Synesthesia May Explain Healers Claims of Seeing People's 'Aura'

© Nikki Zalewski / Fotolia
New research suggests that at least some
of the individuals claiming to see the so-
called aura of people actually have the
neuropsychological phenomenon known
as "synesthesia" (specifically,
"emotional synesthesia"). This might
be a scientific explanation of their
alleged ability.

Synesthesia May Explain Healers Claims of Seeing People's 'Aura' - ScienceDaily

Researchers in Spain have found that at least some of the individuals claiming to see the so-called aura of people actually have the neuropsychological phenomenon known as "synesthesia" (specifically, "emotional synesthesia"). This might be a scientific explanation of their alleged ability.

In synesthetes, the brain regions responsible for the processing of each type of sensory stimuli are intensely interconnected. Synesthetes can see or taste a sound, feel a taste, or associate people or letters with a particular color.

The study was conducted by the University of Granada Department of Experimental Psychology Óscar Iborra, Luis Pastor and Emilio Gómez Milán, and has been published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.

This is the first time that a scientific explanation has been provided for the esoteric phenomenon of the aura, a supposed energy field of luminous radiation surrounding a person as a halo, which is imperceptible to most human beings.

In basic neurological terms, synesthesia is thought to be due to cross-wiring in the brain of some people (synesthetes); in other words, synesthetes present more synaptic connections than "normal" people.

"These extra connections cause them to automatically establish associations between brain areas that are not normally interconnected," professor Gómez Milán explains. New research suggests that many healers claiming to see the aura of people might have this condition.

The case of the "Santón de Baza"

One of the University of Granada researchers remarked that "not all 'healers' are synesthetes, but there is a higher prevalence of this phenomenon among them. The same occurs among painters and artists, for example." To carry out this study, the researchers interviewed some synesthetes including a 'healer' from Granada, "Esteban Sánchez Casas," known as "El Santón de Baza".

Many local people attribute "paranormal powers" to El Santón, because of his supposed ability to see the aura of people "but, in fact, it is a clear case of synesthesia," the researchers explained. According to the researchers, El Santón has face-color synesthesia (the brain region responsible for face recognition is associated with the color-processing region); touch-mirror synesthesia (when the synesthete observes a person who is being touched or is experiencing pain, s/he experiences the same); high empathy (the ability to feel what other person is feeling), and schizotypy (certain personality traits in healthy people involving slight paranoia and delusions). "These capacities make synesthetes have the ability to make people feel understood, and provide them with special emotion and pain reading skills," the researchers explain.

In the light of the results obtained, the researchers remarked on the significant "placebo effect" that healers have on people, "though some healers really have the ability to see people's 'auras' and feel the pain in others due to synesthesia." Some healers "have abilities and attitudes that make them believe in their ability to heal other people, but it is actually a case of self-deception, as synesthesia is not an extrasensory power, but a subjective and 'adorned' perception of reality," the researchers state.

Comment: I've added Synesthesia from the posting of this article to add as phenomena in relation to both factors and behavioral patterns as that of institutional associations that bear no solutions.

WIDESPREAD GMO CONTAMINATION: Did Monsanto Plant GMOs Before USDA Approval?

WIDESPREAD GMO CONTAMINATION: Did Monsanto Plant GMOs Before USDA Approval? by Cassandra Anderson and Anthony Gucciardi 

Did Monsanto actually plant genetically modified alfalfa before it was deregulated by the USDA?

There is some shocking evidence that, until recently, was withheld from the public showing that Monsanto’s genetically altered alfalfa may have been set free in 2003 — a full two years or more before it was deregulated in 2005. In a letter, obtained by NaturalSociety with permission to post for public viewing, it becomes clear that the USDA may have turned a blind eye to the entire situation, allowing widespread GMO contamination of GMO-free crops. 

Amazingly, the letter actually suggests that the USDA was fully aware of the situation. In order to fully understand the intricate details of this event, it is first important to understand a few key factors regarding alfalfa and its connection to the entire food supply. 

Alfalfa is a perennial plant that grows for more than 2 years and may not need to be replanted each year like annuals. Because it is a perennial plant, it is exceptionally vulnerable to contamination. Interestingly, the modified alfalfa — created by Monsanto in partner with a group known as Forage Genetics — was the first perennial plant to be deregulated for open planting by the USDA. But did Monsanto unleash the plant before this occurred? 

This is very serious because it is only a matter of time before alfalfa across America could be corrupted with Monsanto’s patented genetically modified trait. Organic meat and dairy could be tainted when animals are fed the modified alfalfa as well, threatening the very integrity of the organic food supply. What’s more, the contamination of natural alfalfa could be nearly impossible — if not entirely impossible — to remedy, so it could actually fracture the genetic stability of the entire crop on a global scale. 

Shocking Letter Reveals Monsanto’s Contamination Dates Back 2 Years Before Deregulation 

A letter from Cal/West Seeds shows that evidence of contamination was withheld and the USDA turned a blind eye to proof of contamination in 2005 which shows it was planted at least two years before it was initially deregulated in 2005. As you can see for yourself, the official letter states:

We first discovered the unintended presence of the Roundup Ready gene in our conventional alfalfa seeds in 2005. It was identified in one of our foundation seed production lots grown in California. We tested the foundation seed lot priot to shipping it to a producer who intended to plant it for organic seed production.

In another telling segment, the author writes:

We detected the presence of the … Roundup Ready gene in both our foundation seed and certified seed prior to deregulation. In order to protect the safety of the individual, some further contents cannot be divulged. Remember in the past, those who have stood up against Monsanto have received anonymous death threats — in one case, the threats were directed towards a mother and her children.

This video documents the timeline of events that led to the deregulation of Monsanto & Forage Genetics’ GMO alfalfa that is contaminating natural alfalfa.



As the video explains, the lawyers representing the farmers against Monsanto failed to hold an evidentiary hearing so the injunction (ban) against planting GMO alfalfa was removed and the case was sent back to the lower district court. The lawyers pursued no further action on this case.

Contamination levels are still very low, but will undoubtedly increase over time with unexpected results (like superweeds), so stopping the further planting of GM plants like alfalfa is of high concern. Furthermore, it would set a precedent for banning other GMO perennial plants as well — a monumental move in the legislative fight against GMOs. This letter, compounded with the other evidence presented in this article, is paramount in displaying just how serious of an issue genetic contamination is. What’s more, the USDA appears to have known the entire time. It’s time to spread the word.

Comment: I've added empiric to the analecta for the word contamination Empiric is defined as 1: those guided by practical experience rather than precepts or theory. 2: An unqualified or dishonest practitioner; a charlatan.

Psychiatric Incarceration: It Can Happen to Anyone.

Photo of Sad Woman by Žarko Komljenovic,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yare/

Psychiatric Incarceration: It Can Happen to Anyone. - Gaia Health

If you think that you couldn’t possibly be sucked into the “mental health” system, please read this. The woman involved was forced into treatment against her will. It has cost her everything, including her health, her career, and her independence.

She’s afraid to give her name, worried that her situation could be made even worse—worried that the perpetrators of her destruction might make things worse by suing. They’re already coming after her to pay tens of thousands of dollars she doesn’t have for the incarceration and drugging they forced on her.  So, we’ll simply refer to her as Jody*.

Jody was, by her own description, a workaholic. She was successful, owned a home with her life partner, held a degree in fine arts and worked for the same company more than 15 years. She loved her work—but she didn’t know how to say no, so accepted all projects.

When her mother became ill, she added to her workload by caring for her. Jody never took the time to grieve. There was too much work to do. Her employer needed her.

Vacation? There just wasn’t enough time. Of course, the more she worked, the less she slept, and the less efficient she became. And that meant she needed more time to accomplish the same things. Her need to please everyone was taking a hit. She couldn’t keep up.

Jody didn’t know the concept of vacation, or if she did, reckoned it had nothing to do with her. She pushed herself until physical and mental exhaustion, not to mention grief from her mother’s death, brought her to collapse. She couldn’t get out of bed. She’d always been a perfectionist, had a tendency to be anxious, but until then, it had always worked to her benefit—until she’d overtended her mental and physical resources.

Asking for Help

Jody realized she needed help. Asking for it proved to be her undoing. She went to a psychiatric ward for one night. No one ever asked what had happened. No one cared. She was given the SSRI antidepressant Prozac, but read the label information and decided it was too dangerous, so didn’t take it. She wasn’t allowed to wear her own clothes. Forced to wear scrubs, she felt demeaned. A flashlight was shined in her face several times during the night. No explanation was given to her for anything. She heard people moaning and wailing all night long.

In the morning, a psychiatrist and social worker saw her. They expressed no interest in what had brought her there—but they wanted her to stay. She refused. The psychiatrist was quite angry, and he recorded that she’d discharged herself against advice.

The experience had, of course, added to her trauma. So once back home, she was no better, and her listlessness resulted in not eating or drinking enough. Within a week, she became dehydrated, making her even more listless, so went to an emergency room. She was given a glass a water, and immediately felt better—more clear-headed and energetic. She though she’d be able to go home.

Instead, Jody was about to discover how thoroughly one’s rights as a human being are destroyed once the mental health system latches onto you. She was hauled off to a locked ward for the criminally insane! She had no criminal history and had never been violent. But that had little to do with her treatment.

The Treatment

Jody was kept for ten days, the maximum allowed under her state’s laws without a court order. All it takes is the agreement of two psychiatrists. She was drugged, and though she reacted very badly to them, her complaints were ignored—other than to use as evidence of noncompliance. As a person with no experience of any sort of incarceration, she was unprepared for the humiliation and mistreatment. She says:

I was so isolated from the outside world – they only let you make phone calls at certain set times, no computer access. I couldn’t use my own cell-phone. Certain books were deemed dangerous because they were too heavy and had a hard back. No dental floss. I couldn’t have a hair brush because it was seen as a weapon.

She was told to mix with her “peers”, but the people there weren’t her peers. It was, after all, a ward for the criminally insane. She overhead one man talking to his attorney about killing his mother. The people there simply weren’t the sort she’d ever encountered.

She was given the SSRI antidepressant Prozac, which caused uncontrollable tremors in her feet. The psychiatrist’s response was, “This is a one dog town, not a two dog town. I’m the one giving orders”, and he stormed out. The social worker’s response when told was simply, “You didn’t hit it off.” That’s as close to compassion as Jody was to receive.

She was given another SSRI, Zoloft. It made her extremely anxious. The response to that was to increase the dose. Complaining was taken to mean noncompliance, an excuse to increase dosage and add medications. At one point, Jody felt like the drugs were going to kill her. She says:

I felt like I was going to die—so I kept going up to the nursing station asking the nurses for help. They responded by telling me that I was not dying so I should go back to my room. I persisted in begging for help because I was extremely frightened by the way I was feeling. I was not threatening anyone, or acting agitated or threatening to kill myself.

Then an armed security guard showed up with two of the male psych techs. Without saying anything to me, the security guard waved the baton as if threatening to hit me and pushed me into a corner. The two psych techs, large men, then tackled me, and dragged me to my bed where they pinned me down, while the security guard pushed his baton against my neck almost strangling me.

Then my scrub pants were pulled down while the nurse injected me in the buttocks with what it turns out was Haldol (I wasn’t warned that they were going to do this). As I lay on the floor crying the nurses and psych techs stood over me and laughed. And as they walked out, one of the psych techs said sarcastically “This will make you stay in your room!”

The next day, with the Haldol still in her system, she was taken to a court of law and went before a judge to determine how she could be medicated. Of course, this incident had already clarified that the system would do whatever it wanted.

Before long, they’d put her on Risperdal, an antipsychotic. Jody had never hallucinated. She never heard voices. She had no symptoms of schizophrenia. Her reaction to the drug was horrible. She felt like she would die. Her heart raced. Her blood pressure skyrocketed. Her psychiatrist didn’t care, saying, “You’re just finding an excuse not to get with the program.” But he never told her what “the program” was. She had to figure it out for herself.

The Program

The “program” was never explained by the psychiatric incarceration staff. She learned from others who were incarcerated that the “program” was to be obedient. Never disagree with what staff said or wanted. And, of course, take the drugs, no matter what. She’d simply had a breakdown from overwork. But no one cared. The psychiatric system’s only interest was to make her compliant, to get her to take the drugs and stop complaining. As Jody says:

Never did the doctors look at the person I had been for all of my years and consider that I had shown great capability to be a solid, good member of society, productive, and highly functional. They took no more than a few minutes to diagnose me as severely mentally ill and treated me only as a brain diseased human who needed to be “cured” —whether I agreed to the “cure or not”.

There was nothing to do. Day after day. The only treatment was drugs. As time went on, more drugs. On discharge after 10 days, Jody was given prescriptions for high doses of  Prozac (SSRI antidepressant), Trazoedone  (another type of antidepressant)Risperdal (antipsychotic), Xanax (to counter panic symptoms from other drugs), Cogentin (to lower heart rate caused by other drugs), and Ambien (to sleep).

Part 2: How Psychiatry Holds onto Its Victims: Creation of a No-Win Situation

*Relatives and anyone else referenced are changed to disguise her. However, all the particulars are accurate. Do not believe that it can’t happen to you because you aren’t in America. I recall my shock in the UK at being told by a woman I knew and had worked beside. She’d been forced onto medication. Her home had been taken from her to pay for the treatment—all against her wishes. She sobbed in front of me. Any hope she’d had was gone. Without her home, she had no place to go. Could anything more effectively destroy hope?

See other work by Žarko Komljenović, photographer of the image above.

Comment: Please read this entire report. It was Mark Hyman who said, "Treat the system not the symptom, the patient not the disease." We can easily see that the so-called "program," is the cloaking of the system and that the patient is also considered the disease. This is simply not true. Here the system is the problem and the patient is non-existent.

The Vanishing of the Bees

May 2, 2012: The Vanishing of the Bees - ANH

Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) are in trouble. And for those who thought it was the end of the colony collapses witnessed initially in Europe and America from 2007 — and that now it was business as usual for our little friends – that’s just not the case.

Seventy five percent of agricultural crops benefit from animal, and especially bee, pollination, while 10% of this is entirely dependent on it. Agriculture has changed a lot with modern hybrids and now patented genetically modified crops, but a lot of high value fruits, vegetables, nuts and oil crops still need to be pollinated to produce viable fruits or seeds.

Among the crops fully dependent on bee pollination are (alphabetically): almonds, apples, apricots, avocadoes, blueberries, broccoli, carrots, celery, cherries, citrus fruits, cranberries, cucumbers, grapes, legume seed vegetables (beans, peas, lentils, etc.), macadamia nuts, nectarines, olives, peaches, peanuts, pears, plums, squash, strawberries, sugar beets, sunflowers and watermelons.

Many thousands of non-cultivated plants are also dependent on bees for pollination, and it is a travesty that many of the wild (indigenous) bee populations have disappeared, and are having to be replaced by increasingly in-bred ‘managed’ honeybees.

What to do to understand more about bee population collapse

To understand more about the recent decline in bee populations, and especially the role of neonicotinoid insecticides, we urge you to do one or more of the following:

1. Watch the short video by Dr Rob Verkerk below. With his academic background in sustainable agriculture and entomology, this is a subject very close to his heart.
2. Read Sam Burcher’s article on the vanishing of the bees, which alludes to the film on the subject.
3. Watch the film, Vanishing of the Bees

What you can do to help the bees

• Support the Avaaz petition
  Signing the Avaaz petition to Save the Bees, calling on Bayer to withdraw it’s neonicotinoid, imidacloprid, the world’s number one selling insecticide. The Bayer shareholder’s meeting that the petition targeted, failed to be swayed by nearly one million signatures this week. But Avaaz has rightly said keep the signatures flowing, let’s hit the million mark and then see what can be done to influence the situation further.
• Support Neal’s Yards campaign, and their petition for a UK ban on neonicotinoids
  The UK, unlike France, Italy, Slovenia and Germany, has not reduced usage of any neonicotinoids — and has probably the worst problem with bee colony collapse. Neal’s Yard Remedies Bee lovely Petition, open until October 2012, is attempting to put pressure on the British government to bring in restrictions on neonicotinoids. If you’re a UK resident, please sign this petition.
• Grow plants attractive to bees.
  For those with a back garden, ensure you have a good sequence of flowing plants attractive to bees throughout the growing season.
• Become a hobby beekeeper.
  You can set up a simple top-bar beehive in your backgarden, either make one yourself or they can be bought as a kit. There are ample resources readily available on the Internet to help you on your way if you decide to set up your own hive.

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How Violence Changes a Child's Developing Brain

How Violence Changes a Child's Developing Brain - CWAVUSA1

Produced for the Attorney General's Office, we learn about the effects of domestic violence on young children. A MUST WATCH! Repeated Exposure to Violence Impacts Brain Development.

Comment: I've added Chimera to the analecta for things that hibernate in the mind and marked it with the word "Vim," in relation to violence.

Family Farmers – Remember! The USDA OWNS the “Organic” name

Apr. 26, 2012: Family Farmers – Remember! The USDA OWNS the “Organic” name - Farm Wars

If this doesn’t make you hopping mad and ready to take on your own organic garden, nothing will! YES, YOU CONTROL FREAKS AT THE USDA, I SAID “ORGANIC!!!” Barb

By 4409


Political control freaks (thieves) have moved one step further to the twilight zone. In order to sell your home grown fruit at the now centrally planned “farmers market” you must submit a “crop plan” and have your Garden inspected by filling out a “farm schedule.” After that’s done you’re more than welcome to sell your oranges once you fill out your various tax forms, sign the ten page 8000 word contract agreement with the city manager, pay your filing fees and attain your organic certification and proper permits. As Rockefeller said: “competition is sin.”

organic or·gan·ic [awr gánnik]

Adjective:

1. of living things: relating to, derived from, or characteristic of living things

2. developing naturally: occurring or developing gradually and naturally, without being forced or contrived

3. intrinsic: forming a basic and inherent part of something and largely responsible for its identity or makeup

4. naturally efficiently organized: being made of parts that exist together in a seemingly natural relationship that makes for organized efficiency need to integrate the various functions of the department into an organic whole

5. agriculture avoiding synthetic chemicals: relating to or employing agricultural practices that avoid the use of synthetic chemicals in favor of naturally occurring pesticides, fertilizers, and other growing aids

6. food produced without synthetic chemicals: grown or reared without the use of synthetic chemicals a wide range of organic produce.

7. medicine of body’s organs: relating to the organs of the body, specifically to basic changes in them brought about by physical disorders.

8. chemistry based on carbon: belonging to a family of compounds that have chains or rings of carbon atoms linked to atoms of hydrogen and sometimes oxygen, nitrogen, and other elements.

noun (plural or·gan·ics)
organic substance: an organic substance, especially a fertilizer or “pesticide”
15th century. Directly or via French Latin organicus Greek organikos “of an organ, instrumental”

organon “tool, instrument”

Try to find the definition of Organic in this PDF below….good luck
USDA National Organic Program

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5087165

Alan Watts - The universe as one big event

Alan Watts - The universe as one big event - H84Gabor

Health basics: Why homeopathy is rapidly gaining acceptance and credibility

© unknown

Health basics: Why homeopathy is rapidly gaining acceptance and credibility by S. D. Wells

(NaturalNews) When it comes to medicine and doctors, most people in America believe that if it's not expensive, it won't work. This theory may hold water when purchasing a new car or an i-phone, but the big profits in America come from invasive surgery and toxic prescriptions, which treat only symptoms, thus waiting for conditions to get extreme and often critical. Alternative medicine, like homeopathy, is becoming main stream, and people are figuring out that the quacks in America are actually the doctors who frivolously write prescriptions without even considering organic solutions that directly address the causes of illness.

In the USA, the Government makes money off of the masses being sick, instead of the other way around, like in Canada or the United Kingdom, where there is national healthcare, and the doctors get paid bonuses for healing patients. Homeopathy is a 200 year young system of medicine which has a proven clinical record and is used by tens of millions worldwide. It is becoming the core method of treatment for the public health care systems in Europe, Asia, and South America.

Why is homeopathy becoming so popular, so quickly?

No time in the history of mankind have people been so sick as they are right now, and conventional medicine is NOT helping. The population is much sicker than 60 years ago, when "Big Pharma" really took over the mainstream health industry, and that's mainly because Conventional medicine does not treat the cause of the problem. The homeopathic practitioner treats the cause of the illness or disease in order to heal the effect (http://www.extraordinarymedicine.org/).

Vastly safer than conventional medicine, homeopathy is a treatment modality which uses very minute substances found in nature, like minerals and herbs, to trigger healing responses in the body using an organic method which teaches the body to heal itself. Unlike pharmaceutical medications, when the patient comes off of the medication, the body retains the healing benefits. In other words, the body is not dependent on certain molecules remaining in the body to continue the healing process, as it would be with synthetic drugs, like most heart medications.

Dispelling the myth of the placebo

Have you ever heard of a stimulant controlling hyperactivity, or local honey preventing pollen allergies? Much like the saying, "The hair of the dog that bit you," homeopathy treats like with like, so for example, hayfever is treated with a 'potentiated' solution of pollen. Rumors and misconceptions often spread quickly about natural remedies, especially ones that fly in the face of science.

Millions of people attest to the fact that massage therapy works, and many of those benefits come from the therapist understanding Shiatsu and the body's "total" energy. Similarly, homeopathy works by helping balance your body's energy or "chi" in traditional Chinese medicine. This energy is circulated along specific meridians, and when this circulation gets disrupted, like from toxins in food and pharmaceuticals, illness is often the result (http://altmedicine.about.com/od/massage/a/shiatsu.htm).

Homeopathic solutions themselves are not simply water or placebos, but contain miniscule doses of plants, minerals, animal products or other compounds that trigger symptoms similar to what you are already experiencing, and that's why many patients think they are getting worse at the beginning of treatment, when in reality, it's the beginning of the ingenious homeopathy healing process.

Many famous people have used homeopathy successfully, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tina Turner, Charles Dickens, David Beckham, and W.B. Yeats. Homeopathy is not only the second largest system of medicine in the world, but is the fastest growing!

Sources for this article include:

http://www.littlemountainhomeopathy.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/024512_homeopathic_homeopathy_medicine.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk

http://articles.mercola.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/033558_homeopathy_science.html

http://www.extraordinarymedicine.org/

http://www.nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org/

Awake Mental Replay of Past Experiences Crucial For Learning

Awake Mental Replay of Past Experiences Crucial For Learning - ScienceDaily

Awake mental replay of past experiences is essential for making informed choices, suggests a study in rats. Without it, the animals' memory-based decision-making faltered, say scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health. The researchers blocked learning from, and acting on, past experience by selectively suppressing replay -- encoded as split-second bursts of neuronal activity in the memory hubs of rats performing a maze task.

"It appears to be these ripple-like bursts in electrical activity in the hippocampus that enable us to think about future possibilities based on past experiences and decide what to do," explained Loren Frank, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, a grantee of the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). "Similar patterns of hippocampus activity have been detected in humans during similar situations."

Frank, Shantanu Jadhav, Ph.D., and colleagues, report on their discovery online in the journal Science on May 3, 2012.

"These results add to evidence that the brain encodes information not only in the amount of neuronal activity, but that its rhythm and synchronicity also play a crucial role," said Bettina Osborn, Ph.D., of the NIMH Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science, which funded the research.

Frank and colleagues had discovered in previous studies that the rhythmic ripple-like activity in hippocampus coincided with awake mental replay of past experiences, which occurs during lulls in the rats' activity. The same signal during sleep is known to help consolidate memories. So the researchers hypothesized that these awake ripple states are required for memory-guided decision-making. To test this in the current study, they selectively suppressed the ripple activity without disturbing other functions, while monitoring any effects on the animals' performance in a maze task.

Individual neurons in certain areas of the hippocampus become associated with a particular place. These place cells fire when the animal is that place or -- it turns out -- is just mentally replaying the experience of being in that place.

In the experimental situation, the rat needs to learn a rule to get a reward. It must remember which of two outer arms of a W-shaped maze it had visited previously and alternate between them -- visiting the opposite arm after first visiting the center arm. The ripple activity occurs when rats are inactive during breaks between trials.

Place cells associated with the maze fire in rapid succession and in synchrony with other neurons in the neighborhood. The same place cells fire in the same sequence as they did when the rat first walked through the maze -- suggesting that the rat is mentally replaying the earlier experience, but on a much faster timescale.

In the current study, an automatic feedback system shut down place cell firing, via mild electrical stimulation, whenever it detected ripple activity, thereby also preventing the replay of the maze memory. Without benefit of mental replay, rats' performance on the maze task deteriorated. The impairment was in the animals' spatial working memory -- their ability to link immediate and earlier past experience to the reward. This ability was required to correctly decide which outside arm to visit after exiting the center arm during outbound trials.

The researchers propose that awake replay in the hippocampus provides such information about past locations and future options to the brain's executive hub, the prefrontal cortex, which learns the alternation rule and applies it to guide behavior.

Even though the replay events in rats last just a fraction of a second, Frank notes that they are not unlike our own experience of memories, which tend to compress often lengthy events into snippets of just the highlights of what happened to us.

"We think the brain is using these same ripple-like bursts for many things," he explained. "It's using them for retrieving memories, exploring possibilities -- day-dreaming -- and for strengthening memories."

Marijuana Found to Kill Cancer Cells – The Marijuana and Cancer Relationship

Marijuana Found to Kill Cancer Cells – The Marijuana and Cancer Relationship by Patrick Gallagher

 Thanks to the available findings of a 2006 study showing that cannabis actually reduces the number of cancer cells, medical marijuana users can now feel even better about the widely abolished pain relief ingredient found in the plant. The relationship between marijuana and cancer has always been up for debate, but with the use of a specially crafted oil made from the buds of the Cannabis Sativa plant, scientists confirmed that the plant’s primary psychoactive chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) destroys any and all malignant cancer cell growths in several patients. Details on the marijuana and cancer prevention connection aren’t exactly known, but further, more extensive testing will reveal exactly what may be causing this seemingly miracle cure.

Shedding Some Light on the Marijuana and Cancer Relationship

Back in 2006, the study was developed by a team of medical researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Pharmacology and Toxicology department on leukemia patients. The researchers essentially outlined that if taken daily for an extended period of time, cannabis oil actually reverses the growth of cancer and possibly leads to remission in the patient – with zero added side effects. Typically when a leukemia patient enters a hospital for admission and treatment, they are given a very extensive chemotherapy treatment, usually paired with a radiological treatment. Instead of considering any possible treatment involving marijuana and cancer, doctors use these not only ineffective, but also dangerous treatments. Cannabis, on the other hand, as shown in the study, has virtually no side effects. It is  especially safe and effective when administered in a clean, medically sound environment and in the form of oil.

Other studies have been made over the past decades much like this one: Manuel Guzman located in Madrid, Spain discovered that cannabinoids substantially inhibit the growth of tumors in a variety of lab animals. In the study he also found that not one of these tested animals endured any kind of side effects seen in many similar chemotherapy treatments. It is becoming increasingly clear that you can sidestep any of the misery associated with traditional cancer treatments and embrace the potent, effective healing powers of THC – not to forget about the positive attributes surrounding cannabis’ other primary cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD).

If the results don’t appeal to you, then maybe the 2,500 total studied patients throughout these 37 controlled studies will blow the lid on the myth that cannabis is and can only be used as a “dangerous” drug. None of the patients reported any kind of adverse side effects from the use of THC and based medication – further adding to the benefits of medical marijuana and strengthening the positive connection between marijuana and cancer.

The real irony in the situation here? The combined governments of the world are the primary authority behind more than 30 studies like these completed throughout the years – and kept them secret from the general public. It wouldn’t be very conducive for our government if word got out that a schedule 1 narcotic could actually help people.

Additional sources:

Global Healing Center
Healthier Talk

Explore More:

1. Shocking: Marijuana Use May Positively Impact Lungs
2. Medical Marijuana Becoming Blockbuster ‘Anti-Cancer’ Drug
3. Legalize Marijuana? Benefits Ignored by Federal Government (Infographic)
4. Dad Says Marijuana Helped 3-Year-Old Son Beat Cancer
5. Exposed: Deadly Cancer Drugs Make Cancer Worse and Kill Patients More Quickly
6. Medical Marijuana Legalized in Delaware, Sixteenth State to Pass Legislation

California public to vote on GMO Label Act; Biotech lies begin

California public to vote on GMO Label Act; Biotech lies begin by Rady Ananda

Stroller-pushing mothers delivered nearly a million signatures in Sacramento on Wednesday, for an initiative to put to populist vote The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act.

The ten-week signature drive collected nearly double the amount needed to put the R2K Act on the November 6, 2012 ballot.

The state will take between five and seven weeks to validate the signatures, and then certify the results. Of the 555,236 needed, thousands of volunteers collected 971,126, just shy of the hoped-for million.

“In ten weeks, nearly a million registered voters signed the ballot initiative,” said Pamm Larry, who single-handedly started the drive on January 20, 2011. “Even biotech engineers gathered signatures for us.”
Having founded LabelGMOs.org, Larry then coordinated with other pro-labeling civic groups across the state and nation.

Victory celebrations were held in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego today, reported CA Right to Know in a press conference.

If voters approve the measure this fall, beginning July 1, 2014, food makers will be required to label those products that contain genetically modified ingredients.

Significantly, the “natural” term can no longer be used if the product contains GMOs.

There are several exemptions, including GMO-fed and GMO-drugged animals, as well as any raw ag product that was unintentionally contaminated with GMOs. Suppliers and producers may be asked to provide a sworn statement that as far as they know, the food is GE-free.

According to the Act, anyone relying on those sworn statements is off the hook legally if the product turns out to have GMOs.

There is a requirement in the Act that grocery store bins or shelves must also be GE-labeled if any unlabeled raw agricultural GE products (like GE corn) are sold. But there’s no liability to the store owner if the supplier provides a sworn statement that the food is GE-free when it’s not.

Given the biotech industry’s penchant for hyperbole (relating to yield, cost and pesticide use), it’s no surprise to hear them declare the Act will cause food prices to spike.

But, as one of the organizers says, “They have 18 months after the election to change their labels, something that is frequently done in the food industry.” Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Stonyfield which has been organic-certified for 20 years, added, “All they have to do is add some ink.”

Several large organizations opposing the measure have organized behind Stop Costly Food Labeling (SCFL), including the Grocery Manufacturers Assn., the Council for Biotechnology Information, the CA Farm Bureau Federation, and, you guessed it, the Chamber of Commerce.

Another lie right out of their lying mouths is that the R2K Act will require, “prohibiting processed foods from being labeled as natural, even if they contain no GE ingredients.”

No such language exists in the eight-page Act.

Not only that, but there’s still a whole lot of wiggle room for GE-contaminated foods. See pages 4-6 for the list of exemptions, like this one:

Pamm Larry

“Until July 1, 2019, any processed food that would be subject to section 110809 solely because it includes one or more genetically engineered ingredients, provided that: (i) no single such ingredient accounts for more than one-half of one percent of the total weight of such processed food; and (ii) the processed food does not contain more than ten such ingredients.” §110809.2(e)

This means that food can have up to 5% genetically modified organisms by weight (and up to ten of the little buggers) and remain free of the GE label.  Looks like biotech scored big on that exemption; GE-free should be GE-free.

But, this exemption is temporary, explains Pamm Larry.  That exemption was “put in to give industry time to find nonGMO sourcing for microingredients as they are very difficult to find at present. They were put there to not put undue burden on the industry. That exemption expires in seven years. After that, those ingredients must be labeled also.”

Fundraising to Counter Biotech Lies

Both sides will engage in a media spectacle aimed at swaying voters, using TV and print to promote their positions. If their April 26 press release is any indication, the biotech sector of Big Ag and its supply chain plans to drive a wedge between small operators and consumers who want to know what’s in their food. “It’ll put you out of business!” screams the upcoming headline.

Heaven forbid. Requiring food labels is akin to truth in advertising. Big Pharma certainly hasn’t disappeared because they can’t keep nasty side effects a secret.

Grocery stores have nothing to fear, despite the SCFL’s spin that “right to know” means “right to sue.” Whining they’ll have to follow what’s done in 40 other countries, adding a little ink to food labels in the biggest agriculture state in the US won’t put anyone out of business.

We’re gonna be inundated with a barrage of lies to the point we’ll stand in muted awe at the audacity. Kinda like the informed’s reaction when Condi Rice objected to her “integrity” being impugned after she promoted the wild WMDs lie.

But now is not the time for muted resistance. The media campaign to support California’s initiative must be funded, nationally, says Dr. Mercola, who runs the biggest natural, homeopathic website in the world.

He’s teamed up with several groups including Organic Consumers Assn. and Food Democracy Now! to launch a major fundraising campaign for the upcoming battle of words, explained OCA spokesperson, Katherine Paul, in an email to Food Freedom. “But all of the funds will be turned over to the CARighttoKnow campaign to use for media consultants, advertising, and legal help,” she advised.

Mercola reports:

“Between May 1 and May 26, a broad coalition of food, farming, health groups, and organic food manufacturers, will attempt to raise one million dollars to defeat Monsanto propaganda and get the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act on the ballot for November 6, and passed into law. Money raised in this Million Dollar Money Bomb on Monsanto campaign will support the California Ballot Initiative and other state GE-labeling campaigns. If donations totaling $1 million is reached by May 26, a coalition of benefactors will MATCH it, bringing the Money Bomb to $2 million!”

According to the opposition, Mercola has already put up $800,000 of his own money. The busy man didn’t get back to me as to whether this is actually true, but it smells right that he’d want to back his own horse.

“We can’t leave California to battle the biotech giants on their own,” he says. “They need your help! Donating funds to this campaign may be the best money you’ll spend all year to safeguard your health, and the health of your children.”

This is all great news… and no one doubts California’s R2K GE Food Act will be on the ballot on November 6, 2012.

Which brings us to the ballot… cast on electronic voting systems that studies funded by Secretary of State Debra Bowen proved are not secure from hack. (See, e.g., here and here.)  Other studies by different states and universities and privately-hired tech firms agreed, but Bowen and her Sec-State peers across the nation all bought those expensive, hackable machines anyway.

Even so, since over 90% of US eaters want their food labeled, the vote result is a foregone conclusion. And, what’s done in the biggest Ag state in the union is sure to be followed in at least some of the 20-some states that allow an initiative process – a tool used by citizens to adopt laws and constitutional amendments without the support of the Governor or the Legislature.

Vermont, another state now undergoing an agricultural renaissance, does not have this freedom, so the GMO-food label bill passed by the legislature will not be enacted, as Governor Shumlin has advised he will veto it. We reported on this in the last half of this news video on Monday.

Robyn O’Brien of Allergy Kids Foundation says:

“My youngest daughter’s face began to swell shut at breakfast one day – and I had no idea why. We were only eating waffles, scrambled eggs, and tubes of blue yogurt…so what was happening to her? Before my daughter had a violent allergic reaction that morning, I honestly hadn’t given a lot of thought to what I fed my kids. I mean, if it was on grocery store shelves, it was all the same, right? But since then, like so many moms, I learned that there are all kinds of new ingredients in our foods that weren’t in what we ate as kids. That’s why we need labels.”

Just Label It is working on the FDA for a national directive requiring GMO-food labels, and sent their congrats to California. They’re still collecting petition signatures until May 13, and have produced this quick little video by Robert Kenner, director of Food, Inc.

But California may beat FDA to the punch, and its Right to Know Act will impact food labeling across the nation. This is the big one from which the biotech-feds’ House of Secrecy begins to crumble.  All those who support GMO-food labeling are going to have to drop a bomb of money on them to counter the war chest of the biotech industry.

Fake Food: What Are "Hydrolyzed Soy Protein" And "Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein," And Why Are They In Everything?

© Unknown

Fake Food: What Are "Hydrolyzed Soy Protein" And "Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein," And Why Are They In Everything? by J Stanton

 A close inspection of the nutrition label on most processed foods will usually turn up - among other disturbingly-named ingredients whose function is unclear - something known as "hydrolyzed soy protein" or "hydrolyzed wheat protein".

What is it, and why is it added to so many processed food products?

What Is Protein, Anyway?

"Protein" is a generic term for an animal or plant tissue made out of individual proteins. These individual "proteins" are just long chains of amino acids linked together, end to end.

There are 20 amino acids in our genetic code, each an individual molecule with its own shape - and the sequence of amino acids in a protein determines its three-dimensional shape. Our cells can build anything from collagen to digestive enzymes out of the correct sequence of amino acids!

A short protein is called a "peptide", but there's no set number of amino acids under which the term is used. Calling a protein a "peptide" is like calling a person "short": it's a relative judgment

Why Is There So Much "Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein"?

Now that we know proteins are just strings of amino acids, we can understand what "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" is.

Note that it's no longer legal to use the term "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" on a nutrition label in the USA: the source of the protein must be listed, e.g. "hydrolyzed soy protein", "hydrolyzed wheat protein". (Source: USDA Flavorings FAQ.)

The process of extracting seed oils from soybeans or corn a disturbing series of chemical reactions (involving hexane, taking place in chemical plants that look a lot like oil refineries) leaves behind dehulled, defatted soy or corn meal. Typically this mush is fed to cattle...but since it's cheap and produced by the ton due to massive, destructive subsidies for industrial monocrop agriculture, there is great financial incentive to figure out how to feed it to humans.

Wheat protein is simpler to produce: since gluten (the collective name for wheat proteins, including both glutelins and gliadins) doesn't dissolve in water, wheat flour is simply washed with water to dissolve away the starch. (How it's done, featuring lots of delicious phrases like "homogenized slurry".)

As one might expect from the name "gluten", the result is...gluey. (This is what gives bread it's stretchiness.) As anyone who's ever used nutritional yeast by mistake, instead of baking yeast, can attest, the result is a heavy, indigestible solid with the approximate density of a brick and the consistency of hardened wood glue. And wheat flour dissolved in water makes an excellent adhesive for putting up posters...or even wallpaper.

This lack of digestibility is among the many reasons why wheat protein, in addition to all its disruptive effects on intestinal function, is the lowest-quality protein commonly available. (Other reasons include a deficiency of the essential amino acids lysine and methionine.) Whole wheat protein scores only 0.25-0.42 on the PDCAAS, with beef protein at 0.92, and eggs and milk at 1.0. Corn protein isn't any better: it scores between 0.22 and 0.46. (Even soy scores a 1.0 on the PDCAAS - though soy products cause other issues I don't have space to discuss here.)

Therefore, fake vegetarian meat substitutes like seitan, veggieburgers, and Tofurky - which usually use gluten to help simulate the texture of meat - are using the most biologically disruptive and lowest-quality protein available.

What Is "Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein"?

The protein we've extracted can be spray-dried into "textured vegetable protein", which would require another article to explain...

...or the protein can be "hydrolyzed". Hydrolysis is basically chemical digestion on an industrial scale: the protein is dropped into a vat of sulfuric acid, boiled for several hours to over a day in order to break down the proteins, after which lye is added to raise the pH back to neutral. (Yum!)

I've been asked "If our stomachs can digest protein in a few hours, how come it has to be boiled in sulfuric acid for up to a day?"

Answer: our stomach isn't just an acid vat. Both our stomach and our intestines contain proteolytic enzymes, like pepsin and trypsin - chemicals specifically tuned to break down bonds between amino acids. However, when hydrolyzing protein on an industrial scale, sulfuric acid and heat is generally cheaper than enzymes.

The longer a protein is hydrolyzed, the more that big, long, gluey proteins (like wheat gluten) will be broken down into shorter proteins - or even into individual amino acids.

Why Is Protein Hydrolyzed, and Why Is Hydrolyzed Protein In So Much Of Our Food?

If you're thinking this all seems like a lot of work for not much benefit, you're not alone. Hydrolyzed protein usually shows up near the end of the ingredient list: why would food companies go to so much trouble just to add a tiny bit of protein to their food?

The answer is simple: when we hydrolyze a protein down to free amino acids, one of the amino acids we get is glutamic acid, known as glutamate in its anionic form. And since wheat gluten in particular contains a lot of glutamine, hydrolyzed wheat protein will contain a lot of free glutamate.

For more than you probably wanted to know about glutamate vs. glutamine and their metabolism, try these articles and papers:

Glutamine: The Essential "Non-Essential" Amino Acid
Ivy Greenwell, LE Magazine, September 1999

Intestinal Glutamate Metabolism
Peter J. Reeds, Douglas G. Burrin, Barbara Stoll and Farook Jahoor
J. Nutr. April 1, 2000 vol. 130 no. 4 978S-982S

And free glutamate is the molecule that plugs into the taste receptor we call "umami"...

...the same taste receptor that's tickled by the abundant free glutamate in soy sauce, Parmesan and Roquefort cheese, Vegemite and Marmite, fish sauce, nori, kombu, and MSG.

Glutamine And Glutamate Are Not Gluten...But "Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein" Can Still Be Gluten

It's easy to get confused due to the similar names, so I'll restate the point: glutamine (and glutamate, its carboxylate anion) is not the same as gluten!

Gluten is the collective term for the proteins found in wheat and other gluten grains, like barley, rye, and triticale. Glutamine and glutamate are forms of a single amino acid. They're found in almost every protein in the world, and they can't cause a celiac or allergic reaction by themselves.

However, "hydrolyzed wheat protein" can still contain the peptides which affect zonulin signaling and cause problems for celiacs and the allergic...it all depends on the degree of hydrolysis. I wouldn't risk it myself.

(Note that another name for "hydrolyzed wheat protein" is "glutamine peptides", often found in sports nutrition products like whey protein. Beware!)

What Is "Umami?"

The easiest way to explain "umami" is "that yummy taste that's in all the condiments I just listed", usually described as "savory" or "meaty". But why would humans have a taste sensor for free glutamate?

The answer becomes clearer when we realize that all the foods in the above list are heavily processed products of agricultural civilization. if we look down the list of free glutamate-containing foods until we find non-processed foods available to Paleolithic humans, we find shellfish (100-200), meat, fish, and milk (20-70).

In other words, we find sources of good, complete protein. So it's clear that our taste sensors for "umami" evolved to sense protein...

...that we've discovered how to trick our protein sensor by creating lots of free glutamate out of things like seaweed and hard cheese...

...and, most recently, hydrolyzed soy, corn and wheat protein.

You'll note that many other popular neolithic foods contain free glutamate far in excess of their protein content...which, I suspect, is one reason we enjoy their taste. Peas, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, grape juice, and cured ham contain far more free glutamate than meat or shellfish...and green tea contains almost as much glutamate as soy sauce! (Table, again.)

Conclusion

• "Hydrolyzed vegetable protein" is a flavor enhancer...
• ...because it stimulates our umami taste receptors, just like soy sauce, Parmesan cheese, or MSG.
• However, it's much cheaper than real food, because the USA heavily subsidizes the production of corn, soy, and wheat...
• ...and, in the case of soy and corn, it's made from a byproduct of soy and corn oil manufacturing that would otherwise be fed to cattle.

And that's why we find "hydrolyzed wheat protein" and "hydrolyzed soy protein" in so many processed "foods".

Live in freedom, live in beauty.

JS

Occupy London: OWS fight has only just begun

Occupy London: OWS fight has only just begun - RussiaToday



The Occupy Wall Street protesters, whose anti-greed message gained global traction last year, are hoping to rekindle the movement's momentum. Next, a London Occupy activist tells RT how the group is still on the rise, as more people understand they're being robbed by their own governments.

Matters of the Brain: Why Men and Women Are So Different

© Adrian Niederhà | Shutterstock
Scientists now debate how much,
rather than whether, biology contributes
to sex differences in cognition.

Matters of the Brain: Why Men and Women Are So Different by Robin Nixon

London - A prevalent understanding, particularly in the 1980s, was that boys and girls are born cognitively the same. It was the way parents and society treated them that made them different.

Since then, a preponderance of research has called this belief into question. The majority of today's psychologists agree that some of the differences exhibited by male and female brains are innate.

"We do socialize our boys and girls differently, but the contribution of biology is not zero," said Diane Halpern, a professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College in California, who has been studying cognitive gender differences for 25 years. Halpern was a keynote speaker at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference here last Thursday (April 19).

How much, rather than whether, biology contributes is where the unusually heated debate is now focused, she said.

Differences confirmed (so far)

Some of the many gender differences that float in popular consciousness have more support than others.

The ones that have been consistently found across cultures, life spans and even across species are the most likely - but by no means guaranteed - to have some biological underpinning.

Across age groups, species and nations, males tend to be better at various spatial skills. For example, male dominance in rotating an object in their minds, a quite large difference that has been reliably found for the last 35 years, has recently been documented in infants as young as 3 months old. Similarly, on average, males across cultures and species are better at judging angle orientation and navigating by cardinal direction.

Females, on the other hand, tend to have more verbal fluency and greater memory for objects - that is, "they are better at remembering where things are," Halpern said during her talk. Women and females from other species are more likely to navigate by using landmarks than cardinal direction.

"But you can get there using both," Halpern told LiveScience, pointing out that having different skills does not mean that men and women have different levels of intelligence. "There is not a smarter sex," she said.

In general, across a variety of tests, differences seem to fall particularly at the tails of distribution curves, with more males doing very poorly and more males doing exceedingly well.

Differences that vary

It has been overreported that boys tend to do better at math while girls often excel at reading and writing. In truth, the degree of difference is context-dependent.

In school, girls tend to do better in all subjects, albeit by only about a quarter grade on a four-point scale, Halpern said, citing U.S.-focused research. Boys, on the other hand, tend to excel at tests that focus on areas outside their school's curriculum, she said.

Whether these findings mean schools are biased against boys, standardized tests are biased against girls, or nothing of the sort are among the unanswered questions that rage through psychology, education systems and parenting circles today.

And society does play a big role - just not always with the expected results.

In more gender-equal societies, "the male advantage in math virtually disappears," Halpern said, but other differences grow. When given more equal encouragement and access to education, on average, girls become even better at reading than boys and boys further outstrip girls in visual-spatial tasks.

Economics also matter. "Being poor is not good for anyone's cognitive development," Halpern said.

While the disadvantage may be staggering in the poorest nations, it is true in developed countries as well. Halpern explained that while women outnumber men in college, it is primarily men from lower socio-economic brackets that are not getting degrees.

Losing talent

So, if neither sex is more intelligent, why are we so stratified by adulthood? Why, for example, are more than 90 percent of CEOs male and more than 90 percent of secretaries female?

As long as women are doing most of the care-taking jobs in society, Halpern told LiveScience, such as taking care of young and elderly loved ones, they are going to occupy wage-earning jobs that require less time. (In addition to being a research psychologist, Halpern was the founding director of the Berger Institute for Work, Family and Children.)

There is also an issue of interest, she said, in that many young women may not realize that being, say, an engineer can also be a "helping" job.

As a society, we are not only losing talented women from the workplace, she added, we are also losing talented men in the domestic front. Men can be excellent caregivers, and numerous studies have shown the importance of fathering for children.

"We can't have equality in work, if we don't have equality in the home," she said.

Pesticide Exposure Found to Lower Intelligence

© naturalsociety.com

Pesticide Exposure Found to Lower Intelligence by Anthony Gucciardi

Pesticides, ubiquitous among not only the food supply but farms and homes worldwide, have been found to be creating lasting changes in overall brain structure — changes that have been linked to lower intelligence levels and decreased cognitive function. Previously linked in scientific research to the massive obesity crisis, pesticides are now known to impact the mind in ways that are still not entirely understood. Despite these findings, they are continually touted as safe by the profit-hungry chemical industry.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, observed pregnant mothers in New York who were exposed to a pesticide known as chlorpyrifos (CPF). Banned in 2001 from household use, the chemical is still used worldwide in agriculture. That’s right, this is a chemical that is not permitted to be used in your home, though it is perfectly fine to spray on your food. What the researchers found was that women who had higher levels of CPF had children with ”significant abnormalities” in brain structure compared to mothers with lower exposure levels.

Perhaps the most startling finding by the academic team is that all of the women in the study, of which there were 369 total, were actually below the US established thresholds of acute exposure. Therefore, even low to moderate levels of exposure can seriously impact brain function. A large amount of exposure could be even more dangerous and destructive.

Lead researcher Virginia Rauh, a professor at the Mailman School of Public Health, summarized the findings:

“Toxic exposure during this critical period can have far-reaching effects on brain development and behavioral functioning.”

The findings will certainly cause a ripple in the pesticide industry, though the larger issue is why this pesticide is being used in your food after it was banned from being used indoors. If the pesticide is damaging by simply being used in the same living space as human, how could it be considered safe to put into your body?

Drone Attacks are Acts of Terrorism: 168 Children Killed in America’s Drone War in Pakistan. Photographic evidence

Drone Attacks are Acts of Terrorism: 168 Children Killed in America’s Drone War in Pakistan. Photographic evidence - GlobalResearch.ca

The Year of the Drones – An Analysis of U.S. Drone Strikes in Pakistan, 2004-2011


1 in 3 Pakistan Drone Strikes and 1 in 7 of all CIA Drone Strikes Kills a Child , More Than 168 Children Killed in America’s Drone War in Pakistan 

 View Photos

Human Colony Collapse Disorder: The Top 10 Countdown To Our Own Extinction

Human Colony Collapse Disorder: The Top 10 Countdown To Our Own Extinction - Activist Post

Misdirected environmentalism continues to paint humanity as the enemy of itself simply through the natural exhalation of carbon dioxide.  However, there are many other more demonstrable ways indicating that humanity is not heading toward a flourishing, healthy future.

While we believe in the inherent goodness of the vast majority of people, as well as the unlimited potential of each and every individual to bring light into a dark world, we also can't ignore some very disturbing facts.

We previously have pointed to earth changes as being valid existential threats, while pointing out that some man-made activities such as fracking and HAARP certainly could further exacerbate some of them. 

However, any one of the following human creations may send us into an irrevocable tailspin that could wipe us out before any asteroid or mega volcano arrives.  We can also speculate about whether any or all of the below are the work of elite eugenicists, as some of them have indicated such intentions openly.  Regardless, the fact remains that unless we can elevate our mindset to how we can more properly utilize our technological evolution instead of permit developments that threaten our survival whether mistaken or intended, we will continue careening down a very destructive current path.

 10. Vaccines -- At first it might not seem like vaccines could actually cause the extinction of our entire species, but there are some troubling indicators. The link between vaccines and autism is such that rates have risen to 1 in every 88 children in the U.S. having the disorder, up 2,700 percent in the past 20 years.  Children under the age of 3 are being exposed to 30+ vaccines before their immune systems have even developed. Vaccine horror stories appear across all age groups, as the mounting effects of mercury, aluminum, adjuvants and other hidden surprises build within an ever-greater number of human beings.  The result is neurological disorders, birth defects, and death.  Instead of reversing vaccination policies, despite a mountain of evidence and public outcry, the pharmaceutical industry in tandem with admitted eugenicist, Bill Gates, seeks only to increase the exposure.  In the Third World, villages have been held up literally at gun point, whereas in the First World U.S. the gun is regulatory as children are being given vaccines without their parents' consent (including outright sterilization in Australia), religious exemptions are under attack, and door-to-door vaccine armies are on the move.  Some would still suggest that vaccines can ultimately be avoided based on location and creative resistance. Bill Gates and company have a solution for that as well -- a flying vaccine solution -- mosquitoes. They already have been released.

9. Chemical additives -- The range and volume of chemical additives in our food, air and water is staggering.  Substances like high-fructose corn syrup which contains mercury; sodium fluoride (literally a hazardous waste linked to the #1 cause of death); Aspartame; the excitotoxin monosodium glutamate; BPA; aluminum and other geoengineering fallout, as well as a mountain of chemicals within personal care and cleaning products are leading to everything from increased cancers and debilitating syndromes to sterility. While many of these chemicals can be eradicated through education and better consumer choice, the ubiquitous nature of the poisoning (and sometimes secret nature) is nearly overwhelming . . . and cumulative.

 8. Genetic Engineering -- GM seeds themselves do not represent life, but actual death, as they are programmed to be "terminator seeds."  This terminator capability now extends across the spectrum as GMOs interact with human genetics. The interaction already has been linked to weight gain, organ failure, and the negative effects of higher levels of plant estrogens coming from the use of glyphosate found in air, rain and rivers in the United States.  Sterility by the third generation has been shown in a Russian study of GMO-soy-fed hamsters. And this is only the tip of the iceberg in genetic modification, as Dr. Moreau-type experimentation of human/animal hybrids all over the world threatens to completely de-humanize our species. Genetic engineering has so many variables, and has been so thoroughly untested over the long term, that we can only conclude that it holds the potential for extreme lethality.

7. War -- War has been a recurring theme for as long as man has been around, and an unfortunate means of wiping out certain populations. With the advent of nuclear weapons, we are theoretically always just one stroke away from total annihilation. War also has been an insidious instrument for slow-kill weapons such as depleted uranium which already has entered the jet stream, affecting people far removed from any actual battlefield. The sad fact is that the weapons and methods of war have only become more widespread and more violent as our history has unfolded. A side effect is that the governments who wage war and impose the control mechanisms to maintain and justify their actions of political repression and genocide have become the #1 cause of unnatural death -- the current toll is well over 262 million people. These are the same power-mad people who have enough nuclear warheads at their disposal to destroy the planet many times over.

6. Robotic Replacements -- Mankind's acumen for technological advancement has created new weapons and systems of war which previously only had been imagined in works of science fiction.  Well, that science fiction story is now part of the daily news cycle.  Machine warfare has arrived with drone bombings taking place around the globe.  Beyond simple remote-controlled war, autonomous systems have been developed that are capable of unilateral decision making based on computerized threat assessments.  And they can self-replicate.  What role is there for human beings once robotic systems have either gone awry through malfunction ... or have "decided" that humanity is the real threat after all. 



5. Runaway Nanotech -- The ability to self-replicate takes on even more potentially disastrous consequences in the area of nanotech.  There has been a full commitment given by the U.S. government to fund all areas of nanotech including surveillance and security, which has given birth to micro drones that mimic the insect world, as well as "smart dust" in agriculture and beyond. Nanoparticles have already entered our food, appliances and clothing -- again without proper long-term testing, oversight, or consumer knowledge.  Since nanoparticles have been proven to have caused brain damage in aquatic species, and nanotech has the capability to rewire the brain and permit "smart" devices to rewire themselves, we have to wonder what happens when this technology goes rogue.

4. Super Virus -- Inexplicably, scientists have reconstructed the genetic code of The Black Plague. This is just one possibility among a host of bioweapons (including mosquitoes) within labs around the planet that could unleash a civilization-ending super virus. Currently, there are over 1360 BSL-3's (biosafety labs) in the US, and while the CDC insists there are only 6 BSL-4's, the actual number appears far higher (Source). The BSLs are coded by their containment levels. BSL-4's handle the most dangerous bugs known to man; those for which there is no known cure. The BSL-3's deal with slightly less deadly germs, such as anthrax and plague. According to a report tendered by Edward Hammond, director of the now defunct Sunshine Project, there is no one providing oversight as to the type of research going on in these labs (Source). In tandem with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and all manner of fortified diseases, without proper controls -- and a whole lot of luck -- this could end life as we know it.

3. Bee Colony Collapse -- Anything that centrally affects the global food chain has the ability to cascade across all species, rapidly collapsing the dominoes until it reaches the species sitting at the top.  Also known as Colony Collapse Disorder, an increasing body of evidence points to the effects of pesticides as a main culprit leading to bees evacuating their colonies, while genetic engineering also has raised concern among experts such as Jeffrey Smith. In fact, Monsanto has been implicated, and perhaps as a hedge Monsanto has bought one of the leading bee research firms.  However, buying "experts" to deny what is happening is not going to change reality.  The excellent report below summarizes where we stand: 76% of all food production and 84% of plant species rely on bees for pollination to nourish the "food circle of life."  And it turns out there is a smoking gun:



2. Oil Spills -- We have just reached the two-year anniversary of the BP oil disaster and all evidence points to a worsening situation: mutated fish, and a wide range of effects across the ecosystem of the Gulf.  We would do well to remember that although this oil spill is the worst, there have been others around the world, and there surely will be more.  The global interdependence of the food supply will lead to widespread contamination across the planet.  How much can the environment take of corporate greed that sees true safety measures as being a threat to their bottom line, rather than a threat to all of humanity? 

1. Fukushima -- This appears to be our most pressing threat, since it is not only far from over, but reactor 4, which has been weakened to a point of near collapse, contains over 1500 fuel rods, any one of which could kill billions if its plutonium is released.  Independent experts are telling us that this will most assuredly lead to a near-extinction event for humanity.  Meanwhile, the amount of radiation that already has been released -- on top of what is in our environment due to weapons of war and other reactor leaks -- is beginning to lead to physical signs across North America.   Alaskan wildlife is showing signs of radiation poisoning, despite official denial; human cancer rates are spiking, and plant mutations are being recorded in Michigan.  After governments have largely downplayed the situation by ignoring readings and raising radiation safety limits for food, a few are beginning to raise their voices in earnest to tell the world of a coming mass extinction event.  To keep up with the latest about the unfolding Fukushima nightmare, please click here and here.

This is no time to be timid. The above scenarios are grim, but it is imperative that we face these very real threats and learn as much as we can so that we can avert disaster.  Unfortunately, these human-created possibilities are too easily open for denial and self-delusion due to their largely hidden and silent nature, whereas a volcano, meteor, or pole shift cannot be actively ignored.  The good news is that we can minimize or even reverse each and every one of these manufactured threats simply by becoming educated and sharing with others a message of courage, ingenuity and hope that is innate within our species.

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