Best of the Web:


Microscope 2

Best of the Web: Have we found the true cause of diabetes, stroke and Alzheimer's?

Debora MacKenzie
New Scientist
Wed, 07 Aug 2019 00:01 UTC
Porphyromonas gingivalis microbe
© Kateryna Kon/Science Photo LibraryDoes this one microbe cause heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's, diabetes, Parkinson's, pre-term birth, pancreatic cancer and kidney disease... and does that mean we can beat them?
For decades, health experts have been lecturing us about our bad habits, blaming them for the surge in "lifestyle diseases". These often come on as we age and include heart disease, Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. Worldwide, 70 per cent of all deaths are now attributed to these conditions. In the UK, it is a whopping 90 per cent.

Too much red meat, too little fruit and veg, smoking, drinking, obesity and not enough exercise appear to make all these diseases more likely - and having any of them makes getting the others more likely. But no one really knows why, and we still haven't worked out what causes any of them. Alzheimer's is now one of the UK's biggest killers, yet the main hypothesis for how it originates imploded this year after drugs based on it repeatedly failed. High blood cholesterol is blamed for heart attacks, except most people who have heart attacks don't have it.

What we do know is that these conditions usually start causing symptoms later in life, and their prevalence is skyrocketing as we live longer. They all turn inflammation, the method our immune system uses to kill invaders, against us. And, by definition, these diseases aren't communicable. They are down to bad habits and unlucky genes, not germs. Right?
Read More...
Cult

Best of the Web: Pedocracy: Nine more lawsuits accuse Boy Scouts of America of protecting 8,000 child rapists for decades


Jezebel
Wed, 21 Aug 2019 12:07 UTC
boy scouts america
This week, nine people filed sexual abuse lawsuits against the Boy Scouts of America, joining a roster of accusations that the organization fostered a culture of abuse over the course of four decades. In addition to the individual incidents, these suits allege that the organization was not only aware of the abuse, but tracked it, documenting problematic individuals in a detailed ledger, nicknamed the "perversion files." Thus the aim of the legal battle is not just individual accountability, but a broader reckoning for the organization — an intention to make the secret files public.

The cases against the Boy Scouts were filed in New York state as part of the Child Victim's Act, signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in February, which opens a year-long window that extends the time frame for survivors of childhood sexual assault to file civil or criminal suits. The bill opened hundreds of cases in New York state on its first day, against individuals and institutions including the Catholic Church.

For the Boy Scouts, the open window comes in the midst of a broader upheaval. Per the Washington Post:

Comment: See also: Lawyer claims Boy Scouts of America has 'perversion files' covering nearly 8,000 alleged sexual offenders

Then there's the rampant sexual abuse of children in the foster care system, in sports, in church organizations, etc, etc.

Houston, we may have a major cultural problem...

Read More...
Health

Best of the Web: Broccoli is dying. Corn is toxic. Long live microbiomes!

Louise Elizabeth Maher-Johnson and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Scientific American
Tue, 20 Aug 2019 00:01 UTC
regenerative skyhill farm
© Ayana Elizabeth JohnsonRegenerative farmer Louise Maher-Johnson at her Skyhill Farm, with free-range heritage chickens and microbiomes.
Let's move past the green and gene revolutions to a microbiome renaissance

As food writer Mark Bittman recently remarked, since food is defined as "a substance that provides nutrition and promotes growth" and poison is "a substance that promotes illness," then "much of what is produced by industrial agriculture is, quite literally, not food but poison." Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. Eliminating pesticides and transitioning to organic regenerative farming can get us back on track to nutritious food, restore microbiomes and protect our health. Let's break all this down, and then talk solutions.

"You would have to eat twice as much broccoli today to get the same nutrients as a generation ago." That is according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, from 1975 to 2010, as reported by Planetary Health/Amberwaves. So much chewing! And in fact, the situation may be even more dire. Data going back to 1940, as reported by Eco Farming Daily, shows: "The level of every nutrient in almost every kind of food has fallen between 10 and 100 percent. An individual today would need to consume twice as much meat, three times as much fruit, and four to five times as many vegetables to obtain the same amount of minerals and trace elements available in those same foods in 1940." Thank goodness for multivitamins, but we've also got to fix this.

Comment: It's encouraging to see a mainstream publication like Scientific American actually getting it. Despite the acceptance of the 'carbon effects climate' propaganda, the authors illustrate the dire need for us to move away from the dead paradigm of chemical agriculture to regenerative agriculture. Whether it be for our own microbiomes or the microbiomes of the soil, we need to embrace this new (or very old) system - our future depends on it.

See also:

Read More...
Eye 1

Best of the Web: New 'cultural norm': Child sex-trafficking more common in US than people realize, government dedicates few resources to combat it

Mary Margaret Olohan
Daily Caller
Fri, 16 Aug 2019 19:56 UTC
child abuse
© Tinnakorn jorruang, Shutterstock
Anti-trafficking activist Jaco Booyens said President Donald Trump has done more to fight child sex-trafficking than any other world leader, but the United States has a long way to go in protecting American youth.

Sex-trafficking has been a major issue recently as financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with sex-trafficking and conspiracy, died Saturday in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial. Alleged victims are coming out with their stories and lawsuits against his estate.

Booyens is the founder of SHAREtogether, a non-profit that fights child sex-trafficking around the world. He is also the president and CEO of film company After Eden Pictures, and director of the movie "8 Days," which tells the story of a young girl who fell victim to trafficking. Booyens has been part of the effort to conquer sex-trafficking since 2001, he said.

Comment: It's an outright crime that governmental resources aren't seriously dedicated to fighting against child sex trafficking. It's indicative of the types of people who occupy seats of power. Sexual predation is indeed much, much worse than most people realize. See Anna Salter's work here and here to get an idea of just how bad it is.

Read More...
Rocket

Best of the Web: 'Let go of your cold war mentality!' Russia and China deride Pentagon's INF-defying missile test

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 20 Aug 2019 20:20 UTC
Banned INF missile launch
© US Department of Defense/Scott HoweConventional ground-launched cruise missile test, San Nicolas Island, CA, August 18, 2019
Reaction out of Moscow and Beijing was swift after the US revealed Monday that the Pentagon successfully tested a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of over 500km for the first time in a post-INF treaty world.

Russia warned of a new "costly arms race" which it says it's seeking to avoid. Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, told state news agency TASS:
"The US has obviously taken a course towards escalation of military tensions. We won't react to provocations. We will not allow ourselves to get drawn into a costly arms race."
Interestingly, given the Pentagon test of a previously banned land-based intermediate cruise missile - which took place at a range in California on Sunday - came a mere 17 days after the final and formal US pullout of the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, Ryabkov further said this was clear evidence that the United States had already been in breach of the treaty prior to its official end, given the technology development and extensive preparations that went in to such a test.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Sherlock

Best of the Web: Galloway: How I exposed Ghislaine Maxwell's arch-Zionist daddy

George Galloway
RT
Wed, 21 Aug 2019 16:09 UTC
Ghislaine and Robert Maxwell
© AFP / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Laura Cavanaugh; AFP / MICHEL CLEMENTGhislaine and Robert Maxwell
As Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell appears to have fallen off the face of the Earth, it's little remembered in the media how I fought a long war against her father Robert and the part I played in his downfall.

It would be scarcely worth recalling at this distance if I did not shed light, or rather a cloud of suspicion, over Maxwell's favourite child Ghislaine, now at the centre of a dark and fascinating story as bizarre as any which enveloped her late father.

I first met Robert Maxwell when he was an enormously powerful and fiercely intimidating media mogul in the early 1980s. It was in the green room of the BBC's then flagship program Question Time, hosted by Sir Robin Day - then the doyen of BBC grandees.

"Ah, Mr Galway (sic)," boomed Mr Maxwell, "the PLO man." At which point he punched me so hard in the solar plexus I doubled over, tears in my eyes. As was the wont of the British establishment at the time, my fellow participants and Sir Robin himself averted their eyes and pretended not to see.

Comment: Small correction: Galloway says the daughter's whereabouts are unknown. But she is apparently living openly in Los Angeles!

Epstein's alleged co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell spotted eating lunch at burger joint in Los Angeles

Read More...
Question

Best of the Web: What, AGAIN?! 'Looping' fireball seen in the sky over Northampton, UK

Jack Duggan
Northampton Chronicle & Echo
Sat, 03 Aug 2019 17:54 UTC
The 'fireball' seen over Brixworth.
© Lauren TesterThe 'fireball' seen over Brixworth.
Eye-witnesses believe a bizarre object that looks like a ball of fire seen over Northampton and the surrounding area 'was a UFO'.

The strange ball of light seemed to swirl around in the sky for no apparent reason for a few seconds before disappearing.

Luke Pawsey saw it while in Northampton on June 22, while his friend Lauren Tester managed to film it from her home in Brixworth, which you can watch in the video above.

The 20-year-old, who works in the social care team at Northamptonshire County Council, was amazed by what he saw and believes it was 'alien'.

Comment: We understand why people reach for the 'UFO' explanation - these things seem like they're intelligently-controlled. But it's more likely they're doing that spiralling motion because of some locally-generated electromagnetic field distortion. Which, of course, still doesn't really explain quite what they are or where they come from (it's difficult to believe, for example, that they're meteors from outer space!)...

In any event, this is the third time we've come across such a report about a 'looping fireball' at the same general location: in or near the town of Northampton in the English Midlands.

Back in June 2014, this happened:

Mysterious dancing fireball captured on camera in Northampton, UK


Then in 2015 this happened (in Brackley, about 15kms from Northampton):


There must be something about the location that facilitates this phenomenon. Truly astounding...

Elsewhere in England, this happened in Wiltshire at around 8pm on 8 September 2018:



Read More...
Camera

Best of the Web: Daily Mail: Ghislaine Maxwell staged LA photo with close friend and attorney

Louise Boyle
Daily Mail
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 17:06 UTC
ghislaine maxwell
© New York PostAugust 15, 2019: Ghislaine Maxwell in California?
The first picture of Ghislaine Maxwell in more than three years was staged by her close friend and attorney, Leah Saffian, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.

A photo of Maxwell, 57, was published last week at an In-N-Out Burger joint in Los Angeles, the day after DailyMail.com broke the world exclusive that Epstein's alleged madam had been living under the radar at a Massachusetts mansion with her boyfriend Scott Borgerson for the past three years.

The In-N-Out burger joint picture was published by the New York Post on Thursday after they obtained it from Saffian, 60.

In the picture, Maxwell is seen staring at the camera with a tray of food and two drinks. A dog, which is understood to be Saffian's dog named Dexter, is at her feet.


Comment: The pooch in question:
dexter
Saffian's social media accounts included pictures of her dog Dexter (pictured), who also has his own Facebook page and Instagram account
ghislaine maxwell

Maxwell is reading a book in the picture but the title is not visible. The New York Post named the book as, The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives.


Comment: Obviously Maxwell wouldn't stage a photo reading Ostrovsky's By Way of Deception.


According to the photograph's metadata, reviewed by DailyMail.com, the photograph is tagged with 'Meadowgate'. Metadata provides information about the rights of the photograph to users.

Saffian is president of Meadowgate Media Investments Inc, according to public records.
Read More...
Brain

Best of the Web: Remember the conspiracy theory that fluoride makes you docile and stupid? Well, it's official now

Ben Guarino
The Washington Post
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 11:00 UTC

Comment: We never imagined we'd see this in the WaPo...


pregnant woman drinking water
© iStock
A study of young children in Canada suggests those whose mothers drank fluoridated tap water while pregnant had slightly lower IQ scores than children whose mothers lived in non-fluoridated cities. But don't dash for the nearest bottled water yet. Health experts at the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association cautioned that public policy and drinking water consumption should not change on the basis of this study.

"I still stand by the weight of the best available evidence, from 70 years of study, that community water fluoridation is safe and effective," said Brittany Seymour, a dentist and spokeswoman for the American Dental Association. "If we're able to replicate findings and continue to see outcomes, that would compel us to revisit our recommendation. We're just not there yet."

The American Academy of Pediatrics, likewise, recommends fluoride in toothpastes and tooth varnishes for children because the mineral prevents tooth decay. In drinking water, "fluoridation has been incredibly protective," said Aparna Bole, a pediatrician who chairs the Council on Environmental Health at the American Academy of Pediatrics. Fluoridation reduces the prevalence of cavities by about one-fourth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC considers water fluoridation one of the 10 top health achievements of the past century, on par with vaccines and antismoking campaigns.

Comment: Perhaps none of the scientists dismissing this study out of hand have heard of the precautionary principle. The fact is that if there is a chance that water fluoridation causes harm and that harm is more detrimental than the benefit provided, water fluoridation should be halted. There are fluoride treatments that can be implemented - there's no reason to think of water fluoridation as the only option. And fluoride itself is a questionable response to tooth decay, ignoring the root cause of the problem. Our ancestors, eating a traditional diet, were not bothered by tooth decay to the extent of modern populations. This is, more than likely, where the solution actually lies.

See also:

Read More...
Pharoah

Best of the Web: All along the watchtower and the follies of history

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Sat, 17 Aug 2019 00:00 UTC
Bayon Temple
© Bruno Morandi, Robert Harding Heritage/AFPBayon temple, Angkor World Heritage site in Siem Reap, northern Cambodia.
The ultimate American imperial dream is to engineer a Chinese vassal state
There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief

Business men, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None were level on the mind
Nobody up at his word

- Bob Dylan, All Along the Watchtower (immortalized by Jimi Hendrix)
Nothing beats the beguiling, stony smiles at the Bayon temple near Angkor Wat in Cambodia's Siem Reap to plunge us back into history's vortex, re-imagining how empires, in their endless pursuit of power, rise and fall, usually because they eventually get the very war they had sought to avoid.

Comment: See also:

Read More...