04 | February | 2008 | Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist

Fidel Castro, yes El Presidente Fidel Castro of Cuba, writes in an Jan 31st article posted in English by the Cuban News Agency about a recent visit with Brazilian President Lula:

“I talked to him, of course, about the climate change, and the little attention paid by a great number of leaders of the industrialized world to this issue.

When I spoke with him on January 15 in the afternoon, I could not make reference to the article that would be published only three days later, written by Stephen Leahy from Toronto. This article announces a new book by Lester Brown called Mobilizing to Save Civilization. “

Castro goes on to quote extensively — with a few translation errors — from my IPS article: How to Halt Collapse of Civilization – new bk.

Who knew that Castro was deeply concerned about climate change? And he aptly summarizes the complete absence of discussion about climate change during the US Presidential primaries. Sure the economy may be in trouble, but there is no economy without a stable climate system.
See also: Plan B 3.0: Mobilising to Save Civilisation

Children eating a normal diet have low levels of organophosphates — the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II — according to a recent research says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

But once they switched to eating only organic foods these pesticides disappeared within 36 hours from the kids’ bodies.

Malathion and chlorpyrifos were the principal chemicals Emory University’s School of Public Health study found. Death or serious health problems have been documented in thousands of cases with high-level exposures. But impacts at low levels have been more difficult to determine. Animal studies do show chronic dietary exposure to chlorpyrifos results in neurological impairment i.e. brain and nervous system affects.

The P-I article also details what foods have highest levels pesticides.