Sunshine Overcomes Depression by Sharon L. Wallenberg

It is a scientific fact that sunshine produces a chemical reaction in the brain.  The brain produces serotonin, a chemical that is a potent mood enhancer.   There is a relationship between serotonin production and bright light, usually the sun, but can be from artificial light.  Serotonin is a natural anti-depressant without the dangerous side effects of anti-depressant drugs. Some of these drugs have been linked to suicides.

Conversely, the lack of sunshine has been scientifically proven to cause depression.  People who spend most of their time indoors not only miss receiving Vitamin D from the action of sunlight on the skin, but also have a higher risk of depression. 

Next time you feel down in the dumps, go for a walk outside, and enjoy the beautiful, healthful Florida sunshine.  Don’t forget the sunscreen!  Humans in their infinite lack of wisdom have depleted the earth’s ozone (protection) layer making it necessary (and lucrative for some) to use sunscreen.  The SPF rating (which you always wanted to know what it meant, but too were embarrassed to ask) stands for Sun Protection Factor. 

Enjoy the sun!  Be happy!

Enjoy the sun!  Be happy!

World Response to Coronavirus Disease and Climate Change by Sharon L. Wallenberg

The UN Climate Ambition Summit, (Dec. 12, 2020), the UN General Assembly 31^st Special Session – In Response To the Coronavirus Disease Covid-19 Pandemic (Dec. 4, 2020), and UN Summit on Biodiversity (Sept. 30, 2020), had one thing in common – THEY ALL MISSED THE POINT!

No one can argue with the ideas discussed in the Climate Ambition Summit, five years after the Paris Agreement.  Coal consumption needs to be cut, dependence on fossil fuel needs to end, solar, wind, and hydro energy need to be promoted.  BUT THE SINGLE GREATEST CONTRIBUTOR TO CLIMATE CHANGE, METHANE FROM ANIMALS RAISED TO BE EATEN BY HUMANS, WAS NOT EVEN MENTIONED.

The United Nations General Assembly 31^st Special Session – In Response to the Coronavirus Disease Covid-19 Pandemic discussed a plethora of ideas, BUT NOT THE CAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC - EXPLOITATION OF ANIMALS.  The discussion included the disproportionate adverse effect on women and girls being victimized by violence from frustrated men.  There are currently 2.5 million more child marriages, and a high rate of death from childbirth in girls 15 to 19 years old.  Eleven million girls are at risk of not going back to school after the pandemic.  Violence against children 2 to 17 years old is up to one billion.  Hundreds of millions of children have been out of school.  Refugees, displaced persons, migrant workers, and the countries that host them, are particularly vulnerable.  The poorest countries are the most impacted.  Worldwide there were eight million people in hunger increasing to135 million in the last four years.  This has now spiked to 270 million people starving during the Covid pandemic.  Efforts to provide clean water, nutrition and health care in developing nations have been seriously affected.  The pandemic has exacerbated efforts to combat other lethal diseases including malaria and measles.  The poorest countries are the most impacted.  The crisis is especially difficult in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) whose economies depend primarily on tourism.  235 million people may not survive 2021. 

Vaccines are currently available, but there is not enough money to purchase all the vaccines needed worldwide.  There are no vaccine distribution mechanisms in developing nations.  UNICEF, WHO, and GAVI will attempt to finance and distribute vaccines in remote areas.  The maxim: ‘No one is safe until everyone is safe’, needs to be embraced.

Only once during the Special Session was the actual cause of the pandemic referred to: ‘Wet markets should be closed.’  Only one speaker, Pavan Sukhdev, from United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), referred to the inability to live in harmony with nature, and habitat destruction, in relation to pandemic disease.  Ten percent of the Earth’s forests have been lost, causing closer interaction between humans and other species.  Habitat destruction and species extinction makes transmission of disease more likely to happen.  High biodiversity reduces the risk of zoonotic disease by the ‘Dilution Effect’, protecting human health.  Mr. Sukhdev said further that chemical farming is destroying soil, and referred to natural farming (also known as Veganic Agriculture) which produces higher yields at lower costs, without risk of the disease producing contaminants Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and others from animal exploitation.  THE CURRENT GLOBAL HEALTH AND ECONOMIC CRISIS IS CAUSED BY THE EXPLOITATION OF VOICELESS, RIGHTLESS SPECIES BY THE HUMAN SPECIES.

The Unfulfilled Promise of Nuremberg

From an article by Ben Ferencz (Wallenberg's Neighbor) and added to by Sharon Wallenberg

After millions of innocent people were killed in World War Two, everyone prayed for a more peaceful future.  The primary goal of the United Nations was “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” 

An International Military Tribunal (IMT) was established in Nuremberg.  Chief Prosecutor Robert M. Jackson (US Supreme Court) warned that if law was to serve a useful purpose, “it must condemn aggression by any other nations including those who sit here now in judgement.” 

A war called Speciesism is being perpetrated on innocent victims by all developed nations.  This unlimited aggression is against those most vulnerable on this planet - defenseless animals - considered by some to be another nation.

“To initiate a war of aggression is the supreme international crime” was decided at Nuremberg...It was hoped that this might deter future wars.  Yet, it soon became apparent that not all were prepared to give up their perceived right to go to war. 

Speciesism, is a supreme international crime.  It is a war against the defenseless who are murdered, incarcerated, abused, subjected to habitat destruction and species extinction.  The by-products of this war are climate change from methane; pollution of water, land, and air; rising human health care costs and human morbidity and mortality.

The promise of Nuremberg remains unfulfilled.