Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Poison in Food - Be Aware!

  Poison in Food  -  Be Aware! 

And don't fall into addiction! Triumvirate in addiction: MSG in food, CAFFEINE in Coffee, Tea and Softdrinks, NICOTINE in smoking and drugs.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Ethnic Biology There are poisonous plants and animals found in nature. But there are those, which ethnic societies learned to deal with the poison they contain, and having removed it, eat them without any apparent harm. One example is nami (Dioscorea hispida), a relative of ubi and tugui'. Hispidine is the poisonous principle that can be extracted by means of repeated washing. Like doubtful mushrooms, natives use dogs to test the safety of the product. 

Photo: Amanita – a highly poisonous mushroom

The field of ethnobotany and ethnozoology covers interesting studies on how the natives deal with poisonous plants and animals as food, from snakes and puffer fish (butete) to wild gabi and cassava.

I learned from old folks how they cook cassava to minimize its cyanide content. The tuber is cleaned and cut into pieces, then boiled with the pot cover removed to allow the deadly cyanogas to escape with the steam. By the way storing cassava tuber should be avoided because the cyanide that is concentrated in the bark spreads into the tuber. This is noticeable by the yellowish spots on the tuber. However, this is difficult to notice in the case of the yellow or glutinous varieties of cassava. 


The blood of the tangingi is first drained before it is cut and cooked. There are people who are allergic to this kind of fish. The case of my youngest son, Leo Carlo 11, is a classical example of acute allergy to seafood. In the summer of 1998 while my family was vacationing in our hometown, Carlo ate a lot of talakitok eggs. By midnight, four hours after eating, we had to rush him to the hospital. He could hardly breathe, his eyes were virtually shut, and his body was covered with reddish spots. He was immediately given an antihistamine injection. It took him one week to fully recover.

 


Photos: Favorite Filipino dishes - tahong (green mussel) and talaba (oyster) are carrier of the Red Tide plankton. Pyrodinum bahamense compresa, which contains PSP or Paralytic Shellfish Poison 
Symptoms of food poisoning from natural toxins appear to have similar patterns, but mortality rates vary depending on the kind and amount of poison. When Red Tide first appeared in the early eighties in Maqueda Bay in Western Samar, there was very little knowledge about PSP (Paralytic Shellfish Poison). This poison accumulates in tahong or green mussel and talaba or oyster without apparent harming them. There were reported deaths due to eating tahong during the red tide season. The affect is on the nerves and muscles, and probably the brain. 
Poison in Food (Chemicals and Pathogen)



DDT (from its chemical name, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) is one of the most well-known synthetic pesticides.

The other kind of food poisons is man-made or man-induced. The most prevalent are farm chemicals. Modern pesticides are designed to cope up with the increasing resistance of insects and pathogens. As a result their residues on food and in the environment have likewise increased tremendously. This is even worst in the case of systemic pesticides that penetrate into the innermost part of the plant as they are absorbed and carried throughout the plant's body via its sap. Any insect that feeds on the sap is killed. This property is also present in some phosphatic pesticides and chlorinated hydrocarbons.

Among the first chlorinated hydrocarbon is DDT that was introduced in the forties as the final answer to the malaria problem, controlling mosquitoes, which spread the disease. It is true that DDT is highly effective not only against mosquitoes but other insects as well, that its inventor received the Nobel Prize. It was however, discovered years later that DDT has a residue that is both persistent and cumulative, and transferred through the food chain. Thus, from the mosquito, the DDT is passed on to the fish, to animals that feed on the fish, and ultimately to man. In spite of the fact that it has long been banned there are still traces of DDT residues found in many places, showing either its persistence, or its illegal manufacture and distribution - or for both reasons.

DDT was first synthesized in 1874, DDT's insecticidal properties were not discovered until 1939, and it was used with great success in the second half of World War II to control malaria and typhus among civilians and troops. The Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948 "for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods." After the war, DDT was used as an agricultural insecticide, and soon its production and use skyrocketed.

In 1962, American biologist Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring. The book cataloged the environmental impacts of indiscriminate DDT use in the US and questioned the logic of releasing large amounts of chemicals into the environment without fully understanding their effects on the environment or human health. The book suggested that DDT and other pesticides cause cancer and that their agricultural use was a threat to wildlife, particularly birds. Its publication was a signature event in the birth of the environmental movement. It produced a large public outcry that led to a 1972 ban in the US. DDT was subsequently banned for agricultural use worldwide under the Stockholm Convention, but limited, controversial use in disease vector control continues.

Along with the Endangered Species Act, the US DDT ban is cited by scientists as a major factor in the comeback of the bald eagle, the national bird of the United States, from near-extinction in the contiguous US. (Wikipedia)

Food Poisoning
There was a case of cheese dog poisoning in Rizal. Scores of children, teenagers and adults attending a party were rushed to the nearest clinics and hospitals. Fortunately all of the victims fully recovered.

Cases of typhoid, hepatitis and gastrointestinal diseases have been on the rise because of unsafe water. In Tokyo and nearby cities Escherichia coli, a common gastrointestinal pathogen spread into an epidemic level. It was controlled after banning the suspected source - hamburger.

There is always a cardinal rule in observing food safety, and that is sanitation. Cleanliness speaks of an establishment's image, and has become an important basis in issuing government permits in the operation of food manufacturing plants, hotels and restaurants.

But how clean is clean? The scientist Lister discovered the principle of aseptic cleanliness. Listerine, a mouthwash brand was named after him. Florence Nightingale, the founder of the nursing profession applied Lister's principle in hospital management. But we often exaggerate cleanliness. We use a variety of cleaning agents such as detergents, pesticides, deodorants, air fresheners, and cosmetics.

My father used to warn us in the family, "We are unwittingly introducing into our bodies materials which may be more harmful than the germs we are trying to control." One example is Rub-on mosquito repellant which is carcinogenic.

So with Chlorine, which is added to drinking water and swimming pool. Greenpeace, a vocal environment vanguard organization once raised a "Chlorine Kills" campaign against the excessive use of the chemical. Sodium fluoride mistaken for baking powder or wheat flour is extremely harmful, yet fluoride used in small amount in toothpaste helps keep our teeth strong and healthy.

I remember a story of a boy whose anemic condition had for so long remained a puzzle, until one morning his doctor dropped by, and while having coffee with the family, exclaimed, "Why, I know now why your son is sick!" He observed that the gold lining of the coffee cup was being worn out. The boy, or whoever was using the cup, was slowly being poisoned. The fine gold rim was actually painted with lead as paint medium.

How many of our utensils at home contain harmful metals? Do not cook food with vinegar in aluminum pots. Do not use Antimony- or Cadmium-plated utensils. Remember that plastic containers react with food, specially the acidic ones. The microwave oven is not as safe as the conventional oven. There are scientists who believe that microwave triggers radiation, which may be harmful to the body in the long run. In spite of this warning the use of microwave, because of its convenience, has increased.

Poison in Food (Adulteration)
Here is an outline of food adjuncts and additives, which are reported to be the cause of many ailments and death cases.

1. Seeds of ipil-ipil ground with coffee cause falling hair. It is also a growth retardant due to its mimosin content. Seeds of tuba-tuba (Jatropha curcas) and castor (Ricinus communis) curiously appear edible, and may taste like that of raw peanut. Ingestion even in small amount may cause drastic diarrhea. By the way ricin is many times more deadly than cyanide.     


Castor bean plant and seeds

 2. Poisonous seeds.  The seeds of apple, apricot, cherry, peach, and pear contain cyanide poison.  Fortunately the seeds are stone hard to be absorbed by the body, but pulverized seeds when ingested may probe to be lethal. Almond contains  poison which, fortunately, is destroyed by cooking.   
Potatoes (like tomatoes) contain poison in the stems and leaves – and even in the potato itself if left to turn green (the green is due to a high concentration of the glycoalkaloid poison) By the way, both plants belong to the tobacco family Solanaceae, to which pepper and eggplant are also members.

3. Vetsin or mono-sodium glutamate retards mental and skeletal growth specially in children. Vetsin may cause drowsiness after eating. To some people the effect is palpitation and irritability. Burglars silence dogs with pandesal packed with vetsin. An overdose is fatal to the animal.
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MSG is perhaps the most debated food item whether it is safe or not. It is a never ending war in commerce versus well-being for decades now. Don't be a victim of this war. Don't gamble on your health, happiness and peace of mind. Don't gamble on the future of your children and children's children. There is no assurance that you are going to win, neither insurance if you lose. 

Start with your biological indices and clock. You maybe one of the people who experience these reactions to food enhancers? 
 • Headaches
• The feeling of swelling in the face
• Flushing and or sweating
• Rapid fluttering of heartbeats or heart palpitations
• Nausea
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Numbness, burning or tingling around the mouth area
• Weakness
Remember that toxins build up in the body. Toxins from food enhancers are impediments in normal body physiology, and eating foods containing MSG may build up in your body. So you become addicted to such foods. And you will crave for more. The more you eat, the more you become overweight, and sedentary. You become obese. Obesity is being irreversibly overweight - for life. 

Diabetes cases directly or indirectly related to MSG and other food enhances have doubled in the past 30 years. Obesity in children has skyrocketed! Cases of adrenal gland malfunction, kidney problem, seizures, high blood pressure, stroke and other health problems are no isolated to specific age, occupation and ailment. 

Why don't you start detoxifying the accumulated toxins and enjoy a happier and longer life? So with your family and friends. The key to detoxification is to stop taking food from which the toxin comes from. Then follow a regimen with the guidance of your family doctor. 

Carefully read product labels at the market. Whenever you see it, avoid the products with MSG in their ingredients. Be familiar with the different trademarks and aliases of MSG, originally Vetsin, now Umami. 

At restaurants, ask if they serve dishes containing MSG. Avoid fast foods. Most use MSG in their fries and drinks to enhance the flavor and to get you addicted to their foods.
 --------------- 
Triumvirate in addiction: MSG in food, CAFFEINE in Coffee, Tea and Softdrinks, NICOTINE in smoking and drugs.
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4. Formalin is used to extend the shelf life of fish. The malpractice is to inject it in large fishes, or mixed it with the ice water for small ones. Formalin is a strong poison. It is used in embalming. Formalin was detected in buko juice, which led to the decline of the once flourishing local industry.

5. Cyanide in vegetables was first detected in Benguet when the farmers discovered that the water coming from mine tailing had insecticide property. It was later traced to cyanide compounds used in the mining industry. Cyanide is a very strong poison. It is used in gas chamber in the US.

6. Nitrate or salitre is the chief preservative and food color used. in tocino, longaniza and corned beef. One can easily detect in the urine by analysis and smell. Salitre is known to be carcinogenic.

Food additives like artificial coloring.
Ice drops are rendered attractive, specially to children, by adding artificial colors 

7. Food dyes make food colorful, but be careful. One time I was shocked to discover my urine crimson red. As I prepared to go to the hospital I examined all the food that I had taken that morning. There, innocently wrapped in cellophane, kneaded into balls, as we know sampalok (tamarind) candy is made, was the culprit. I took one candy ball and immersed it in a glass of water and stirred. Like ink the glassful of water turned red like the biblical story of the Nile. Jubos - shoe dye, was used as food dye!
 

8. Aspartame has taken the place of saccharine, the original diet sugar. There has been a decline in the intake of diet soft drinks in the US due to unexplained side effects, ranging from high blood pressure to allergic reactions. Why is decaffeinated coffee no longer as popular as before? Will fatless fat (Olestra) ever get FDA's nod? This is a kind of fat that will not make us fat.

9. The cheap kind of vinegar is diluted glacial acetic acid, the same kind of acid used in photography and other industrial processing.


Photo: Improper drying, threshing and milling predispose corn to the buildup of Aspergillus flavus fungus which produce aflatoxin. 

10. Cancer-causing aflatoxin is high in peanut butter. It is just being practical to sell the good seeds as whole peanut, while those of inferior quality are ground into butter. And why is cirrhosis of the liver higher in the south than in the rice-eating regions? It is because corn is more predisposed to the aflatoxin fungus than other cereals.

Modern living indeed has many drawbacks. Artificial food, additives and preservatives are common in our food, which we take everyday. ~

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News on Food Poisonings
Food poisoning hits some 3,500 in Japan's Yashio city schools
Reuters Posted at Jul 02 2020 10:46 PM
TOKYO - Almost 3,500 teachers and students at more than a dozen public schools in Japan's Yashio city have become sick with diarrhea and stomach pains in a mass food poisoning outbreak.
Saitama prefecture said Thursday that 3,453 people in 15 elementary and middle schools in Yashio, a city of 92,000 just north of Tokyo, had been affected after eating a lunch supplied by the TQC cooperative on June 26.

Out of a total of nearly 7,000 people examined, more than 2,000 elementary school students and over 1,100 middle school students were shown to have food poisoning, the prefecture said, adding it was investigating the origins of the outbreak. The lunch included fried chicken, a tuna/potato dish and seaweed salad, as well as rice and miso soup, it said.

Dozens of students hospitalized in Batangas; food poisoning suspected
April Rose Magpantay, ABS-CBN News Posted at Oct 22 2019 02:58 PM | Updated as of Oct 23 2019 02:41 AM
NASUGBU, Batangas (UPDATE)—Thirty-six students were confirmed confined in a hospital in this town after attending a convention Monday. Doctors suspect food poisoning.

According to David Morcoso, a doctor here, the patients experienced abdominal pain and diarrhea. "Lahat sila either ang complaint ay either abdominal pain or diarrhea. By fecalysis result naman wala namang amoeba or any protozoal parasite na nakita," he said.

All 36 students were discharged by Tuesday morning. The number of other participants confined in other hospitals in the region could not be verified at the time this story was updated. There are about 597 people who attended the convention, who are accounting students from Central Luzon.

Child dies, 700 sick in Jordan mass food poisoning
Agence France-Presse Posted at Jul 29 2020 06:01 PM

AMMAN - Mass food poisoning in Jordan has sickened at least 700 people and killed a child, all of whom ate cut-price shawarma from a restaurant outside Amman, the health ministry said Wednesday.
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Review: Timeline Food Poisoning (PDI August 11, 2015)
Several food-poisoning cases have been reported since the start of the year.  
  •  April 9.  Three persons drank a contaminated beverage in a milk tea shop in Sampaloc, Manila, leaving two persons dead. 
  • June 7.  More than 70 orphaned and homeless beneficiaries from Manila Boystown  Complex in Marikina were hospitalized.  The boys ages 7 to 17 were served hot dogs, hard boiled eggs and rice in an outreach program.
  • July 2. More than 100 elementary school students were hospitalized in San Carlos City in Pangasinan after chewing a fruit-flavored gum.
  • July 10. Close to 2,000 people, most of them students in the Caraga regioon, complained of symptoms consistent with food poisoning after eating durian candies,  Initial lab test showed the presence of staphylococcus aureus bacteria.
  • July 16. Nine HS students of Juan Sumulong School QC ended up in the hospital after eating candies sold on the campus by an ambulant vendor. Signs of pesticide poisoning were detected.  
  • July 24. At least 350 students at Real Elementary School in Calamba Laguna fell ill after partaking of cupcakes and ice candy.
  • Aug 3. Pancit Malabon downed more than 40 people in Ligao Albay. 
  • Aug 1-4. At least 24 people consumed food in a restaurant in Angeles City ended up in a hospital. Aug 11, 2015 news PDI.
  •  25 students of Batangas State University were brought to the hospital due to food poisoning. 
  •  In Estancia Iloilo at least 74 persons were brought to the hospital while 30 were treated at home after they complained of dizziness, vomiting and diarrhea. 
  • A wedding feast in a barangay northeast of Iloilo city turned into an unpleasant reception  when more than 100 people fell ill after partaking of dishes like afritada, arroz a la valenciana and estofado. 

The Lighter Side of Food Poisoning 

*Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) 738 DZRB AM, evening class 8 to 9, with Ms Grace Velasco August 12, 2015

Acknowledgement: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Wikipedia, Internet pictures

Monday, March 2, 2026

Poetry with Nature: Seeing Heaven through a Leaf, Weeds, Light in the Forest, Tree Wears a Veil

Poetry with Nature
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

1. Seeing Heaven through a Leaf

        Atop Mt Makiling, Laguna

I see these holes
    windows of the sky,
I see the stars
    the birds that fly
I see the day
    the darkness of night,
I see the universe
    beyond the sight
I see these keyholes
    the doors of life,
I see the way to heaven
    in joy and strife. ~
 
           2. Weeds

 Bachelor's Button (or Butbutones/Cornflower), Centaurea cyanus.

There are creatures destined to live
     best in the wild,
Where everything is so little,
     others barely thrive.
They fill the emptiness of time,
     and that of space,
The forgotten corners of the Earth
     with divine grace. ~

 3. Light in the Forest

Light in the Forest, mural in acrylic, AVR, Summer, 2010.

I'm lost, wandering in a forest ever since -
Could this be Paradise, the lost Paradise?
I never knew its edge, its height, its might,
I never knew myself, minuscule to its size,

Amidst a sea of green and towering giants,
Piercing the sky, shrouded by mist and rain;
I'm lost in their limbs veiled by moss and vine,
Cloaked by a mantle of forever green.

How long I've slept, no one will ever know;
As no one knows who my ancestor was,
Before waking up into a Homo sapiens. Lo!
By the forbidden Tree and its fruit. Alas!

And I, I have been a wanderer since then,
Driven out and away with guilt forever worn,
Away from prison, from the watchful Eye,
Rising to a beautiful Light every morn. ~

4. Tree Wears a Veil
 
Acacia with epiphyses, Ateneo de Manila University QC

To the conscious passerby,
in the morning holy,
in the evening scary,
a veil to laugh or to cry.

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Grow, Lichens Grow, on Forgotten Fences

 Grow, Lichens Grow, on Forgotten Fences

Dr Abe V Rotor

Fruticose type of lichen, a symbiosis of alga and fungus, Tagaytay city 2008

Lichens, children of the plant kingdom
United for life in flesh and soul;
One tames the sun that gives life to all,
The other catches the dewdrops fall.
Twosome swaying in the wind like chime
As seasons pass through the eons of time.

I saw you before and I see you now,
Where the fairy's wand got back its magic
Where fireflies have come back to their home,
And the air is no longer stale and sick
Grow friendly lichens e'en only in patches
On trees and rocks and forgotten fences.~

Composed on Angels' Hills, Tagaytay, January 5, 2010

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Home, Sweet Home, This Summer. "There’s no place like Home! There’s no place like Home!"

Home, Sweet Home, This Summer
"There’s no place like Home! There’s no place like Home!"

Dr Abe V Rotor
Brick farm house in acrylic, by AVRotor
                                                          
Home, Sweet Home
By John Howard Payne
Music by Henry Rowley Bishop (1786-1855)
(Arranged for the violin and piano by Henry Farmer)

‘Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home;
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,
Which seek through the world, is ne’er met with elsewhere.
Home, Home, sweet, sweet Home!

An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain;
O, give me my lowly thatched cottage again!
The birds singingly gaily, that came to my call –
Give me them – and the peace of mind, dearer than all.
Home, Home sweet, sweet Home.

There’s no place like Home! There’s no place like Home!

Home Sweet Home is one of my favorite pieces on the violin. My daughter would accompany me on the piano in my lectures, and on one occasion, in a concert. The arrangement made by Henry Farmer is made up of three variations revolving on the popular melody of the song. Home Sweet Home was popularized by the pioneers who left their homes in the Old World and settled in the New World - America.

One of the lessons I discussed on the school-on-air program - (former) Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid , with Ms Melly C Tenorio - is about home and family. It was one of the liveliest lessons ever conducted on air with many enthusiastic callers who shared their concepts and views about a happy home. Here is a short list.

1. Home is a roof for everyone, residents and guests.
2. Home is a wall with large windows that let the sun and the breeze in.
3. Home is where fish in the aquarium sparkle in the morning’s sun.
4. Home is a baby smiling, of children playing.
5. Home is a faithful husband and wife.
6. Home is a “place for everything and everything in its place,” but not always.

7. Home is dad and mom waiting for us from school.
8. Home is a workshop for hobbies and inventions.
9. Home is where our dog lies on the doormat waiting for its master.
10. Home is a litter of puppies and kittens.
11. Home is a rooster crowing, nature’s alarm clock.
12. Home is a house lizard’s crispy announcement of a guest coming.
13. Home is a frog croaking in the rain.
14. Home is a safari of wildlife – from insects to migratory birds.
15. Home is a warm embrace of a cat.
16. Home is a cup of coffee, a sip of wine, a newspaper.
17. Home is a warm bath, a cold shower, a bath tub.
18. Home is National Geographic, Time Magazine, Daily Inquirer.
19. Home is ripe tomato, succulent radish, dangling string beans,
20. Home is a brooding mother hen in her nest.
21. Home is fresh eggs everyday.
22. Home is the sound of birds and crickets.
23. Home is the sweet smell of flowers, falling leaves, swaying branches
      in the wind.

24. Home is the sweet smell of the earth after the first rain in May.
25. Home is a singing cicada in the tree.
26. Home is a swarming of gamugamo in the evening.
27. Home is a sala too small for so many friends.
28. Home is a cabinet of books, a study table, a computer.
29. Home is Beethoven, Mozart, Abelardo, Santiago.
30. Home is Charlotte Church, Josh Groban, Sharon Cuneta.
31. Home is Amorsolo. Picasso, Van Gogh.
32. Home is potpourri of appetizing recipes, of the proverbial grandmother
      apple pie.

33. Home is pinakbet, lechon, karekare, suman, bibingka.
34. Home is a garden of roses, a grass lawn to lie on.
35. Home is an herbarium of plants, a gene bank.
36. Home is home for biodiversity, a living museum.
37. Home is doing repair that has no end.
38. Home is disposing old newspapers, bottles, metal scraps, used clothes.
39. Home is a midnight candle before an exam.
40. Home is a shoulder, a pillow, to cry on.
41. Home is Noche Buena.
42. Home is fireworks on New Year.

43. Home is general cleaning on weekends.
44. Home is a soft bed that soothes tired nerves and muscles.
45. Home is a fire place, a hearth, which takes the cold out of the body and spirit.
46. Home is a Prodigal Son returning, Good Samaritan.
47. Home is a round table where thanksgiving prayer is said.
48. Home is laughter and music, prose and poetry.
49. Home is forgiving, rejoicing, celebrating.
50. Home is angelus and rosary hour.

To sum it all, Home is Home, Sweet Home.~

Author plays "Home, Sweet Home" with imagined scenery of love and longing.
  
Homeward Bound
Dr Abe V Rotor

                     There's one road you travel on down the bend:
going home every day in your life 'til its end.

when the sun is low, and when it's going down,
you have to leave, and home you're bound.

when the fowls roost in their favorite tree,
you too, shall cease in your work and spree.

when the leaves of the acacia tree start to fold,
start walking home, a wise advice of the old.

when the fields are empty, save the haystacks,
and some old gleaners bent on their backs.

when the prop roots of the balete appear ghostly,
even if you are afraid, don't show, act bravely.


when the bell tolls the Angelus, it's time to pray,
and every one pauses for a while on his way.

when approaching home the whole household
greets you - what a happy family to behold!

When the day is over, when life comes to an end,
finished or not your task, it's time to say Amen. ~

Our World is on Fire! "Our house is on fire, and our children are in."

                                 Our World is on Fire!

 "Our house is on fire, and our children are in."

Paintings by Dr Abe V Rotor

"The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Chain Reaction Armageddon"*

Many a story or song is about this topic:
     "The house is on fire." Light or tragic;
In our times, please take the latter stance,
     in case of fire, there's no safe distance.

Like in war, on all sides of the globe,
     socio-economic loss need not probe,
loss of peace and happiness - to doom -
     in chain reaction, it's ad infinitum. - avr

"Ladybug, Ladybug, where have you been; your house is on fire, 
and your children are in? **" - Traditional Children's rhyme

"What does it mean to die when you can live until the end 
of the world?" - Anne Rice

 
Our World on Fire

    Sunset, a time for retreat and prayer,
 like sunrise, will be missed forever;
too soon for our planet's life span, 
       designed in a system with the sun. - avr

"Anticipating the end of the world is humanity's oldest 
pastime." David Mitchell

 
Our World in Ashes 

     The Phoenix Bird rises from its ashes is a story,
    from ancient legend to the level of philosophy,
  a paradox of building and destroying beauty -
       What then is posterity, what is immortality? - avr

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, 
I would still plant my apple tree." - Martin Luther

 
Our Dead Planet

  No, it's no longer a blue planet we once knew;
beautiful, peaceful, like blue diamond's glow.
Where have all the wonderful creatures gone,
    and the proud heritage and monuments of man?
- avr

"When I was younger I wish I'd known that what often seemed to be the 'end of the world' often turned out to be a positive and transformative experience!" - Annie Lennox
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Armageddon refers to the prophesied final, calamitous battle between good and evil forces, originating from the Book of Revelation, signifying a cataclysmic end-of-the-world scenario. A chain reaction refers to a process in which neutrons released in fission produce an additional fission in at least one further nucleus. This nucleus in turn produces neutrons, and the process repeats. The process may be controlled (nuclear power) or uncontrolled (nuclear weapons). Internet 
** Traditional English nursery rhyme. It dates back to at least 1744, about an insect, 28-spotted ladybug beetle, (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata or H. vigintioctomaculata), which survived a fire and got its characteristic markings - 28 black spots all over its beautiful orange-red body. On the dark side, this nursery rhyme is a warning to us all, hence the essence and urgent call of this article.