Raw Chocolate: Superfood for Health and Longevity

Raw Chocolate beans, called cacao, is one of nature's best super foods. Cacao has sometimes been called the 'Food of the Gods'. The health benefits of raw cacao- not to be confused with cooked, processed chocolate with loads of sugar added- are listed in the article below. Grind the beans up with your coffee beans for a delicious coffee mocha.

Did you know that raw cacao benefits human longevity and health without negative side effects?

Unlike processed dark chocolate, antioxidants are preserved in raw cacao. Benefits from keeping organic chocolate unheated include; much higher levels of the famous chocolate antioxidants (oligomeric procynanidins, resveratrol and the polyphenols: catechin and epicatechin) as well as the preservation of vitamin C, phenethylamine (PEA, the feel good neurotransmitter responsible for the feeling of love!), Omega 6 fatty acids (which when heated become rancid and cause inflammation), tryptophan (a commonly deficient amino acid in those who consume a diet of mostly cooked food) and serotonin. The cool facts about chocolate in this article reveal how this fun and amazing superfood is actually healthy for you!

It turns out that all the bad things commonly attributed to non-raw chocolate bars, such as cavities, weight gain and diabetes, are actually caused by the dairy, sugar and others fillers added to the dark chocolate. Health benefits of chocolate when it is in the form of raw cacao beans, butter, nibs and/or the powder include; weight loss (because of its high chromium and coumarin content), prevention of cavities (theobromine actually kills streptococci mutans one of the strains of bacteria that cause tooth decay) and regulation of blood sugar which is beneficial for diabetes (chromium can naturally regulate blood sugar). Also raw cacao benefits the heart and the entire cardiovascular system as a whole.

Cacao is the highest whole food source of magnesium, which also happens to be the most deficient mineral in the diet of modern cultures. Magnesium relaxes muscles, improves peristalsis in the bowels and relaxes the heart and cardiovascular system. The dark chocolate antioxidants have been clinically proven to literally dissolve plaque built up in the arteries which helps in reversing heart disease and causes naturally lower blood pressure. Also, various other vitamins and minerals in raw cacao benefits the cardiovascular system. You can find organic cacao butter, cacao powder, cacao nibs, cacao beans and cacao paste at a great price, by clicking this link.

Traditional and scientific properties:

~Yang Jing, Qi, Shen, Blood
~Cooling, in excess heating
~Sweet, Astringent, Bitter
~Heart, Kidneys, Spleen

The antioxidant content of raw cacao benefits the cardiovascular and general whole body health. In processed dark chocolate, antioxidants such as epichatehins, chatechins, resveratrol and procyanidins can be present, but are in much lower levels than in unheated raw chocolate nibs as an example. Out of all the whole foods that contain antioxidants, raw chocolate is the highest in the world. It dwarfs the popular foods and beverages commonly touted as being antioxidant rich foods such as red wine, green tea and blueberries by a factor of 10x or more! There are certain herbs and spices, such as the chaga mushroom and cinnamon, which have higher levels of antioxidants in them but generally you won't be consuming enough volume of them to get as much antioxidant value from them as you would from a normal dose of raw cacao. Benefits from consuming antioxidants come when a range of different types of foods high in them are in your diet, since different coloured foods have different antioxidant compounds which target different parts of the body. The phytochemical analysis of cacao beans reveal that raw chocolate is perhaps the most chemically complex food on Earth. There are compounds yet to be discovered in this most amazing of live superfoods. Phytochemicals usually degrade in the cooking process, so the raw forms of them should be abundant in every diet for longevity.

~Anandamide (the only food that contains this neurotransmitter responsible for the feeling of "bliss")
~ N-linoleoylethanolamine (prevents the re-uptake of anandamide)
~Phenethylamine (PEA, a neurotransmitter known as the "love molecule")
~Seratonin (a neurotransmitter that acts as a "stress defense shield" by making you feel good)
~Dopamine (a neurotransmitter that boosts motivation and pleasure)
~MAO Inhibitors (prevents the re-uptake of serotonin and dopamine)
~Coumarin (has appetite suppressant, blood thinner and anti-tumor properties)
~Theobromine (controversial but actually quite beneficial for humans, see last section)
~Asparaginase (an enzyme that has anti-leukemia properties)
~Ergosterol (a precursor to vitamin D)
~Sitosterol (decreases LDL cholesterol)

The nutrient density of raw cacao benefits every function of the body. One of the many cool facts about chocolate is that it is the highest source of magnesium and chromium of any food! Magnesium is the most deficient mineral in the average human. All of the compounds found in raw cacao benefits longevity in humans.

~Vitamin A
~Vitamin B (1, 2, 3, 5 and 6)
~Vitamin C
~Vitamin E
~Magnesium
~Copper
~Calcium
~Manganese
~Zinc
~Sulphur
~Iron
~Chromium
~Phosphorus
~Omega 6 Fatty Acids
~Saturated Fats
~Amino Acids
~Carbohydrates
~Soluble Fiber (which is the type people need more of)
~Enzymes (including catalase, lipase and amylase)
~Other Beneficial Phytonutrients (such as the antioxidants already mentioned in this article)

There are a plethora of scientific studies on the health benefits of chocolate and none that have been able to prove any negative health effects associated with it (unless the chocolate has additives like dairy or sugar).

Dr. Gabriel Cousenstheobromine content! It even raises insulin sensitivity! One of the other cool facts about chocolate that he discovered was that it's not toxic to the liver (many people are falsely claiming the contrary), except when combined in large amounts with sweeteners high in fructose such as agave. This is basically the only well known clinical study done specifically on how raw cacao benefits human health.

It has been shown that raw cacao benefits a wide range of cardiovascular issues. The dark chocolate antioxidants and abundant amounts of magnesium and other phytochemicals can balance blood pressure, lower high cholesterol, scrub away arterial plaque and promote general health by reversing heart disease. (Raw) chocolate bars are known as a great remedy for many menstruation issues women can get. It is also confirmed as an aphrodisiac for both genders. What more do you want from one of the worlds top live superfoods? For more information about this amazing superfood, check out the book "Naked Chocolate" by David Wolfe and Shazzie which is packed full of information and amazing recipes!

The famous "Dutch study", which was done on regular processed chocolate, followed over 200 Dutch men over the course of twenty years and found that those who ate the most milk and dark chocolate had lower rates of all major diseases compared to those who ate little to no chocolate. The health benefits of chocolate were really emphasized in this study by the fact that there was no upper limit to how much chocolate could be consumed by these men. What they literally discovered was that the more chocolate you eat, the more your potential for human longevity increases! The chocolate being eaten in this study was processed milk chocolate mostly, so just imagine the difference that would come from eating raw cacao beans, nibs or other raw cacao products instead!

In a Harvard study on the Kuna indian tribe off the coast of Panama, there was a unique chance to examine the health benefits of dark chocolate in a controlled way. Close to the region where the Kuna tribe lived there were other tribes of identical genetic heritage, very similar diet and identical lifestyle habits. The only difference was that the Kuna tribe lived in an area where cacao trees grew abundantly. They would consume up to 5 cups of a bitter dark chocolate drink on a daily basis (although they weren't aware of how raw cacao benefits your health even more than the cooked version). This resulted in them having lower rates of all major diseases as well as a longer average life expectancy. This study lead by Dr. Hollenberg spurred more research on the health benefits of chocolate, as well as the unique dark chocolate antioxidants that were abundant in these cacao drinks the Kuna tribe enjoyed so much.

The world's oldest human being to have ever lived (that was officially documented) was Jeanne Louise Calment of France. She lived to be 122 and many say that one of her secrets to longevity was her consumption of 2.5 pounds of bitter dark chocolate a week. The third "official" oldest person ever to have lived was Sarah Knauss, who also regularly enjoyed the health benefits of chocolate, although not in as large quantities as Jeanne! On top of that, Chanel, perhaps the world's oldest dog to have ever lived (she lived to be 21, 147 in dog years), ate chocolate on a regular basis. She even once devoured an entire bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! This is very odd since chocolate is commonly touted as being toxic to dogs, even in small quantities... Imagine how long these people and animals could have lived if they had been aware of how raw cacao benefits your health more than the processed version.

Despite the overwhelming evidence for the health benefits of chocolate, their are still many grumpy and prudish people out there "cocoa-bashing".

These people never have any evidence to support their opinions. This is simply because there are no scientific studies that show any detriments to consuming chocolate! Raw cacao benefits all people who consume it unless their constitution is imbalanced. There is anecdotal cases of people having bad reactions to it. This is what these anti-chocolate campaigners go on and on about, yet little do they know that people can have bad reactions to any food depending on their own unique constitution. The amount that they take and/or whether the raw chocolate (or cooked chocolate) product is contaminated in some way will affect different people in different ways. Much in the same way people can have negative reactions to the Chinese herbs ginseng or astragalus if they are imbalanced, a strong Jing foundation must be developed first to support the very Shen building qualities of raw cacao beans and other raw chocolate products. The theobromine content of raw chocolate nibs and all other chocolate products is the chemical commonly vilified as being toxic. However no death or liver injury from theobromine poisoning in healthy humans has ever occurred! Over 20 pounds of pure raw chocolate would need to be consumed all at once to reach toxic levels of this phytochemical. The alkaloid theobromine is a cardiovascular stimulant that has little to no affect on the nervous system. It dilates blood vessels which naturally lowers blood pressure (taking strain off the heart) and increases nutrient uptake during digestion (when combined with adaptogenic herbs and other live superfoods, raw cacao benefits and potentiates these other phytochemicals).

Theobromine also kills streptococci mutans, one of the main types of bacteria responsible for tooth decay and improves asthmatic type conditions by opening up the lungs. Of course anyone with liver damage should avoid chocolate products because of their high copper content and not so much because of their theobromine content. Stimulants in an of themselves are not a problem, as all foods contain various depressing or stimulating factors within them. Caffeine which is actually more harmful than theobromine is either very low or absent in chocolate (depending on the variety of cacao beans used to make the product). Virtually all plant foods contain different alkaloids which are toxic when isolated from the plant and taken in large doses. This does not mean that the plants that contain them need to be blamed in any way. When a persons body begins accumulating too much of a certain alkaloid, a natural aversion to that food begins to develop until the metabolism of the body has removed that compound.

The many raw cacao benefits are also called into question when people learn about its oxalic acid content. Oxalic acids can accumulate in the body blocking calcium absorption, causing kidney stones and other forms of calcification. It should be noted that many other common foods can contain up to 10x the amount of oxalic acid as chocolate. When you compare how much chocolate people eat at once (a few grams at most) to the amount of spinach (which is high in oxalates) that can be eaten, it becomes absurd to be afraid of this factor that's present in cacao beans. One of the cool facts about chocolate in it's unheated state is that the oxalic acid is harmless since only cooked oxalic acid combines with calcium to form oxalates that can accumulate in the body! You can find organic cacao butter, cacao powder, cacao nibs, cacao beans and cacao paste at a great price, by clicking this link.

Finally, many people are afraid of becoming addicted to this superfood. Despite all the raw cacao benefits in this article showing that this is perhaps the best thing to be "addicted" too, people still attack the health benefits of chocolate. You can become addicted to any type of food especially if it tastes good and makes you feel good! With the exception of physically addictive substances (like heroine or cigarettes), addiction is an entirely mental condition and needs to be addressed by temporarily abstaining from the food or thing that you're addicted too and then addressing the underlying emotional issues causing the attachment to that food or activity. Vilifying and claiming the activity is toxic is not addressing the issue and will lead a person with an addictive personality to some other food or activity to take its place. The health benefits of chocolate are outstanding and any addiction to it is the fault of the individual and not the chemicals within the cacao beans themselves.

Sources:

Original Scientist: List Of Animal Die-Offs

Original Scientist: List Of Animal Die-Offs: "Updated List Of Animal Die-Offs ducq iapetus 1-27-11 1-27-11 Here's your list of 60+ of the recent animal di..."

The Drugs In Tap Water

In these tough economic times here's how you can save big time on your medications - Just drink tap water! And more than likely, all your prescription drugs are right there! And other lovely chemicals as well, and all perfectly free of charge. See how easy it is to save money on prescription drugs? Read the details of what you can get free charge right out of the tap in the helpful article below. The more you drink the more you get! 

The Drug Store in Your 

Tap Water

By Martha Rosenberg (about the author)     
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You don't have to eat cattle who have worn trenbolone ear implants to end up with the growth stimulating androgenic hormone in your body reported the Associated Press in 2008.
Water taken near a Nebraska feedlot had four times the trenbolone levels as other water samples and male fathead minnows nearby had low testosterone levels and small heads.
Nor do you have to see a doctor to imbibe a witch's brew of prescriptions like pain pills, antibiotics and psychiatric, cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy and heart meds in your drinking water, says the AP. Free of charge.
Other "biosolids" found in drinking water include anti-fungal drugs and the toxic plastic, Bisphenol A, from some bottled waters which people ironically drink to avoid tap water.

Bon Appetit by Martha Rosenberg
While pharma and water treatment professionals routinely deny the existence of prescription drugs in public waterways and drinking water -- easy to do when they are not tested for anyway! -- Mary Buzby director of environmental technology for pharma giant Merck was a little more candid in 2007.
There's no doubt about it, pharmaceuticals are being detected in the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to aquatic organisms," she remarked at a conference in 2007, says the AP.
And if we need a second opinion from the antibiotics found in Tucson drinking water, sex hormones in San Francisco drinking water and seizure and anxiety meds in Southern California drinking water, there's the animals themselves.
Fish caught near wastewater treatment plants near five major US cities had residues of cholesterol, high blood pressure, allergy, bipolar and depression drugs reported Discovery news in 2006.
Male fish in the estrogen-saturated St. Lawrence River around Montreal are developing ovaries, reported Daniel Cyr, at Quebec's National Institute for Science Research according to the Independent Post in 2008.
And now fish in the same area are showing signs of the antidepressant Prozac in their systems says the University of Montreal.
(And that's not counting the feminized frogs with both female and male sex organs which are increasingly found in US waterways and even suburban ponds, an ominous "canary-in-the-water" trend that indicates serious ecological damage say scientists.)
When scientists studied hybrid striped bass exposed to Prozac at Clemson University, SC they found the fish maintained a position at the top of the water surface, sometimes with their dorsal fin out of the water unlike the fish not on Prozac who remained at the bottom of the tank. Staying near the top of the water and maintaining "a vertical position in the aquaria" could increase the bass' susceptibility to predators and decrease their survival reported the researchers. Nor did the bass eat as much as non-Prozac fish.
A similar loss in survival behaviors has been seen in shrimp exposed to Prozac who are five times more likely to swim toward light than away from it, making them also more susceptible to predators reports the Southern Daily Echo News.
''Crustaceans are crucial to the food chain and if shrimps' natural behaviour is being changed because of antidepressant levels in the sea this could seriously upset the natural balance of the ecosystem," says Dr Alex Ford, from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Marine Sciences.
For years public health officials have told people that just because the bass and other fish in their waterways are contaminated with chlordane, PCBs and methylmercury doesn't mean the drinking water is unsafe. But the prescription drugs levels in fish are precisely because the drinking water is unsafe.

Martha Rosenberg is columnist and cartoonist based in Chicago I

Related articles

• Even the fish are on Prozac (news.nationalpost.com)

I'd like to propose a rule for GM food:  

DON'T EAT IT!!!

 

GM food: what are the rules?

The Government's chief scientific adviser, Professor Sir John Beddington, said genetically-modified crops could help prevent a future global hunger crisis. So what are the rules on GM in the UK?

GM food released for sale in the UK has to be at least as nutritious as non-GM food, as safe as non-GM food and to create no additional risk to the consumer Photo: ALAMY

By Andy Bloxham 10:53AM GMT 24 Jan 2011

What is GM food?

It is any food which has had genes from another creature inserted into its DNA, or any food which has had its own DNA altered.

What is grown in the UK?

There are hundreds of experimental GM fields in the UK but many farmers try to keep theirs secret for fear of protesters vandalising their valuable crops. Potatoes, oilseed rape, beet and maize are among the crops grown.

Can it be sold in the UK?

Related Articles

In June 2000, it was decided that GM foods in theory were "as safe as their non-GM counterparts and posed no additional risk to the consumer". However, each foodstuff, whether animal or human, is individually assessed before it can be sold.
As yet, no animal or human genes, or GM animals, have been approved for use in GM food but plants are sold which have GM DNA.
Who makes the decision?
There are two major hurdles to get over before a GM food can be sold in the UK. Firstly, the food must be approved for sale by the European Food Safety Authority. Secondly, the Food Standards Agency - the UK's decision-making body - then has to do the same. The FSA is advised by two bodies: the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, for human food; and the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs, for animal food.
What are the criteria?
GM food released for sale in the UK has to be at least as nutritious as non-GM food, as safe as non-GM food and to create no additional risk to the consumer.
How is it labelled?
The rules are slightly contradictory. According to the FSA, any intentional use of GM ingredients at any level must be labelled but there is no need to label small amounts (below 0.9%) of approved GM ingredients that are accidentally present in a food. Products such as flour, oils and syrups have to be labelled as GM if they are from a GM source but products such as meat, milk and eggs from animals which have been fed on GM animal feed don't need labelling.

Related articles

• The first GM food crop containing human genes is set to be approved for commercial production. (narmer.wordpress.com)
• Mexico's attempt to label GM foods struck down in House of Representatives (notalemming.wordpress.com)

Bug Out As You Pig Out

This man is eating bugs cooked into a pizza. Would you eat something like that? You've heard of the 'Big Mac' but what is coming is the 'Bug Mac'. Actually it may not be so far fetched to imagine people eating bugs in the future. For all we know we might be eating bugs right now since ingredients don't always have to be listed. KFC is no longer chicken- it's KFC! Whatever that might be! Who knows- maybe its bugs. But at least it being talked about now so you can be ready to 'bug out' as you 'pig out' on some 'grubs'!

A file picture shows a man eating an 'insect pizza' at a food festival in t...

A Thai worker prepares grubs to cook in the kitchen of Insects Inter in Ban...

Bug Mac' and lovely 'grub': food of the future
 Dutch student Walinka van Tol inspects the worm protruding from a half-eaten chocolate praline she's holding, steels herself with a shrug, then pops it into her mouth. "Tasty ... kind of nutty!" the 20-year-old assures her companions clutching an array of creepy crawly pastries at a seminar, which forecast that larvae and locusts will invade Western menus as the price of steak and chops skyrocket.

Van Tol and about 200 other tasters were guinea pigs for a group of Dutch scientists doing groundbreaking research into insects replacing animal meat as a healthier, more environmentally friendly source of protein.
"There will come a day when a Big Mac costs 120 euros ($163) and a Bug Mac 12 euros, when more people will eat insects than other meat," head researcher Arnold van Huis told a disbelieving audience at Wageningen University in the central Netherlands.
"The best way to start is to try it once," the entomologist insisted.
At break time, there is a sprint for the snack tables with a spread of Thai marinated grasshopper spring rolls, buffalo worm chocolate gnache, and a seemingly innocent pastry "just like a quiche lorraine, but with meal worms instead of bacon or ham", according to chef Henk van Gurp.
The snacks disappear quickly to the delight of the chef and organisers. But the university's head of entomology Marcel Dicke knows that changing Westerners' mindset will take more than disguising a worm in chocolate.
"The problem is here," he tells AFP, pointing at his head while examining an exhibition featuring a handful of the world's more than 1,200 edible insect species including worms, gnats, wasps, termites and beetles.
Three species: meal worms, buffalo worms and grasshoppers, are cultivated by three farmers in the Netherlands for a small but growing group of adventurous foodies.
"People think it is something dirty. It generates a Fear Factor response," citing the reality series that tests competitors' toughness by feeding them live insects.
Dicke said Westerners had no choice but to shed their bug bias, with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation predicting there will be nine billion people on the planet by 2050 and agricultural land already under pressure.
"We have to eat less meat or find an alternative," said Dicke, who claims to sit down to a family meal of insects on a regular basis.
Bugs are high in protein, low in fat and efficient to cultivate -- 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of feed yields six to eight kilograms of insect meat compared to one kilogram of beef, states the university's research.
Insects are abundant, produce less greenhouse gas and manure, and do not transfer any diseases, when eaten, that can mutate into a dangerous human form, say the researchers.
"The question really should be: 'Why do we NOT eat insects?," said Dicke, citing research that the average person unwittingly eats about 500 grams of bug particles a year anyway -- in strawberry jam, bread and other processed foods.
According to Van Huis, about 500 types of insects are eaten in Mexico, 250 in Africa and 180 in China and other parts of Asia -- mostly they are a delicacy.
One avid European convert is Marian Peters, secretary of the Dutch insect breeders association, Venik, who likes to snack on grasshoppers and refers to them as "the caviar of insects".
On a visit to an insect farm in Deurne in the south east Netherlands, she greedily peels the wings and legs off a freeze dried locust and crunches down with gusto.
"They are delicious stir fried with good oil, garlic and red pepper and served in a taco," said Peters.
The owner of the farm, Roland van de Ven, produces 1,200kg of meal worms a week of which "one or two percent" for human consumption, the rest as animal feed.
"When you see an insect, it is a barrier. I think people will come around if the insects are processed and not visible in food," he explains while running his fingers through a plastic tray teeming with worms -- one of hundreds stacked ceiling-high in refrigerated breeding rooms.
"It is harder to eat a pig you have seen on a spit than a store-bought steak. This is similar."
The farmer said human demand for his "mini-livestock" was growing slowly -- from 300 kilograms in 2008 to 900 kilograms last year.
For those who won't be swayed, there is hope for less grizzly alternative. Wageningen University is leading research into the viability of extracting insect protein for use in food products.
"We want to determine if we can texturise it to resemble meat, like they do with soy," said Peters, clutching a bag of pinkish powder -- protein taken from meal worms she hopes will one day be a common pizza ingredient.


Copyright AFP 2008, AFP

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• To Eat or Not To Eat (Insects) (friendseat.com)
• Which backyard insects are best to eat? (slate.com)
• Scientists Make Progress in Growing Giant Insects (neatorama.com)

AIDS and Black Folks

HIV among African Americans

View PDF By race/ethnicity, African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV in the United States (US). At the end of 2007, blacks accounted for almost half (46%) of people living with a diagnosis of HIV infection in the 37 states and 5 US dependent areas with long-term, confidential, name-based HIV reporting. In 2006, blacks accounted for nearly half (45%) of new infections in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Even though new HIV infections among blacks overall have been roughly stable since the early 1990s, compared with members of other races and ethnicities they continue to account for a higher proportion of cases at all stages of HIV—from new infections to deaths. Estimated Rates of New HIV Infections, by Race/Ethnicity and Gender, 2006 Source: CDC. Subpopulation Estimates from the HIV Incidence Surveillance System—United States, 2006. MMWR. 2008; 57(36):985–989. The Numbers New HIV Infections1 In 2006, black men accounted for two-thirds of new infections (65%) among all blacks. The rate of new HIV infection for black men was 6 times as high as that of white men, nearly 3 times that of Hispanic/Latino men, and twice that of black women. In 2006, black men who have sex with men (MSM)2 represented 63% of new infections among all black men, and 35% among all MSM. HIV infection rates are higher among black MSM compared to other MSM. More new HIV infections occurred among young black MSM (aged 13–29) than among any other age and racial group of MSM. In 2006, the rate of new HIV infection for black women was nearly 15 times as high as that of white women and nearly 4 times that of Hispanic/Latina women. HIV and AIDS Diagnoses3 and Deaths Although new HIV infections have remained fairly stable among blacks, from 2005–2008 estimated HIV diagnoses increased approximately 12%. This may be due to increased testing or diagnosis earlier in the course of HIV infection; it may also be due to uncertainty in statistical models. At some point in their lifetimes, 1 in 16 black men will be diagnosed with HIV infection, as will 1 in 30 black women. From 2005–2008, the rate of HIV diagnoses among blacks increased from 68/100,000 persons to 74/100,000. This increase reflectsthe largest increase in rates of HIV diagnoses by race or ethnicity. In 2008, an estimated 18,328 blacks received an AIDS diagnosis, a number that has remained relatively stable since 2005. By the end of 2007, an estimated 233,624 blacks with a diagnosis of AIDS had died in the US and 5 dependent areas. In 2006, HIV was the ninth leading cause of death for all blacks and the third leading cause of death for both black men and black women aged 35–44. Prevention Challenges Like other communities, African Americans face a number of challenges that contribute to the higher rates of HIV infection. Sexual risk behaviors, such as unprotected sex with multiple partners, with a partner who also has other sex partners, or with persons at high risk for HIV infection can be common in some communities. Injection drug use can facilitate HIV transmission through the sharing of unclean needles. Casual and chronic substance users may be more likely to engage in unprotected sex under the influence of drugsand/or alcohol. African Americans continue to experience higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) than any other race/ethnicity in the US. The presence of certain STDs can significantly increase the chance ofcontracting HIV infection. A person who has both HIV infection and certain STDs has a greater chance of infecting others with HIV. The socioeconomic issues associated with poverty, including limited access to quality health care, housing, and HIV prevention education, directly and indirectly increase the risk for HIV infection and affect the health of people living with HIV. Lack of awareness of HIV status. In a recent study of men who have sex with men (MSM) in five cities, 67% of the HIV infected black MSM were unaware of their infection. Stigma also puts too many African Americans at higher risk. Many at risk for HIV infection fear stigma more than knowing their status, choosing instead to hide their high-risk behavior rather than seek counseling and testing. What CDC is doing CDC has initiated a wide range of activities to (1) better understand those factors that drive the HIV and AIDS epidemic among African Americans in the US, (2) expand HIV testing and access to medical care, (3) develop new interventions and scale up the availability of effective interventions, and (4) mobilize African American communities to combat the HIV crisis. Some examples of CDC activities: CDC works closely with state and local health departments and community-based organizations (CBOs) to effectively utilize current HIV prevention interventions proven to be most effective for African Americans. CDC research has led to new interventions that reduce HIV risk in African Americans. CDC continues to identify, develop, and evaluate new behavioral and biomedical interventions for individuals at greatest risk and those living with HIV. CDC is conducting research to better understand and plan interventions to address the social, community, financial,and structural factors that place many African Americans at risk and hinder access to prevention and care. CDC is working with African American leaders from every sector to mobilize communities of color against HIV and deliver culturally appropriate campaigns and messages, including the Act Against AIDS campaign. For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/hiv/aaa. In 2010, CDC announced a second 3-year expanded HIV testing program that supplements an initiative started in 2007 to increase HIV testing among African Americans. CDC is expanding the program to an additional five state, territorial, andmetropolitan health departments. It also broadens the target population to include African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos, as well as MSM and injection drug users of any race/ethnicity. Funding for the program was increased from $36 million to approximately $62 million. 1 New HIV Infections refers to HIV incidence, or the number of people that are newly infected with HIV. 2 The term men who have sex with men (MSM) is used in CDC surveillance systems. It indicates the behaviors that transmit HIV infection, rather than how individuals self-identify in terms of their sexuality. 3 HIV and AIDS Diagnoses indicates when a person is diagnosed with HIV infection or AIDS but does not indicate when the person was infected.

Last Modified: September 9, 2010
Last Reviewed: September 9, 2010
Content Source:
Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

The Drugs of Death and Destruction - 2010

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad condemned the medical profession for no longer being a

profession of healing, but rather a profession of drugs. He taught that fasting with the right food is the cure for the body's ills. The body is not the result of drugs- the body is the result of nutrition. You are what you ATE! If something is wrong in the body, drugs can't fix it. Only the right food can. That is the basis of nutritional medicine. Nutritional medicine is the medicine of the future. Drug medicine is dying a miserable death by failure and soon will disappear.

 

2010's Hall of Shame

The Year in Pills

By MARTHA ROSENBERG

2010 will go down as the year the diet pill Meridia and pain pill Darvon were withdrawn from the market and the heart-attack associated diabetes drug Avandia was severely restricted.

But it was also the year the Justice Department filed the first criminal, not civil, charges against a drug company executive. Lauren Stevens, a former VP and assistant general counsel at GlaxoSmithKline, hid some 1,000 instances of GSK-paid doctors illegally promoting Wellbutrin to other doctors, say authorities.

It was also the year prominent psychiatrists Charles Nemeroff and Alan Schatzberg were accused of writing an entire book for GSK called Recognition and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Psychopharmacology Handbook for Primary Care.

Here are the drugs which make 2010's Hall of Shame.

Yaz and Yasmin

Soon after Bayer launched the pill Yaz in 2006, billing it as going "beyond birth control," 18-year-olds were coming down with blood clots, gall bladder disease, heart attacks and even strokes. FDA ordered Bayer to run correction ads that detail the drugs' risks though Yaz sales are still brisk. In fact, financial analysts attribute a third quarter slump to a Yaz generic coming online, not dangerous side effects.

Lyrica, Topamax and Lamictal

In August FDA ordered a warning on the seizure drug Lamictal for aseptic meningitis (brain inflammation) but it is still the darling of military and civilian doctors for unapproved pain and migraine uses. All three drugs increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors according to their mandated labels, in addition to the memory and hair loss patients report.

Humira, Prolia and TNF Blockers

The drug industry's highly promoted biologic drugs are made from genetically engineered hamster cells and suppress the immune system, inviting tuberculosis and several cancers. Yet Humira is advertised to healthy people for "clearer skin" and Prolia is advertised to prevent osteoporosis in healthy women.

Chantix

After 397 FDA cases of possible psychosis, 227 domestic reports of suicidal behaviors and 28 actual suicides, the government banned pilots, air-traffic controllers and interstate truck and bus drivers from taking the antismoking drug Chantix in 2008. Its neuropsychiatric effects were immortalized when New Bohemians musician Carter Albrecht was shot to death in 2007 in Texas by a neighbor after acting aggressively on the Chantix.

Ambien

The sleeping pill Ambien was immortalized as the drug Tiger Woods reportedly cavorted with his consorts on and former US Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his Ford Mustang on, while driving to Capitol Hill in the middle of the night to "vote" in 2006. Law enforcement officials say it has increased traffic accidents from people who drive in a black out and don't even recognize arresting officers.

Tamoxifen

Is it a coincidence that Tamoxifen maker AstraZeneca founded Breast Cancer Awareness Month and makes carcinogenic agrochemicals that cause breast cancer? As a breast cancer prevention drug, an American Journal of Medicine study found the average life expectancy increase from Tamoxifen was nine day . Public Citizen says for every case of breast cancer prevented on Tamoxifen there is a life-threatening case of blood clots, stroke or endometrial cancer.

Lipitor and Crestor

Why is Lipitor the best selling drug in the world? Because every adult with high LDL or fear of high LDL is on it. And also 2.8 million children, says Consumer Reports. All statins can cause muscle breakdown called rhabdomyolysis. And Crestor is so linked to the side effect, Public Citizen calls it a Do Not Use and the FDA's David Graham named it one of the five most dangerous drugs before at a Congressional hearing.

Boniva

Boniva and other bisphosphonate bone drugs are a good example of FDA approving once unapprovable drugs by transferring risk onto the public's shoulders. The list of dangers on the label includes waiting 60 minutes before eating or drinking anything except plain water, never taking the drug with mineral water, sparkling water, coffee, tea, milk, juice or other oral medicine, including calcium, antacids, or vitamins and not lying down after you take it.
Prempro

Pfizer's hormone drug Prempro is linked to a 26 percent increase in breast cancer, 41 percent increase in strokes, 29 percent increase in heart attacks, 22 percent increase in cardiovascular disease and double the rate of blood clots. But its cognitive and cardiovascular "benefits" are being tested right now at major universities to debut an HT "Light," hoping the public has a short memory.

Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, SSRIs

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRIs) antidepressants like Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Lexapro probably did more to inflate drug industry profits than Viagra. But many say the drugs have also inflated police blotters. In addition to 4,200 published reports of SSRI-related violence, including the Columbine, Red Lake and NIU shootings, SSRIsPaxil is linked to birth defects.

Effexor, Cymbalta, Pristiq, SNRIs

Selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are like their SSRIs chemical cousins except their norepinephrine effects can modulate pain, which has ushered in your-depression-is-really-pain, your-pain-is-really-depression and other crossover marketing. SNRI's are also harder to quit than SSRIs. 739,000 web sites address "Effexor" and "withdrawal."
Seroquel, Zyprexa, Geodon, atypical antipsychotics

The antipsychotic Seroquel tops 71 drugs on the FDA's January 2010 adverse event report and is linked to unexplained troop deaths and many research scandals. But it's the fifth biggest-selling drug in the world. Atypical antipsychotics cause weight gain and diabetes, the tardive dyskinesia they are marketed to prevent and death in the demented elderly. Yet FDA approved Zyprexa and Seroquel for children last year and the new atypical antipsychotic, Latuda this year. Maybe the FDA is bipolar.

Ritalin, Concerta, Strattera, Adderall and ADHD Drugs

ADHD drugs rob "kids of their right to be kids, their right to grow, their right to experience their full range of emotions, and their right to experience the world in its full hue of colors," says Anatomy of an Epidemic author Robert Whitaker. But they are a gold mine for the drug industry. During an August conference call with financial analysts, Shire specialty pharmaceuticals president Mike Cola lauded the "very dynamic ADHD market," and the "co-administration market" (in which kids don't need one drug but several.

Gardasil and Cervarix Vaccines

A pharma-government plot to inoculate the public with dangerous vaccines? Maybe not but why are governors like Texas' Rick Perry mandating vaccination of girls for HPV? And why was University of Queensland lecturer Andrew Gunn silenced when he questioned the Gardasil vaccine? The HPV vaccine doesn't work for all viral strains, requires a boo$ter and is linked to 56 US girls' deaths as of September, according to the CDC.

Foradil Aerolizer, Serevent Diskus, Advair and Symbicort

Unlike drugs that look safe in trials and develop "safety signals" postmarketing, the long-acting beta agonists (LABA), salmeterol and formoterol, found in many asthma drugs, never looked safe. Studies link them to an increase in asthma deaths, especially in African-Americans and children. They may have contributed to 5,000 deaths said Dr. David Graham at FDA hearings about the controversial asthma drugs.

Singulair and Accolate, leukotriene receptor antagonists

Leukotriene receptor antagonists also never looked safe. Original FDA reviewers said asthma control "deteriorates" on Singulair and it may not be safe in children. Last month, Fox TV reported Singulair, Merck's top selling drug, is suspected of producing aggression, hostility, irritability, anxiety, hallucinations and night-terrors in kids, symptoms that are being diagnosed as ADHD. It is huckstered to parents by the trusted educational service Scholastic, Inc. and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Martha Rosenberg can be reached at: martharosenberg@sbcglobal.net

Related articles

• Are You on Any of These Drugs? (lewrockwell.com)
• 15 Dangerous Drugs Big Pharma Shoves Down Your Throat (truthonmedecine.wordpress.com)
• "Study finds lack of evidence behind many prescriptions" and related posts (stanforddaily.com)
• Nation of Pill Poppers: 19 Potentially Dangerous Drugs Pushed By Big Pharma (alternet.org)

Original Scientist: Why Birds Are Falling Dead From the Sky

Original Scientist: Why Birds Are Falling Dead From the Sky: " What is killing birds in mid-flight? Perhaps nobody knows for sure, but this article sheds some vital light on this most important phe..."

How the 'Food Safety' Bill Got Passed - Now What?

The “Food Safety” Saga: Our Job Is Just Beginning

January 4, 2011

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The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act had more twists and turns than a big-city sewer system.  Unexpected passage of the legislation at the very end of the lame duck Congress does not bring the story to a close. The fight goes on.
Regulations will need to be developed, which the FDA will try to do out of sight, but which we will monitor closely. The FDA will need funding to do the work, which means more legislation. And there may be other legislative opportunities to help pull back this seeming  victory for agribusiness,  factory faming, and its allies in Washington.
We have to keep educating Capitol Hill about the dangers of CAFOs,  the main source of food contamination, and about the benefits—both to our health and our economy—of small farmers and especially local organic farmers. We need, in short, to keep the government from destroying what’s best about agriculture in this country. Big Food may have won this round, but they have most certainly not won the war.
Before we turn to the future, it’s also worth reviewing the  story of what actually happened with this legislation. There has been a great deal of confusion about what  took place, and it’s important to set the record straight. We also need to remember that natural health and family farming won some concessions along  the way, concessions that kept this legislation from being far, far worse than it is. All of these concessions were won by a broad coalition of tireless health freedom advocates, while some of them-especially in the areas of potential CODEX regulation and supplements-were won specifically by ANH-USA, and we’re proud of those accomplishments. This is more proof that when we all work together, we can move mountains.
Here’s the full timeline:
March 2009: Senate introduces FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510). The bill languishes in committee for nine months, then is placed on the Senate’s legislative calendar.
June 2009: House introduces Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, or FSEA (H.R. 2749). Bill was designed to completely revamp the FDA and grant expansive authority with no oversight and contained provisions of significant concern to small farms (especially organic farms), small food producers, and supplement makers, including sharply increased criminal and civil penalties for violations of FDA regulations—up to ten years in jail and fines of up to $100,000 for individuals and $7.5 million for corporations, regardless of their size—just for making completely true statements about a food or supplement or referring to peer-reviewed science without prior FDA permission.
The bill was put on a fast track, and ANH-USA sprang into action. We placed a full-page ad in Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, calling on Congress to amend the bill. We also printed up copies of the ad, and had them hand-delivered to each congressional office. Our members deluged Congress with messages and phone calls. Unfortunately, the House passed the bill by a vote of 283 to 142.
November 2009: The original language of the Senate bill appeared to commit the US to the concept of harmonization of our food and supplement safety laws with a global standard, the Codex Alimentarius. The global standard is very likely to reflect European standards, which are extremely hostile to dietary supplements. ANH-USA was able to get the bill amended so that it no longer requires the development of a plan to harmonize with Codex; now the bill calls for a plan “on whether and how” to harmonize.
April 2010: Still concerned that the inclusion of Codex language in the bill could be used to support future US harmonization with Codex standards on dietary supplements, ANH-USA succeeds in getting new language that specifically exempted dietary supplements from US harmonization with Codex. In addition, while we did not work on this aspect of the issue ourselves, we were very pleased to see that supplements were also exempted from the “hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls” section of the bill.
September 2010: Noting that the Senate’s version of the bill didn’t have the extra-harsh penalties of the House bill, Sen. Leahy introduced a new bill, the Food Safety Accountability Act, or FSEA (S. 3767), which used language similar to that found in the House bill. Even worse, the bill would not necessarily hold accountable a company that tainted a product, even on purpose, if this type of adulteration occurred before the product was sold by a distributor. So much for “accountability.”
Once again, ANH-USA and its allies acted quickly and mounted a protest, and succeeded in getting the Leahy bill amended so that it would no longer be possible to use the bill’s language to send a supplement producer to jail for ten years just for citing legitimate science.
November 2010: One of the Senate bill’s big sticking points was how it would affect small farmers and food producers. Some small-farm and organic food advocates warned that the legislation would destroy their industry under a mountain of paperwork. Working with the natural health community, ANH-USA succeeded in winning inclusion of an amendment from Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), which exempts from some of the bill’s provisions any producers with less than $500,000 a year in sales who sell most of their food locally.
Still concerned about the language in the Leahy bill, we kept up the pressure, and thanks to all the phone calls, letters, and email messages that you sent to your senators, we were told that the FSEA language would be kept out of S. 510 entirely.
In addition, the House agreed that if the Senate’s bill passed, the House would accept the Senate’s version in place of its own. The House bill was far, far worse, and contained the ten-year jail terms—so this meant that ten-year jail terms should not be in a final Food Safety bill.
On November 30, the Senate bill passed 73 to 25, and sent it on to the House for approval.
December 1: The House rejects the Senate bill because it contains a revenue-raising (i.e., taxing) provision. The Constitution requires all revenue-raising provisions to arise from the House.
December 10: House passes a Continuing Resolution, which is supposed to provide temporary, stopgap funding for the government while budget bills are worked out. But this CR included the language of the Senate food safety bill. The CR is sent to the Senate for approval.
December 14: Sen. Inouye attempts to get an omnibus spending bill substituted for the CR. While we were told originally that the food safety language would not be part of the omnibus bill, it appeared that a deal was struck to include food safety.
December 17: A number of senators, mainly Republicans, decide to support neither the omnibus bill, which contained a lot of “pork” (funding for local projects with little or no national significance) nor the CR from the House, but instead wanted a one-page CR that would keep the government open for the next two months. This left the food safety bill once again out in the cold.
December 19: At 10 p.m. on a Sunday night, in one of the most underhanded legislative maneuvers we’ve ever seen, senators took an old House bill that had been languishing on the legislative calendar for a year and a half, removed all of its text and completely substituted the text of S. 510, then changed the title. What had been the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act was now the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act with a new number, H.R. 2751. It was identical in every way to the old S. 510, except that this was now technically a House bill, which got over the earlier constitutionality issue. This was agreed to in the Senate by unanimous consent, and the bill was sent back to the House.
Note that twenty-five senators who had previously voted against the bill were part of the unanimous consent agreement. Even one of them could have denied unanimous consent, in which case the bill would most likely have died. These senators were also participating in a legislative trick that made a mockery of the Constitution.
December 21: After less than an hour of debate, the bill passed in the  House, 215 to 144. This included Yes votes from legislators who had been voted out of office in November, but who were making one last use of the “lame duck” session—something  the 20th Amendment to the Constitution was trying to prevent when it was originally enacted. Seventy-four members of the House had already left for the winter break and did not vote.
Henry Waxman, still chair of  Commerce Committee during the lame duck session of Congress and an arch foe of natural health and health freedom, famously said that nothing is ever settled for good in Washington. We can’t help but agree with him when it comes to the botched Food Safety Act.

Related articles

• The Codex Scam. Or, How To Make Billions in the Name of "Food Safety." (ppjg.wordpress.com)

Food Insecurity Mounts

Food insecurity is mounting all over the world. Food riots are already occurring in many countries, such as Algeria. Even marginal increases in food prices will push millions of the poorest people in the world over into starvation. Could famine actually come to America? Could you be effected? Actually record numbers are already receiving food stamps and millions of Americans are already hungry on a daily basis. Can anything be done about that? If so what? Is food being used as a weapon?

 

'One poor harvest away from chaos'

Millions of the world’s poorest people and the state of the global economy are threatened by the food price rises, writes Geoffrey Lean.

Hunger pains Photo: Getty Images

By Geoffrey Lean 7:19PM GMT 07 Jan 2011

85 Comments

'Within a decade," promised the top representative of the world's mightiest country, "no man, woman or child will go to bed hungry."

Dr Henry Kissinger, at the height of his powers as US Secretary of State, was speaking to the landmark 1974 World Food Conference. Since then, the number of hungry people worldwide has almost exactly doubled: from 460 million to 925 million.

And this week the airwaves have been full of warnings that the formidable figure could be about to increase further, as a new food crisis takes hold. Some experts warned that the world could be on the verge of a "nightmare scenario" of cut‑throat competition for the control of shrinking supplies.

The cause of such alarm? On Wednesday, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported that global food prices had hit a record high and were likely to go on rising, entering what Abdolreza Abbassian, its senior grains economist, called "danger territory".

That is bad enough for Britain, adding to the inflationary pressures from the soaring cost of oil and other commodities, not to mention the VAT increase. But for the world's poor, who have to spend 80 per cent of their income on food, it could be catastrophic.

Related articles

• Rising prices threaten a food crisis with a difference (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
• Food riots - Jan 11 (energybulletin.net)
• Rising Food and Vegetable Prices.Why? (ramanan50.wordpress.com)

Are Food Riots Coming?

Can you see yourself in a food riot? Hungry as hell and mad to boot? Desperate for lack of food? Is that possible in the coming year? In America? How do you plan to avoid getting caught up in some thing like that? Food self sufficiency is a must. We have to act now other wise get out your riot gear.

 

Food Riots Next? FAO Says Food Prices Surpass Record Highs Seen During 2007-2008 Bubble

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/05/2011 08:56 -0500

The last time food prices hit ridiculous levels, the immediate outcome was global food riots in places such as Haiti and Bangladesh. Which is why distributors of riot equipment in the world's poorest countries may be in for a bumper crop as the Food and Agriculture Organization has just announced that world food prices have just surpassed the previous record last seen in 2007-2008. But it's ok: according to the centrally planning Chairman it's all good, and the inflation is really just in our heads. After all, courtesy of the recent spike in mortgage rates, home prices now have about 10% to drop, meaning even less equity will be extracted from already substantially depressed food prices.
From the FT article, which we are confident Ben Bernanke will never read:

Food prices hit a record high last month, surpassing the levels seen during the 2007-08 crisis, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation said on Wednesday.

The Rome-based organisation said the increase did not constitute a crisis. But Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist at the FAO, acknowledged that the situation was “alarming”. He added: “It will be foolish to assume this is the peak.”

The jump will increase fears about the repetition of the crisis of 2007-2008. However, poor countries have not so far seen the wave of food riots that rocked countries such as Haiti and Bangladesh two years ago, when prices of agricultural commodities jumped.

The increase in food costs will also hit developed economies, with companies from McDonald's to Kraft raising retail prices.

Higher food prices are also boosting overall inflation, which is above the preferred targets of central banks in Europe.

The FAO said its food price index, a basket tracking the wholesale cost of commodities such as wheat, corn, rice, oilseeds, dairy products, sugar and meats, jumped last month of 214.7 points – up almost 4.2 per cent from November.

The FAO food index is at its highest since the measure was first calculated in 1990. During the 2007-08 food crisis, the index reached a peak of 213.5 in June 2008.

It gets better:

However, the cost of the other critical staple, wheat, is now rising fast on the back of poor harvests.

“This is a high prices situation,” said Mr Abbassian, although he pointed to the fact the costs of cereals – and particularly rice – were below the peaks set in 2007-08. “Rice and wheat are, from a global food security perspective, the critical agricultural commodities, not sugar, oilseeds or meat,” he said.

The increasing costs of sugar, whose price recently hit a 30-year high, oilseeds and meat are the main reason behind the rise in the FAO food index.

The rise of commodity prices makes it likely that the global food import bill will hit a record high in 2011, after topping $1,000bn last year for only the second time. In November, the FAO raised its 2010 forecast to $1,026bn, up almost 15 per cent from 2009 and within a whisker of a record high of $1,031bn set in 2008 during the food crisis.

Agricultural commodities prices have surged following a series of crop failures caused by bad weather. The situation was aggravated when top producers such as Russia and Ukraine imposed export restrictions, prompting importers in the Middle East and North Africa to hoard supplies.

As Zero Hedge predicted some time in October, the next bubble will be in the 3Rs: Rare Earths, Rubber and Rice. Real Earths have come (and maybe gone). Rubber is coming. Rice is now here.

Related articles

• The return of food riots (foreignpolicy.com)
• FAO food price index hits record high in December (reuters.com)
• World food prices reach record high (cbc.ca)
• UN warns on record high food prices around the world (americablog.com)

Modern Mind Control Methods

It's your mind...shouldn't you be in control of it yourself? Or should you allow someone else that privilege? Read about how it's done, then you may have a chance to be in control of your own mind and thinking. 

Hey that's a good New Years resolution: 

I Intend to Control My Own Mind For a Change!

 

10 Modern Methods of Mind Control

Nicholas West
Activist Post

The more one researches mind control, the more one will come to the conclusion that there is a coordinated script that has been in place for a very long time with the goal to turn the human race into non-thinking automatons.  For as long as man has pursued power over the masses, mind control has been orchestrated by those who study human behavior in order to bend large populations to the will of a small "elite" group.  Today, we have entered a perilous phase where mind control has taken on a physical, scientific dimension that threatens to become a permanent state if we do not become aware of the tools at the disposal of the technocratic dictatorship unfolding on a worldwide scale.

Modern mind control is both technological and psychological.  Tests show that simply by exposing the methods of mind control, the effects can be reduced or eliminated, at least for mind control advertising and propaganda.  More difficult to counter are the physical intrusions, which the military-industrial complex continues to develop and improve upon.

1. Education -- This is the most obvious, yet still remains the most insidious.  It has always been a would-be dictator's ultimate fantasy to "educate" naturally impressionable children, thus it has been a central component to Communist and Fascist tyrannies throughout history.  No one has been more instrumental in exposing the agenda of modern education than Charlotte Iserbyt -- one can begin research into this area by downloading a free PDF of her book, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, which lays bare the role of Globalist foundations in shaping a future intended to produce servile drones lorded over by a fully educated, aware elite class.   

2. Advertising and Propaganda -- Edward Bernays has been cited as the inventor of the consumerist culture that was designed primarily to target people's self-image (or lack thereof) in order to turn a want into a need.  This was initially envisioned for products such as cigarettes, for example.  However, Bernays also noted in his 1928 book, Propaganda, that "propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government." This can be seen most clearly in the modern police state and the growing citizen snitch culture, wrapped up in the pseudo-patriotic War on Terror.  The increasing consolidation of media has enabled the entire corporate structure to merge with government, which now utilizes the concept of propaganda placement.  Media; print, movies, television, and cable news can now work seamlessly to integrate an overall message which seems to have the ring of truth because it comes from so many sources, simultaneously.  When one becomes attuned to identifying the main "message," one will see this imprinting everywhere.  And this is not even to mention subliminal messaging.
 

3. Predictive Programming -- Many still deny that predictive programming is real.  I would invite anyone to examine the range of documentation put together by Alan Watt and come to any other conclusion.  Predictive programming has its origins in predominately elitist Hollywood, where the big screen can offer a big vision of where society is headed.  Just look back at the books and movies which you thought were far-fetched, or "science fiction" and take a close look around at society today.  For a detailed breakdown of specific examples, Vigilant Citizen is a great resource that will probably make you look at "entertainment" in a completely different light.

4. Sports, Politics, Religion -- Some might take offense at seeing religion, or even politics, put alongside sports as a method of mind control.  The central theme is the same throughout: divide and conquer.  The techniques are quite simple: short circuit the natural tendency of people to cooperate for their survival, and teach them to form teams bent on domination and winning.  Sports has always had a role as a key distraction that corrals tribal tendencies into a non-important event, which in modern America has reached ridiculous proportions where protests will break out over a sport celebrity leaving their city, but essential human issues such as liberty are giggled away as inconsequential.  Political discourse is strictly in a left-right paradigm of easily controlled opposition, while religion is the backdrop of nearly every war throughout history.

5. Food, Water, and Air -- Additives, toxins, and other food poisons literally alter brain chemistry to create docility and apathy.  Fluoride in drinking water has been proven to lower IQ; Aspartame and MSG are excitotoxins which excite brain cells until they die; and easy access to the fast food that contains these poisons generally has created a population that lacks focus and motivation for any type of active lifestyle.  Most of the modern world is perfectly groomed for passive receptiveness -- and acceptance -- of the dictatorial elite.  And if you choose to diligently watch your diet, they are fully prepared to spray the population from the above.

6. Drugs -- This can be any addictive substance, but the mission of mind controllers is to be sure you are addicted to something.  One major arm of the modern mind control agenda is psychiatry, which aims to define all people by their disorders, as opposed to their human potential.  This was foreshadowed in books such as Brave New World.  Today, it has been taken to even further extremes as a medical tyranny has taken hold where nearly everyone has some sort of disorder -- particularly those who question authority.  The use of nerve drugs in the military has led to record numbers of suicides.  Worst of all, the modern drug state now has over 25% of U.S. children on mind-numbing medication.

7. Military testing -- The military has a long history as the testing ground for mind control.  The military mind is perhaps the most malleable, as those who pursue life in the military generally resonate to the structures of hierarchy, control, and the need for unchallenged obedience to a mission.  For the increasing number of military personal questioning their indoctrination, a recent story highlighted DARPA's plans for transcranial mind control helmets that will keep them focused.

8. Electromagnetic spectrum  -- An electromagnetic soup envelops us all, charged by modern devices of convenience which have been shown to have a direct impact on brain function.  In a tacit admission of what is possible, one researcher has been working with a "god helmet" to induce visions by altering the electromagnetic field of the brain.  Our modern soup has us passively bathed by potentially mind-altering waves, while a wide range of possibilities such as cell phone towers is now available to the would-be mind controller for more direct intervention.

9. Television, Computer, and "flicker rate"-- It's bad enough that what is "programmed" on your TV (accessed via remote "control") is engineered; it is all made easier by literally lulling you to sleep, making it a psycho-social weapon.  Flicker rate tests show that alpha brain waves are altered, producing a type of hypnosis -- which doesn't portend well for the latest revelation that lights can transmit coded Internet data by "flickering faster than the eye can see."  The computer's flicker rate is less, but through video games, social networks, and a basic structure which overloads the brain with information, the rapid pace of modern communication induces an ADHD state.  A study of video games revealed that extended play can result in lower blood flow to the brain, sapping emotional control.  Furthermore, role-playing games of lifelike war and police state scenarios serve to desensitize a connection to reality.  One look at the WikiLeaks video Collateral Murder should be familiar to anyone who has seen a game like Call of Duty.

10. Nanobots -- From science fiction horror, directly to the modern brain; the nanobots are on the way.  Direct brain modification already has been packaged as "neuroengineering." A  Wired article from early 2009 highlighted that direct brain manipulation via fiber optics is a bit messy, but once installed "it could make someone happy with the press of a button."  Nanobots take the process to an automated level, rewiring the brain molecule by molecule.  Worse, these mini droids can self-replicate, forcing one to wonder how this genie would ever get back in the bottle once unleashed. Expected date of arrival?  Early 2020s.

A concerted effort is underway to manage and predict human behavior so that the social scientists and the dictatorial elite can control the masses and protect themselves from the fallout of a fully awake free humanity. Only by waking up to their attempts to put us to sleep do we stand a chance of preserving our free will.

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