Not For Profit - For Global Justice
The Peoples Press - Powered By People - For People
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"The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their "vital interests" are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the "sanctity" of human life, or the "conscience" of the civilized world": James Baldwin - Source: page 489 of COLLECTED ESSAYS (1998), from chapter one of "The Devil Finds Work" (orig. pub. 1976)
"Since world war two we've managed to create history's first truly global empire. This has been done by the corporatocracy, which are a few men and women who run our major corporations and in doing so also run the U.S. government and many other governments around the world." John Perkins, 2005, author of the book titled ' Confessions of and Economic Hit Man'
In the struggle of Good against Evil, it's always the people who get killed.: Eduardo Galeano
"It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.": Leo Buscaglia, author and university professor (1924-1998)
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Op-Ed
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Hard News
11 killed in Syria bombings:
The bombardments, believed to be carried out by warplanes belonging to the US-led coalition, took place at dawn in the town of al-Salhiya, north of al-Raqqa, the main stronghold of the Islamic State in Syria.
http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/11-killed-in-syria-bombings-117051001128_1.html
New footage from Syria shows aftermath of Sarin attack which killed 92;
Horrifying new footage from Syria has emerged showing the moment poisonous gas killed 92 people in the northern part of the country.
http://tinyurl.com/kmyhdg6
Syrian drones spot hundreds of US, Jordanian armored vehicles at the border:
The US and Jordanian militaries may be prepping a massive invasion of Syria, intelligence reports gathered from surveillance drones suggest.
http://tinyurl.com/n5hnnco
US decision to arm Kurds in Syria poses threat to Turkey, says Ankara;
The American deal, which is likely to be seen in Turkey as a betrayal of a key regional ally
http://tinyurl.com/l67peg6
US risks a backlash for its growing role in Syrian conflict;
Tuesday's decision to arm the Kurds is a public rebuff to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a week before he meets Trump in Washington.
http://www.nbc29.com/story/35395544/us-risks-a-backlash-for-its-growing-role-in-syrian-conflict
War criminal: Trump extends national emergency order on Syria, condemns 'brutal' regime:
President Trump notified Congress Tuesday that he is extending U.S. sanctions and other national-security actions against Syria due to the government's use of chemical and biological weapons
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/9/donald-trump-extends-national-emergency-order-syri/
+18 graphic video: ISIS beheads Russian spy who infiltrated Islamic State ranks:
ISIS released a propaganda video showing the decapitation of an alleged Russian spy, warning others not to infiltrate its inner circles.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/18-graphic-video-isis-beheads-russian-spy-infiltrated-islamic-state-ranks/
US Plans to Topple Assad Family Go Back Six Presidents, CIA Doc Reveals:
WikiLeaks discovered that one of these documents includes a secret report involving scenarios for ousting Hafez Assad (Bashar Assad's father) going back all the way to the Reagan administration.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201704101052502201-cia-syria-assessment-1986/
Syria's White Helmets Court Bernie Sanders And Other New Friends:
US Politicians in Bed with Al Qaeda White Helmets
https://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2017/05/08/us-politicians-in-bed-with-al-qaeda-white-helmets/
Airstrikes kill sixteen Islamic State members in western Mosul:
Sixteen Islamic State members were killed, a booby-trapping workshop was destroyed in airstrikes in several parts in western Mosul, the War Media Cell said.
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/airstrikes-kill-sixteen-islamic-state-members-western-mosul/
US Coalition airstrike kills women, children in northern Raqqa: video;
A U.S. Coalition airstrike on the town of Al-Salihiyah in northern Al-Raqqa resulted in the death of 11 civilians, most of them women and children.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/us-coalition-airstrike-kills-women-children-northern-raqqa-video/
Families pour out of Mosul as Iraqi troops push into last militant-held areas;
More than 22,000 people have fled Mosul since the U.S.-backed forces opened a new front in the northwest of the city on May 4 to try to finally dislodge the militants, the United Nations said on Wednesday
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/families-pour-mosul-iraqi-troops-push-last-militant-held-areas/
ISIL in serious trouble after losing large part of west Mosul;
Tuesday was another rough day for the Islamic State (ISIL) forces inside western Mosul, as they lost a big chunk of territory to the Iraqi Army and Federal Police after a fierce 48 hour battle.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isil-serious-trouble-losing-large-part-west-mosul/
34 dead, 2,000 sick with suspected cholera in Yemen;
The World Health Organisation said thirty-four people have died of cholera-related causes and more than 2,000 have been taken ill in less than two weeks in Yemen.
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/5/9/34-dead-2-000-sick-with-suspected-cholera-in-yemen
Apartheid: Israel MPs push forward with bill to create 'Jewish state':
MPs give preliminary approval to define country as 'national home of Jewish people' and degrade Arabic from official language status
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-mps-push-through-bill-create-jewish-state-1147040289
Support For 1,500 Palestinian Hunger Strikers Grows;
Palestinians who are facing degrading treatment in Israeli prisons are continuing a hunger strike they began in April, with Israeli authorities subjecting the strikers to a range of retaliatory punishments.
http://tinyurl.com/ll8pgkg
Poll: Over 40% Of Americans Back Sanctions on Israel For Crimes Against Palestinians;
A new survey conducted by polling firm Nielsen Scarborough has produced some interesting and perhaps unexpected results that are sure to cause worry among the U.S.' powerful Israel lobby.
http://tinyurl.com/k2py3ok
Gideon Levy's Heartfelt Apology to Haaretz Readers:
Gideon Levy is, with Amira Hass, the bravest and most articulate of Israeli journalists.
http://azvsas.blogspot.mx/2017/05/gideon-levys-heartfelt-apology-to.html
Libya general's forces lose 17 in push to take Benghazi;
Haftar is allied with the internationally recognized Parliament in eastern Libya and at odds with the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli.
http://tinyurl.com/mjqf7y5
UAE 'sends US-made aircraft to Libya' despite arms embargo:
Deployment of US-made warplanes to support General Haftar in Benghazi directly contradict American policy on Libya
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-deploy-us-made-warplanes-despite-un-arms-embargo-1789619374
Four United Nations peacekeepers killed in Central African Republic:
One Cambodian peacekeeper was killed and three Cambodian soldiers and one Moroccan peacekeeper were also reported missing
http://tinyurl.com/mg8u2sl
15 militants killed in Afghanistan: -
A total of 15 armed insurgents have been killed and 20 others injured during operations that started in Adraskan district of western Afghanistan's Herat province, 640 km west of Kabul
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-05/10/c_136272102.htm
7 civilians killed in Afghanistan bomb blast:
At least seven civilians, including two women and three children, were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan's western Herat province, the police said on Wednesday.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/7-civilians-killed-in-afghanistan-bomb-blast/404958.html
Trump's Pentagon Blocks US Navy Missions in Disputed South China Sea;
The US Navy has reportedly sent multiple requests to conduct freedom-of-navigation missions in the controversial South China Sea, but the Pentagon has denied them all.
https://sputniknews.com/military/201705031053255816-trump-pentagon-south-china-sea/
South Korea election shakes up US-North Korea dynamic:
Kim Jong Un and North Korea's top brass will have a less hawkish leader to deal with compared to Park, and there are reasons for Pyongyang to be both happy and concerned about it.
http://wtkr.com/2017/05/10/south-korea-election-shakes-up-us-north-korea-dynamic/
Grand jury subpoenas issued in FBI Russia probe: report:
Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas as part of the ongoing probe of Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to a new report.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/fbi/332670-grand-jury-subpoenas-issued-in-fbi-russia-probe-report
Was U.S. spying on France?
US watched Russia hack French systems during election:
'Look, we're watching the Russians. We're seeing them penetrate some of your infrastructure. Here's what we've seen. What can we do to try to assist?'" Adm. Mike Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
http://tinyurl.com/k9b7x2e
Germany detains second soldier suspected of planning 'extremist' attack;
Prosecutors believe the three suspects wanted to implicate asylum seekers in their planned attack, in a case that has shocked Germans and stirred a debate about the depth of right-wing radicalism in the country's military.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-security-army-arrests-idUSKBN185181
Hungary, Slovakia challenge quotas on asylum-seekers at top EU court:
Hungary and Slovakia told the European Union's top court on Wednesday that sharing out asylum-seekers among member states under a quota system was unlawful, clashing with Germany, France
http://tinyurl.com/mkqpoqg
Tensions Rise As US Announces Military Drills Near Embattled Venezuela;
The involvement of the U.S. military in the drill has raised concerns about the U.S.' true intentions in the area, as it has already worked to covertly destabilize Venezuela's economy.
http://www.mintpressnews.com/tensions-rise-as-us-announces-military-drills-near-embattled-venezuela/227596/
Mexico was second deadliest country in 2016:
As Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan dominated the news agenda, Mexico's drug wars claimed 23,000 lives during 2016 -- second only to Syria, where 50,000 people died as a result
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/09/americas/mexico-second-deadliest-conflict-2016/
Watch: Undocumented in Trump's America:
A look at what it means to be undocumented in the US and how communities are fighting back against deportation.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2017/05/undocumented-trump-america-170509085355898.html
Chelsea Manning speaks out ahead of prison release:
"I hope to take the lessons that I have learned, the love that I have been given, and the hope that I have to work toward making life better for others," she added, giving thanks for her upcoming release.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wikileaks-manning-idUSKBN1852AN
Reporter arrested at W.Va. Capitol during visit from Conway and Price:
A reporter was arrested Tuesday at the West Virginia Capitol for allegedly causing a disturbance and yelling questions at federal leaders in town, court records show.
http://tinyurl.com/kqwerbt
Trump defends firing of FBI director, pledges "far better" replacement:
"Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me," Trump wrote in a series of posts on Twitter
http://news.trust.org/item/20170510114228-1od2d
Dem Reps: Trump is 'moving' towards impeachment;
Two Democratic members of the House said Wednesday President Trump is marching down the path toward impeachment after firing FBI director James Comey, even if they don't have the votes yet to follow through in the House.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/332772-dem-reps-trump-is-moving-towards-impeachment
Behind Comey's firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russia:
The president deliberated for more than a week before ousting the FBI chief who was investigating Trump associates.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/10/comey-firing-trump-russia-238192
Watch; Russia's Lavrov Trolls The US: "Was Comey Fired? You're Kidding":
Lavrov reacts to the Comey firing news... Shaking his head, he chirped sarcastically "Was he fired? Was he fired? You are kidding?!"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-05-10/president-trump-meet-russian-foreign-minister-lavrov-today
Donald Trump meets Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov ;
Donald Trump will meet Vladimir Putin's senior diplomat at the White House on Wednesday in a signal that US relations with Russia have improved.
http://tinyurl.com/luzhgn2
Watch Russian foreign minister speak after meeting with Trump;
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov speaks Wednesday following his meeting with President Donald Trump.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/10/russia-trump-watch-sergey-lavrov-speak-after-trump-meeting.html
Comey heard the news while giving a speech:
Mr. Comey was addressing a group of F.B.I. employees in Los Angeles when a television in the background flashed the news that he had been fired. Mr. Comey laughed, saying he thought it was a fairly funny prank.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/comey-trump-fbi-live.html
Grand jury subpoenas for Michael Flynn associates revealed hours before James Comey sacked:
Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas seeking business records from people who worked with former US national security adviser Michael Flynn when he was a private citizen
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/10/grand-jury-subpoenas-michael-flynn-associates-revealed-hours/
Obama administration underreported number of Americans who were unmasked by NSA:
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, confirms that the 654 unmaskings reported last year, was underreported by a factor of more than three times. The correct number was actually 2,232.
http://tinyurl.com/l3takvd
"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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Cost Of War
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,455,590"
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq: 4,886
Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 3,486
Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
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Dear friends,
Explore below key excerpts of revealing news articles on Donald Trump being on the witness list regarding US labor secretary nominee Alexander Acosta's dubious non-prosecution deal with billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, pending legislation which supports disposing of hog waste from factory farms by spraying it on North Carolina's black communities, how the rise in "crowdfunding" to pay for basic medical expenses exposes a crisis in the US healthcare system, and more.
Read also wonderfully inspiring articles on the Canadian businessman who put up CA$1.5m of his own money and organized his community to sponsor the immigration of more than 200 Syrian refugees to Canada, Iceland's organized effort to create more opportunities for kids to feel good without taking drugs leading to a massive drop in teen substance use, the incredible decline of global poverty and violence that is given little mainstream media attention, and more. You can also skip to this section now.
Special note: Read an engaging interview by OpEdNews with WantToKnow.info founder Fred Burks. An investigative report by MIT professor Theodore Postol all but proves the claims of Syria's Assad being behind the chemical attack in Syria are completely baseless. Think false flag attack. Read an official U.S. government report showing how tax dollars were used to pay over $250 million in compensation for vaccine injuries in 2016. Why isn't this being reported? This document also states, "Adverse events reported during post-approval use of Tripedia vaccine include ... autism."
Quote of the week: "Bless those who challenge us to grow, to stretch, to move beyond the knowable, to come back home to our elemental and essential nature. Bless those who challenge us for they remind us of doors we have closed and doors we have yet to open." ~~ Navajo saying
Video of the week: Wow!!! It exceptionally rare to find so much fascinating and meaningful information in one interview! James Corbett of the Corbett Report interviews Dr. William Pepper, the foremost authority on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.... Truly mind-boggling information from a very thorough and meticulous researcher who has written two excellent books on the subject. This interview cannot be recommended highly enough! Watch it on this webpage.
There was once a time - before the investigations, before the sexual abuse conviction - when rich and famous men loved to hang around with Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire money manager who loved to party. President Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” back in 2002, saying that “he’s a lot of fun to be with. He likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” Now, Trump is on the witness list in a Florida court battle over how federal prosecutors handled allegations that Epstein, 64, sexually abused more than 40 minor girls, most of them between the ages of 13 and 17. The lawsuit questions why Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, former Miami U.S. attorney Alexander Acosta ... cut a non-prosecution deal with Epstein a decade ago rather than pursuing a federal indictment that Acosta’s staff had advocated. Epstein pleaded guilty to a Florida state charge of felony solicitation of underage girls in 2008 and served a 13-month jail sentence. Epstein’s unusually light punishment - he was facing up to a life sentence had he been convicted on federal charges - has raised questions about how Acosta handled the case. In [a] 2011 letter explaining his decision in the Epstein case, Acosta said he backed off from pressing charges after “a year-long assault on the prosecution and the prosecutors” by “an army of legal superstars” who represented Epstein.
Note: For more on this disturbing story, see this article. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing sexual abuse scandal news articles from reliable major media sources.
A Florida mother first brought billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s peculiar caprices to the attention of Palm Beach police in 2005. Eventually, federal investigators and prosecutors built a case against Epstein ... that involved 17 witnesses and five other underaged women. But in September 2007, a Florida federal prosecutor named R. Alexander Acosta cut a secret plea deal with Epstein’s lawyers giving him ... an unusually lenient part-time, eight-hours a day county jail sentence, rather than the ten years or more in prison that a less powerful person might have gotten for repeated sex with minors. Acosta also deviated from legal norms when he granted the deal without first notifying the young women who had spoken to investigators about their experiences with the billionaire. Details of the deal were not made public until a federal judge unsealed it as part of a civil lawsuit brought by four women in 2015. Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to a single charge of soliciting prostitution from girls as young as 14. He ultimately served only 13 months in prison. On Wednesday, Acosta ... testified in front of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee as Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Labor. Asked about the Epstein deal, he characterized it as within the bounds of normal prosecutorial behavior. “Acosta is pretending the failure to prosecute was routine,” [a] former prosecutor told Newsweek, asking for anonymity. “But that’s bullshit. What happened here was completely and totally out of the main.”
Note: For more on this disturbing story, see this article. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing sexual abuse scandal news articles from reliable major media sources.
Residents in North Carolina are fighting back against one of the state's most prominent industries: hog farming. But the legislation may not be on their side - a group of lawmakers in the state passed House Bill 467 last week, legislation that limits how much residents can collect in damages from hog farms. Hog farms in North Carolina dispose of pig feces and urine by spraying it, untreated, into the air where residents live. In response, nearly 500 of those residents ... from eastern North Carolina, brought a class action suit against Murphy-Brown, the state's largest producer of hogs. The lawsuit has now made its way to federal court. Residents have said the process of waste disposal has caused health problems. Much of the waste disposal affects low-income residents and black communities. "It can, I think, very correctly be called environmental racism or environmental injustice that people of color, low-income people bear the brunt of these practices," [University of North Carolina professor] Steve Wing ... said. "I shut my hog operation down, and I got out of it. And I ... just couldn't do another person that way, to make them smell that," Don Webb, a former pig factory farm owner, told Democracy Now. "You get stories like, 'I can't hang my clothes out.' Feces and urine odor comes by and attaches itself to your clothes." HB 467 ... was passed by both houses of the North Carolina Legislature. The bill would prevent people from recovering damages like those for healthcare bills and pain and suffering.
Public appeals by families or individuals for help paying basic medical bills seem to be on the rise in the United States. Crowdfunding websites such as GoFundMe.com report that medical expenses rank as their largest single category of appeals; other sites such as HelpHopeLive have sprung up specifically for medical expense appeals. [This points] to a crisis in the American healthcare system in two ways. One involves the gaps and other problems with U.S. healthcare that make crowdfunding campaigns necessary. Lawmakers who support policies that drive people to expose their personal lives in order to obtain desperately needed care should be ashamed of themselves. The other crisis underscored by the rise of crowdfunding concerns the ethical issues raised by public appeals for medical care itself. Those are addressed in a new article in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.. Crowdfunding for expenses that should be met by private insurers or government healthcare programs ... can make the delivery of healthcare fundamentally unfair. They can direct resources away from patients who need them the most toward those whose campaigns are merely “more vocal, photogenic, or emotionally appealing.”
Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on income inequality and health.
Many parents, quite reasonably, worry about germs and dirt finding their way into a child’s mouth. But many have also heard in recent years of the “hygiene hypothesis,” which holds that some exposure to germs and microorganisms in early childhood is actually good for us because it helps develop the immune system. Jack Gilbert, the director of the Microbiome Center and a professor of surgery at the University of Chicago ... was one of the authors of a well-known 2016 study ... which compared the immune profiles of Amish children, growing up on small single-family farms, and Hutterite children, who are similar genetically but grow up on large, industrialized farms. The Amish, living in an environment ... full of barnyard dust, had strikingly low rates of asthma. Since understanding that microbes cause disease, human beings have tried as hard as possible to wall off their bodies from the microbial world of bacteria, viruses and fungi. A study published in 2016 ... profiled the microbial development of a group of babies in the United States, examining the ways in which their bacterial populations were affected by mode of birth, by formula feeding versus breast-feeding, and by antibiotic exposure. What we have learned, Dr. Gilbert said, is that early life exposure to microbes can shape not only the immune system, affecting a child’s likelihood of developing autoimmune conditions ... but also the endocrine system, and even the child’s neurodevelopment.
Rick Friday has been giving farmers a voice and a laugh every Friday for two decades through his cartoons in Farm News. Now the long-time Iowa farm cartoonist [says] he has been fired. Friday announced ... that his job was over after 21 years in a Facebook post that has since gone viral: "I am no longer the Editorial Cartoonist for Farm News due to the attached cartoon which was published yesterday. Apparently a large company affiliated with one of the corporations mentioned in the cartoon was insulted and cancelled their advertisement with the paper, thus, resulting in the reprimand of my editor and cancellation of its Friday cartoons after ... over 1,090 published cartoons to over 24,000 households per week in 33 counties of Iowa. "I did my research and only submitted the facts in my cartoon. The cartoon features two farmers talking about farming profits. The first says, "I wish there was more profit in farming." The second farm[er] answers, "There is. In year 2015 the CEOs of Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer and John Deere combined made more money than 2,129 Iowa farmers." Friday received an email from his editor at Farm News cutting off their relationship a day after the cartoon was published. Friday’s editor said a seed dealer pulled their advertisements with Farm News as a result of the cartoon, and others working at the paper disagreed with the jokes made about the agriculture corporations.
In a debate that has gone from office corridors to Britain's Parliament, lawmakers put their foot down Monday and told employers to stop making women wear high heels as part of corporate dress codes. Members of Parliament debated a ban on mandatory workplace high heels in response to a petition started by a receptionist who was sent home without pay for wearing flat shoes. The debate was nonbinding, but the government promised to act against heel-height rules, makeup guidelines and other corporate codes that apply to women but not to men. Labour lawmaker Helen Jones, who helped lead a parliamentary investigation into dress codes, said she and her colleagues were shocked by what they found. "We found attitudes that belonged more - I was going to say in the 1950s, but probably the 1850s would be more accurate, than in the 21st century," she told lawmakers at Parliament's Westminster Hall. The British government says the law already forbids companies from discriminating against women, but a report from Parliament's Women and Equalities Committee found that "discriminatory dress codes" remain commonplace in sectors including the retail and tourism industries. The committee said it had heard from hundreds of women "who told us about the pain and long-term damage caused by wearing high heels for long periods in the workplace, as well as from women who had been required to dye their hair blonde, to wear revealing outfits and to constantly reapply makeup."
Wild dolphins are struggling with high levels of mercury and industrial pollution in the oceans off the coasts of Florida and South Carolina. The pollution is putting their immune system on constant alert, which makes it less able to fight off bacteria, fungus, viruses and parasites in the water, according to a study in the journal PLOS ONE. The industrial pollution was strongest in the oceans near Charleston, South Carolina in the US. Organic compounds released into the water accumulate in microorganisms – that are eaten by fish, which are in turn eaten by dolphins. The toxins become more concentrated in each step of the food chain. Large amounts of mercury were found in dolphins that live in the Indian River Lagoon. Previous research has shown that the Indian River Lagoon dolphins developed a fungal skin disease because of their suppressed immune systems and new viruses. Some of these are also potentially infectious to humans. By comparison, the dolphins kept in the Georgia Aquarium had fewer diseases and their immune systems were under a lot less stress. This is because the environment at the aquarium is more tightly controlled for water quality. Keeping dolphins in captivity comes with its own impact on the overall health of the mammals. Dolphins are highly intelligent and have complex social structures that can't be maintained in small tanks. As a result, dolphins in captivity live shorter lives than those in the wild.
Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on dolphins and whales from reliable major media sources.
Key Articles From Years Past
People rely on unbiased research to find out important statistics about all facets of nutrition. However, recent research from the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney suggests there is bias in industry-funded research studies ... the full extent of which is still unknown. [Professor Lisa] Bero and her team reviewed 775 reports in the medical literature ... to determine whether nutrition studies funded by the food industry were " associated with outcomes favourable to the sponsor". "Most of the studies only looked at the [author's interpretation] of the research. If it were industry sponsored, they were more likely to have a conclusion that favoured the industry sponsor," Bero said. This latest paper [follows] Bero's previous study which found nutrition studies funded by artificial sweetener companies are more likely to lead to favourable results. So, what happens if more industry sponsored nutrition studies are proven to be biased? "If you look at other areas where the effects of industry sponsorship have been shown, like in the pharmaceutical research area and the tobacco research area, people have actually applied more consistent quality criteria," Bero said. "You'd also want to try to make sure that all the data is being published. In the nutrition area they don't have things like clinical trial registries like they do for drug studies, for example. So if you have a study that's unfavourable or parts of it are unfavourable, it's hard to tell if ... all of it has gotten published. That's a huge bias in the pharmaceutical and tobacco studies."
Inspiring Articles
Jim Estill was growing frustrated. Over the summer of 2015, the business executive from the ... Ontario town of Guelph watched the Syrian refugee crisis unfold. "I didn't think people were doing enough things fast enough," he says. So Estill ... devised a plan. He would put up CA$1.5m (US$1.1m/£910,000) of his own money to bring over 50 refugee families to Canada, and co-ordinate a community-wide effort to help settle them into their new life. Canada allows private citizens ... to directly sponsor refugees by providing newcomers with basic material needs. But Estill was looking to make a big impact, quickly. So he brought together 10 different faith-based organisations that were already looking at ways to help those affected by the Syrian civil war. Sara Sayyed remembers the night her husband, president of the Muslim Society of Guelph, came back from that meeting and told her about Estill's plan. "I was completely floored. I said: 'Let's get involved in this.'" In November 2015, the local Guelph paper published an article about the plan. It was translated into Arabic and spread around the Middle East. "People started emailing us directly from Turkey, from Lebanon, from within Syria, saying: 'Can you help us?'" says Sayyed. By December 2016, 47 of 58 families had arrived in Guelph. Many newcomers were having difficulty finding work because they lacked experience or English language skills. So [Estill] launched a program that provides Syrian refugees with jobs ... along with regular English lessons.
Icelandic teenagers are saying no to drugs by getting high on life. For the last 20 years, the island country has seen a dramatic decrease in adolescent drug and alcohol abuse after the federal government made a concerted effort to offer teens a more natural high. The multifaceted approach includes state-sponsored recreational activities and after-school programs meant to enhance family ties and community bonds. [Dr. Harvey Milkman, the psychologist behind Iceland's strategy], says the results have been exceptional. Since 1998, for example, the number of 15- to 16-year-olds that self-reported to have been drunk within the last 30 days dropped from 43 to 5 per cent. In 1992, Milkman and his team opened up their laboratory, Project Self-Discovery, in Denver. The program used art, music, dance, poetry, and nature activities to reduce stress in lieu of drugs and alcohol. Once teens embraced these natural highs, their risk of drug use decreased dramatically. At the same time, rates of teenage substance use were exceptionally high in Iceland. Following Milkman's success in Denver, the Icelandic government reached out to him to put his research into practice on a national scale. Over the last 20 years, Milkman's research has helped inform what's now known as the Iceland approach. "The whole country of Iceland kind of bought into that idea of creating opportunities for the kids to feel good without taking drugs," [said Milkman].
Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference.
Global poverty is in decline. Jim Pethokoukis writes, “Over the past 30 years, the share of our fellow humans living in extreme poverty has decreased to 21% from 52%. That’s a billion fewer people in extreme poverty. An extraordinary achievement.” People are living longer. The World Health Organization reports, “Global average life expectancy increased by 5 years between 2000 and 2015, the fastest increase since the 1960s. Those gains reverse declines during the 1990s. The 2000-2015 increase was greatest in the WHO African Region, where life expectancy increased by 9.4 years to 60 years.” Americans are extraordinarily charitable. The National Center for Charitable Statistics found, “Giving by individuals makes up the vast majority of contributions received by nonprofit organizations. Individual giving amounted to $258.51 billion in 2014, an increase of 7.1 percent in current dollars from 2013. This accounts for 72 percent of all contributions received in 2014.” We are becoming less violent. You’d never know it from listening to politicians or the media, but it is provably true. Psychologist Steven Pinker, author of “ The Better Angels of Our Nature,” in an interview this year explained: “I looked at homicide, looked at war, looked at genocide, looked at terrorism. And in all cases, the long-term historical trend, though there are ups and downs ... is absolutely downward. The rate of violent crime in United States has fallen by more than half in just a decade. The rate of death in war fell by a factor of 100 over a span of 25 years.”
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A new study suggests the best way to get over a breakup is to fake it until you make it. Simply believing you’re doing something positive to get over your ex can influence brain regions associated with emotional regulation and lessen the pain you’re feeling. Remaining open to the possibility that what you’re doing could potentially make you feel better works like a placebo. [Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder] studied 40 young people who’d experienced an unwanted breakup in the past six months. The participants were asked to bring in two photos: one of their ex and one of a close friend. Inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine, the heartbroken parties were shown images of their exes and asked to reflect on the breakup. Then they saw the images of their friend (the control variable). They were also given a jolt of physical pain (a hot stimulus on their left forearm). As these stimuli were alternately repeated ... the fMRI machine tracked activity in the brain. Similar areas of the brain lit up during both emotional pain ... and physical pain - suggesting that the heartache you feel after a breakup is very real. The subjects were [then] given a nasal spray. Half were told the spray was a “powerful analgesic effective in reducing emotional pain,” while the rest were told it was merely a saline solution. [After experiencing] the same painful stimuli as before ... the placebo group felt less physical and emotional pain, [and] there was reduced activity in the areas of the brain associated with social rejection.
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