wakingtimes--2020-02-19--Neuroscience and the ‘Sanskrit Effect’

Neuroscience and the ‘Sanskrit Effect’

Many of us have heard the Gyuto Monks of Tibet .
With their extraordinary chanting and low throaty drone of ancient sacred texts , they have kept audiences in the West spellbound with their long , careful and accurate recitations of potent Tibetan Buddhist texts .
Sitting in their presence you feel a clarity , and a potent spiritual transference of energy and healing .
The Buddhist tradition stems from India and the sacred language of Sanskrit .
While Tibetan Buddhists have a rich chanting tradition , in India , this age-old tradition goes back even further .
Sanskrit scholars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from a tender age .
They chant simple mantras , Sanskrit poetry and prose , along with memorising and chanting the most ancient Sanskrit texts , including the Shukla Yajurveda , which takes six hours to chant .
While those listening to these chantings receive the gift of the sacred texts they are sharing with us , the chanting of long texts does , in fact , have an amazing effect on the brain .
Neuroscience shows how rigorous memorising can help the brain .
The term the ‘ Sanskrit Effect ’ was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studied 21 professionally qualified Sanskrit pandits .
He discovered that memorising Vedic mantras increases the size of brain regions associated with cognitive function , including short and long-term memory .
This finding corroborates the beliefs of the Indian tradition which holds that memorising and reciting mantras enhances memory and thinking .
Dr Hartzell , a Sanskrit devotee and postdoctoral researcher at Spain ’ s Basque Centre on Cognition , Brain and Language , spent many years studying and translating Sanskrit and became fascinated by its impact on the brain .
I noticed that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the better my verbal memory seemed to become .
Fellow students and teachers often remarked on my ability to exactly repeat lecturers ’ own sentences when asking them questions in class .
Other translators of Sanskrit told me of similar cognitive shifts .
India ’ s Vedic Sanskrit pandits train for years to orally memorise and exactly recite 3,000-year old oral texts ranging from 40,000 to over 100,000 words .
We wanted to find out how such intense verbal memory training affects the physical structure of their brains .
Dr Hartzell ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ examine the brains of Sanskrit scholars .
Using structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging ( MRI ) at India ’ s National Brain Research Centre , they scanned the brains of 21 Sanskrit pandits and 21 control subjects .
He reports that the right hippocampus of the scholars , a region that plays a vital role in short and long-term memory , and is specialised for patterns , such as sound , spatial and visual patterns , had more grey matter than the brains of the control subjects .
The right temporal cortex , associated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was also substantially thicker .
Dr Hartzell is not sure whether the effect relates particularly to the Sanskrit language and plans to conduct further research .
The power of sound and chanting is becoming widely documented , and even short chants have an energising and healing effect on the body and mind of those who are chanting sacred mantras or verses .
Interestingly , fifty years ago , a French scientist noted that Christian monks who chanted the Gregorian Chants have exceptional memories .
In 1967 , Alfred Tomatis , a French physician @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the effect of chanting on Benedictine monks who had been part of a tradition with a strict schedule of daily chanting of up to eight hours a day .
When a new abbott changed this schedule , cutting out the chanting , the monks became tired and lethargic , even though they were getting extra sleep .
In fact , the more sleep they got , the more tired they were .
Alfred Tomatis believed that the chanting was energising their brains and bodies , so he reintroduced the chanting and the monks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr Hartzell ’ s recent study raises the question whether this kind of memorisation of ancient texts could be helpful in reducing the devastating illness of Alzheimer ’ s and other memory affecting diseases .
Apparently , Ayurvedic doctors from India suggest it is the case and future studies will be conducted , along with more research into Sanskrit .
While we all know the benefits of mindfulness and meditation practices , the findings of Dr Hartzell are truly dramatic .
In a world of shrinking attention spans , where we are flooded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a range of attention deficit disorders , ancient Indian wisdom has much to teach the West .
Even introducing small amounts of chanting and recitation could have an amazing effect on all of our brains .
Read Next : The Science Behind Healing with Sound **This article ( Neuroscience and the ‘ Sanskrit Effect ’ ) was originally published at Upliftconnect and is re-posted here with permission .
**

Neuroscience and the ‘Sanskrit Effect’
Azriel ReShel, Upliftconnect
Waking Times
Science Proves the Power of Chanting
Many of us have heard the Gyuto Monks of Tibet. With their extraordinary chanting and low throaty drone of ancient sacred texts, they have kept audiences in the West spellbound with their long, careful and accurate recitations of potent Tibetan Buddhist texts. Sitting in their presence you feel a clarity, and a potent spiritual transference of energy and healing. The Buddhist tradition stems from India and the sacred language of Sanskrit. While Tibetan Buddhists have a rich chanting tradition, in India, this age-old tradition goes back even further.
Sanskrit scholars in India learn to chant ancient texts from a tender age. They chant simple mantras, Sanskrit poetry and prose, along with memorising and chanting the most ancient Sanskrit texts, including the Shukla Yajurveda, which takes six hours to chant. While those listening to these chantings receive the gift of the sacred texts they are sharing with us, the chanting of long texts does, in fact, have an amazing effect on the brain.
Neuroscience shows how rigorous memorising can help the brain. The term the ‘Sanskrit Effect’ was coined by neuroscientist James Hartzell, who studied 21 professionally qualified Sanskrit pandits. He discovered that memorising Vedic mantras increases the size of brain regions associated with cognitive function, including short and long-term memory. This finding corroborates the beliefs of the Indian tradition which holds that memorising and reciting mantras enhances memory and thinking.
An Unexpected Discovery…
Dr Hartzell, a Sanskrit devotee and postdoctoral researcher at Spain’s Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language, spent many years studying and translating Sanskrit and became fascinated by its impact on the brain.
I noticed that the more Sanskrit I studied and translated, the better my verbal memory seemed to become. Fellow students and teachers often remarked on my ability to exactly repeat lecturers’ own sentences when asking them questions in class. Other translators of Sanskrit told me of similar cognitive shifts. India’s Vedic Sanskrit pandits train for years to orally memorise and exactly recite 3,000-year old oral texts ranging from 40,000 to over 100,000 words. We wanted to find out how such intense verbal memory training affects the physical structure of their brains.
Dr Hartzell’s research is the first study to examine the brains of Sanskrit scholars. Using structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at India’s National Brain Research Centre, they scanned the brains of 21 Sanskrit pandits and 21 control subjects.
What we discovered from the structural MRI scanning was remarkable. Numerous regions in the brains of the pandits were dramatically larger than those of controls, with over 10 percent more grey matter across both cerebral hemispheres, and substantial increases in cortical thickness. Although the exact cellular underpinnings of grey matter and cortical thickness measures are still under investigation, increases in these metrics consistently correlate with enhanced cognitive function.
He reports that the right hippocampus of the scholars, a region that plays a vital role in short and long-term memory, and is specialised for patterns, such as sound, spatial and visual patterns, had more grey matter than the brains of the control subjects. The right temporal cortex, associated with speech prosody and voice identity, was also substantially thicker.
Past Studies
Dr Hartzell is not sure whether the effect relates particularly to the Sanskrit language and plans to conduct further research. The power of sound and chanting is becoming widely documented, and even short chants have an energising and healing effect on the body and mind of those who are chanting sacred mantras or verses. Interestingly, fifty years ago, a French scientist noted that Christian monks who chanted the Gregorian Chants have exceptional memories.
In 1967, Alfred Tomatis, a French physician, psychologist and ear specialist, studied the effect of chanting on Benedictine monks who had been part of a tradition with a strict schedule of daily chanting of up to eight hours a day. When a new abbott changed this schedule, cutting out the chanting, the monks became tired and lethargic, even though they were getting extra sleep. In fact, the more sleep they got, the more tired they were. Alfred Tomatis believed that the chanting was energising their brains and bodies, so he reintroduced the chanting and the monks were soon full of energy again.
Dr Hartzell’s recent study raises the question whether this kind of memorisation of ancient texts could be helpful in reducing the devastating illness of Alzheimer’s and other memory affecting diseases. Apparently, Ayurvedic doctors from India suggest it is the case and future studies will be conducted, along with more research into Sanskrit.
While we all know the benefits of mindfulness and meditation practices, the findings of Dr Hartzell are truly dramatic. In a world of shrinking attention spans, where we are flooded with information daily, and children display a range of attention deficit disorders, ancient Indian wisdom has much to teach the West. Even introducing small amounts of chanting and recitation could have an amazing effect on all of our brains.
Read Next: The Science Behind Healing with Sound
About the Author
Azriel ReShel is a writer, editor, yoga Teacher & healing facilitator.
**This article (Neuroscience and the ‘Sanskrit Effect’) was originally published at Upliftconnect and is re-posted here with permission.**


wakingtimes--2020-02-19--Boy Scouts of America File for Bankruptcy Amid Tsunami of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations

Faced with a tsunami of sexual abuse lawsuits from thousands of alleged victims , the Boy Scouts of America ( BSA ) filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in a bid to continue operating .
The organization , which just recently celebrated its 110th anniversary on February 8 , listed its liabilities as between $ 100 million and $ 500 million , but its assets at $ 50,000 or less , per court documents filed in the Delaware bankruptcy court .
Due to the filing , all civil litigation against the organization has ground to a halt .
Thousands of people had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were scouts and myriad others had also been expected to come forward .
Los Angeles-based attorney Paul Mones , who represents hundreds of sexual abuse victims in individual lawsuits , described the bankruptcy filing as a “ tragedy , ” according to CNN .
He said : “ These young boys took an oath .
They pledged to be obedient , pledged to support the Scouts and pledged to be honorable .
Many of them are extremely angry that that ’ s not what happened to them and the Boy Scouts of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way they should have.
” The Boy Scouts of America—a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote patriotism , courage , self-reliance , and kindred virtues , according to its 1916 congressional charter—is swamped in hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits at present , including several that allege repeated fondling , exposure to pornography , and forced anal or oral sex .

Boy Scouts of America File for Bankruptcy Amid Tsunami of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations
Elias Marat, The Mind Unleashed
Waking Times
Faced with a tsunami of sexual abuse lawsuits from thousands of alleged victims, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in a bid to continue operating.
The organization, which just recently celebrated its 110th anniversary on February 8, listed its liabilities as between $100 million and $500 million, but its assets at $50,000 or less, per court documents filed in the Delaware bankruptcy court.
Due to the filing, all civil litigation against the organization has ground to a halt. Thousands of people had filed accusations that they faced abuse while they were scouts and myriad others had also been expected to come forward.
Los Angeles-based attorney Paul Mones, who represents hundreds of sexual abuse victims in individual lawsuits, described the bankruptcy filing as a “tragedy,” according to CNN. He said:
“These young boys took an oath. They pledged to be obedient, pledged to support the Scouts and pledged to be honorable. Many of them are extremely angry that that’s not what happened to them and the Boy Scouts of America did not step up in the way they should have.”
The Boy Scouts of America—a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues, according to its 1916 congressional charter—is swamped in hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits at present, including several that allege repeated fondling, exposure to pornography, and forced anal or oral sex.
By Elias Marat | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com


wakingtimes--2020-02-19--Bloomberg’s Rising Polls Show The Power Of Billionaire Narrative Control

Back in November Mike Bloomberg was polling at four percent nationally and had the highest disapproval rating of any potential Democratic presidential candidate , and understandably so ; the man has a uniquely horrible record and no redeeming traits to speak of .
Now , after spending $ 400 million in broadcast , radio and cable ads , $ 42 million on Facebook ads , $ 36 million on Google ads , and an unknown fortune on other shady manipulations , a national Quinnipiac poll released last week put him at 15 percent nationally in the Democratic primary .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Zogby put him at 19 and 20 percent , respectively .
You can argue against the validity of polls all you like , and surely none of them are pristine representations of public opinion .
But there ’ s no denying that these numbers have gone way up , and there ’ s no denying that now , approvingly or not , everyone ’ s talking about Michael Bloomberg .
Late night talk show hosts are doing bits about the prevalence of Bloomberg ads .
People are making satirical videos spoofing them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that their kids recite lines from his ads at the dinner table .
It ’ s a story in itself .
It ’ s saturating social consciousness .
It ’ s very much a thing .
Greenwald is of course correct .
But while Bloomberg is doing something that is without precedent , his campaign is also highlighting problems with the system which have existed for ages .
And in my opinion it would be an unfortunate waste if his campaign came and went without these problems getting more attention than they currently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first plutocrat to use his wealth to manipulate a US election , and he is not the first plutocrat to use his wealth to manipulate public perception .
He ’ s just the first to do it so brazenly and ham-fistedly .
The fact that it is both possible and easy for a billionaire to throw a vast fortune at an electoral race and drastically influence its direction tells us everything we need to know about the illusory nature of US democracy .
And now it ’ s right out in the open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group are able to manipulate the way people think and vote , then you don ’ t have democracy , you have oligarchy .
If that small elite group happens to be much wealthier than everyone else , then it ’ s a specific kind of oligarchy known as plutocracy .
You can watch this video and this video for some general information on the ways US plutocrats exert control over the political system , and you can read this fascinating thread here for more specific information on how Bloomberg has been stifling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ figures using his unparallelled spending power .
This has been happening all the time , for generations , and not just with US elections but with Americans ’ perception of what ’ s going on in their world as well .
Whether it ’ s running ads , buying up media outlets , funding think tanks or incentivizing politicians to regurgitate the desired lines , billionaires are constantly using their wealth to shore up narrative control , because they understand that whoever controls the narrative controls the world .
Bloomberg built a media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Post .
Most of America ’ s news media are owned or controlled by billionaires .
Even that so-called “ philanthropy ” which mass media pundits keep crowing about in the same breath as Bloomberg ’ s name is actually just another billionaire narrative control apparatus , allowing them to donate a tiny tax-deductible portion of their income in exchange for political influence , and buying them the ability to wear the fancy label of “ philanthropist ” instead of “ sociopathic parasite ” .
Billionaires pour vast fortunes into think tanks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ paid to come up with the most intelligent-sounding arguments possible explaining why it would be good and smart to do something evil and stupid , whether that be the destruction of the ecosystem , regime change in Iran , or further corporate/financial deregulation .
They then circulate those arguments at key points of influence .
For a Bloomberg-specific example of think tank narrative control , take the time his donations to the Center for American Progress ( CAP ) leveraged that think tank into removing a chapter from a 2015 report detailing his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was the mayor of New York City .
Back in 2013 The Nation ‘ s Ken Silverstein reported that CAP staffers “ were very clearly instructed to check with the think tank ’ s development team before writing anything that might upset contributors.
” Sure enough , a former CAP staffer named Yasmine Taeb recently detailed for Democracy Now how “ the chapter was flagged by a member of the executive committee who actually previously had worked for Mayor Bloomberg ” and “ said that there would be a strong reaction by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as it was.
” At that point Bloomberg had given CAP nearly $ 1.5 million .
The billionaire class has to buy up narrative control because there is nothing about plutocracy that is sane or healthy ; people would never knowingly consent to it unless they were manipulated into doing so .
Because power is relative , and because money is power in a plutocracy , plutocrats are naturally incentivized to maintain a system where everyone else is kept as poor as possible so that they can have as much relative power as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sanders campaign has been able to accomplish just with small-dollar donations and grassroots support gives you some insight into why these plutocrats want people working long , exhausting hours with as little spare income as possible .
Nobody would ever knowingly consent to being kept poor and busy just so some billionaires can live as modern-day kings , so they need to be propagandized into it via narrative manipulation .
If you ’ ve ever wondered why it seems like the news man is always lying to you , that ’ s why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of plutocratic propaganda , I always get people saying I ’ m just a conspiracy theorist ( and that I have an awful addiction to alliteration ) .
They argue that sure , it ’ s possible to influence public opinion a bit , but people are free agents and they make up their own minds based on any number of potential factors , so it ’ s silly to focus on media manipulation as the underlying cause of all the world ’ s ills .
Oh yeah ?
If people can ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supporting agendas which don ’ t benefit them , how come a billionaire presidential candidate was able to quadruple or quintuple his polling numbers in three months just by throwing money at them ?
And that ’ s just one agenda of just one billionaire .
There are 607 billionaires in the United States .
And none of them are interested in giving up their plutocratic throne .
The unpleasant fact of the matter is that the human mind is far more hackable than people like to believe it is .
Just listen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Melzer describe how he ’ d been completely taken in by the horrible mass media smear campaign against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange prior to taking his case .
This is an educated , intelligent and highly compassionate man who , simply because he ’ d relied on the plutocratic media to help him figure out what ’ s going on in the world , had an understanding that Assange was a wicked man who was guilty of wicked deeds .
It wasn ’ t until he took the case and began personally investigating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the filter of the plutocratic media spinmeisters that he was able penetrate beneath the layers of narrative distortion to get at the reality of the situation .
Some clever people figured out a long time ago that humans live in two worlds : the real world and the narrative world .
The narrative world consists of the mental chatter which occupies the majority of most people ’ s moment-to-moment interest and attention .
The real world is everything else : life as it is , without the stories about what life is .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ can get folks to give you real things in the real world , just by giving them narratives in the narrative world .
Use your control over your society ’ s dominant narratives and you can get people to hand you real wealth and power in exchange for a bunch of made-up stories of fear and inadequacy and factionalism and otherness .
Manipulative men can get real-life sexual favors in exchange for narratives about love and romance .
Manipulative priests can get your real-life tithes in exchange for narratives about imaginary deities .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in exchange for narratives about imaginary terrorists .
Manipulative billionaires can use the rewards of your real-life labor in exchange for units of an imaginary financial system which exists solely as a narrative construct .
They figured out a way to get everything for nothing .
Humans are not difficult to manipulate .
I am not difficult to manipulate .
You are not difficult to manipulate .
If you don ’ t appreciate this fact , you make yourself even easier to manipulate .
It ’ s not difficult to mock the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bloomberg .
What is difficult is coming to terms with the fact that you yourself , and indeed your entire species , have many glitches in your cognitive processes which can be , have been , and will continue to be exploited by adept manipulators .
All we can do is make this conscious .
Like everything else in this struggle , the solution to the mind ’ s intrinsic hackability is bringing the light of consciousness to it .
Manipulators can not operate in an environment with too much awareness of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human being .
But at the very least he may operate as a catalyst for this consciousness .
The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff she publishes is to subscribe to the mailing list for her website , which will get you an email notification for everything .
Her articles are entirely reader-supported , so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around , liking her on Facebook , following her antics on Twitter , checking out her podcast , throwing some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Paypal , or buying her book Woke : A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers .

Bloomberg’s Rising Polls Show The Power Of Billionaire Narrative Control
Caitlin Johnstone, Guest
Waking Times
Back in November Mike Bloomberg was polling at four percent nationally and had the highest disapproval rating of any potential Democratic presidential candidate, and understandably so; the man has a uniquely horrible record and no redeeming traits to speak of.
Now, after spending $400 million in broadcast, radio and cable ads, $42 million on Facebook ads, $36 million on Google ads, and an unknown fortune on other shady manipulations, a national Quinnipiac poll released last week put him at 15 percent nationally in the Democratic primary. This week national polls released by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist and Zogby put him at 19 and 20 percent, respectively.
You can argue against the validity of polls all you like, and surely none of them are pristine representations of public opinion. But there’s no denying that these numbers have gone way up, and there’s no denying that now, approvingly or not, everyone’s talking about Michael Bloomberg.
Late night talk show hosts are doing bits about the prevalence of Bloomberg ads. People are making satirical videos spoofing them. I’ve seen parents complaining that their kids recite lines from his ads at the dinner table. It’s a story in itself. It’s saturating social consciousness. It’s very much a thing.
🤑 MICHAEL BLOOMBERG BUYS ADS INSIDE HIS OWN ADS 🤑
(from @TheUNDERCULTURE) pic.twitter.com/H1dy5KxNz0 — James Adomian (@JAdomian) February 17, 2020
“Nothing remotely like what Mike Bloomberg is doing has ever been seen in US politics – nothing in the same universe,” journalist Glenn Greenwald recently tweeted. “And the threat and danger it (and he) poses to US democracy is equally without comparison.”
Greenwald is of course correct. But while Bloomberg is doing something that is without precedent, his campaign is also highlighting problems with the system which have existed for ages. And in my opinion it would be an unfortunate waste if his campaign came and went without these problems getting more attention than they currently are.
Mike Bloomberg is not the first plutocrat to use his wealth to manipulate a US election, and he is not the first plutocrat to use his wealth to manipulate public perception. He’s just the first to do it so brazenly and ham-fistedly. The fact that it is both possible and easy for a billionaire to throw a vast fortune at an electoral race and drastically influence its direction tells us everything we need to know about the illusory nature of US democracy. And now it’s right out in the open.
As long as a small elite group are able to manipulate the way people think and vote, then you don’t have democracy, you have oligarchy. If that small elite group happens to be much wealthier than everyone else, then it’s a specific kind of oligarchy known as plutocracy. You can watch this video and this video for some general information on the ways US plutocrats exert control over the political system, and you can read this fascinating thread here for more specific information on how Bloomberg has been stifling opposition and manipulating endorsements out of political figures using his unparallelled spending power.
The degree to which Michael Bloomberg is using his fortune to fundamentally alter & manipulate U.S. politics to his personal advantage extends way beyond ads. I've worked against him, covered him as a journalist & worked with his top aides. Here’s their playbook: (1/17) — Blake Zeff (@blakezeff) February 13, 2020
This has been happening all the time, for generations, and not just with US elections but with Americans’ perception of what’s going on in their world as well. Whether it’s running ads, buying up media outlets, funding think tanks or incentivizing politicians to regurgitate the desired lines, billionaires are constantly using their wealth to shore up narrative control, because they understand that whoever controls the narrative controls the world.
Bloomberg built a media empire. Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post. Most of America’s news media are owned or controlled by billionaires. Even that so-called “philanthropy” which mass media pundits keep crowing about in the same breath as Bloomberg’s name is actually just another billionaire narrative control apparatus, allowing them to donate a tiny tax-deductible portion of their income in exchange for political influence, and buying them the ability to wear the fancy label of “philanthropist” instead of “sociopathic parasite”.
Billionaires pour vast fortunes into think tanks, which are generally institutions where academics are paid to come up with the most intelligent-sounding arguments possible explaining why it would be good and smart to do something evil and stupid, whether that be the destruction of the ecosystem, regime change in Iran, or further corporate/financial deregulation. They then circulate those arguments at key points of influence.
For a Bloomberg-specific example of think tank narrative control, take the time his donations to the Center for American Progress (CAP) leveraged that think tank into removing a chapter from a 2015 report detailing his Orwellian surveillance program targeting Muslims back when he was the mayor of New York City. Back in 2013 The Nation‘s Ken Silverstein reported that CAP staffers “were very clearly instructed to check with the think tank’s development team before writing anything that might upset contributors.” Sure enough, a former CAP staffer named Yasmine Taeb recently detailed for Democracy Now how “the chapter was flagged by a member of the executive committee who actually previously had worked for Mayor Bloomberg” and “said that there would be a strong reaction by Bloomberg World if this report was released as it was.” At that point Bloomberg had given CAP nearly $1.5 million.
The billionaire class has to buy up narrative control because there is nothing about plutocracy that is sane or healthy; people would never knowingly consent to it unless they were manipulated into doing so. Because power is relative, and because money is power in a plutocracy, plutocrats are naturally incentivized to maintain a system where everyone else is kept as poor as possible so that they can have as much relative power as possible. A glance at what the Sanders campaign has been able to accomplish just with small-dollar donations and grassroots support gives you some insight into why these plutocrats want people working long, exhausting hours with as little spare income as possible.
Nobody would ever knowingly consent to being kept poor and busy just so some billionaires can live as modern-day kings, so they need to be propagandized into it via narrative manipulation. If you’ve ever wondered why it seems like the news man is always lying to you, that’s why.
Whenever I write about the power of plutocratic propaganda, I always get people saying I’m just a conspiracy theorist (and that I have an awful addiction to alliteration). They argue that sure, it’s possible to influence public opinion a bit, but people are free agents and they make up their own minds based on any number of potential factors, so it’s silly to focus on media manipulation as the underlying cause of all the world’s ills.
Oh yeah? If people can’t be manipulated by the wealthy into supporting agendas which don’t benefit them, how come a billionaire presidential candidate was able to quadruple or quintuple his polling numbers in three months just by throwing money at them?
And that’s just one agenda of just one billionaire. There are 607 billionaires in the United States. And none of them are interested in giving up their plutocratic throne.
"They had to send me a couple pieces of evidence and to ask me, almost to beg me, to look at it and when I did
I started to see that really the public narrative that we know about Assange has been fabricated. It's not true. The evidence is contradictory" @NilsMelzer#FreeAssange pic.twitter.com/ic2Kqte41p — Assange Edits 🎬 (@AssangeEdits) February 10, 2020
The unpleasant fact of the matter is that the human mind is far more hackable than people like to believe it is. Just listen to UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer describe how he’d been completely taken in by the horrible mass media smear campaign against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange prior to taking his case. This is an educated, intelligent and highly compassionate man who, simply because he’d relied on the plutocratic media to help him figure out what’s going on in the world, had an understanding that Assange was a wicked man who was guilty of wicked deeds. It wasn’t until he took the case and began personally investigating the actual facts of the matter without the filter of the plutocratic media spinmeisters that he was able penetrate beneath the layers of narrative distortion to get at the reality of the situation.
Some clever people figured out a long time ago that humans live in two worlds: the real world and the narrative world. The narrative world consists of the mental chatter which occupies the majority of most people’s moment-to-moment interest and attention. The real world is everything else: life as it is, without the stories about what life is.
The clever people figured out that you can get folks to give you real things in the real world, just by giving them narratives in the narrative world. Use your control over your society’s dominant narratives and you can get people to hand you real wealth and power in exchange for a bunch of made-up stories of fear and inadequacy and factionalism and otherness. Manipulative men can get real-life sexual favors in exchange for narratives about love and romance. Manipulative priests can get your real-life tithes in exchange for narratives about imaginary deities. Manipulative politicians can get your real-life votes in exchange for narratives about imaginary terrorists. Manipulative billionaires can use the rewards of your real-life labor in exchange for units of an imaginary financial system which exists solely as a narrative construct. They figured out a way to get everything for nothing.
Nothing remotely like what Mike Bloomberg is doing has ever been seen in US politics – nothing in the same universe. And the threat and danger it (and he) poses to US democracy is equally without comparison. It’s a menace beyond what words can describe: https://t.co/tmFzlpBKzr — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 18, 2020
Humans are not difficult to manipulate. I am not difficult to manipulate. You are not difficult to manipulate. If you don’t appreciate this fact, you make yourself even easier to manipulate. It’s not difficult to mock the people who’ve been manipulated into supporting Bloomberg. What is difficult is coming to terms with the fact that you yourself, and indeed your entire species, have many glitches in your cognitive processes which can be, have been, and will continue to be exploited by adept manipulators.
All we can do is make this conscious. Like everything else in this struggle, the solution to the mind’s intrinsic hackability is bringing the light of consciousness to it. Manipulators cannot operate in an environment with too much awareness of their tricks.
Mike Bloomberg is a terrible human being. But at the very least he may operate as a catalyst for this consciousness.
About the Author
Caitlin Johnstone – Rogue journalist. Bogan socialist. Anarcho-psychonaut. Guerrilla poet. Utopia prepper.
The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff she publishes is to subscribe to the mailing list for her website, which will get you an email notification for everything. Her articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking her on Facebook, following her antics on Twitter, checking out her podcast, throwing some money into her hat on Patreon or Paypal, or buying her book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.


wakingtimes--2020-02-19--Poachers Cut Rhino’s Horns To Be Used As “Natural Viagra” And Other “Remedies”

WARNING : This article contains disturbing images and video not suitable for all viewers .
Viewer discretion is advised .
Rhinos are recognized as a critically endangered species , with less than 28,000 left on the entire planet .
To put this into perspective , it is estimated that at least a half-million rhinos inhabited Africa and Asia at the beginning of the 20th century .
Rhino populations are in danger due to loss of habitat and overhunting , and a large portion of the hunting is motivated by the demand for traditional medicinal remedies that call for rhino horns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ traditional medicine that requires ingredients from endangered animals is only popular in China , and even there it is not necessarily mainstream .
Furthermore , Chinese traditional medicine is a very broad term that applies to a variety of practices , some of which are proven to be beneficial , like acupuncture , while others , like rhino horn remedies , have not been proven to be effective .
Rhino horns are typically sought by the most wealthy Chinese citizens , but the everyday person in China pays very little attention to these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is enough of a demand for the more taboo traditional treatments in China to create a lucrative black market for the trade of endangered animals .
Advocates of Chinese traditional medicine believe that the powder from a ground rhino horn can cure numerous different ailments , including devil possession , cancer , headaches , rheumatism , and in some rare cases , erectile dysfunction .
It is important to note that its use as an aphrodisiac is often overstated , and never officially prescribed by doctors , but there are still some wealthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that purpose .
Rhino horns can be sold for up to $ 100,000 per kilogram , which is just over two pounds .
Considering that most of these horns weigh an average of two to seven pounds each , a poacher could make anywhere between $ 300,000 and $ 700,000 off of a single rhino horn .
The brutal criminal gangs that hunt these animals use tranquilizer guns to slow them down before hacking off their horns and leaving them to slowly and painfully bleed to death .
In the video below , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mature rhino , perhaps a mother or father , after its horn was removed by poachers .
You may not want to watch the video , I kind of regret it .
There have been numerous strategies that conservationists have employed to help mitigate the hunting of rhinos for their horns .
As shown in the photo below , some rangers at wildlife reserves have resorted to dehorning the animals in advance so they are less attractive to poachers .
Another plan is to flood the market with fake rhino horns .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a team of researchers from the University of Oxford and Fudan University in China recently announced that they have developed a fake rhino horn , which they hope will diminish the illegal market for the real thing .
John Vibes is an author and journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture , and focuses solutions-oriented approaches to social problems .
He is also a host of The Free Your Mind Conference and The Free Thought Project Podcast .

Poachers Cut Rhino’s Horns To Be Used As “Natural Viagra” And Other “Remedies”
John Vibes, Truth Theory
Waking Times
WARNING: This article contains disturbing images and video not suitable for all viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
Rhinos are recognized as a critically endangered species, with less than 28,000 left on the entire planet. To put this into perspective, it is estimated that at least a half-million rhinos inhabited Africa and Asia at the beginning of the 20th century.
Rhino populations are in danger due to loss of habitat and overhunting, and a large portion of the hunting is motivated by the demand for traditional medicinal remedies that call for rhino horns to be used. This form of traditional medicine that requires ingredients from endangered animals is only popular in China, and even there it is not necessarily mainstream.
Furthermore, Chinese traditional medicine is a very broad term that applies to a variety of practices, some of which are proven to be beneficial, like acupuncture, while others, like rhino horn remedies, have not been proven to be effective.
http://www.facebook.com/natgeophotos/posts/1263521393706544:0
Rhino horns are typically sought by the most wealthy Chinese citizens, but the everyday person in China pays very little attention to these types of remedies. Still, there is enough of a demand for the more taboo traditional treatments in China to create a lucrative black market for the trade of endangered animals.
Advocates of Chinese traditional medicine believe that the powder from a ground rhino horn can cure numerous different ailments, including devil possession, cancer, headaches, rheumatism, and in some rare cases, erectile dysfunction. It is important to note that its use as an aphrodisiac is often overstated, and never officially prescribed by doctors, but there are still some wealthy Chinese customers who purchase the horns for that purpose.
Rhino horns can be sold for up to $100,000 per kilogram, which is just over two pounds. Considering that most of these horns weigh an average of two to seven pounds each, a poacher could make anywhere between $300,000 and $700,000 off of a single rhino horn.
http://www.facebook.com/pics.amazing01/posts/803215189809855:0
The brutal criminal gangs that hunt these animals use tranquilizer guns to slow them down before hacking off their horns and leaving them to slowly and painfully bleed to death.
In the video below, a young rhino appears to be mourning a mature rhino, perhaps a mother or father, after its horn was removed by poachers. You may not want to watch the video, I kind of regret it.
There have been numerous strategies that conservationists have employed to help mitigate the hunting of rhinos for their horns. As shown in the photo below, some rangers at wildlife reserves have resorted to dehorning the animals in advance so they are less attractive to poachers.
Another plan is to flood the market with fake rhino horns. As Truth Theory report last year, a team of researchers from the University of Oxford and Fudan University in China recently announced that they have developed a fake rhino horn, which they hope will diminish the illegal market for the real thing.
About the Author
John Vibes is an author and journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture, and focuses solutions-oriented approaches to social problems. He is also a host of The Free Your Mind Conference and The Free Thought Project Podcast.


wakingtimes--2020-02-19--How Aluminum Damages Your Brain

How Aluminum Damages Your Brain

For years , I ’ ve warned that aluminum is a serious neurotoxic hazard involved in rising rates of autism and Alzheimer ’ s disease ( AD ) .
I ’ ve also warned that vaccines are a significant source of such exposure , and may be one of the worst , since by injecting it , the aluminum bypasses your body ’ s natural filtering and detoxification systems .
My comments above were one of the reasons the self-appointed global arbiter of fake news , NewsGuard , refused to give us “ green ” status as a site that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accountability.
” In other words , our reporting of aluminum hazards was deemed “ fake news.
” Not only were my earlier reports based on published science , but now we have yet another study , published in the Journal of Alzheimer ’ s Disease , strongly linking aluminum exposure to AD .
As reported by SciTech Daily : The Association Between Aluminum and Amyloid-Beta To gain a better understanding of the link between aluminum exposure and beta-amyloid generation , the researchers examined the brain tissue of donors diagnosed with familial Alzheimer ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gene mutation known to increase levels of amyloid-beta , leading to early onset and more aggressive disease .
Aluminum levels were compared to controls with no neurological disease diagnosis .
They found striking differences between these two groups .
Donors with the genetic mutation had universally high aluminum content .
While all samples had some level of aluminum , 42 % of the samples from those with familial Alzheimer ’ s had “ pathologically significant ” aluminum levels , and the aluminum was primarily co-located with amyloid beta plaques .
As reported by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Been Tested for Safety Exley ’ s conclusion deserves repeating : “ No aluminum , no AD.
” Without aluminum , Alzheimer ’ s doesn ’ t develop .
That ’ s not fake news .
This research provides conclusive evidence for concern , which means it would be foolish in the extreme to pretend that injecting infants and young children with aluminum-containing vaccines is harmless .
As revealed in my 2015 interview with Dr. Lucija Tomljenovic , featured in “ How Vaccine Adjuvants Affect Your Brain , ” when aluminum was first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 95 years ago , it was approved based on its efficacy .
It was never actually tested for safety .
Even the total allowable limit was based on efficacy data , not safety data .
They simply assumed it was safe .
As noted by Tomljenovic in that interview : The propaganda responsible for hiding the dangers of aluminum was addressed in a 2014 review article in the journal Frontiers of Neurology .
In it , Exley ( who also co-authored the featured Journal of Alzheimer ’ s Disease study above ) wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most significant factors driving complacency about aluminum exposure is the aluminum industry ’ s insistence that , since it ’ s everywhere and found in virtually everybody , it must be harmless if not essential — we just haven ’ t figured out how it benefits us yet .
However , no beneficial role of aluminum has ever been elucidated , and its presence is in no way evidence of benefit .
Why Aluminum Toxicity Flies Under the Radar Exley also notes that aluminum is rarely acutely toxic , which adds to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once a certain threshold is reached , and even then , its role in disease is rarely if ever investigated .
Yet another factor that helps hide the influence of aluminum in disease is the fact that it acts on many different pathways and acts as a substitute for essential minerals , so aluminum toxicity doesn ’ t have one specific hallmark .
Importantly , aluminum has the ability to cross the blood-brain-barrier , so any aluminum in the blood can be transported into the brain .
“ Indeed , aluminum is known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endothelial barriers and in doing so could concomitantly increase the passage of aluminum from the blood to the brain , ” Exley writes .
Exley also points out aluminum can damage your brain function by : • Worsening the adverse effects of other heavy metals A 2010 paper also pointed out that aluminum salts “ can increase levels of glial activation , inflammatory cytokines and amyloid precursor protein within the brain , ” and that “ Both normal brain aging and to a greater extent , Alzheimer ’ s disease are associated with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Similarly , a 2018 paper in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences cites research showing aluminum affects : When it comes to altering gene expression , aluminum has been shown to do this via many different routes and mechanisms , including by : Importantly , as noted in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences , aluminum has been shown to “ cause mitochondrial dysfunction and depletion of adenine-triphosphate ( ATP ) , ” which sets the stage for virtually any chronic disease , not just neurodegenerative diseases .
In December @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a study published in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology , which found the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ’ s childhood vaccine schedule — when adjusted for bodyweight — exposes children to a level of aluminum that is 15.9 times higher than the recommended “ safe ” level .
The researchers point out that previous efforts to assess the aluminum burden created by vaccines were based on “ whole-body clearance rates estimated from a study involving a single human subject.
” What ’ s more , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not used in vaccines , which may affect the excretion rate .
Importantly , infants also have immature renal function , which will inhibit their ability to filter and excrete toxins in the first place .
Other studies have used orally ingested aluminum to assess and defend safety limits for aluminum in vaccines .
This is clearly an unwise comparison , as only 0.1 % of orally ingested aluminum is absorbed and made bioavailable from the gastrointestinal tract .
In the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology study , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effort to estimate the expected acute and long-term whole-body accumulation of aluminum in children following one of the three possible vaccine schedules : • The CDC ’ s childhood vaccine schedule as of 2019 • The CDC ’ s vaccine schedule modified to use low dose aluminum DTaP and aluminum-free Hib vaccines • Dr. Paul Thomas ’ “ vaccine-friendly plan , ” which recommends giving only one aluminum-containing vaccine per visit ( max two ) and delaying certain vaccinations The CDC ’ s standard schedule resulted in the greatest expected aluminum burden in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schedule resulted in the lowest .
According to the authors : “ Medically , proper organ , cellular and body aluminum detoxification appears to be of ever-increasing importance : Aluminum has been found in the brains of patients with Parkinson ’ s Disease , Alzheimer ’ s disease , epilepsy , and autism .
Evidence is growing that a host of chronic illnesses of unknown cause that are difficult to diagnose such as PANDAS/PANS , chronic fatigue syndrome may at least in part be due to vaccine aluminum intolerance .
Aluminum compounds occur @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but very little ingested aluminum is absorbed through the intestines .
Total aluminum exposure is affected by the aluminum amount in individual vaccines and the timing of repeated vaccinations in the first two years of life .
Dórea and Marques compared the expected levels of aluminum uptake into the body from intravenous and oral intake and concluded that human infants have higher exposure to aluminum from vaccination than from food , water , and formula .
Our calculations confirm that for the CDC schedule , infants up to six months of life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from vaccines .
It should be expected that most aluminum retained in the body of infants comes from vaccinations combined with the levels of exposure from other exposures to manifest health risks from total exposure , making the timing and total aluminum content of different vaccine schedules an important consideration.
” As noted in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology study , the “ safety ” limit for aluminum is not weight dependent .
The maximum safe limit is based on an adult , and the same limit is transposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Importantly , this study found that when multiple aluminum-containing vaccines are given together , as per the CDC schedule , the total aluminum dose ends up exceeding even the assumed safety limit for an adult .
“ Adjusting the safe dose limit based on a child ’ s weight at these ages therefore results in doses that far exceed the estimated safe limit of acute toxicity , ” the authors warn , adding that “ on all days of injection the safe limit for a child is exceeded for all three schedules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The CDC schedule has the largest violation at 15.9 times the recommended safe level .
This occurs at 2 months , when four recommended vaccinations containing aluminum are simultaneously administered .
In addition , modeling the time to clear aluminum from the body using Priest ’ s equation estimates that for this schedule a child will be over the safe level of aluminum in the body for 149 days from birth to 7 months , constituting about 70 % of days in this period .
This points to chronic toxicity … The modified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same times as the CDC schedule , but like the Vaccine Friendly Plan it assumes a lower dose aluminum DTap vaccine , and also combines the ActHib ( containing no Al ) with low aluminum DTap or PVC13 so that the aluminum adjuvant in the aluminum containing vaccine ( ACV ) activates an immune response for the ActHib vaccine .
This drops the maximum level of exposure to about 60 % of the original CDC plan with ( from 15.9 to 9.3 ) and drops days above the estimated safe limit in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of days to 26 % and in the first 2 years from 24 % of days to 8 % .
The Vaccine Friendly Plan schedule skips some vaccinations in the first two years ( like HepB ) and avoids giving more than two vaccinations containing aluminum together .
The VFP thus further limits maximum exposure to approximately 25 % of the original CDC schedule ( from 15.9 to 4.2 ) and drops days above the estimate limit in the first seven months from 70 % of days to 5 % and in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days to 2 % .
” The health hazards of aluminum are also addressed in a 2017 scientific review published in the German journal , Deutsches Ärzteblatt International , which also reviews the threshold values associated with various types of exposure .
“ Aluminum ’ s neurotoxic effects in humans and its embryotoxic effects in animal models have been proven , ” the paper states , adding that while the acute toxicity of ingested aluminum is low , long-term exposure and buildup is associated with neurotoxic effects , resulting in disorientation , memory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this paper : Aluminum as a risk factor for neurological disorders is also detailed in a 2018 paper in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences .
Here , the authors again note that “ it is widely accepted that [ aluminum ] is a recognized neurotoxin , which could cause neurodegeneration.
” They also point out that aluminum “ affects more than 200 important biological reactions and causes negative effects on [ the ] central nervous system.
” A 2013 study shed important light on the vaccine adjuvant alum , a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to spontaneously form “ micron/submicron-sized agglomerates.
” According to this paper : Clearly , Alzheimer ’ s and autism are not caused by a single factor .
Your diet and lifestyle play significant roles , as do other toxic exposures .
Still , aluminum appears to be a significant concern that can not be overlooked , especially where vaccines are concerned .
Can we really justify loading infants up with aluminum at doses that are toxic even to an adult ?
To learn more about the factors that raise your risk for Alzheimer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see “ How Excess Iron Raises Your Risk for Alzheimer ’ s , ” “ Trans Fats Linked to Increased Risk for Alzheimer ’ s , ” and “ Lifestyle Factors Linked to Alzheimer ’ s .
”

How Aluminum Damages Your Brain
Dr. Mercola, Guest
Waking Times
For years, I’ve warned that aluminum is a serious neurotoxic hazard involved in rising rates of autism and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). I’ve also warned that vaccines are a significant source of such exposure, and may be one of the worst, since by injecting it, the aluminum bypasses your body’s natural filtering and detoxification systems.
My comments above were one of the reasons the self-appointed global arbiter of fake news, NewsGuard, refused to give us “green” status as a site that follows “basic standards of accuracy and accountability.” In other words, our reporting of aluminum hazards was deemed “fake news.”
Not only were my earlier reports based on published science, but now we have yet another study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, strongly linking aluminum exposure to AD. As reported by SciTech Daily:
“Researchers found significant amounts of aluminum content in brain tissue from donors with familial AD. The study also found a high degree of co-location with the amyloid-beta protein, which leads to early onset of the disease. ‘This is the second study confirming significantly high brain accumulation in familial Alzheimer’s disease, but it is the first to demonstrate an unequivocal association between the location of aluminum and amyloid-beta in the disease. It shows that aluminum and amyloid-beta are intimately woven in the neuropathology,’ explained lead investigator Christopher Exley, PhD, Birchall Centre, Lennard-Jones Laboratories, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK.”
The Association Between Aluminum and Amyloid-Beta
To gain a better understanding of the link between aluminum exposure and beta-amyloid generation, the researchers examined the brain tissue of donors diagnosed with familial Alzheimer’s disease who also had a specific gene mutation known to increase levels of amyloid-beta, leading to early onset and more aggressive disease.
Aluminum levels were compared to controls with no neurological disease diagnosis. They found striking differences between these two groups. Donors with the genetic mutation had universally high aluminum content.
While all samples had some level of aluminum, 42% of the samples from those with familial Alzheimer’s had “pathologically significant” aluminum levels, and the aluminum was primarily co-located with amyloid beta plaques. As reported by SciTech Daily:
“The results strongly suggest that genetic predispositions known to increase amyloid-beta in brain tissue also predispose individuals to accumulate and retain aluminum in brain tissue … ‘One could envisage increased amyloid-beta in brain tissue as a response to high levels of aluminum content, or that aluminum fosters the accumulation of amyloid-beta,’ said Dr. Exley. ‘Either way, the new research confirms my resolve that within the normal lifespan of humans, there would not be any AD if there were no aluminum in the brain tissue. No aluminum, no AD.'”
Aluminum Adjuvants Have Never Been Tested for Safety
Exley’s conclusion deserves repeating: “No aluminum, no AD.” Without aluminum, Alzheimer’s doesn’t develop. That’s not fake news. This research provides conclusive evidence for concern, which means it would be foolish in the extreme to pretend that injecting infants and young children with aluminum-containing vaccines is harmless.
As revealed in my 2015 interview with Dr. Lucija Tomljenovic, featured in “How Vaccine Adjuvants Affect Your Brain,” when aluminum was first approved for use in vaccines, some 95 years ago, it was approved based on its efficacy. It was never actually tested for safety.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ByqAYuoFes
Even the total allowable limit was based on efficacy data, not safety data. They simply assumed it was safe. As noted by Tomljenovic in that interview:
“A document4 from 2002 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) … discussing the assessment of vaccine ingredients … and testing specifically in animal models … stated that the routine toxicity studies in animals with vaccine ingredients have not been conducted because it was assumed that these ingredients are safe. When I read that I was kind of pulling my hairs out [thinking] ‘So, this is your indisputable evidence of safety?’ These documents never made it to mainstream media. It’s just a lie perpetuated over and over again; that we’ve been using these things for over nine decades and it’s been proven safe. No, it’s been ASSUMED safe.”
Industry Propaganda and Political Interference
The propaganda responsible for hiding the dangers of aluminum was addressed in a 2014 review article in the journal Frontiers of Neurology. In it, Exley (who also co-authored the featured Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease study above) wrote:
“The aluminum industry is a pillar of the developed and developing world and irrespective of the tyranny of human exposure to aluminum it cannot be challenged without significant consequences for businesses, economies, and governments … There has been and there continues to be systematic attempts by the aluminum industry to suppress research on aluminum and human health. While independent research in this field is prevented the questions concerning human toxicity remain unanswered. Lack of required research does not equate to lack of biological effect or safety … Herein, I will make the case that it is inevitable both today and in the future that an individual’s exposure to aluminum is impacting upon their health and is already contributing to, if not causing, chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
Exley points out that one of the most significant factors driving complacency about aluminum exposure is the aluminum industry’s insistence that, since it’s everywhere and found in virtually everybody, it must be harmless if not essential — we just haven’t figured out how it benefits us yet. However, no beneficial role of aluminum has ever been elucidated, and its presence is in no way evidence of benefit.
Why Aluminum Toxicity Flies Under the Radar
Exley also notes that aluminum is rarely acutely toxic, which adds to the complacency problem. Problems only arise once a certain threshold is reached, and even then, its role in disease is rarely if ever investigated.
Yet another factor that helps hide the influence of aluminum in disease is the fact that it acts on many different pathways and acts as a substitute for essential minerals, so aluminum toxicity doesn’t have one specific hallmark.
“The potential for aluminum to interact with and to influence so many biochemical pathways means that the symptoms of its toxicity could be deficiency or sufficiency, agonistic or protagonistic, and any combination of these and other physiology-based events,” Exley writes, adding: “For aluminum to play a significant role in any disease-related event some degree of toxicity threshold must have been achieved. Essentially, the rate of delivery of Al3+(aq) to target ligands must be sufficient to overcome the inherent robustness of systems that are under attack. In achieving this threshold either aluminum must accumulate over time within a particular compartment or possibly the administration of a single dose of aluminum could achieve such a threshold instantaneously. The latter is probably more unusual in human being’s everyday exposure to aluminum except, for example, where aluminum is administered as an adjuvant in vaccination and allergy immunotherapy.”
Importantly, aluminum has the ability to cross the blood-brain-barrier, so any aluminum in the blood can be transported into the brain. “Indeed, aluminum is known to increase the leakiness of epithelial and endothelial barriers and in doing so could concomitantly increase the passage of aluminum from the blood to the brain,” Exley writes.
Biological Effects of Aluminum
Exley also points out aluminum can damage your brain function by:
Adversely influencing neuronal function and survival
Potentiating damaging redox activity
Disrupting intracellular calcium signaling that systematically wears down cellular defenses
Worsening the adverse effects of other heavy metals
Influencing gene expression
A 2010 paper also pointed out that aluminum salts “can increase levels of glial activation, inflammatory cytokines and amyloid precursor protein within the brain,” and that “Both normal brain aging and to a greater extent, Alzheimer’s disease are associated with elevated basal levels of markers for inflammation.”
Similarly, a 2018 paper in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences cites research showing aluminum affects:
Axonal transport Neurotransmitter synthesis Synaptic transmission Phosphorylation or de-phosphorylation of proteins Protein degradation Gene expression Peroxidation Inflammatory responses
When it comes to altering gene expression, aluminum has been shown to do this via many different routes and mechanisms, including by:
Binding to histone-DNA complex Inducing conformational changes of chromatin Inducing topological changes of DNA Decreasing expression of neurofilament Decreasing expression of tubulin Altering expression of neurofilament genes Altering expression of amyloid precursor protein Altering expression of neuron-specific enolase Decreasing expression of transferrin receptor Altering expression of RNA polymerase I Altering expression of oxidative stress marker genes such as SOD1 and glutathione reductase Altering expression of beta-APP secretase
Importantly, as noted in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, aluminum has been shown to “cause mitochondrial dysfunction and depletion of adenine-triphosphate (ATP),” which sets the stage for virtually any chronic disease, not just neurodegenerative diseases.
Vaccine Schedule Overexposes Infants to Aluminum
http://youtu.be/Bjvjf4MnFqc
In December 2019, The Highwire reported the findings of a study published in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, which found the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s childhood vaccine schedule — when adjusted for bodyweight — exposes children to a level of aluminum that is 15.9 times higher than the recommended “safe” level.
The researchers point out that previous efforts to assess the aluminum burden created by vaccines were based on “whole-body clearance rates estimated from a study involving a single human subject.”
What’s more, they used an aluminum citrate solution that is not used in vaccines, which may affect the excretion rate. Importantly, infants also have immature renal function, which will inhibit their ability to filter and excrete toxins in the first place.
Other studies have used orally ingested aluminum to assess and defend safety limits for aluminum in vaccines. This is clearly an unwise comparison, as only 0.1% of orally ingested aluminum is absorbed and made bioavailable from the gastrointestinal tract.
In the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology study, the researchers used several different models in an effort to estimate the expected acute and long-term whole-body accumulation of aluminum in children following one of the three possible vaccine schedules:
The CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule as of 2019 The CDC’s vaccine schedule modified to use low dose aluminum DTaP and aluminum-free Hib vaccines Dr. Paul Thomas’ “vaccine-friendly plan,” which recommends giving only one aluminum-containing vaccine per visit (max two) and delaying certain vaccinations
The CDC’s standard schedule resulted in the greatest expected aluminum burden in all model assumptions, while Thomas’ schedule resulted in the lowest. According to the authors:
“Medically, proper organ, cellular and body aluminum detoxification appears to be of ever-increasing importance: Aluminum has been found in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and autism. Evidence is growing that a host of chronic illnesses of unknown cause that are difficult to diagnose such as PANDAS/PANS, chronic fatigue syndrome may at least in part be due to vaccine aluminum intolerance. Aluminum compounds occur naturally in the environment and in food, but very little ingested aluminum is absorbed through the intestines. Total aluminum exposure is affected by the aluminum amount in individual vaccines and the timing of repeated vaccinations in the first two years of life. Dórea and Marques compared the expected levels of aluminum uptake into the body from intravenous and oral intake and concluded that human infants have higher exposure to aluminum from vaccination than from food, water, and formula. Our calculations confirm that for the CDC schedule, infants up to six months of life receive most of their metabolically available aluminum from vaccines. It should be expected that most aluminum retained in the body of infants comes from vaccinations combined with the levels of exposure from other exposures to manifest health risks from total exposure, making the timing and total aluminum content of different vaccine schedules an important consideration.”
CDC Vaccine Schedule Exceeds Aluminum Limit for Adults
As noted in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology study, the “safety” limit for aluminum is not weight dependent. The maximum safe limit is based on an adult, and the same limit is transposed to infants weighing a fraction of that.
Importantly, this study found that when multiple aluminum-containing vaccines are given together, as per the CDC schedule, the total aluminum dose ends up exceeding even the assumed safety limit for an adult.
“Adjusting the safe dose limit based on a child’s weight at these ages therefore results in doses that far exceed the estimated safe limit of acute toxicity,” the authors warn, adding that “on all days of injection the safe limit for a child is exceeded for all three schedules; this points to acute toxicity … The CDC schedule has the largest violation at 15.9 times the recommended safe level. This occurs at 2 months, when four recommended vaccinations containing aluminum are simultaneously administered. In addition, modeling the time to clear aluminum from the body using Priest’s equation estimates that for this schedule a child will be over the safe level of aluminum in the body for 149 days from birth to 7 months, constituting about 70 % of days in this period. This points to chronic toxicity … The modified CDC schedule assumes the same vaccinations at the same times as the CDC schedule, but like the Vaccine Friendly Plan it assumes a lower dose aluminum DTap vaccine, and also combines the ActHib (containing no Al) with low aluminum DTap or PVC13 so that the aluminum adjuvant in the aluminum containing vaccine (ACV) activates an immune response for the ActHib vaccine. This drops the maximum level of exposure to about 60 % of the original CDC plan with (from 15.9 to 9.3) and drops days above the estimated safe limit in the first 7 months from 70 % of days to 26 % and in the first 2 years from 24 % of days to 8 %. The Vaccine Friendly Plan schedule skips some vaccinations in the first two years (like HepB) and avoids giving more than two vaccinations containing aluminum together. The VFP thus further limits maximum exposure to approximately 25 % of the original CDC schedule (from 15.9 to 4.2) and drops days above the estimate limit in the first seven months from 70 % of days to 5 % and in the first two years from 24 % of days to 2 %.”
Aluminum Is a Proven Neurotoxin
The health hazards of aluminum are also addressed in a 2017 scientific review published in the German journal, Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, which also reviews the threshold values associated with various types of exposure.
“Aluminum’s neurotoxic effects in humans and its embryotoxic effects in animal models have been proven,” the paper states, adding that while the acute toxicity of ingested aluminum is low, long-term exposure and buildup is associated with neurotoxic effects, resulting in disorientation, memory impairment and dementia. As noted in this paper:
“In addition to inducing oxidative stress and binding to negatively charged membrane structures in neurons, aluminum is able to modify hippocampal calcium signal pathways that are crucial to neuronal plasticity and, hence, to memory. Cholinergic neurons are particularly susceptible to aluminum neurotoxicity, which affect synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.”
Aluminum as a risk factor for neurological disorders is also detailed in a 2018 paper in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences. Here, the authors again note that “it is widely accepted that [aluminum] is a recognized neurotoxin, which could cause neurodegeneration.” They also point out that aluminum “affects more than 200 important biological reactions and causes negative effects on [the] central nervous system.”
Aluminum Detected in Organs a Year After Vaccination
A 2013 study shed important light on the vaccine adjuvant alum, a “nanocrystalline compound” that has been shown to spontaneously form “micron/submicron-sized agglomerates.” According to this paper:
“Alum is occasionally detected within monocyte-lineage cells long after immunization in presumably susceptible individuals with systemic/neurologic manifestations or autoimmune (inflammatory) syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA) … Intramuscular injection of alum-containing vaccine was associated with the appearance of aluminum deposits in distant organs, such as spleen and brain where they were still detected one year after injection … Particles linearly accumulated in the brain up to the six-month endpoint; they were first found in perivascular CD11b+ cells and then in microglia and other neural cells … Cerebral translocation was not observed after direct intravenous injection, but significantly increased in mice with chronically altered blood-brain-barrier … Continuously escalating doses of this poorly biodegradable adjuvant in the population may become insidiously unsafe, especially in the case of overimmunization or immature/altered blood brain barrier or high constitutive CCL-2 production.”
Clearly, Alzheimer’s and autism are not caused by a single factor. Your diet and lifestyle play significant roles, as do other toxic exposures. Still, aluminum appears to be a significant concern that cannot be overlooked, especially where vaccines are concerned. Can we really justify loading infants up with aluminum at doses that are toxic even to an adult?
To learn more about the factors that raise your risk for Alzheimer’s and recommended prevention strategies, see “How Excess Iron Raises Your Risk for Alzheimer’s,” “Trans Fats Linked to Increased Risk for Alzheimer’s,” and “Lifestyle Factors Linked to Alzheimer’s.”


wakingtimes--2020-02-20--This Music Video by Avicii is a Shockingly Realistic Portrayal of Child Sex-Trafficking by Wealthy P

Found dead in a hotel room on April 20th , 2018 , Swedish DJ and electronic musician Tim Bergling ( aka Avicii ) reportedly ‘ cut himself with a wine bottle , ’ in what was ruled a suicide .
A prolific and very gifted musician , his number one single ‘ Wake Me Up ‘ has almost two billion views on YouTube to date .
He lived to be 28 years-old .
Avicii was undoubtedly over-worked in show business , as he himself and many of his friends have said .
Additionally , he described himself as an introvert @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with severe anxiety , and friends say that he was depressed .
When news of his death became known , his family made a public statement , commenting : He admittedly drank heavily as a coping mechanism for all of this , to the extent to which he even had to be hospitalized for health effects of alcohol consumption .
The lives of young musicians , actors , actresses and performers are without question insanely demanding and stressful , and many of those who ’ ve grown up as child stars have spoken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and some have even gone public with allegations of physical abuse and sexual abuse under the care of their industry handlers .
Corey Haim is one of the extreme examples who eventually lost his life to drug and alcohol abuse , while his famous child-costar Corey Feldman has gone public saying that Haim was sexually abused and raped as a kid by Hollywood elites , which is why his life took such a dark and self-destructive turn .
This dovetails with the shocking issue of human-trafficking , sex-trafficking of minors , and pedophilia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staggeringly bad in America in recent years , coinciding with the explosion of online porn and child pornography .
Thanks to the disgusting mysterious case of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein , sex-trafficking of minors is now an issue discussed by many in the mainstream who wouldn ’ t have dared speak a word of just a couple of years ago .
READ : THE ESSENCE OF EVIL : SEX WITH CHILDREN HAS BECOME BIG BUSINESS IN AMERICA Other events like the Pizza Gate scandal , whether the story rings true to you or not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eyes as to just how bad the sexual abuse of minors is among the world ’ s wealthy , elite class really is .
These scandals even go to the very top of the British royal family as Prince Andrew , the Duke of York , has been fighting allegations of pedophilia for his personal involvement with Epstein which is documented in photos of Andrew and Epstein together with underage girls at ‘ orgy island.
‘ Oh , and lets ’ not forget the infamous Jimmy Saville who raped and , or sexually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women while being allowed to carry on in his very public role as one of Britain ’ s most influential television personalities for the BBC for decades .
While we don ’ t have any information to suggest that Avicii was abused in this regard , and we don ’ t care to engage in speculation on this matter , one of his music videos portray a shockingly realistic picture of revenge against a network of child sex-traffickers selling children to wealthy businessmen for sex .
The video for Avicii ’ s song @ @ @ @ @ @ @ film telling the story of two young children who after being abducted and sold as sex slaves grow up to seek revenge .
They go on a killing spree , marking off pictures of members of their hit list with a red ‘ X ’ after hunting them down , branding them with a single word in hot iron , ‘ pedofilia , ’ then savagely killing them .
Interestingly , there ’ s not much in the lyrics that hint at pedophile sex-trafficking , but the story told in the video is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imagination .
It begins with a group of very shady-looking adult men gathering in a field to pick out and purchase child sex slaves from a dealer who has a truck full of locked-up , nearly naked children in a cargo truck .
Two children are selected by the driver a fancy car , with a cigar smoking rich man in the back who is portrayed as the buyer , and then forced into the trunk .
In another plot line , the two children escape and run through a field while being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like a mercenary .
The children eventually jump off a cliff into the sea toward freedom .
In a third plot line , these two children are grown up and seeking revenge on the network of child-traffickers .
On a wall are seen the photos of dozens of men on their hit list that are being crossed out one-by-one , and as the last two pedophiles are murdered , we see that they are being branded with hot iron before being killed by the grown up escapees .
The final act comes when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is confronted in his office at a factory by his now grown up victims .
He is set in a noose , branded with the word ‘ pedofilia , ’ then kicked over the side of the building and hung in front of a crowd of angry protesters .
Again , the song is called “ A Better Day… ’ Even highly creative and artistic people don ’ t just make this kind of stuff up unless they ’ ve had some personal connection to similar events , or some personal relationship with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a fun subject to work with and most famous people wouldn ’ t touch it unless they were compelled by principle .
In a time when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that sex-trafficking of minors is a global nightmare , a wildly popular musician like Avicii using his platform for a story like this should be yet another wake up call for us all .
This is happening , here ’ s what it looks like , and it needs to stop .
Sadly , we ’ ll never know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the story in this video .
Watch the full video ‘ For a Better Day ’ here : Buck Rogers is the earth-bound incarnation of that familiar part of our timeless cosmic selves , the rebel within .
He is a surfer of ideals and meditates often on the promise of happiness in a world battered by the angry seas of human thoughtlessness .
He is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com .
This article ( This Music Video by Aviciii is a Shockingly Realistic Portrayal of Child Sex-Trafficking by Wealthy Predators ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Buck Rogers and WakingTimes.com .
It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution , author bio , and this copyright statement .
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This Music Video by Avicii is a Shockingly Realistic Portrayal of Child Sex-Trafficking by Wealthy Predators
Buck Rogers, Staff Writer
Waking Times
Found dead in a hotel room on April 20th, 2018, Swedish DJ and electronic musician Tim Bergling (aka Avicii) reportedly ‘cut himself with a wine bottle,’ in what was ruled a suicide. A prolific and very gifted musician, his number one single ‘Wake Me Up‘ has almost two billion views on YouTube to date. He lived to be 28 years-old.
Avicii was undoubtedly over-worked in show business, as he himself and many of his friends have said. Additionally, he described himself as an introvert, insecure and as someone who struggled with severe anxiety, and friends say that he was depressed.
When news of his death became known, his family made a public statement, commenting:
“… When he stopped touring, he wanted to find a balance in life to be happy and be able to do what he loved most – music. He really struggled with thoughts about Meaning, Life, Happiness. He could not go on any longer. He wanted to find peace.” [Source]
He admittedly drank heavily as a coping mechanism for all of this, to the extent to which he even had to be hospitalized for health effects of alcohol consumption.
“If I don’t [drink] I gradually get more and more nervous before shows… Alcohol just stops that.” ~Avicii
The lives of young musicians, actors, actresses and performers are without question insanely demanding and stressful, and many of those who’ve grown up as child stars have spoken out about stolen youth and exploitation, and some have even gone public with allegations of physical abuse and sexual abuse under the care of their industry handlers.
Corey Haim is one of the extreme examples who eventually lost his life to drug and alcohol abuse, while his famous child-costar Corey Feldman has gone public saying that Haim was sexually abused and raped as a kid by Hollywood elites, which is why his life took such a dark and self-destructive turn.
This dovetails with the shocking issue of human-trafficking, sex-trafficking of minors, and pedophilia, as these crimes have become so staggeringly bad in America in recent years, coinciding with the explosion of online porn and child pornography. Thanks to the disgusting mysterious case of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, sex-trafficking of minors is now an issue discussed by many in the mainstream who wouldn’t have dared speak a word of just a couple of years ago.
Other events like the Pizza Gate scandal, whether the story rings true to you or not, have opened many people’s eyes as to just how bad the sexual abuse of minors is among the world’s wealthy, elite class really is. These scandals even go to the very top of the British royal family as Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has been fighting allegations of pedophilia for his personal involvement with Epstein which is documented in photos of Andrew and Epstein together with underage girls at ‘orgy island.‘
Oh, and lets’ not forget the infamous Jimmy Saville who raped and, or sexually abused over 500 children, men and women while being allowed to carry on in his very public role as one of Britain’s most influential television personalities for the BBC for decades.
“In all, Savile is believed to have abused at least 500 girls and boys, some as young as two, most between 13 and 15, as well as countless adults ranging up to 75 years old. With unfettered access to Leeds General Infirmary, the health service report said, he raped and fondled boys, girls, men and women in offices and corridors. He also allegedly committed sexual acts on dead bodies, and even told several hospital workers that he made jewelry out of one man’s glass eyeball.” [Source]
While we don’t have any information to suggest that Avicii was abused in this regard, and we don’t care to engage in speculation on this matter, one of his music videos portray a shockingly realistic picture of revenge against a network of child sex-traffickers selling children to wealthy businessmen for sex.
The video for Avicii’s song A Better Day is rally a short film telling the story of two young children who after being abducted and sold as sex slaves grow up to seek revenge. They go on a killing spree, marking off pictures of members of their hit list with a red ‘X’ after hunting them down, branding them with a single word in hot iron, ‘pedofilia,’ then savagely killing them.
Interestingly, there’s not much in the lyrics that hint at pedophile sex-trafficking, but the story told in the video is crystal clear, leaving nothing to the imagination.
It begins with a group of very shady-looking adult men gathering in a field to pick out and purchase child sex slaves from a dealer who has a truck full of locked-up, nearly naked children in a cargo truck.
Two children are selected by the driver a fancy car, with a cigar smoking rich man in the back who is portrayed as the buyer, and then forced into the trunk.
In another plot line, the two children escape and run through a field while being chased by a mad man who looks like a mercenary. The children eventually jump off a cliff into the sea toward freedom.
In a third plot line, these two children are grown up and seeking revenge on the network of child-traffickers.
On a wall are seen the photos of dozens of men on their hit list that are being crossed out one-by-one, and as the last two pedophiles are murdered, we see that they are being branded with hot iron before being killed by the grown up escapees.
The final act comes when the rich man who purchased the children is confronted in his office at a factory by his now grown up victims.
He is set in a noose, branded with the word ‘pedofilia,’ then kicked over the side of the building and hung in front of a crowd of angry protesters.
Again, the song is called “A Better Day…’
And we sang our song for the little thing
Magic calm, but the joy you bring
Running it down the line
Wish you could find that love is a fragile thing
Magic calm from a pretty thing
Maybe it might be time
For a better day
Even highly creative and artistic people don’t just make this kind of stuff up unless they’ve had some personal connection to similar events, or some personal relationship with actual victims. It’s not a fun subject to work with and most famous people wouldn’t touch it unless they were compelled by principle.
In a time when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that sex-trafficking of minors is a global nightmare, a wildly popular musician like Avicii using his platform for a story like this should be yet another wake up call for us all. This is happening, here’s what it looks like, and it needs to stop. Sadly, we’ll never know exactly what Avicii wanted us to do with the story in this video.
Watch the full video ‘For a Better Day’ here:
Read more articles from Buck Rogers .
About the Author
Buck Rogers is the earth-bound incarnation of that familiar part of our timeless cosmic selves, the rebel within. He is a surfer of ideals and meditates often on the promise of happiness in a world battered by the angry seas of human thoughtlessness. He is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com.
This article (This Music Video by Aviciii is a Shockingly Realistic Portrayal of Child Sex-Trafficking by Wealthy Predators) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Buck Rogers and WakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.