Over the last five years, the world trade in arms has reached a level not seen since 1990

20 Feb, 2017 

Over the last five years, the world trade in arms has reached a level not seen since 1990. The Middle East and Asia remain the key markets for weapons, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

India is still the world’s largest arms buyer, accounting for 13 percent of global imports between 2012 and 2016 against 9.7 percent the previous five years. The country bought most of its arms from Russia.
“While China is increasingly able to substitute arms imports with indigenous products, India remains dependent on weapons technology from many willing suppliers, including Russia, the USA, European states, Israel and South Korea,” said Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI’s arms and military expenditure program.
Saudi Arabia, which leads a military intervention in Yemen, became the second biggest buyer of arms, followed by the United Arab Emirates, China, and Algeria, the study said.
The kingdom’s arms imports soared 212 percent compared to the previous five years, accounting for 8.2 percent of global weapons imports. Riyadh bought weapons mostly from the US and the UK, the report said.
All in all, arms imports by countries in the Middle East increased 86 percent in the five years through 2016 with Qatar increasing purchases by 245 percent. However, Iran, being under an arms embargo, received only 1.2 percent of total arms sales to the region.    RT

Windows 10 Devices Continue to 'Collect Everything You Do, Say and Write

21.02.2017

European Union data protection authorities have expressed fresh concerns about the privacy of Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system, despite tweaks being made to the OS after questions were raised about its treatment of personal data last year.

In a letter, the Article 29 Working Group said it still has "significant concerns" about how Microsoft collects and processes users' personal data, and whether it obtains fully informed consent from users to do so.

"There is an apparent lack of control for users to prevent collection or further processing of such data. As a result, the Working Party specifically requests further explanatory information from Microsoft, as to how the opt-outs, default settings and other available control mechanisms presented during the installation of Windows 10 operating system provide a valid legal basis for the processing of personal data under the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. This is especially of concern where Microsoft would rely on consent as a legal basis for the processing of personal data," the statement said.

Windows 10 launched in July 2015, and almost immediately garnered criticism for the use of default settings to harvest voluminous amounts of user data, such as web browsing history, WIFI network names and passwords, in order to display personalized adverts as users browse the web or play games. User data is also fed in to train Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant.     Sputnik

Samsung has confirmed that its "smart TV" sets are listening to customers' every word

February 9, 2015

Samsung has confirmed that its "smart TV" sets are listening to customers' every word, and the company is warning customers not to speak about personal information while near the TV sets.

The company revealed that the voice activation feature on its smart TVs will capture all nearby conversations. The TV sets can share the information, including sensitive data, with Samsung as well as third-party services.    The Week

Superbug bacteria pose an alarming threat to public and animals in the EU

By Kate Kelland | LONDON   February 22, 2017

Superbug bacteria found in people, animals and food across the European Union pose an "alarming" threat to public and animal health having evolved to resist widely used antibiotics, disease and safety experts warned on Wednesday. A report on antimicrobial resistance in bacteria by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said some 25,000 people die from such superbugs in the European Union every year.
"Antimicrobial resistance is an alarming threat putting human and animal health in danger," said Vytenis Andriukaitis, the EU's health and food safety commissioner.
"We have put substantial efforts to stop its rise, but this is not enough. We must be quicker, stronger and act on several fronts."
Drug resistance is driven by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which encourages bacteria to evolve to survive and develop new ways of beating the medicines.
Wednesday's report highlighted that in Salmonella bacteria - which can cause the common and serious food-borne infection Salmonellosis - multi-drug resistance is high across the EU.
Mike Catchpole, the ECDC's chief scientist, said he was particularly concerned that some common types of Salmonella in humans, such as monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium, are showing extremely high multi-drug resistance.
"Prudent use of antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine is extremely important," he said. "We all have a responsibility to ensure that antibiotics keep working."
Resistance to carbapenem antibiotics - usually the last remaining treatment option for patients infected with multi-drug resistant superbugs - was detected for the first time in animals and food, albeit at low levels, as part of EU-wide annual monitoring for the report.
It said very low levels of resistance were observed in E. coli bacteria found in pigs and in meat from pigs.
Resistance to colistin, another last-resort human antibiotic - was also found at very low levels in Salmonella and E. coli in pigs and cattle, the report said.
Marta Hugas, head of EFSA's biological hazards and contaminants unit, noted geographic variations across the European Union, with countries in northern and western Europe generally having lower resistance levels than those in southern and eastern Europe and said this was most likely due to differences in the level of use and overuse of the medicines.
"In countries where actions have been taken to reduce, replace and re-think the use of antimicrobials in animals show lower levels of antimicrobial resistance and decreasing trends," she said.     Reuters

Organic Canola Oil: A Food Fallacy

February 20, 2017  By Catherine J. Frompovich

Ever since the late 1990s, when canola oil started to become a ubiquitous ingredient in food processing and restaurant fare, consumers have been ingesting it, literally, by the tons!

Canada produces 20 percent of the world’s canola oil.  The U.S. imports an average of 510,000 tons of canola oil per year!

Canola is a heated and processed oil using anywhere from 80 – 90°Celsius and even 120°Celsius temperature in the processing, or 176 – 194° Fahrenheit to 248° Fahrenheit.  That would be in addition to any additional heating a cook uses when preparing foods—something to factor in to your cooking.

Christened “Canola” from “Can” (for Canada) and “ola” (for oil low acid), canola is not, strictly speaking, rapeseed. There is a internationally regulated definition of canola that differentiates it from rapeseed, based upon its having less than two percent erucic acid and less than 30 umoles glucosinolates. Oilseed products that do not meet this standard cannot use the trademarked term “Canola.”  [1]   [CJF emphasis]

That 2 percent of erucic acid gets a lot of human digest tracts very upset, I’ve found as a nutritionist!  The Free Medical Dictionary by Farlex defines erucic acid as:

a monounsaturated fatty acid that is a major constituent of certain oils, such as rapeseed oil.  Because it [erucic acid] has been linked to cardiac muscle damage, oils such as canola oil were developed that are low in erucic acid. [2].

At one time, rapeseed oil was not permitted to be sold in the USA by the U.S. FDA, because of its toxicity.

By the way, there was a petition [3] that was delivered to Whole Foods about their using canola in all the edible products they make and sell, including its fresh food and soup bars! As an aside, since the late 1990s, I was in contact with Whole Foods various VPs about using canola oil.  The letters I received from WF, in my opinion, showed shamefully woeful concerns for human health issues.  Whole Foods was more concerned about the costs of producing products.  I have refused to purchase any food products from Whole Foods since then, which contain canola oil, e.g., their “organic canola oil” is bunk, in my opinion.      Activist Post

Got Milk?

 

Oh, good old dairy! I’m sure you remember being a kid and having your mother tell you, Drink your milk! You need it to grow and be strong! Or perhaps your mom was ahead of the curve and saw through the mass marketing campaign designed to convince us that we require milk to live a healthy life.

Aside from the obvious reasons why we don’t need cow’s milk — no other animal drinks the milk from another species; we no longer need milk once weaned from our  own mother’s; and cow’s milk is, well, meant for baby cows to grow into giant cows — we most certainly do not need dairy.

Got Milk?dai

This whole dairy façade began upon the premise that we need calcium, which we do, and that we can only get it through dairy products, which is false. There are a number of vegetables that contain even more calcium than milk, including broccoli, kale, cabbage, and watercress, along with a variety of nuts and seeds. But we never see ads on television telling us to eat our broccoli, even though it has many more health benefits than milk. Simply put, there is no lobbying behind broccoli.        More

Cell Phone Dangers Dr. Devra Davis

'Outspoken' Short Film Series Celebrates Voices and Contributions of LGBT+ Adventists

Daneen Akers and Stephen Eyer today released the first installment of a new ten-part series of short documentaries called “Outspoken” that features stories of LGBT+ Adventists. This is the third major project for the husband-and-wife team dealing with the intersection of sexuality, gender and the Adventist faith.

Their first film, the feature-length documentary “Seventh-Gay Adventists” (Watchfire Films, 2012) followed the lives and spiritual journeys of three Seventh-day Adventists in same-sex relationships as they struggled with tensions between the distinct cultural markers of their faith community and their identities as lesbian or gay individuals. After screening at film festivals and in and around Adventist communities, the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray, followed by a wider online release.

Akers and Eyer followed “Seventh-Gay Adventists” in 2014 with “Enough Room at the Table,” a film intended to model for the Adventist Church a process the filmmakers called “the sacred act of listening.” “Enough Room” brought together a diverse group of Adventist pastors, thought leaders and congregants—some LGBT+, some not—to talk with one another over the course of a weekend retreat. The film that documented those conversations provided a framework for congregations that might have had preliminary talks about homosexuality and sexual identities, but that might have lacked resources for moving the conversations forward.

I spoke with Daneen Akers about this new project—how it came to be and what links it to and separates it from past projects.

“This new series is a shift for us,” Akers told me. “We’ve journeyed from thinking that we as allies are doing something helpful to realizing that we are the ones who are deeply blessed by getting to witness and share the stories of our LGBT friends.”

The “Outspoken” series of short films will be released exclusively online on the first Friday evening of each month, starting today.       More

A new children’s fairytale honours LGBT celebrities

Lane Sainty

BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

Bo Moore & Christine Luiten

Promised Land, released on Valentine’s Day, is the first children’s book from Wellington, New Zealand, authors Chaz Harris and Adam Reynolds. It is aimed at children aged from five to 10.

The book tells the story of Jack, a farm boy, and Leo, a prince, who meet in the enchanted forest and slowly fall in love. But their budding relationship hits a hurdle when the Queen’s evil husband, Gideon, attempts to seize the enchanted forest, which is on land belonging to Jack’s family.    BuzzFeed

The Begotten Belief

SS Lesson #4 The personality of the Holy Spirit

Tom Brady saved his career by changing his lifestyle

Scott Davis Feb. 6, 2017, 11:25 AM

Tom Brady pulled off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history at the age of 39.

To say what Brady is doing at his age is unprecedented is not an exaggeration.

In 2016, Brady put together one of the most efficient seasons of his career, then helped his team come back from 25-point deficit in the Super Bowl to win a historic fifth championship.

Brady's agelessness may stem from the dramatic shift in lifestyle he made during his career. Brady has a famously strict diet, consisting of plenty of all-natural and whole foods and excluding foods like tomatoes and peppers for fear of bloating. He goes to sleep by 9 p.m., doesn't drink, stays away from lifting heavy weights, and focuses on flexibility.

On Monday, while accepting his Super Bowl MVP, Brady talked about his unprecedented career and said that when he was 25 years old he didn't see it coming because he was "hurting all the time." He knew he had to make a change.

"I've tried to just take care of myself through learning through a lot of positive and negative experiences with that. When you're in a locker room for 17 years, you kinda learn what to do and what not to do and what works for you. I've found probably a unique way that's a little outside the box that's really worked.

"I try to spread that message to a lot of other players just because football is a demanding sport and it's a demanding sport on your body. And your body is your asset, and if you are hurting all the time, football is no fun. When I was 25, I was hurting all the time, and I couldn't imagine playing as long as I did, just because, you know, if your arm hurts every day when you throw, how can you keep playing? And now, at 39, my arm never hurts and my body never hurts. Even after I get banged up, I know how to take care of it and jump on it right away, so that I can feel good for a Wednesday practice."

Brady's life is micromanaged to continue playing football at an age when everyone retires. As such, as he's showed no signs of slowing.

On Sunday, it was reported that the Patriots think Brady may play for another three to five years. Brady himself has said he'd like to play well into his 40s. Declines can happen suddenly and unexpectedly, but if Brady can avoid major injury, there's no reason to think he can't keep playing.

One thing is for certain: Brady's own lifestyle will not be the cause of any future decline.     Business Insider

The British Government Colludes with Monsanto. Crimes against Humanity and “Ecocide”

Colin Todhunter Global Research, January 27, 2017

“The British Government has colluded with Monsanto and should be held accountable in the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes against humanity and ecocide.” Dr Rosemary Mason.

The British public and the environment are being poisoned with a deadly cocktail of 320 pesticides. Moreover, Wales has become a storage dump for Monsanto’s most toxic chemicals. These are the messages conveyed by Dr Rosemary Mason in her recent open letter to Councillor Rob Stewart, the leader of Swansea City and County Council.

Dr Mason adds that Swansea has over the years been a testing ground for glyphosate with the outcome being a huge spike in illness and disease among the local population as well as ongoing environmental devastation. There has been a long-term reckless use of a glyphosate-based weedkiller in Swansea, regardless of EU recommendations.

Dr Henk Tennekes, an independent toxicologist from the Netherlands, and Dr Pierre Mineau, an expert on ecotoxicology from Canada, both prophesied environmental catastrophe from the self-regulated and unsustainable use of pesticides by the agrochemical industry.    Read more

Skipping breakfast or eating late in the day could raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity according to a new study.

Saffron Alexander 31 January 2017 • 11:32am 

Skipping breakfast or eating late in the day could raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity according to a new study. The study from a group of American researchers suggests that the time we eat our meal is equally as important as what we eat.

Writing in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, researchers from Columbia University said both meal timing and frequency are linked to risk factors for a variety of conditions including heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, blood glucose levels, obesity, and reduced insulin sensitivity.

The researchers reviewed other current scientific studies concerning breakfast and heart disease and found that those who eat breakfast daily are less likely to have high cholesterol and blood pressure, while those who skip breakfast and instead snack and graze throughout the day are more likely to be obese, have poor nutrition, or be diagnosed with diabetes.

They analysed other studies that found people who skip breakfast have a 27 per cent increased risk of suffering from a heart attack, and are 18 per cent more likely to have a stroke.

Professor Marie-Pierre St-Onge, lead author of the study, said: "Meal timing may affect health due to its impact on the body's internal clock.

"In animal studies, it appears that when animals receive food while in an inactive phase, such as when they are sleeping, their internal clocks are reset in a way that can alter nutrient metabolism, resulting in greater weight gain, insulin resistance and inflammation.

"However, more research would need to be done in humans before that can be stated as a fact."    Telegraph

Chemicals that have been associated with cancer and other health problems have been found in some fast-food packaging, according to a new study.

Maura Judkis February 1, 2017

Chemicals that have been associated with cancer and other health problems have been found in some fast-food packaging, according to a new study. Researchers found the substances, which can leach into food, in sandwich and dessert wrappers and paperboard containers.

“We have more than one reason to try to eat more fresh food, and to reduce our consumption of fast food,” said Laurel Schaider, one of the study’s authors, and a research scientist for the Silent Spring Institute. “This is another reason.”

The chemicals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), are used in nonstick, stain-resistant and waterproof products. Fast-food packaging manufacturers might use them to keep sauces or grease from leaking through the wrapper. (Consumers are also exposed to them in other products, such as certain types of cookware, coats and carpets.) Some of the substances in this category are associated with kidney and testicular cancer, low birth weight, thyroid disease and immunotoxicity in children, among other outcomes.     Read more

A Missouri House bill would ban public health clinics from administering vaccines that contain mercury or any other metal

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Jan. 31, 2017) – A Missouri House bill would ban public health clinics from administering vaccines that contain mercury or any other metal put into the vaccine for preservation purposes, contradicting approved federal policy.

House Bill 331 (HB331) was introduced by Rep. Lynn Morris (R-Nixa) to mitigate concerns regarding vaccine safety. With the exception of health emergencies determined by the Department of Health & Senior Services with concurrence from the governor, the following provision would apply:

Beginning August 28, 2018, no vaccine containing mercury or other metal for preservation or other purpose shall be administrated to a child or adult in a public health clinic in Missouri.

HB331 begins the process of nullifying potential vaccine mandates, which generally have their basis in federal recommendations or guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although these federal rules are not technically binding, they often influence policy-makers and individuals at the local and state levels to adopt coercive mandates regarding mercury-laced vaccines and other toxic substances.

By taking the rule-making power back into their own hands, the state of Missouri can disconnect from federal control and restore its sovereignty on this key issue.     Read more

Why Is Milk Consumption Associated with More Bone Fractures?

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on January 31st, 2017

Milk is touted to build strong bones, but a compilation of all the best studies found no association between milk consumption and hip fracture risk; so, drinking milk as an adult might not help bones, but what about in adolescence? Harvard researchers decided to put it to the test.

Studies have shown that greater milk consumption during childhood and adolescence contributes to peak bone mass, and is therefore expected to help avoid osteoporosis and bone fractures in later life. But that’s not what researchers have found (as you can see in my video Is Milk Good for Our Bones?). Milk consumption during teenage years was not associated with a lower risk of hip fracture, and if anything, milk consumption was associated with a borderline increase in fracture risk in men.

It appears that the extra boost in total body bone mineral density from getting extra calcium is lost within a few years, even if you keep the calcium supplementation up. This suggests a partial explanation for the long-standing enigma that hip fracture rates are highest in populations with the greatest milk consumption. This may be an explanation for why they’re not lower, but why would they be higher?

This enigma irked a Swedish research team, puzzled because studies again and again had shown a tendency of a higher risk of fracture with a higher intake of milk. Well, there is a rare birth defect called galactosemia, where babies are born without the enzymes needed to detoxify the galactose found in milk; so, they end up with elevated levels of galactose in their blood, which can cause bone loss even as kids. So maybe, the Swedish researchers figured, even in normal people that can detoxify the stuff, it might not be good for the bones to be drinking it every day.

And galactose doesn’t just hurt the bones. Galactose is what scientists use to cause premature aging in lab animals—it can shorten their lifespan, cause oxidative stress, inflammation, and brain degeneration—just with the equivalent of like one to two glasses of milk’s worth of galactose a day. We’re not rats, though. But given the high amount of galactose in milk, recommendations to increase milk intake for prevention of fractures could be a conceivable contradiction. So, the researchers decided to put it to the test, looking at milk intake and mortality as well as fracture risk to test their theory. 

A hundred thousand men and women were followed for up to 20 years. Researchers found that milk-drinking women had higher rates of death, more heart disease, and significantly more cancer for each glass of milk. Three glasses a day was associated with nearly twice the risk of premature death, and they had significantly more bone and hip fractures. More milk, more fractures.

Men in a separate study also had a higher rate of death with higher milk consumption, but at least they didn’t have higher fracture rates. So, the researchers found a dose dependent higher rate of both mortality and fracture in women, and a higher rate of mortality in men with milk intake, but the opposite for other dairy products like soured milk and yogurt, which would go along with the galactose theory, since bacteria can ferment away some of the lactose. To prove it though, we need a randomized controlled trial to examine the effect of milk intake on mortality and fractures. As the accompanying editorial pointed out, we better find this out soon, since milk consumption is on the rise around the world.

What can we do for our bones, then? Weight-bearing exercise such as jumping, weight-lifting, and walking with a weighted vest or backpack may help, along with getting enough calcium (Alkaline Diets, Animal Protein, & Calcium Loss) and vitamin D (Resolving the Vitamin D-Bate). Eating beans (Phytates for the Prevention of Osteoporosis) and avoiding phosphate additives (Phosphate Additives in Meat Purge and Cola) may also help.

Maybe the galactose angle can help explain the findings on prostate cancer (Prostate Cancer and Organic Milk vs. Almond Milk) and Parkinson’s disease (Preventing Parkinson’s Disease With Diet).

Galactose is a milk sugar. There’s also concern about milk proteins (see my casomorphin series) and fats (The Saturated Fat Studies: Buttering Up the Public and Trans Fat in Meat and Dairy) as well as the hormones (Dairy Estrogen and Male Fertility, Estrogen in Meat, Dairy, and Eggs and Why Do Vegan Women Have 5x Fewer Twins?).  

Milk might also play a role in diabetes (Does Casein in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes, Does Bovine Insulin in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?) and breast cancer (Is Bovine Leukemia in Milk Infectious?, The Role of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Breast Cancer, and Industry Response to Bovine Leukemia Virus in Breast Cancer).       Nutrition Facts

Hepatitis B Vaccine Triples the Risk of Autism in Infant Boys

David Kirby Nov 17, 2011 
“The science is largely complete. Ten epidemiological studies have shown MMR vaccine doesn’t cause autism; six have shown thimerosal doesn’t cause autism.”— Dr. Paul Offit, “Autism’s False Prophets”

“16 studies have shown no causal association between vaccines and autism, and these studies carry weight in the scientific industry.”— Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC Today Show Medical Editor

Conventional wisdom holds that the autism-vaccine question has been “asked and answered,” and that at least 16 large, well-constructed epidemiological studies have thoroughly addressed and debunked any hypothesis that childhood vaccination is in any way associated with an increased risk for autism spectrum disorders.

But there are several critical flaws in such an oversimplified generalization, and they are rarely given close examination by public health experts or members of the media.

To begin with, it is unscientific and perilously misleading for anyone to assert that “vaccines and autism” have been studied and that no link has been found. That’s because the 16 or so studies constantly cited by critics of the hypothesis have examined just one vaccine and one vaccine ingredient.      Read more

Study shows that moderate consumption of alcohol affects your health

Anna Hunt, Staff February 3, 2017

There’s no denying it that alcohol over-consumption, binge drinking and alcoholism can have some devastating effects. Nonetheless, alcohol has become so normalized in our society that moderate drinking is considered normal. Now, a new comparison between binge and moderate drinking has raised the question. Is moderate drinking much worse for the body than many of us think?

Drinking Guidelines

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism uses three tiers to identify the different drinking levels:

• Moderate consumption – up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men.
• Binge drinking – 5 or more alcoholic drinks for males or 4 or more alcoholic drinks for females on the same occasion (i.e., at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other) on at least 1 day in the past month.
• Heavy alcohol use – binge drinking on 5 or more days in the past month.

It is important to consider that “1 drink” equals to no more than 0.6 ounces of pure alcohol, 12 ounces of beer, or 5 ounces of wine.

Binge drinking effects over 20% of the US population, according to a recent report published by the U.S. surgeon general. The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (USDUH) estimates this to be even higher at 27%. Alcohol misuse in the U.S. contributes to over 88,000 deaths each year. Globally, deaths in 2012 attributed to alcohol consumption stacked up to 3.3 million.

The statistics are even more staggering when you consider USDUH’s estimate that 86% of people 18 or over who live in the U.S. consume alcohol. 56% of survey respondents reportedly drank within the last month.

How Harmful Is Moderate Consumption?

Statistics about alcohol misuse may be quite scary. But if you’re not a heavy or binge drinker, do you have to worry? New evidence suggests that even moderate alcohol consumption can be quite harmful.

In the BBC television segment below, doctors explored the difference between binge drinking and moderate drinking. Identical twin brothers each consumed 21 alcohol units. One brother drank 21 units in one night. The other had three drinks per day over the course of one week. The experiment continued for four weeks.

Doctors compared medical tests before and after the experiment. They discovered that moderate drinking was actually quite harmful to the body. Liver stiffness increased by about 25% for both the binge drinker and the moderate-drinking brother. This type of inflammation can lead to an irreversible condition called liver cirrhosis.

In addition to liver stiffness, the tests measured five different inflammatory markers in all. Over time, chronic inflammation can cause DNA damage and lead to cancer. Both brothers had significant increases in all markers, although the binge drinking twin had a more dramatic rise.

Effects of Alcohol on the Body

Drinking alcohol is very common, regardless of the negative effects on the body. But let’s consider the potential dangers. Mercola reports that alcohol consumption:

• Depresses your central nervous system, including the limbic system that controls emotions, the prefrontal cortex that governs reasoning and judgment, and the cerebellum that plays a role in muscle activity and impacts balance.
• Increases liver stiffness, which increases your risk of liver cirrhosis.
• Diminishes the formation of memories due to ethanol buildup in the brain. Alcohol also causes your hippocampus to shrink, which affects memory and learning.
• Promotes systemic inflammation. In other words, your body reacts to alcohol in the same way as it reacts to injury or infection.
• Increases stress on your heart, raising your risk for cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, high blood pressure and stroke.
• Significantly increases endotoxin levels. In other words, alcohol causes gut damage allowing bacteria to escape from your gut into your blood stream.
• In terms of chronic disease, studies have linked excessive alcohol consumption with an increased risk for poor immune function (which raises your risk for most diseases), pancreatitis and cancer.

A more detailed listing of how alcohol affects all of the body’s systems can be found on Healthline.

Mitigating Health Risks

The effect that alcohol will have on a person differs depending on various factors. These include body weight, amount of body fat and genetic makeup. Other important factors that can mitigate the effects of alcohol consumption are lifestyle choices such as diet and exercise.

“Exercise is a foundational aspect of good health, but may be even more important if you drink alcohol on a regular basis. According to recent research chronic drinkers who exercise five hours a week have the same rate of mortality as those who never drink alcohol, in large part by counteracting the inflammation caused by alcohol.” (source)

Furthermore, alcohol depletes the body of vital nutrients. It is important to ensure that if you drink alcohol, you eat foods rich in nutrients such as Vitamin C, Magnesium and B Vitamins, or take a supplement.

Milk thistle is another beneficial supplement. It contains antioxidants known to help protect the liver from toxins, including alcohol. Researchers found that the antioxidant silymarin found in milk thistle may help to regenerate liver cells.

Alcohol Misuse Impacts More Than the Body

In the U.S. alone, alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorders carry a significant social cost. An estimated $249 billion is spent on lost productivity, health care expenses, law enforcement, and other criminal justice costs.

In addition, there is the issue of codependency. What is codependency? It is a behavioral problem where people in the lives of those who are afflicted with alcohol or drug dependency engage in mutually destructive habits. It typically affects family members, friends or coworkers of heavy drinkers.

You Choose

Alcohol consumption is a personal choice, similar to the foods one eats and the amount of exercise one gets. It is important to understand, though, that alcohol has many negative health effects. Even though moderate alcohol use is widespread, it does not necessarily mean that it is safe for everyone. Limiting consumption or abstaining altogether is the best way to mitigate the harmful effects on the body.    Walking Times

Lifestyle Changes Now Proven to Effectively Treat Major Depression

Alex Pietrowski, February 4, 2017

More than 15 million Americans suffer from serious depression, and it is estimated that globally some 350 million people are struggling with the challenging mental disorder. While the causes of depression are varied and largely unidentifiable, since the 1950’s the pharmaceutical industry has been developing a broad range of antidepressants, and it now estimated that 8-10% of the American population is taking some type of antidepressants.

The problems with antidepressants are wide-ranging including addiction, costs, and a host of unfavorable side-effects including emotional numbness and even an increased risk of suicide. While antidepressants may very well help some people cope with the overwhelming effects of depression in the short-term, pharmaceutical treatments do not cure depression.

Pondering the reasons for such a major increase in depression in our society over the last couple of decades, many have speculated that a combination of lifestyle, social disconnectedness in a technologically advanced society, lack of exercise, environmental pollutants, and increased consumption of nutritionless and heavily processed foods are to blame. Yet, medical science has been slow to fully acknowledge and recommend lifestyle changes to patients, often preferring the recommendation of pharmaceuticals.

A world-first study, however, recently conducted by Deakin University in Australia has shown unequivocally that major depression can be conquered with the right dietary changes.

“We’ve known for some time that there is a clear association between the quality of people’s diets and their risk for depression. This is the case across countries, cultures and age groups, with healthy diets associated with reduced risk, and unhealthy diets associated with increased risk for depression. However, this is the first randomised controlled trial to directly test whether improving diet quality can actually treat clinical depression.” ~Professor Felice Jacka, Director of Deakin’s Food and Mood Centre

The study looked at adults with major depression, evaluating their progress with specific dietary changes over a three-month period, revealing the types of foods which help the most.

“The dietary group received information and assistance to improve the quality of their current diets, with a focus on increasing the consumption of vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, legumes, fish, lean red meats, olive oil and nuts, while reducing their consumption of unhealthy ‘extras’ foods, such as sweets, refined cereals, fried food, fast-food, processed meats and sugary drinks.” [Source]       Read more

The Newest Miniature Drone That Mimics Nature

By Nicholas West February 4, 2017

Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) are the official name for the growing array of tiny robots that have begun to take flight. Increasing miniaturization has led to an even smaller sub-group of drones called NAV (nano air vehicles) which have been commissioned to provide new solutions in the areas of search and rescue, hazardous exploration, military surveillance, climate mapping, and traffic monitoring – to name a few of the slated functions. Some of these NAV include mapleseed drones, sparrow drones, dragonfly drones and one called RoboBee. The reconstruction of nature is seen by researchers as the best way to introduce MAV and NAV on a wide scale.   

The latest in this developing drone menagerie appears to represent the next stage of evolution, a sophisticated miniature drone modeled after a bat that developers are simply calling Bat Bot. As featured by Popular Mechanics:

Bat Bot is nothing short of an engineering marvel. It weighs in at only 3.3 ounces—about as heavy of two golf balls. With a silicone membrane stretched over its carbon-fiber skeleton, a head crammed with an on-board computer and sensors, and five micro-sized motors strung along its backbone, Bat Bot is capable of autonomous, flapping flight. Designed by trio of roboticists led by Soon-Jo Chung at Caltech, it was unveiled today in the journal Science Robotics.       Read more

Earthworm numbers dwindle, threatening soil health

Earthworms help recuperate soil and enrich it with much needed minerals. But environmentalists are concerned as earthworms have come under threat from intensive use of manure and acidic soil.

Earthworms, it seems, are the unsung heroes of our world. Labeled slimy and disgusting by many, these lowly invertebrates work unseen and underground where they till, fertilize and improve soil.

But environmentalists are concerned that industrial agricultural practices are making life difficult for this surprisingly important animal.

Intensive use of manure and acidic soil with a pH value below five harm the worm, although it remains unclear whether herbicides affect earthworm's ability to reproduce.

Still, one thing is for sure: the destruction of its habitat every few months with heavy machinery stresses the animal.

Fewer than 30 earthworms are found per square meter on intensively farmed fields. But on organic farms, where the fields are rarely ploughed, up to 450 worms live in the same area, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).  

That's bad news according to agronomists and gardeners. A thriving earthworm population is an indication of healthy soil. And the retreat of the species is so evident the WWF has published an "Earthworm Manifesto" to publicize the faith of these dirt-dwellers.  

"If earthworms suffer, so too does our soil and thereby the basis for agriculture and food supply," said Birgit Wilhelm, a WWF expert in the farming sector. For Wilhelm, these worms are the least appreciated creatures on the planet.     DW

Thousands of dead and dying bees are washing up on a popular beach in Southern Florida.

Thousands of dead and dying bees are washing up on a popular beach in Southern Florida.

Naples beach goers had to watch where they stepped Tuesday after some people say they have been stung just along the shoreline, according to NBC affiliate WBBH-TV.

Martha Duff lives in Naples and recently had a painful encounter with the bees.

"I've been stung a couple of times and at first, I didn't know what it was and then I realized and then I had an allergic reaction," Duff said.     NBC

Ankara's outspoken mayor on Tuesday warned that outside forces could be using sophisticated technology to try to trigger a man-made earthquake

Ankara (AFP) - Ankara's outspoken mayor on Tuesday warned that outside forces could be using sophisticated technology to try to trigger a man-made earthquake in a deliberate bid to harm Turkey's fragile economy.

Melih Gokcek, who has been mayor of the Turkish capital since 1994, made the outlandish claims on Twitter where he regularly updates his more than 3.7 million followers, often writing in capital letters.

His comments were made after two quakes hit the western Canakkale province on Monday and Tuesday morning, measuring 5.3 and 5.2 magnitude respectively, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said.

In these tweets, Gokcek shared a video which claimed there were tools for causing manmade quakes, and he called all submarines and ships with large equipment to be taken under control of the authorities.

Gokcek said he had "researched" the two quakes and suggested they could have been caused by possible foreign interference.

"There was a ship conducting seismic research nearby. What this ship was researching and what country it belongs to must be solved," he wrote.

The ultimate aim, he suggested, was to trigger an earthquake near Istanbul in a bid to stage an economic "coup".

"At this moment, the coup aimed at Turkey is an earthquake near Istanbul to cause Turkey's economic collapse," he claimed.     Yahoo News

More than 4,000 children, mostly boys, were allegedly sexually abused by Catholic priests in Australia over decades

More than 4,000 children, mostly boys, were allegedly sexually abused by Catholic priests in Australia over decades, an investigation says, adding that since the 1950s some 7 percent of priests in the country were alleged perpetrators.

The report was released on Monday by the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The commission will resume its public hearing into the current policies of the Catholic Church on Tuesday.     RT

One of the biggest makers of smart televisions has been found to be tracking users' viewing habits without them knowing.

Cara McGoogan 7 February 2017 • 10:05am

One of the biggest makers of smart televisions has been found to be tracking users' viewing habits without them knowing. 

Vizio has been fined $2.2 million (£1.8m) after the US consumer watchdog discovered the company had been using content recognition software to track viewers without asking for permission. 

The tracking technology, called automated content recognition, can recognise what is being watched on the television at any given moment. Vizio gathered "as many as 100 billion data points a day from millions of TVs". 

Vizio, which has sold more than 11 million smart TVs since 2010, was found to have been sharing the "mountain of data" with independent companies such as advertisers and those that monitor audience engagement and habits. It does not sell its TVs in the UK.

"Consumers didn't know that while they were watching their TVs, Vizio was watching them," the US Federal Trade Commission said. "The generic way the company described that feature – for example, 'enables program offers and suggestions' – didn’t give consumers the necessary heads-up to know that Vizio was tracking their TV’s every flicker."       Telegraph

Debtpocalypse: U.S. consumer bankruptcies do something that they haven’t done in nearly 7 years.

Michael Snyder, on February 5th, 2017 

When debt grows much faster than GDP for an extended period of time, it is inevitable that a good portion of that debt will start to go bad at some point.  We witnessed a perfect example of this in 2008, and now it is starting to happen again.  Commercial bankruptcies have been rising on a year-over-year basis since late 2015, and this is something that I have written about previously, but now consumer bankruptcies are also increasing.  In fact, we have just witnessed U.S. consumer bankruptcies do something that they haven’t done in nearly 7 years.  The following comes from Wolf Richter…

US bankruptcy filings by consumers rose 5.4% in January, compared to January last year, to 52,421 according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. In December, they’d already risen 4.5% from a year earlier. This was the first time that consumer bankruptcies increased back-to-back since 2010.
However, business bankruptcies began to surge in November 2015 and continued surging on a year-over-year basis in 2016, to reach a full-year total of 37,823 filings, up 26% from the prior year and the highest since 2014.

Of course consumer bankruptcies are still much lower than they were during the last financial crisis, but what this could mean is that we have reached a turning point.

For years, the Federal Reserve has been encouraging reckless borrowing and spending by pushing interest rates to ultra-low levels.  Unfortunately, this created an absolutely enormous debt bubble, and now that debt bubble is beginning to burst.  Here is more from Wolf Richter…     Read more

Iran and Donald Trump: is war coming?

Alexander Mercouris,  6 February 2017

The conflict between the US and Iran is not rooted in any grand plan for Iranian control of the Middle East. It is the result of US concern about the system of alliances Iran has built up to prevent a repeat of the disaster of the Iran-Iraq war.

If since coming to office the new Trump administration has been making tentative moves towards repairing the US’s fraught relations with Russia, towards Iran it has been acting with heightened hostility.

It has blamed Iran for a missile attack on a Saudi frigate carried out by Yemeni forces, criticised Iran for its missile tests, and slapped more sanctions on the country.  President Trump has made no secret of his strong disagreement with the Iranian nuclear agreement Iran agreed with the Obama administration, and he has also called Iran “the number one terrorist state”.       Read more

World leaders duped manipulated global warming data

By David Rose February 4, 2017

The Mail on Sunday today reveals astonishing evidence that the organization that is the world’s leading source of climate data rushed to publish a landmark paper that exaggerated global warming and was timed to influence the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.

A high-level whistleblower has told this newspaper that America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) breached its own rules on scientific integrity when it published the sensational but flawed report, aimed at making the maximum possible impact on world leaders including Barack Obama and David Cameron at the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015.

The report claimed that the ‘pause’ or ‘slowdown’ in global warming in the period since 1998 – revealed by UN scientists in 2013 – never existed, and that world temperatures had been rising faster than scientists expected. Launched by NOAA with a public relations fanfare, it was splashed across the world’s media, and cited repeatedly by politicians and policy makers.

But the whistleblower, Dr John Bates, a top NOAA scientist with an impeccable reputation, has shown The Mail on Sunday irrefutable evidence that the paper was based on misleading, ‘unverified’ data.

It was never subjected to NOAA’s rigorous internal evaluation process – which Dr Bates devised.

His vehement objections to the publication of the faulty data were overridden by his NOAA superiors in what he describes as a ‘blatant attempt to intensify the impact’ of what became known as the Pausebuster paper.

His disclosures are likely to stiffen President Trump’s determination to enact his pledges to reverse his predecessor’s ‘green’ policies, and to withdraw from the Paris deal – so triggering an intense political row.      DailyMail

Cooperation between Moscow and washington could benefit the world

 

7 Feb, 2017, RT

Cooperation between Moscow and the new administration in Washington could be positive not just for Syria but also the wider world, Syrian President Bashar Assad said, adding that the EU has merely supported terrorists since the start of the country’s civil war.

When asked by Belgian media about the Trump administration and the possibility of working with it, Assad said that statements by the Republican both during his election campaign and after are “promising regarding the priority of fighting terrorists, and mainly ISIS [IS, Islamic State],” SANA news agency reported.

“That’s what we’ve been asking for during the last six years,” he added. “So, I think this is promising, we have to wait, it’s still early to expect anything practical. It could be about the cooperation between the US and Russia, that we think is going to be positive for the rest of the world, including Syria.”          Read more

The issue with Kellogg was the personality of God

   There is a strain of spiritualism coming in among our people, and it will undermine the faith of those who give place to it, leading them to give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Errors will be presented in a pleasing and flattering manner. The enemy desires to divert the minds of our brethren and sisters from the work of preparing a people to stand in these last days. 

   I am instructed to warn our brethren and sisters not to discuss the nature of our God. Many of the curious who attempted to open the ark of the testament, to see what was inside, were punished for their presumption. We are not to say that the Lord God of heaven is in a leaf, or in a tree; for He is not there. He sitteth upon His throne in the heavens. . .

   I am instructed to say that there is nothing in the Word of God to substantiate your spiritualistic theories. Will you not renounce these theories at once and forever? Upon them your mind has been dwelling for a long time, but they have had no sanctifying, refining ennobling influence upon your life. The Lord has not use for these theories, and He would not have His people vindicate or propagate them.
 

   The Father, the omniscient One, created the world through Christ Jesus. Christ is the light of the world, the way to eternal life. He, the anointed One, God gave to make an atonement for the sins of the world. You need to understand that unless you believe in that atonement, and know that you are bought with the price of the blood of the only begotten Son of God, you will assuredly be bound up with the wicked one. If you continue to cherish the theories that you have been cherishing, you will be left to become the sport of Satan's temptations. He is playing the game of life for your soul. Remain for a little longer linked up with him, and be assured that you will lose your soul. . . .  

   You have followed the enemy step by step, striving to look into mysteries too high and holy for your comprehension. Then in your teaching the Holy One has been brought down to man's scientific, spiritualistic ideas. You have been walking in crooked paths. You have lost the moral image of God. But there is hope for you. You may still turn your feet into the right path. . . .

   Whatever your associates may say concerning this book, I take the position now and forever that it is a snare. No union will be formed by our people as a whole upon the theories that you have begun to present in that book. You may regard this forever decided. As a people we shall stand firm on the platform that has withstood test and trial. We shall hold to the sure pillars of our faith. The principles of truth that God has revealed to us are our only foundation. They have made us what we are.   

   These new, fanciful theories are fascinating and misleading. They endanger the eternal interests of the soul. The Scriptures do not sustain them. Clothed with the Christian armor, shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, we shall stand firm against these misleading theories. You may turn and wrest the word of God to your own destruction, but I entreat you not to do this. . .

     

   Ever since I was seventeen years old, I have had to fight this battle against false theories, in defense of the truth. The history of our past experience is indelibly fixed in my mind and I am determined that no theories of the order that you have been accepting shall come into our ranks. . . . --Letter 253, 1903, pp. 4-11, 13. (To J. H. Kellogg, November 20, 1903.)    4MR pp. 57-60

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   Those who seek to remove the old landmarks are not holding fast; they are not remembering how they have received and heard. Those who try to bring in theories that would remove the pillars of our faith concerning the sanctuary or concerning the personality of God or of Christ are working as blind men. They are seeking to bring in uncertainties and to set the people of God adrift without an anchor.     Ye Shall Receive Power p. 235  

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     VOLUME 8 WAS PUBLISHED TO MEET A CRISIS--THE GREATEST CRISIS WHICH THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH HAS EVER FACED. THE URGENCY OF THE MATTER IS EVIDENCED IN THAT THE BOOK CAME FROM THE PRESS IN MARCH, 1904, FIFTEEN MONTHS AFTER VOLUME 7 WAS PUBLISHED. . .
        NEAR THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, CERTAIN OF THE WORKERS OF THE DENOMINATION, AND ESPECIALLY THE LEADER IN THE MEDICAL MISSIONARY INTERESTS, ESPOUSED CERTAIN TEACHINGS CONCERNING THE PERSONALITY OF GOD WHICH WERE QUITE OUT OF HARMONY WITH THE CLEAR TEACHINGS OF THE WORD OF GOD AND THE POSITIONS OF THE CHURCH. . .

     THESE PANTHEISTIC VIEWS ENVISIONED GOD NOT AS A GREAT PERSONAL BEING RULING THE UNIVERSE, BUT RATHER AS A POWER, A FORCE, SEEN AND FELT IN NATURE AND PERVADING THE VERY ATMOSPHERE. CONFUSING THE POWER OF GOD WITH HIS PERSONALITY. . .
     THROUGH THE WINTER OF 1902-03 THE MOVEMENT GAINED MOMENTUM. THEN THE PROBLEM BECAME ACUTE WITH THE PUBLICATION OF A BOOK ON PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE WRITTEN IN POPULAR STYLE, IN WHICH THE LEADING PHYSICIAN OF THE DENOMINATION SET FORTH THESE VIEWS IN A SUBTLE WAY. . .
     A FEW MONTHS LATER, IN THE AUTUMN OF 1903, MRS. WHITE WAS INSTRUCTED IN VISION TO MEET PROMPTLY AND SQUARELY THE PANTHEISTIC DOCTRINES AND TO POINT OUT THE DANGERS OF THE ACCOMPANYING SPECULATIVE AND SPIRITISTIC TEACHINGS...

     THE CRISIS WAS MET, AND THE CHURCH WAS SAVED. NO HUMAN POWER ALONE COULD HAVE PRESERVED THE CHURCH IN THIS CRISIS.       Preface in Testimonies for the Church Vol. 8 pp. 5-7

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  "Be not deceived; many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We have now before us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature." Selected Messages Book 1 p.197 

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 "Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people. I knew that I must warn our brethren and sisters not to enter into controversy over the presence and personality of God. The statements made in Living Temple in regard to this point are incorrect."  Selected Messages Book 1 p. 203

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  "The world is full of speculation and false theories regarding the nature and character of God. The enemy of our souls is earnestly at work to introduce among the Lord's people pleasing speculation, and incorrect views regarding the personality of God . . . .  

   I have seen the results of these fanciful views of God, in apostasy, spiritualism, freelovism. The free love tendencies of these teachings were so concealed that it was difficult to present them in their real character. . . ."   Manuscript Releases Vol. 8 p. 304

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  "The spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy." SpTB02 p. 54

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