In Chasing Mercury there are a lot of contextual references to pieces of art that were not well accepted because they were thought risqué or inappropriate for the stature of the subject. One of those is the sculpture of Louis Riel, a Metis man. It used to sit on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislature with Louis naked to the rath of the wind and those who killed him.
Read MoreIn the bed next to Franklin was a man who was almost recognizable as human. His face had a large mass growing out of one side. It caused his eye to close. Sicily was barely able to stifle her gasp. He was sleeping but began to stir. His one working eyelid opened. ‘This man has a lavender eye! It’s beautiful,’ Sicily thought. He smiled crookedly because of the distortion of the soft-ball sized tissue on his face. Sicily had fallen in love with Quasimodo.
Dr. Cook got points for speaking to her patient and Sicily both in french. M. Poulet extended his hand and Sicily took it saying, “Heureux de vous rencontrer monsieur,” nearly three years of University French served her well. Mr. Poulet responded likewise.
“ C’est vrai? Mr. Chicken? Sicily restrained a laugh.
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The Duro river empties into the sea near Porto -- the Duro estuary is peculiar in that the bottom sediment has less mercury than than the top.. like 7ug -1 vs < 1ug-1 usually settles to the bottom being a heavier metal. The transport in the bottom water is more dissolved that's the upper water which is attached to sediments and salt. Still gorgeous and lots of seafood. In the USA have a look at Fish and Shellfish Advisories and safe eating guidelines on EPA.gov -- if they haven't been removed by the current administration in Washington DC.
Read MoreThis weekend I had the honor of attending a young friends First Communion at the San Rafael Mission in Marin County. People do not generally think of me as Catholic for good reason. The character Sicily Marshall in Chasing Mercury reflects a bit of mine in an excerpt from Chasing Mercury, Chapter 15, Santa Monica Bay 1960-1962...
Read More"The ballerina envies this couple’s courageous passion, which spits in human desperation’s face."
"His sinew and muscle defy the command that human beings should not fly."
"Secure in the knowledge that citizenship alone did not confer civil or human rights in the land of their birth, the American Japanese couple had not considered themselves crossing the color line, instead acknowledging where on it they stood..."
"Apparently, he was an expert in this human phenomenon..."
"...at risk for losing this human potential."
"...at risk for losing this human potential"
“How can human beings be living here?”
"...accumulated human blood levels have not been calculated yet...”
Sicily reads the title aloud, “Declaration of Helsinki-Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects..."
See more about I am Human at :http://www.asyaabdrahman.com/i-am-human
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As the sun rises, the bus crosses the River Spree, pulling through the gates of Berlin’s Humboldt University. Hundreds of young adults perch in the stone courtyard, some hanging from the balcony, guarded by marble pillars and neoclassical Roman roof sculptures. Guitars in hand, a chorus of ‘C’s serenade them—Cape Verdeans, Cambodians, Cameroonians, Czechs, Chileans, Colombians, Costa Ricans and Cubans. They greet the tardy Canadians, voices filling the sweltering damp dawn with Cat Stevens’s song Baby, Baby It’s a Wild World--
Read Morehttp://mercuryconvention.org/Home/Video/tabid/3455/Default.aspx
Negotiators will gather in Geneva from 24 to 29 September 2017 to further discuss issues related to the Minamata Convention on Mercury at its first meeting of the Conference of the Parties, contingent to the prior entry into force of the Convention. These discussions build on the previous negotiations.
Initiated in 2009, the development of a global legally binding instrument on mercury was carried out over five sessions of the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) held between June 2010 and January 2013 in Stockholm, Chiba, Nairobi, Punta del Este and Geneva, preceded by two Open Ended Working Group meetings.
As a result, the text of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which was agreed upon at the fifth session of the INC in January 2013, was adopted at the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Kumamoto, Japan on 10 October 2013 and opened for signature for one year.
Two sessions of the INC have been held since the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in 2013, INC6 from 3 to 7 November 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand and INC7, from 10 to 15 March 2016 at the Dead Sea in Jordan.
Read MoreWhat we do know is that Breast Feeding improves the health of both mothers and babies which far outweighs any toxic effects of mercury-- in most circumstances. IF you are worried and are in an environment where there is know to be high Mercury levels see a clinician. Know that if Mercury is present ( and there is some everywhere) Levels go down within in 2-3 months after birth -- and again there is more mercury in cows milk based formula's than in human breast milk. The damage of not breast feeding an infant is far more lethal in terms of disease than mercury. However-- an environment where a mother is exposed to high levels of mercury during pregnancy -- can be dangerous and cause Minamata disease --but that mercury is passed across the placenta into the blood stream of the baby. But Mercury is poorly transmitted to and through breast milk. If you have the luxury of avoiding mercury ingestion by all means do. But if you have to choose between breast feeding and not -- mercury contamination is not your biggest problem. You might see the film Breast Milk and follow journalist, writer health communicator Kimberly Seals Allers (author of the Big LetDown).
Read MoreSo there I am, Chasing Mercury in the Open Water Rowing Regatta #41, and my tenth. That barge in the background was awfully annoying blocking my view to Cone Rock as I aimed for it. It was a gorgeous day. The water was perfect. My adjusted time was 58 minutes on a 5.3 NM course so a little under 10 minutes per English mile. Yep--I was 5 minutes behind the first place rower--but she was 20 years younger than me--and I was proud to be anywhere on the same water with her. When you do things out in the environment it really pushes you to protect it. Everyday I cry for the children who have never known this kind of peace.
Read MoreThe photo is sunrise on New Year's morning with my daughter Autumn as seen from the Marin Headlands. I remember thinking even those waking up in the horror os Syria or other wars see that sun.
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Read MoreI looked at the wall length mirror behind my desk and realized my initial notes were still scribbled on it -- where I outlined the relationships Sicily, Forest and the others.I almost erased it but realized I have two more books in the Chasing Mercury series. Really, I didn't want to erase i!t
