Wednesday, March 26, 2008

April: Charity of the Month

The Center for Acupuncture has chosen it's first charity. In light of current events, we have decided to donate to the International Campaign for Tibet. Information on this organization can be found on its website as well as a list of some of their projects and its mission.

Center for Acupuncture Gives Back

The Center for Acupuncture is pleased to announce its new charitable donation policy. Each month, beginning in April, the Center for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine in Westfield, New Jersey will choose a different charity and donate $1 from each treatment in its busiest week of the month to said charity.

The Center for Acupuncture will post in its offices and website/blog information about each charity that it chooses. Final decisions about the charities chosen will be made by myself and my wife, Ann, but we strongly encourage patients and anyone so inclined to let their recommendations be known. We plan on choosing from local, national and international charities.

Information on our first charity is coming soon......

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Petition for Tibet

Stand With Tibet

Dear friends,

After decades of repression under Chinese rule, the Tibetan people's frustrations have burst onto the streets in protests and riots. With the spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games now on China, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change.

The Chinese government has said that the protesters who have not yet surrendered "will be punished". Its leaders are right now considering a crucial choice between escalating brutality or dialogue that could determine the future of Tibet, and China.

We can affect this historic choice--China does care about its international reputation. China's President Hu Jintao needs to hear that the 'Made in China' brand and the upcoming Olympics in Beijing can succeed only if he makes the right choice. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get his attention--and we need it in the next 48 hours.

The Tibetan Nobel peace prize winner and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has called for restraint and dialogue: he needs the world's people to support him. Click below now to sign the petition--and tell absolutely everyone you can right away--our goal is 1 million voices united for Tibet:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/97.php/?cl_tf_sign=1

China's economy is totally dependent on "Made in China" exports that we all buy, and the government is keen to make the Olympics in Beijing this summer a celebration of a new China, respected as a leading world power. China is also a very diverse country with a brutal past and has reason to be concerned about its stability -- some of Tibet's rioters killed innocent people. But President Hu must recognize that the greatest danger to Chinese stability and development comes from hardliners who advocate escalating repression, not from Tibetans who seek dialogue and reform.

We will deliver our petition directly to Chinese officials in London, New York, and Beijing, but it must be a massive number before we deliver the petition. Please forward this email to your address book with a note explaining to your friends why this is important, or use our tell-a-friend tool to email your address book--it will come up after you sign the petition.

The Tibetan people have suffered quietly for decades. It is finally their moment to speak--we must help them be heard.

With hope and respect,

Ricken, Iain, Graziela, Paul, Galit, Pascal, Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team

PS - It has been suggested that the Chinese government may block the Avaaz website as a result of this email, and thousands of Avaaz members in China will no longer be able to participate in our community. A poll of Avaaz members over the weekend showed that over 80% of us believed it was still important to act on Tibet despite this terrible potential loss to our community, if we thought we could make a difference. If we are blocked, Avaaz will help maintain the campaign for internet freedom for all Chinese people, so that our members in China can one day rejoin our community.

Here are some links with more information on the Tibetan protests and the Chinese response:
BBC News: UN Calls for Restraint in Tibet - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7301912.stm
Human Right Watch: China Restrain from Violently Attacking Protesters - http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/15/china18291.htm
Associated Press: Tibet Unrest Sparks Global Reaction - http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gSSpPcDOPMoAiRLhPUyezuCRiXBQD8VFDD680
New York Times: China Takes Steps to Thwart Reporting on Tibet Protests - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/world/asia/18access.html?ref=world
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ABOUT AVAAZ


Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

More Organic Bytes....

DISTURBING NEWS OF THE WEEK:
TOXIC SOUP OF PLASTIC TWICE THE SIZE OF U.S. FORMS IN OCEAN

The University of Hawaii is set to launch an expedition with the goal of confirming a new trash "continent" in the Pacific Ocean. A vast expanse of floating trash has been collecting in the Pacific Ocean into a mass that scientists are now referring to as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The thick mass of plastic soup, located approximately 500 miles east of California, is now reported to be twice the size of the Unites States. The collection of debris comes as no surprise to experts in this area. According to a recent report from the UN Environment Programme, on a global level, each square mile of ocean water contains an average of 46,000 pieces of floating garbage.
Learn more:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10831.cfm

News Alerts from the Organic Consumers Association

CONSUMER ALERT:
CANCER-CAUSING INGREDIENT FOUND IN LEADING "ORGANIC" & "NATURAL" PERSONAL CARE PRODCUTS
A newly released study commissioned by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and overseen by environmental health consumer advocate David Steinman (author of The Safe Shopper's Bible), revealed the presence of the undisclosed carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-Dioxane in leading shampoos, body washes, lotions and other personal care and household cleaning products claiming to be "natural" or "organic". The study results, to be released this weekend at the Natural Products Expo in California, are already sending shockwaves through the "organic" and "natural" body care industry. Laboratory tests showed that products certified under the USDA National Organic Program DID NOT contain this toxin, but most of the best selling personal care products claiming to be "organic" (but not USDA certified) contained the cancer-causing ingredient. All leading self-proclaimed "organic" brands have at least a few individual "certified organic" ingredients, but for most of these top-selling brands, the product, as a whole, is not USDA organic certified, thereby allowing the presence of synthetic toxins. Similar studies have revealed the presence of this toxin in conventional personal care products, but this is the first study indicating the presence in misleadingly labeled "organic" and "natural" products.
Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/comingclean.cfm
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CONSUMER TIP OF THE WEEK:
HOW TO AVOID 1,4-DIOXANE IN YOUR PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS
  • Some of the products found to contain 1,4-Dioxane: JASON Pure Natural & Organic, Giovanni Organic Cosmetics, Kiss My Face, Nature’s Gate Organics (see a full list of OCA's study results here)
  • Remember that just because a personal care product labels itself with the words "organic" or "certified organic" doesn't mean it meets any specified organic standards.
  • Look for products that are certified under the USDA National Organic Program (or a similar German program) and products that bear the "USDA Organic" seal.
  • Search product labels for ingredients with the following in their names to avoid products containing 1,4-Dioxane: myreth, oleth, laureth, ceteareth, any other eth, PEG, polyethylene, polyethylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, or oxynol.
  • In general, avoid products with unpronounceable ingredients to be sure to avoid synthetic toxins and carcinogens.
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QUICK RELATED BLIP:
INDUSTRY IGNORES CONSUMER CONCERNS & CREATES BOGUS "OASIS" ORGANIC STANDARD

A new "organic" standard for personal care products has been created exclusively by conventional industry members like Estee Lauder (owner of Aveda), Loreal and Hain (Jason, Avalon), without any input or comment period from organic consumers, organic farmers or personal care companies who have achieved USDA National Organic Program certification for the majority of their products. The OASIS standard allows a product to be labeled outright as “Organic” (rather than “Made with Organic Specified Ingredients”) even if it contains hydrogenated and sulfated cleansing ingredients like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate made from conventional agricultural material grown with synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, and preserved with synthetic petrochemical preservatives like Ethylhexylglycerin and Phenoxyethanol. As always, the OCA recommends consumers look for personal care products certified under the USDA National Organic Program.
Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10886.cfm
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We need your support today to continue to
our work fighting for the rights of organic farmers and organic consumers!

Donate Now!
http://www.organicconsumers.org/donations.htm

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Expressions of the Heart

My most recent article with my colleague and good friend Brandt Stickley has just been published with the Chinese Medicine Times relating to the Heart in Chinese medicine. You can access it here.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

March in the Year of Sagely Living

March in the YSL relates to cycles of rest and activity, sympathetic and parasympathetic, the 'peaceful tension between opposites' like inhaling and exhaling. Finding and honing this balance is the task of the next month. As my vacation entered the first two days of March, it strikes me that traveling with three young children one must endeavor to find this balance. Vacations are a time to rest and relax; to renew one's spirit and broaden one's base of experiences. Children do not let their parents relax; there is no down-time even on vacation. Here is a basic 'peaceful tension' in my life that follows me whether I am in work (13 steps away) or on vacation. Keeping this tension peaceful is the game.

So, while I would love to say that my vacation was a time of rest, and back to work a time of activity, the reality is that my home life, my work life and my vacation times are a blend of these opposites. My challenge this month will be to find a way to make these opposites more peaceful and blend together more seamlessly. How to find time to relax while working; how to be productive without compromising my health; to have dedicated time to practice my tai ji more diligently; to cut off working/studying with ample time to wind down before bedtime; and to retire in the evening earlier.