Ways to Help Your Daughter Love Her Body,” visit our “Body Image / Self-Esteem” parenting section at http://www.amightygirl.com/parenting/body-image-self-esteem
Full Credit/Source/Article: https://www.facebook.com/amightygirl
Eating disorders are conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual’s physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa are the most common specific forms of eating disorders.
Bulimia nervosa, also called bulimia, is a psychological eating disorder that is characterized by episodes of binge eating (consuming a large quantity of food in one sitting) followed by inappropriate methods of weight control, such as vomiting, fasting, enemas, excessive use of laxatives and diuretics, or compulsive exercising.
~~Symptoms of bulimia may include~~
Eating uncontrollably followed by purging
Vomiting or abusing laxatives or diuretics in an attempt to lose weight
Erosion of tooth enamel because of repeated exposure to acidic gastric contents
Dental cavities
Tooth sensitivity to hot or cold food
Swelling and soreness in the salivary glands (from repeated vomiting)
Stomach ulcers
Ruptures of the stomach and esophagus
Disruption in the normal bowel release function
Dehydration
Irregular heartbeat
Heart attack (in severe cases)
Lower libido (sex drive)
Higher risk for suicidal behavior
Anorexia nervosa is a type of eating disorder. People who have anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight. They severely limit the amount of food they eat and can become dangerously thin.
Anorexia affects both the body and the mind. It may start as dieting, but it gets out of control. You think about food, dieting, and weight all the time. You have a distorted body image. Other people say you are too thin, but when you look in the mirror, you see a fat person.
What are the symptoms?
People who have anorexia often strongly deny that they have a problem. They don’t see or believe that they do. It’s usually up to their loved ones to get help for them. If you are worried about someone, you can look for certain signs.
People who have anorexia:
Weigh much less than is healthy or normal.
Are very afraid of gaining weight.
Refuse to stay at a normal weight.
Think they are overweight even when they are very thin.
Their lives become focused on controlling their weight. They may:
Vomit or use laxatives or water pills (diuretics) to avoid weight gain.
Binge eating disorder is a serious condition characterized by uncontrollable eating and resulting weight gain. People with binge eating disorder frequently eat large amounts of food (beyond the point of feeling full) while feeling a loss of control over their eating. Often, these habits are a way of coping with depression, stress, oranxiety. Although the bingeing behavior is similar to what occurs in bulimia nervosa, people with binge eating disorder do not engage in purging by vomiting or using laxatives.
What Are the Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder?
Most people overeat from time to time, and many people say they frequently eat more than they should. Eating large amounts of food, however, does not mean that a person has binge eating disorder. People with binge eating disorder have several of the following symptoms weekly for at least 3 months:
Frequent episodes of eating what others would consider an abnormally large amount of food
Frequent feelings of being unable to control what or how much is being eaten
Eating much more rapidly than usual
Eating until uncomfortably full
Eating large amounts of food, even when not physically hungry
Eating alone out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten
Feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating
People who have binge eating disorder also tend to have:
Fluctuations in weight
Feelings of low self-esteem
Loss of sexual desire
Frequent dieting
The precise cause of eating disorders is not entirely understood, but there is evidence that it may be linked to other medical conditions and situations. Cultural idealization of thinness and youthfulness have contributed to eating disorders affecting diverse populations.
Some think that peer pressure and idealized body-types seen in the media are also a significant factor. Some research shows that for certain people there are genetic reasons why they may be prone to developing an eating disorder.
People with eating disorders may have a dysfunctional hunger cognitive module which causes various feelings of distress to make them feel hungry.
While proper treatment can be highly effective for many suffering from specific types of eating disorders, the consequences of eating disorders can be severe, including death (whether from direct medical effects of disturbed eating habits or from co-morbid conditions such as suicidal thinking).
Today is International Polar Bear Day, which celebrates everyone’s favorite furry beasts of the Arctic. In honor of the occasion, Live Science brings you some wacky facts about the furry beasts.
~~Males can weigh as much as a dozen men~~
An adult male polar bear typically weighs between 775 and 1,200 pounds (351 to 544 kilograms), or the weight of about five to seven men. The largest polar bear ever recorded was a male weighing 2,209 pounds (1,000 kg), according to Polar Bear International. By contrast, adult females weigh only half as much as males, or 330 to 650 pounds (50 to 295 kg).
But the bears are tiny when they’re born, weighing only about 1 pound (0.5 kg). Males reach their adult size between ages 8 and 14, while females reach full size between ages 5 and 6.
~~They can go days without eating~~
If a polar bear doesn’t eat for seven to 10 days, it can slow its metabolism until it finds its next meal. They survive off of fat reserves from their diet, which consists mostly of ringed and bearded seals. (But climate change is making food more scarce and driving some bears to cannibalism.)
The bears don’t hibernate, but mother bears live in dens while they raise their cubs. While mama bears are in their dens (generally between January and March), they don’t eat, drink or defecate.
~~Polar bears sport see-through fur~~
Although polar bears appear white, their fur is actually transparent. It only appears white, because it reflects visible light. Under their fur, polar bear skin is actually black.
To humans and other animals that can see only in visible light, the bears appear to blend in with their snowy surroundings. But reindeer, which polar bears sometimes prey on, can see in ultraviolet light, which makes polar bears stand out from their snowy environment.
~~They have a razor-sharp sense of smell~~
Polar bears have a keen sense of smell, which they use to find prey. A polar bear can sniff out a seal on the ice 20 miles (32 kilometers) away, and can smell a seal’s breathing hole in the ice more than half a mile away, according to the National Zoo.
~~Two-thirds of polar bears could disappear by 2050~~
Polar bears rely on sea ice to hunt, and studies predict that global warming could melt enough sea ice to lead to the disappearance of two-thirds of polar bears by 2050. The decline in sea ice has forced the bears to swim longer distances, consuming energy they cannot afford to use.
The United States listed polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in May 2008, and Canada and Russia have listed them as a species of special concern. Unless climate change slows, eventually there may not be any bears around to celebrate Polar Bear Day.
Full Credit/Source/Article: http://www.livescience.com/43673-weird-facts-about-polar-bears.html