HUGE CAVEAT TO HABITUAL PILL TAKERS! Posted on January 29, 2024 by State of the Nation By Marina Zhang The Epoch Times It is well-known that dementia is often a result of aging. However, sometimes it can be caused by medications. (Life science/Shutterstock) Drug-induced dementia, the late neurologist and neurosurgeon K.K. Jain wrote, is a type of reversible dementia different from common neurodegenerative disorders. Several drugs increase the risks of dementia, the most prominent being anticholinergic drugs, anti-epileptics, oncology drugs, and sedative-hypnotic drugs. These are all common prescriptions for older people. In recent years, antidepressants have also been linked with dementia risks. The Link Between Dementia and Common Drugs Psychiatrist Dr. Peter Breggin, who has published several books on psychopharmacology, told The Epoch Times that most drugs on the market have some degree of neurotoxicity, which can lead to cognitive and neurological side effects. Not everyone will be affected by a drug’s neurotoxic effects, though older people and those with brain deficits are more vulnerable. With illnesses that surface in old age and the pills prescribed to treat each symptom, older people also tend to be the most likely cohort to be prescribed drugs that damage their cognition. For example, many drugs prescribed to treat Parkinson’s disease are linked with dementia risks since they block acetylcholine in the brain as a way of preventing tremors and sudden movements in patients. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that also facilitates cognitive function. Proton pump inhibitors, often prescribed to treat heartburn, have also been shown in studies to increase people’s risks of dementia by 44 percent. Within the literature, the most well-known class of drugs that can induce dementia are anticholinergic drugs. Anticholinergics block the release of acetylcholine. As early as 1977, experiments using the anticholinergic drug scopolamine showed that 40 minutes after drug administration, young medical volunteers in their 20s manifested dementia-like symptoms and had a harder time recalling things they had just learned. Anticholinergic drugs block autonomic muscle movements and various bodily functions and are often prescribed for cramping and spasms in various organs. They also function as a sedative. Neuroscientist Dayan Goodenowe, who has a doctorate in medicine and psychiatry, explained on Epoch TV’s “Vital Signs” program that the acetylcholine system is the same system that controls cognition and mobility, two major functions impaired in dementia. When neurons become unable to release acetylcholine, either due to age or drug effects, their contact with other neurons is reduced. The neurons and brain then start to shrink. This has also been observed in research published by Indiana University professor Shannon Risacher, who has a doctorate in medical neuroscience. She found that people taking anticholinergic drugs have greater shrinkage of overall brain volume. “Use of medication with significant anticholinergic activity should likely be discouraged in older adults if alternative therapies are available,” Ms. Risacher and her co-authors wrote in a JAMA Neurology study. Examples of anticholinergic drugs include diphenhydramine, the active compound in Benadryl, Tylenol PM, and Advil PM. They also include common medications for Parkinson’s disease, such as benztropine, trihexyphenidyl, etc. Acetylcholine naturally decreases with aging, so Mr. Goodenowe and his team have been attempting to find therapeutics that increase the brain’s acetylcholine levels without compromising overall brain function. Antidepressants, Other Drugs, and Polypharmacy Antidepressants, anti-epileptics, hypnotic sedatives, and opioids have also been shown to increase a person’s risk of dementia. These, along with anti-parkinsonian drugs, are all psychoactive. The primary function of antidepressants is to block neurotransmitters such as serotonin instead of acetylcholine. However, these drugs still have potent anticholinergic properties and, when taken with other anticholinergics, could add to the overall load, potentially inducing side effects of delirium and dementia. Older people with dementia are often prescribed antidepressants, anti-epileptics, and sedative drugs to help manage depression and aggression that can arise. However, Dr. Breggin highlighted that an irony is that the drugs prescribed to patients to improve these conditions may very well exacerbate their illness. Drugs not prescribed for psychoactive treatment have also been linked to dementia. Type 1 histamine (H1) blockers, prescribed to control allergies, have been shown to increase the risk of dementia in some people. Compared to type 2 histamine (H2) blockers, some H1 blockers can cross the blood-brain barrier and prevent acetylcholine release. Furthermore, prescribing multiple drugs to a patient—a practice known as polypharmacy—may cause cumulative adverse effects. “Whether a patient will develop cognitive impairment or not when prescribed a particular drug with anticholinergic properties is unpredictable and depends on factors such as co-medications which may have anticholinergic effects,” Drs. Alan Moore and Shaun O’Keefe, professors of geriatric medicine, wrote in their paper discussing drug-induced neurological effects. “Studies have suggested that it is often the total burden of anticholinergic drugs that determines development of delirium rather than any single agent,” they added. The Complex Brain While many psychoactive drugs on the market attempt to “fix” the brain, how the organ is supposed to function at baseline largely remains a mystery. Psychoactive drugs are often prescribed to correct brain chemical imbalances, but researchers do not know what the brain’s normal state truly looks like, as Yale University professor Avram Holmes illustrated in his 2018 comment about the brain having “no fixed normal” state. “There are hundreds of neurotransmitters we don’t know about and maybe thousands of transmitters,” Dr. Breggin said. “We just have a few that are deeply affected by psych drugs, and [those are the ones we] could study because the drug companies in the pharmaceutical industry pay for that.” Dr. Breggin argues that psychoactive drugs, which aim to address biochemical imbalances within the brain, actually cause the brain to become further maladapted. He gave the example of SSRIs, which increase serotonin levels by blocking serotonin removal. He has observed that the brain experiences two changes while on the drug: It reduces serotonin production and reduces the power of the serotonin removal system. ___ https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/several-common-drugs-are-linked-to-dementia-5574311?utm http://stateofthenation.co/?p=207794 https://donshafi911.blogspot.com/2024/01/huge-caveat-to-habitual-pill-takers.html

The Lion Diet Reset for Jumpstarting Your Healing Journey Just red meat, salt and mineral water to wash it down. Dr. Syed Haider What do Lions Eat? - Discovery UK I gained about 40 - 50 pounds during the pandemic primarily due to stress, poor sleep and too much sugar, then I lost it all by eating whole foods, sleeping well and walking 10,000-15,000 steps a day, then I gained some of it back by eating sugar again and slacking on sleep hygiene, though I mostly kept up the walking, which had become a morning habit (I was actually pleasantly surprised to see that for over 18 months now I’ve always averaged close to 10,000 steps a day over any 6 month period (the health app in my phone)). Meanwhile a friend of mine who had benefited greatly from the carnivore diet in the past, but fell off the wagon and had been trying to get back on for awhile had been encouraging me for some time to be his accountability partner on a diet change journey so finally I decided to take the plunge. From personal experience I know very well that the hardest hill to climb is that initial decision to make a change for the better. After you’ve truly made a commitment to change, sustaining it is not nearly as hard. You also find many complementary healthy changes suddenly become easier to implement. It feels like there is a “good boy” template in the subconscious and an opposing “bad boy” one, though that term carries other perhaps conflicting (perhaps not) connotations. What I mean is that all the things I’ve collected throughout my life that I consider good healthy behaviors tend to creep back sooner or later once I decided to get healthier and take the first steps towards better health. Similarly if I cheat unexpectedly, that single “bad” choice has usually led to most of the good I was doing falling apart and me going back to all the old bad ways. In order to circumvent this tendency I’m planning to build in some flexibility in the form of “cheat” days, but I don’t think it’s helpful to think of them as cheat days, in fact I think it only serves to make it likely that your subconscious considers them a “bad” thing. The key to success and sustainability is to consider them a good thing instead, think of them more as health/metabolic/recovery hormetic stress tests, that are preplanned and executed as a key part of a healthy lifestyle protocol (hormesis: low dose stressor is beneficial, high dose is harmful. Applies to exercise, sunlight, water, food, homeopathy, pharmacology, herbology, even many so called chemical toxins - the dose makes the poison and all). The goal is not only to regain good health but to regain maximal resilience and ability to sustain that good health in the face of challenging situations where you can’t sleep properly, or eat properly or exercise the way you usually do, or you’re exposed to toxic blue light for prolonged periods, or someone close to you passes away, or you lose a job, etc. Thank you for reading Dr. Syed Haider. This post is public so feel free to share it. Share I’m one of those people who can eat a dozen cupcakes if I’m feeling stressed out, but if I stop eating sugar entirely I don’t have any cravings for it. Moderation is impossible, but abstinence is easy. So maybe I’m addicted, or maybe I’m just populated by microbes that depend on sugar. I did a 5 day carnivore reset before my initial weight loss journey started perhaps 18 months ago now, and I was amazed to see that I had no sugar cravings for a couple of months afterwards. Literally for the first time in my life sugar bombs survived in my house for over 48 hours. We had a tub of ice cream that was not finished for a month, which would have been as likely as a pig flying before that. But after that period of a couple months I gradually lost my indifference to sweets and then eventually went back to full on sweet-tooth, cookie-monster mode, which was a big part of my eventual downfall later. My weight loss also stalled out before I got really lean, I felt way better, looked away better, at least in clothes, but I was probably still carrying an extra 30 pounds of fat internally - the visceral fat - which, though invisible to the naked eye, is the worst kind for your health. Carnivore seems to most people to be like an extreme overreaction to the vegan movement, and perhaps it is culturally an immune reaction of sorts, but it pays to consider what the proponents of the diet say. One of the most telling arguments in favor is that plants are trying to kill you. Losing my finger to a 'meat eating' plant? - YouTube Plants like all living things, would prefer to stay alive, and are in a life or death struggle with those who would kill them. Since they can’t run away or fight off their predators, they primarily rely on poisoning them, and animals have developed finely tuned senses that let them know if there is a poison present - it tastes bad, usually very bitter, and the usual reaction is to spit it out (and wash your mouth out), the way a baby will when you try to feed them broccoli or Brussel sprouts. Most non-human mammals that are herbivores or omnivores are only evolutionarily optimized to digest a small selection of plants in their environment. Human civilizations first of all domesticated and bred plants to make them more palatable, and then developed intricate methods of neutralizing and predigesting plants via soaking, sprouting, culturing and cooking plant foods to make them less toxic, though we can’t entirely eliminate all toxins even with these complicated traditional procedures (hormesis argues the remaining toxins are probably beneficial stressors, and there are other beneficial phytonutrients too). Modern manufacturing eschews all that traditional wisdom for quick production methods that leave the lectins, oxalates, phtyates, tannins, hormone disruptors, and nutrient blockers intact. But even if someone took appropriate care to use traditional methods of food preparation, and also made sure to use seasonal ingredients, and combined them in the traditional recipes that made use of various complementary ingredients, they would still be left with some degree of plant poisons in their diet. I was shocked to learn that every plant in the grocery store has dozens of known carcinogens, and plants produce phytotoxins that total 10,000 times the amount of pesticides sprayed on them (the primary concern with meat is improper handling leading to microorganisms polluting it, and improper cooking methods leading to char - i.e. you don’t want to burn it). As far as we know all human societies in every age throughout history ate as much meat as they could get their hands on, and supplemented with plants only when necessary to avert calorie restriction, treat/prevent illness, and as a garnish, or side dish to their meat. The farther back we go the less palatable the plants were and they required even more processing to make them edible. Agrarian societies were always, and still are, less healthy than their hunter gatherer counterparts. Now, to be clear, I’m not arguing for a forever meat diet. The Lion diet refers to eating just ruminant red meat garnished with salt and washed down with mineral rich water. The way I see it, this is an elimination diet, of which there are many. Some popular ones include AIP, Carnivore and Vegan. AIP is the autoimmune paleo diet and advises removing grains, sugars, eggs, dairy, soy, and nightshade vegetables. Carnivore allows all meat, fish, dairy and eggs. Vegan allows only plant products. The idea behind elimination diets, which were a mainstay of pre-modern medical systems, and still used heavily in functional and alternative medicine today, is that something you are eating is preventing your body from recovering from chronic illness, perhaps due to a “leaky gut”, i.e. your gut lining has become damaged and permeable by some toxic insult (like viral/vax entry into the bloodstream and subsequent transfection of key cells) to partially digested food particles which trigger immune reactions that can cross react with your own tissues or simply create inflammation that keeps you sick, and keeps the gut lining from healing. Eliminate the foods and eliminate your symptoms, heal the gut, then reintroduce the foods one at a time, carefully watching for reactions. It can get complicated because the reactions can take weeks to wear off, and days to recur upon reexposure. So the reintroduction phase is usually done by consuming the test food for 3 days then waiting another 4 days for a reaction. Tracking gut permeability tests (lactulose-mannitol ratio, zonulin level, antibodies to zonulin, actin, and lipopolysaccharide) can help determine when to begin the reintroduction phase. Given the inherent toxicity of plants, which has developed as an evolutionary defense mechanism against being eaten, and the relatively benign nature of animal meat the safest elimination diets either limit the most toxic plant foods, or eliminate plant foods altogether. Share In my case I know I have an autoimmune issue with mild psoriasis, which is likely related to leaky gut, I also have had chronic constipation, occasional reflux, occasional headaches, occasional stuffy nose, a tendency towards insomnia, and relatively rapid aging in the last few years with significant weight gain. So my plan is to try to reverse all of these naturally and I’ll likely be checking micronutrient levels and genetics at some point to fine tune things using protocols developed by Chris Masterjohn. Diet over the longer term will likely trend towards lower in carbs, higher in meat/seafood, dairy, and eggs, but this will depend on my carb tolerance in the future as evidenced by markers like body fat and fasting insulin levels. Will eat shortly after waking to help strengthen the circadian rhythm further. Exercise will start with mobility drills, walks, sprints (because no other exercise naturally stimulates muscle gain and fat loss better - just look at an olympic sprinter - the message to your body is either: something’s about to kill us, or we’re about to starve and need to catch some food fast, so shape up ASAP and help me out here), body weight exercises, maybe kettlebell swings. Skin and hair care will include traditional topical treatments like egg whites, egg yolks, tallow, and essential oils. Sleep will be as much as needed and regular hours. Light environment: aim to minimize blue light toxicity from sunlight filtered through window glass, and indoor bulbs by spending as much time outdoors as possible. Sun exposure in the mornings and around sunset especially with some midday sun. Also need to work on emotional and spiritual growth and interpersonal relationships, but those are higher hanging fruit. Anyway let me know if you’ve tried an elimination diet in the past and how it went for you. https://blog.mygotodoc.com/p/the-lion-diet-reset-for-jumpstarting

Cheap pharmacy online In today's world, the internet has made everything more convenient and accessible. One industry that has greatly benefited from this is the pharmaceutical industry. With the rise of online pharmacies, consumers now have the option to purchase their medication from the comfort of their own homes at a fraction of the cost. This has led to the emergence of cheap pharmacy online, making medication more affordable and accessible for all. The rise of online pharmacies has revolutionized the way we buy medication. In the past, people had to physically go to a brick-and-mortar pharmacy to purchase their medicine, which often involved long lines and high prices. With the advent of online pharmacies, all you need is an internet connection and a few clicks to get your medication delivered right to your doorstep. One of the main advantages of cheap pharmacy online is the cost savings it offers. Online pharmacies have lower operational costs compared to traditional pharmacies, which allows them to offer medication at a significantly lower price. This is because they do not have to pay for expensive rent, utilities, and other overhead costs. Additionally, online pharmacies often have direct relationships with pharmaceutical companies, allowing them to offer medication at wholesale prices. For consumers, this means significant cost savings. Many people struggle with high prescription costs, and online pharmacies provide an affordable solution. By purchasing medication from a cheap pharmacy online, consumers can save up to 80% on their prescription costs. This is especially beneficial for those who have chronic illnesses and need to take medication regularly, as the cost of medication can quickly add up. Moreover, online pharmacies offer a wide selection of medication. Brick-and-mortar pharmacies are limited by shelf space and may not always have the specific medication a person needs. However, online pharmacies have large warehouses and can stock a wider variety of medication, including generic versions of name-brand drugs. This gives consumers more options and allows them to find the most affordable medication that suits their needs. Another benefit of cheap pharmacy online is convenience. With busy schedules and long working hours, it can be challenging to find time to visit a traditional pharmacy. Online pharmacies offer the convenience of 24/7 access, meaning you can purchase your medication at any time of the day or night. This is especially beneficial for those who live in remote areas or have limited mobility. However, as with any online purchase, it is crucial to ensure the safety and legitimacy of a cheap pharmacy online. It is essential to do your research and only purchase from a licensed and reputable online pharmacy. Look for pharmacies that require a valid prescription and have secure payment methods. You can also check for customer reviews and ratings to gauge the reliability of the pharmacy. In conclusion, the emergence of cheap pharmacy online has transformed the pharmaceutical industry, making medication more affordable and accessible for all. With the cost savings, convenience, and wide selection of medication, online pharmacies offer a viable alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies. However, it is crucial to prioritize safety and security when purchasing medication online. With the right precautions, online pharmacies can provide a convenient and cost-effective solution for purchasing medication. Visit the site - https://cheappharmacy.site

Introducing Healthy Habits Video & Ebook Training Congratulations! You’ve taken an important step in your life-changing journey! Don't Close This Page Yet! Ebook FAST-ACTION BONUS #1: Point-By-Point Checklist View or print this handy checklist so that you can check off each point. It is like a summary of the entire guide but in actionable, bite-sized points so that you can successfully get through the course. FAST-ACTION BONUS #2: MindMap A quick glance over this mindmap and you'll get an instant refresher of all the major points and action steps from the main guide. What are Healthy Habits? What Matters the Most in Life Health is Wealth What Makes a Habit Healthy? Chapter 2: Lifestyle Choices Making the Best Personal Decisions Unhealthy Lifestyle Choices How to Break Free from Harmful Habits Work-Life Balance What is Work-Life Balance? Benefits of Work-Life Balance How to Slow Down in the Modern World Getting the Best out of your Daily Routines Focus on the Meaning or Benefits Make them Fun Be at the Center Optimize your Strength Think about the Future Leverage your Peak Energy Period Health and Fitness Tips Focus on your Mental Health Start your Day with Exercise Maintain Ideal Mobility and Flexibility Levels Leverage Flexibility and Mobility Workouts Strength Train and Lift Heavy Check your BMI Keep Healthy Body-weight and Body-fat Levels Eat Balanced Diets Healthy Diet Hacks Reduce Carb Intake Shop with a List Limit your Consumption of Sodas and Milkshakes Have Protein-Rich Breakfasts Consume High-Fiber Foods Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Avoid Excess Sugar Consume More Healthy Fats Eat More Home-Made Foods Walk More Focus on your Food When Eating How to Get More Quality Sleep Benefits of Restorative Sleeps Tips for Getting Better Sleep Benefits of Drinking More Water Joint Lubrication Formation of Saliva and Mucus Reduction in Chance of a Hangover Weight Loss Enhances Performance During Exercise Prevention of Kidney Damage Accessibility of Minerals and Nutrients Supports the Airways Maintenance of Blood Pressure Regulation of Body Temperature SPECIAL BONUSES FOR TAKING ACTION! Dear friend, Thank you and congratulations on taken an important step in your life-changing journey with Healthy Habits. I believe all the strategies revealed inside this guide will help you get rid of unhealthy habits and make positive lifestyle changes. Introducing Healthy Habits Video & Ebook Training! Here Are The Things You Will Get Inside This Video Course and Ebook. You Get 10 Premium Quality Videos of Healthy Habits. Healthy Habits Introduction. Get To Know: What are Healthy Habits? Lifestyle Choices. Quality of Life/Work-Life Balance. Getting the Best out of your Daily Routines. Health and Fitness Tips. Healthy Diet Hacks. How to Get More Quality Sleep. Benefits of Drinking More Water. Healthy Habits Conclusion Click here to get it promolink https://rb.gy/bpa9yv

Introducing Healthy Habits Video & Ebook Training Congratulations! You’ve taken an important step in your life-changing journey! Don't Close This Page Yet! Ebook FAST-ACTION BONUS #1: Point-By-Point Checklist View or print this handy checklist so that you can check off each point. It is like a summary of the entire guide but in actionable, bite-sized points so that you can successfully get through the course. FAST-ACTION BONUS #2: MindMap A quick glance over this mindmap and you'll get an instant refresher of all the major points and action steps from the main guide. https://rb.gy/bpa9yv What are Healthy Habits? What Matters the Most in Life Health is Wealth What Makes a Habit Healthy? Chapter 2: Lifestyle Choices Making the Best Personal Decisions Unhealthy Lifestyle Choices How to Break Free from Harmful Habits Work-Life Balance What is Work-Life Balance? Benefits of Work-Life Balance How to Slow Down in the Modern World Getting the Best out of your Daily Routines Focus on the Meaning or Benefits Make them Fun Be at the Center Optimize your Strength Think about the Future Leverage your Peak Energy Period Health and Fitness Tips Focus on your Mental Health Start your Day with Exercise Maintain Ideal Mobility and Flexibility Levels Leverage Flexibility and Mobility Workouts Strength Train and Lift Heavy Check your BMI Keep Healthy Body-weight and Body-fat Levels Eat Balanced Diets Healthy Diet Hacks Reduce Carb Intake Shop with a List Limit your Consumption of Sodas and Milkshakes Have Protein-Rich Breakfasts Consume High-Fiber Foods Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Avoid Excess Sugar Consume More Healthy Fats Eat More Home-Made Foods Walk More Focus on your Food When Eating How to Get More Quality Sleep Benefits of Restorative Sleeps Tips for Getting Better Sleep Benefits of Drinking More Water Joint Lubrication Formation of Saliva and Mucus Reduction in Chance of a Hangover Weight Loss Enhances Performance During Exercise Prevention of Kidney Damage Accessibility of Minerals and Nutrients Supports the Airways Maintenance of Blood Pressure Regulation of Body Temperature SPECIAL BONUSES FOR TAKING ACTION! Dear friend, Thank you and congratulations on taken an important step in your life-changing journey with Healthy Habits. I believe all the strategies revealed inside this guide will help you get rid of unhealthy habits and make positive lifestyle changes. Introducing Healthy Habits Video & Ebook Training! Here Are The Things You Will Get Inside This Video Course and Ebook. You Get 10 Premium Quality Videos of Healthy Habits. Healthy Habits Introduction. Get To Know: What are Healthy Habits? Lifestyle Choices. Quality of Life/Work-Life Balance. Getting the Best out of your Daily Routines. Health and Fitness Tips. Healthy Diet Hacks. How to Get More Quality Sleep. Benefits of Drinking More Water. Healthy Habits Conclusion Click here to get it promolink https://rb.gy/bpa9yv

Chris Hedges: The Enemy From Within April 30, 2023 You Are What They Eat – by Mr. Fish By Chris Hedges / Original to ScheerPost America is a stratocracy, a form of government dominated by the military. It is axiomatic among the two ruling parties that there must be a constant preparation for war. The war machine’s massive budgets are sacrosanct. Its billions of dollars in waste and fraud are ignored. Its military fiascos in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East have disappeared into the vast cavern of historical amnesia. This amnesia, which means there is never accountability, licenses the war machine to economically disembowel the country and drive the Empire into one self-defeating conflict after another. The militarists win every election. They cannot lose. It is impossible to vote against them. The war state is a Götterdämmerung, as Dwight Macdonald writes, “without the gods.” Since the end of the Second World War, the federal government has spent more than half its tax dollars on past, current and future military operations. It is the largest single sustaining activity of the government. Military systems are sold before they are produced with guarantees that huge cost overruns will be covered. Foreign aid is contingent on buying U.S. weapons. Egypt, which receives some $1.3 billion in foreign military financing, is required to devote it to buying and maintaining U.S. weapons systems. Israel has received $158 billion in bilateral assistance from the U.S. since 1949, almost all of it since 1971 in the form of military aid, with most of it going towards arms purchases from U.S. weapons manufacturers. The American public funds the research, development and building of weapons systems and then buys these same weapons systems on behalf of foreign governments. It is a circular system of corporate welfare. Between October 2021 and September 2022, the U.S. spent $877 billion on the military, that’s more than the next 10 countries, including China, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom combined. These huge military expenditures, along with the rising costs of a for-profit healthcare system, have driven the U.S. national debt to over $31 trillion, nearly $5 trillion more than the U.S.’s entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This imbalance is not sustainable, especially once the dollar is no longer the world’s reserve currency. As of January 2023, the U.S. spent a record $213 billion servicing the interest on its national debt. The public, bombarded with war propaganda, cheers on their self-immolation. It revels in the despicable beauty of our military prowess. It speaks in the thought-terminating clichés spewed out by mass culture and mass media. It imbibes the illusion of omnipotence and wallows in self-adulation. Support our Independent Journalism — Donate Today! The intoxication of war is a plague. It imparts an emotional high that is impervious to logic, reason or fact. No nation is immune. The gravest mistake made by European socialists on the eve of the First World War was the belief that the working classes of France, Germany, Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia and Great Britain would not be divided into antagonistic tribes because of disputes between imperialist governments. They would not, the socialists assured themselves, sign on for the suicidal slaughter of millions of working men in the trenches. Instead, nearly every socialist leader walked away from their anti-war platform to back their nation’s entry into the war. The handful who did not, such as Rosa Luxemburg, were sent to prison. A society dominated by militarists distorts its social, cultural, economic and political institutions to serve the interests of the war industry. The essence of the military is masked with subterfuges — using the military to carry out humanitarian relief missions, evacuating civilians in danger, as we see in the Sudan, defining military aggression as “humanitarian intervention” or a way to protect democracy and liberty, or lauding the military as carrying out a vital civic function by teaching leadership, responsibility, ethics and skills to young recruits. The true face of the military — industrial slaughter — is hidden. The mantra of the militarized state is national security. If every discussion begins with a question of national security, every answer includes force or the threat of force. The preoccupation with internal and external threats divides the world into friend and foe, good and evil. Militarized societies are fertile ground for demagogues. Militarists, like demagogues, see other nations and cultures in their own image – threatening and aggressive. They seek only domination. It was not in our national interest to wage war for two decades across the Middle East. It is not in our national interest to go to war with Russia or China. But militarists need war the way a vampire needs blood. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev and later Vladimir Putin lobbied to be integrated into western economic and military alliances. An alliance that included Russia would have nullified the calls to expand NATO — which the U.S. had promised it would not do beyond the borders of a unified Germany — and have made it impossible to convince countries in eastern and central Europe to spend billions on U.S. military hardware. Moscow’s requests were rebuffed. Russia was made the enemy, whether it wanted to be or not. None of this made us more secure. Washington’s decision to interfere in Ukraine’s domestic affairs by backing a coup in 2014 triggered a civil war and Russia’s subsequent invasion. But for those who profit from war, antagonizing Russia, like antagonizing China, is a good business model. Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin saw their stock prices increase by 40 percent and 37 percent respectively as a result of the Ukraine conflict. A war with China, now an industrial giant, would disrupt the global supply chain with devastating effects on the U.S. and global economy. Apple produces 90 percent of its products in China. U.S. trade with China was $690.6 billion last year. In 2004, U.S. manufacturing output was more than twice China’s. China’s output is now nearly double that of the United States. China produces the largest number of ships, steel and smartphones in the world. It dominates the global production of chemicals, metals, heavy industrial equipment and electronics. It is the world’s largest rare earth mineral exporter, its greatest reserve holder and is responsible for 80 percent of its refining worldwide. Rare earth minerals are essential to the manufacture of computer chips, smartphones, television screens, medical equipment, fluorescent light bulbs, cars, wind turbines, smart bombs, fighter jets and satellite communications. War with China would result in massive shortages of a variety of goods and resources, some vital to the war industry, paralyzing U.S. businesses. Inflation and unemployment would rocket upwards. Rationing would be implemented. The global stock exchanges, at least in the short term, would be shut down. It would trigger a global depression. If the U.S. Navy was able to block oil shipments to China and disrupt its sea lanes, the conflict could potentially become nuclear. In “NATO 2030: Unified for a New Era,” the military alliance sees the future as a battle for hegemony with rival states, especially China. It calls for the preparation of prolonged global conflict. In October 2022, Air Force General Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, presented his “Mobility Manifesto” to a packed military conference. During this unhinged fearmongering diatribe, Minihan argued that if the U.S. does not dramatically escalate its preparations for a war with China, America’s children will find themselves “subservient to a rules based order that benefits only one country [China].” According to the New York Times, the Marine Corps is training units for beach assaults, where the Pentagon believes the first battles with China may occur, across “the first island chain” that includes, “Okinawa and Taiwan down to Malaysia as well as the South China Sea and disputed islands in the Spratlys and the Paracels.”. Militarists drain funds from social and infrastructure programs. They pour money into research and development of weapons systems and neglect renewable energy technologies. Bridges, roads, electrical grids and levees collapse. Schools decay. Domestic manufacturing declines. The public is impoverished. The harsh forms of control the militarists test and perfect abroad migrate back to the homeland. Militarized Police. Militarized drones. Surveillance. Vast prison complexes. Suspension of basic civil liberties. Censorship. Those such as Julian Assange, who challenge the stratocracy, who expose its crimes and suicidal folly, are ruthlessly persecuted. But the war state harbors within it the seeds of its own destruction. It will cannibalize the nation until it collapses. Before then, it will lash out, like a blinded cyclops, seeking to restore its diminishing power through indiscriminate violence. The tragedy is not that the U.S. war state will self-destruct. The tragedy is that we will take down so many innocents with us. NOTE TO SCHEERPOST READERS FROM CHRIS HEDGES: There is now no way left for me to continue to write a weekly column for ScheerPost and produce my weekly television show without your help. The walls are closing in, with startling rapidity, on independent journalism, with the elites, including the Democratic Party elites, clamoring for more and more censorship. Bob Scheer, who runs ScheerPost on a shoestring budget, and I will not waver in our commitment to independent and honest journalism, and we will never put ScheerPost behind a paywall, charge a subscription for it, sell your data or accept advertising. Please, if you can, sign up at chrishedges.substack.com so I can continue to post my now weekly Monday column on ScheerPost and produce my weekly television show, The Chris Hedges Report. Chris Hedges Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years for The New York Times, where he served as the Middle East Bureau Chief and Balkan Bureau Chief for the paper. He previously worked overseas for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, and NPR. He is the host of show The Chris Hedges Report. He was a member of the team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for The New York Times coverage of global terrorism, and he received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. Hedges, who holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, is the author of the bestsellers American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle and was a National Book Critics Circle finalist for his book War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. He writes an online column for the website ScheerPost. He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University and the University of Toronto. https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/30/chris-hedges-the-enemy-from-within/

This #design would regulate a continuous flow of #traffic without traffic lights using combined half round-abouts ???????? BY @Eng_wonders #Mobility #Innovation #SME #SoMee

Is there any Erasmus mobility participants here? I am currently working at the OLS language community, as. Community moderator. If you haven’t heard of it yet, now it is the time, since we are launching a video competition. The requirement is the you are an Erasmus student or Solidarity corps participant. You get your credentials from your Erasmus contact person.

Cooking #Vegan #Shmoo #Adventures #Mobility Shmoo cannot move. Only roll. Ate too much. Vegan wontons in red chilli-vinegar sauce.

Cooking #Vegan #Shmoo #Adventures #Mobility Shmoo cannot move. Ate too much. Vegan wontons in red chilli-vinegar sauce.