Month: December 2018

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Is sugar really as addictive as cocaine? Scientists row over effect on body and brain.

An article suggesting that sugar should be considered an addictive substance, and could even be on a par with abusive drugs such as cocaine, has sparked a furious backlash with experts describing the claims as “absurd”.

In a narrative review published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine the authors write that sugar could act as a gateway to alcohol and other addictive substances, adding that like sugar, like cocaine and opium, is refined from plants to yield pure white crystals – a process they say “significantly adds to its addictive properties.”

The article was co-authored by cardiovascular research scientist James J DiNicolantonio and cardiologist James H O’Keefe, both from Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas, together with William Wilson – a physician with the nonprofit US group practice Lahey Health.

“Consuming sugar produces effects similar to that of cocaine, altering mood, possibly through its ability to induce reward and pleasure, leading to the seeking out of sugar,” they write, citing rodent studies which show that sweetness is preferred even over cocaine, and that mice can experience sugar withdrawal.

Speaking to the Guardian, DiNicolantonio said that the consumption of sugar was a grave concern. “In animals, it is actually more addictive than even cocaine, so sugar is pretty much probably the most consumed addictive substance around the world and it is wreaking havoc on our health.”

The trio are not the first to explore whether sugar should be considered addictive, but the article has come under fire from some in the field, who say while sugar consumption can lead to problematic health issues, it it is not addictive or a drug of abuse.

Hisham Ziauddeen, a psychiatrist at the University of Cambridge, said that the rodent studies had been misunderstood by the authors, and added that a review of the matter he co-authored last year did not support the idea that sugar was addictive to humans.

“The rodent studies show that you only get addiction-like behaviours if you restrict the animals to having [sugar] for two hours every day. If you allow them to have it whenever they want it – which is really how we consume it – they don’t show these addiction-like behaviours,” he said.

“What this means is that it is the combination of that particular kind of intermittent access and sugar that produces those behaviours. Further you get the same kind of effect if you use saccharin … so it seems to be about sweet taste rather than sugar.”

Ziauddeen added that it was not surprising that even rats hooked on cocaine might prefer sugar, pointing out that many animals would naturally look for sweet things, not cocaine.

Maggie Westwater, a co-author of the study with Ziauddeen, said that the anxious behaviour sometimes shown by rodents after eating sugar was far from a clear sign of addiction. “Since such ‘withdrawal’ often occurs in the context of extended fasting, we cannot say if the behaviours were precipitated by previous sugar consumption or by hunger,” she said, adding that unlike for cocaine, rodents would not seek sugar if it was paired with an unpleasant event, like an electric shock

The authors of the latest study also point to parallels between the effect of cocaine and sugar on the brain, pointing out that both interact with the same reward system.

But Ziauddeen said that was not surprising. “The reality is that quite simply the brain’s rewards system and the circuits that control eating behaviour are the same ones that respond to drugs of abuse,” he said. But, he added, unlike sugar “drugs of abuse seem to hijack those systems and turn off their normal controls.”

Tom Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London said that it was “absurd to suggest that sugar is addictive like hard drugs.”

“While it is true that a liking for sweet things can be habit-forming it is not addictive like opiates or cocaine,” said Sanders. “Individuals do not get withdrawal symptoms when they cut sugar intake.”

However, DiNicolantonio said that while sugar consumption in humans didn’t lead to physical withdrawal signs, there were biochemical signs of withdrawal in the brain – a point contested by Ziauddeen.

But not everyone disagreed with the authors.

Robert Lustig, professor of paediatrics at the University of California San Francisco said he shared the concerns of DiNicolantonio and colleagues. “I do believe that sugar is addictive, based on its metabolic and hedonic properties,” he said. Lustig has previously argued that sugar is the “alcohol of the child”. However, while he said he believed sugar was a drug of abuse, he considered it a weak one, on a par with nicotine, rather than drugs like heroin.

But Ziauddeen cautioned that sugar, in itself, is not dangerous. “From an eating, metabolism and obesity point of view, sugar is not this terrific demon by itself, because of some innate property of it,” he said. “Where the problem lies is that there are huge amounts of sugar that are put into various foods that substantially boost the calorie content of those foods.”

Sanders agreed, noting that our taste for sugar is a trait that humans are born with and that sweetness helps us recognise foods rich in vitamin C.“The main health hazard from sugar is dental decay – it only contributes to obesity directly via overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages,” he said.

Source : https://bit.ly/2w4opMg

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French school students to be banned from using mobile phones.

French school students will be banned from using mobile phones anywhere on school grounds from September, after the lower house of parliament passed what it called a “detox” law for a younger generation increasingly addicted to screens.

The centrist president Emmanuel Macron had promised during his election campaign that he would outlaw children’s phones in nursery, primary and middle-schools, until around the age of 15.

The new law bans phone-use by children in school playgrounds, at breaktimes and anywhere on school premises. Legislation passed in 2010 already states children should not use phones in class.

During a parliamentary debate, lawmakers from Macron’s La République En Marche party said banning phones in schools meant all children now had a legal “right to disconnect” from digital pressures during their school day.

Some in Macron’s party had initially sought to go even further, arguing that adults should set an example and the the ban should be extended to all staff in schools, making teachers surrender their phones on arrival each morning.

But Macron’s education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, brushed this aside, saying it wasn’t necessary to extend the ban to teachers and staff.

The minister said that the school phone ban for children would “make us all reflect on our phone use in society, including adults”.

But the leftwing MP Hervé Saulignac pointed out that, during the debate about children being dangerously addicted to phones and unable to concentrate on their studies, scores of lawmakers were sitting through the session absent-mindedly tapping away on their own phones.

Opposition parties warned that major questions remained about how to enforce the ban, which will affect millions of children. The details of how schools could put the law in place have been left deliberately open.

Politicians estimate that more than 90% of French children aged between 12 and 17 have a phone. Blanquer had previously suggested that children could place their phones in lockers when they arrive at school in the same way that government ministers “place their phone in a box before cabinet meetings”.

But some schools have complained that setting up individual lockers in huge schools would be costly, impractical and difficult to police. Rights groups warned that schools would not have the legal right to confiscate phones.

Source: https://bit.ly/2Htp9gd

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Chick-fil-A Still Hates Gay People.

Although they have tried to deny it, their latest IRS filings show otherwise.

“the Chick-fil-A Foundation gave more than $1 million in 2015 (nearly one-sixth of its total grants) to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes,” a religious organization which “imparts a strongly anti-LGBTQ message.

the foundation also gave more than $200,000 to the Paul Anderson Youth Home, a Georgia-based “transformative organization” that operates an anti-gay “Christian residential home for troubled youth” and uses propaganda associated with harmful and discredited “ex-gay” therapy.

The above are just examples of anti-gay organizations that the fast food franchise supports.

Although they might claim otherwise this is a horrid franchise that *must* be boycotted.

I know here in metro-Detroit when a new store of theirs opened (the first in the area) it made local news (read free advertising) for several days earlier this year.

Please help spread the word.

Source: https://bit.ly/2Kr1Ud8

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Woman held in Dubai after drinking wine on flight.

A woman was detained in Dubai for three days with her four-year-old daughter after drinking a complimentary glass of wine on a flight from London, an NGO has said.

Ellie Holman, a dentist originally from Sweden who lives in Sevenoaks, Kent, with her English partner, Gary, and their three children, was denied water and made to clean toilets while in custody, according to the human rights group Detained in Dubai.

The NGO, formed to help people held in the United Arab Emirates, said it was representing the woman and her daughter Bibi, who was “terrified” by the experience.

Holman, 44, was arrested on 13 July after having one glass of wine on her eight-hour Emirates flight, the group said.

She was taken into custody after an immigration official questioned her about her visa and asked if she had consumed alcohol.

Holman and her daughter were initially denied food, water and access to a toilet while being held in a cell together for three days, the group said.

She faces being detained in Dubai for up to a year while awaiting a court hearing.

The group said Holman and her daughter were travelling to Dubai for a five-day break to visit friends, having visited several times before.

After landing, she was questioned by an immigration official, who said her visa was invalid and she must return to London immediately, the group said.

Holman claimed he was “dismissive and rude” when she asked if she could buy another visa, and was then questioned about her alcohol consumption, which she admitted.

She filmed him on her phone as evidence of his behaviour before learning this was an offence, and that it was illegal to drink alcohol, according to the group.

The pair were taken into custody and their phones and passports were confiscated before Holman was asked to give a blood sample to test for alcohol consumption. She is said to have been refused the chance to phone her partner and was then held in a cell.

In a statement from the group, Holman claimed the guards tried to rip out her hair extensions and described the prison as hot and “foul-smelling”. She said the pair were made to sleep on a “filthy” mattress and she was told to clean toilets and floors.

“My little girl had to go to the toilet on the cell floor. I have never heard her cry in the same way as she did in that cell,” she said.

“The food [we were given] smelled like rotting garbage and neither Bibi or I could face trying it. I stayed awake for the whole three days.

“By now, Gary knew something was wrong and had flown to Dubai to look for me. Friends had found out I was in jail and tried to visit. Nobody was allowed to see us. We were not even told.”

She was released on bail and told her passport would remain confiscated until the case was concluded. She said she has lost more than £30,000 in legal fees and missed work.

Holman is spending time with her other two children, who have flown out to Dubai to see her after Gary returned home with Bibi.

Radha Stirling, the chief executive of Detained in Dubai, said: “The UAE maintains a deliberately misleading facade that alcohol consumption is perfectly legal for visitors.

“Tourists cannot be blamed for believing that the Emirates are tolerant of western drinking habits, but this is far from reality.

“It is wholly illegal for any tourist to have any level of alcohol in their blood, even if consumed in flight and provided by Dubai’s own airline. It is illegal to consume alcohol at a bar, a hotel and a restaurant, and if breathalysed, that person will be jailed.”

Stirling has called on the Foreign Office and the UK government to do more to “protect” British nationals, and claimed airlines were “complicit” and needed to be held accountable.

The Foreign Office and Emirates have been contacted for comment.

Source : https://bit.ly/2OSG7tv

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Possible Doomsday Maps of The World And Billionaire Escape Plans.

When I wrote my first article on billionaire bunkers years ago, I never would have imagined how quickly our world was changing. Our lives are in a constant state of flux, the political situation aside, our earth is rapidly changing. Between the increase of bizarre weather patterns hitting the earth, and recent major volcanic activity, now more than ever our focus is on our planets future.

In the early 1980’s, spiritual visionaries and futurists provided clues to our changing planet. Often dismissed as crazy prophets, their thoughts for a new world were quickly ignored and laughed at. Gordon-Michael Scallion was a futurist, teacher of consciousness studies and metaphysics and a spiritual visionary. In the 80’s he claims to have had a spiritual awakening that helped him create very detailed maps of future world, all stemming from a cataclysmic pole shift.  The result, while not based on any science, nonetheless provides a vivid and compelling picture of an Earth ravaged by flooding.

According to a NASA report, “Many doomsday theorists have tried to take this natural geological occurrence and suggest it could lead to Earth’s destruction. But would there be any dramatic effects? The answer, from the geologic and fossil records we have from hundreds of past magnetic polarity reversals, seems to be ‘no.’ There is nothing in the millions of years of geologic record to suggest that any of the doomsday scenarios connected to a pole reversal should be taken seriously.”

I recently spent the day at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena where the NEOWISE Mission has become the official asteroid hunter. According to Amy Mainzer (JPL, NEOWISE principal investigator), the mission has discovered 250 new objects including 72 near-Earth objects and four new comets. They have the task of documenting potentially hazardous near-Earth objects.

NASA has even created an Asteroid watch website with detailed listings of discovered objects as well as a detailed Impact risk chart which lists the year 2020 as the earliest increased activity risk.

During the Obama administration, plans were developed for NASA to launch a robotic probe in 2021 toward a near-Earth asteroid; the current target is a 1,300-foot-wide (400 m) rock called 2008 EV5. According to John Holdren, then director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, “After it arrives at the asteroid, the spacecraft will pluck a boulder off its surface and then fly along with the space rock for a while, investigating the potential of a deflection strategy known as the “enhanced gravity tractor.” The probe will then head back toward Earth, eventually placing the boulder in orbit around the moon. Astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion space capsule will visit the rock in the mid-2020s.

While smaller asteroids can do great damage on a local scale, experts think that space rocks must be at least 0.6 miles wide to threaten human civilization. NASA scientists estimate that they have found at least 90 percent of these enormous, near-Earth asteroids, and none of them pose a threat for the future.

I spoke with Professor Donald L. Turcotte, an expert in planetary geology at the University of California Davis, Earth and Planetary Science Department, he tells me that the predictions of earthquakes causing a planetary shift and coastal flooding is for the most part nonsense. However, he did say it is far more likely an asteroid hit would cause a polar shift. This could ultimately lead to cataclysmic change and a map similar to Scallions original vision.

With all of this knowledge of future mapping, do the world’s financial leaders know something we don’t? Consider how many of the richest families have been grabbing up massive amounts of farmland around the world. All property is far away from coastal areas, and in locations conducive to self-survival, farming and coal mining.

It appears that dry territories in the United States such as Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming and Texas are all very popular regions for the wealthiest individuals. Billionaires such as John Malone (currently the largest landowner in America, owns 2,200,000 acres including Wyoming and Colorado), Ted Turner (2,000,000 acres in Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico and North Dakota), Philip Anschultz(434,000 acres in Wyoming), Amazon’s Jeff Bezos(400,000 acres in Texas) and Stan Kroenke (225,162 acres in Montana) all have amassed major land. Upon further research, many billionaires are preparing for future escape plans with “vacation homes” in remote locations. Many of them also have their private planes ready to depart at a moment’s notice.

Billionaire Bill Gates recently acquired 28,000 acres in Arizona to create his own city called Belmont. According to the company announcement; “Belmont will create a forward-thinking community with a communication and infrastructure spine that embraces cutting-edge technology, designed around high-speed digital networks, data centers, new manufacturing technologies and distribution models, autonomous vehicles and autonomous logistics hubs.” The company details the plans including; 3,800 acres for office, commercial and retail space, 470 acres for public schools and there are plans for 80,000 residential units. “Belmont will transform a raw, blank land into a futuristic city built around a flexible infrastructure model” added Belmont Properties.

Even a wealthy member of the Mormon church, David Hall reportedly has plans for 20,000 person self-sustained communities throughout the country, including the first in Vermont with a recent 900-acre farmland purchase. The communities will be called NewVistas.

Internationally, moguls in Australia and New Zealand have been snapping up farmland at record paces. The interest in cattle, dairy and agricultural farms are all proving tempting for self-sustained survival. But more importantly the wealthy are preparing for safe escape havens, stockpiling real estate in dry areas and moving away from the old-school approach of storing food and water. Money and precious metals will be useless, as self sustainable territory will become the new necessary luxury. Many have installed helipads on their properties for easy access and many are buying up Silos and bunkers around the world.

So, in the event of a post asteroid apocalypse, where are the safest territories in the world?  According to several prognosticators and much criticized theorists, here is the detailed list of predicted land changes based on geological positioning. All post polar shift predictions are based on theories from Gordon-Michael Scallion, Edgar Cayce and others, and should not be construed as fact.

Africa

Africa will ultimately be divided into three parts. The Nile will widen significantly. A brand new waterway will split the entire area, from the Mediterranean Sea towards Gabon. As the Red Sea enlarges, Cairo will ultimately disappear into the sea. The majority of Madagascar will also be taken by the sea. New land will then rise in the Arabian Sea. A new landmass will develop to the north and west of Cape Town, and new mountain ranges will be emerge above ground in the area. Lake Victoria will merge with Lake Nyasa and flow into the Indian Ocean. Central eastern Africa’s coast-lines will be completely inundated by water.

Asia

This heavily seismic region will have the most severe and dramatic Earth changes. Land will be inundated from the Philippines to Japan, and north to the Bering Sea, including the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands. As the Pacific Plate shifts its position nine degrees, the islands of Japan will eventually sink, leaving only a few small islands. Taiwan and most of Korea will be completely lost to the sea. The entire coastal region of China will be pushed inland hundreds of miles. Indonesia will break up, however some islands will remain and new land will emerge. The Philippines will disappear completely beneath the sea. Asia will lose a significant amount of its land mass through these dramatic changes, however entirely new land will eventually be created.

India

Due to extreme land buckling and lowering the elevation of the country, the population of India will be told not to seek higher ground within the interior country, but to head to the Himalayas, to Tibet and Nepal and China or the higher mountains that are officially with Indian territory.

Antarctica

Antarctica will become fertile, soil rich and farming territory. New land will be created from the Antarctic Peninsula to Tierra del Fuego, and east towards South Georgia Island.

Australia

Australia will lose nearly twenty-five percent of its land due to coastal flooding. The Adelaide area will become a new sea all the way north towards Lake Eyre. The Simpson and Gibson Deserts will eventually become fertile, farming land. Entirely new communities will develop between the Great Sandy and Simpson Deserts and new refugee settlements will be created in Queensland. New land will also be created off the coast.

New Zealand

New Zealand will grow in size, and will once again join the land of old Australia. New Zealand will quickly become the glory land, and ultimately become one of the safest areas in the entire world.

Europe

Europe will experience the fastest and most serious Earth changes. Most of Northern Europe will sink beneath the sea, as the tectonic plate underneath it collapses. Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark will be all disappear and will ultimately create hundreds of small islands.

Most of the United Kingdom, from Scotland to the English Channel, will disappear beneath the sea. Several small islands will remain. Major cities like London and Birmingham will be among the remaining islands. Much of Ireland will disappear beneath the sea, except for the higher ground areas.

Russia will be separated from Europe by an entirely new sea when the Caspian, Black, Kara, and Baltic Seas combine. The new sea will stretch all the way to the Jenisej River in Siberia. The areas climate will remain safe, leaving Russia to supply most of Europe’s food. The Black Sea will merge with the North Sea as well, leaving Bulgaria and Romania completely under water.

Certain areas of western Turkey will go under water, creating a new coastline from Istanbul to Cyprus. Much of central Europe will sink and most of the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea will be completely lost underwater.

The majority of France will go under water, leaving an island in the area surrounding Paris. A completely new waterway will then separate Switzerland from France, creating a line from Geneva to Zurich. Italy will be entirely divided by water. Venice, Naples, Rome and Genoa will sink below the rising sea. Higher elevations will be created as new islands. New lands will rise from Sicily to Sardinia.

North America

Canada

Parts of the Northwest region will be pushed in almost two hundred miles. Regions in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and areas of Alberta will become the refugee / survival center of Canada. Most migrations into the region will arrive from British Columbia and Alaska.

United States

As the North American Plate buckles, the new Islands of California will be created with almost 150 islands. The West Coast will recede east towards Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado.

The Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway will join and continue through the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. All coastal areas from Maine to Florida will be taken over by water and pushed inland for miles.

Mexico

Most coastal areas of Mexico will be inundated far inland. The California Baja coast will ultimately become a series of islands. Much of the Yucatan Peninsula will be lost to the rising waters.

Central America and the Caribbean

Central America will sink and will be reduced to a series of islands. Higher elevations will be considered safe. A new waterway will eventually develop from the Bay of Honduras to Salinas, Ecuador. The Panama Canal will ultimately become cut off with no access.

South America

In South America, heavy earthquake and volcanic activity will take place. Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil will be taken over by water. The Amazon Basin area will become a huge inland sea. Peru and Bolivia will be sink with rising waters.

Salvador, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and parts of Uruguay will sink below the sea, and so will the Falkland Islands. An entirely new sea will rise to take over much of central Argentina. A huge landmass, which will include another new inland sea will develop and join up  with the land of Chile.