As the world races to fast-track a COVID-19 vaccine, bringing an experimental shot to market faster than has ever occurred in history, the potential risks of medical procedures like vaccination must be carefully weighed. Unintended harms can and do occur following vaccination, and the inactivated and live polio vaccines are prime examples. From 1955 to 1963, hundreds of millions of people worldwide — in North and South America, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa — received polio vaccines that may have been contaminated with simian virus 40 (SV40), a monkey virus.1 The video above is a decade old, but it succinctly summarizes the serious consequences that can occur from vaccine contamination — consequences that may not be realized until many years later. In the video, Dr. John Bergsagel, then a pediatric oncologist, looks at laboratory slides of tumors taken from children who died of extremely rare brain cancers. When SV40-like DNA sequences were detected in them, he said, “I almost fell out of my chair. I was very surprised.” The finding, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1992, revealed that half the choroid plexus tumors and most of the ependymomas studied contained a segment of T-antigen gene related to SV40. “These results suggest that SV40 or a closely related virus may have an etiologic role in the development of these neoplasms during childhood,” they wrote2 — and this was only the beginning of findings linking monkey virus-contaminated polio vaccines to cancer. How a Monkey Virus Ended up in Polio VaccinesDuring the 1950s, the inactivated polio vaccine created by Jonas Salk was made using rhesus monkeys that were infected with SV40. As explained in a 2004 perspective published in The Lancet:3
The late Bernice Eddy, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, conducted a study in 1959, injecting hamsters with the rhesus monkey kidney substrate used to make the vaccines. The majority of them developed tumors.4 “Eddy's superiors tried to keep the discovery quiet, but Eddy presented her data at a cancer conference in New York. She was eventually demoted, and lost her laboratory,” The Atlantic reported,5 but soon after researchers with Merck pharmaceutical company identified the cancer-causing virus in rhesus monkey kidney cells, naming it SV406 because it was the 40th monkey virus discovered. According to Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), in a presentation before the U.S. House of Representatives in 2003:7
SV40’s Cancer LinkIn animal studies, SV40 has been linked to a number of cancers, including mesotheliomas, lymphomas, brain and bone tumors and sarcomas.8 Such tumors in humans have also been found to contain SV40 DNA and proteins. Brain tumors and mesotheliomas appear to be the most common tumors associated with SV40, with some studies showing a positivity rate of up to 60%. While there wasn’t an “epidemic” of cancers that followed the widespread administration of vaccines contaminated with SV40, which suggests the virus alone may not be causing the cancers, researchers noted, “it seems possible that SV40 may act as a cofactor in the pathogenesis of some tumors.”9 As further reported in Oncogene, at least three independent scientific panels agreed “there is compelling evidence that SV40 is present in some human cancers and that SV40 could contribute to the pathogenesis of some of them.”10 It was also revealed that, in Finland where no SV40-contaminated polio vaccine was used, researchers did not find any SV40-like DNA in frozen tumor tissues from Finnish mesothelioma patients. The results suggest that the SV40-like DNA sequences detected in other mesothelioma tissue did come from contaminated polio vaccines, though, “It is a matter of speculation whether the absence of SV40 infection has contributed to the relatively low incidence of mesothelioma in Finland.”11 In 2002, meanwhile, The Lancet published evidence showing SV40 is significantly associated with some types of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma after detecting it in 42% of Non-Hodgkin lymphomas tested.12 And in a 2004 review of the then-available evidence, it’s noted:13
It’s often claimed via the media and even by some prominent health organizations that the link between SV40 from vaccines and cancer has been debunked as a myth, but in 2002 the Institute of Medicine released a report that found "evidence is inadequate to accept or reject a causal relationship between SV40-containing polio vaccines and cancer,” adding:14
Is SV40 Spreading Through Human Populations?Controversy still remains over the SV40-contamianted vaccines, including whether the monkey virus is still spreading among humans. There is evidence, for starters, that SV40-contaminated live oral polio vaccines (OPV) continued to be used for many years after SV40 contamination was discovered, including until 1978 in the former USSR and until 1999 in Italy.15 In fact, in 2005 researchers with Loyola University in Chicago conducted a study to test for SV40 in OPV prepared after 1961. They tested vaccine samples from 13 countries, revealing that OPV from “a major eastern European manufacturer” produced from the early 1960s to about 1978 contained infectious SV40:16
Once exposed to the SV40 virus via a contaminated vaccine, it’s also possible that it has spread among humans via other methods. The monkey virus was found to spread for weeks in children’s stools following vaccination with SV40-contaminated vaccines, for instance,17 which suggests SV40 may replicate in gastrointestinal cells and could be spread via a fecal-oral route. DNA sequences from SV40 have been found in a wide range of tissues among those vaccinated with SV40-contaminated vaccine, including pituitary tissues and leukocytes from organ and blood donors, as well as blood samples. “These data cumulatively demonstrate that SV40 is circulating in the human population,” researchers wrote in Frontiers in Oncology.18 Viruses Found in Other VaccinesWhile it’s often believed that only Salk’s inactivated polio vaccines were infected with SV40, the original seed stocks of the oral polio vaccine created by Sabin were also contaminated with SV40. While this isn’t something that’s widely talked about, especially by public health officials, the 2005 Loyola University study revealed that SV40-contaminated vaccines were produced until about 1978 and were used worldwide.19 The inactivated and live oral polio vaccines were the primary ones contaminated by SV40, but they weren’t the only ones. The monkey virus was also found in the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine.20 In another vaccine contamination scandal involving use of animal cell substrates, in 2010 GlaxoSmithKline’s Rotarix vaccine was found to be contaminated with “a substantial amount” of DNA from a pig virus known as porcine circovirus (PCV).21 That same year, Merck’s rotavirus vaccine Rotateq was also found to contain PCV.22 Disturbingly, it’s not entirely uncommon to find unexpected viruses lurking in vaccines. In her commentary on the Rotarix contamination issue, Fisher added:23
Viruses and other contaminants may be common in the cell cultures from which vaccines are made. Judy Mikovits, Ph.D., a virologist, researcher and founding research director of the Whittemore Peterson Institute, is among those who has detected infectious human retroviruses in cell cultures used to make vaccines. In her book, "Plague: One Scientist's Intrepid Search for the Truth About Human Retroviruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Autism and Other Diseases,” she details how infectious retroviruses are still likely infecting many biological solutions used clinically today, including vaccines and other therapies. While some biologicals, like the blood supply, may be decontaminated for retroviruses others, like vaccines, are not likely to be, Mikovits said in our 2018 interview, in part because there’s no requirement to do so and vaccine makers are not liable for any vaccine-induced harm. So while the SV40 polio vaccine contamination occurred decades ago, the controversy continues, as does the potential for present-day vaccines to be contaminated. Many types of cells continue to be used as growth mediums during vaccine production, including animal cell strains24 from chickens, dogs, monkeys, hamsters25 and insects,26 as well as cells from bacteria or yeast. With more vaccines in development and some being fast-tracked to market, it’s more important than ever that scientists, manufacturers and regulators take a step back to ensure that the means of prevention or treatment doesn’t end up being worse than the disease. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/24/sv40-and-vaccine-contamination.aspx
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Around the world, there’s considerable resistance against mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, but even if the vaccine ends up being “voluntary,” refusing to take it will have severe implications for people who enjoy their freedom. For months, the writing has been on the wall: Forced vaccination is part and parcel of the plan to “reset” the global economic system, forever altering life as we know it along the way. Now, global vaccine passports are in fact being introduced, and it’s only a matter of time before vaccination status will be a prerequisite for travel. Just how voluntary is it if you have to have the COVID-19 vaccine if you ever want to leave the country — or perhaps even state — in which you live, at any point during the rest of your life? CommonPassCommonPass1 is a digital “health passport” framework initiated by The Commons Project, the World Economic Forum and The Rockefeller Foundation, which during the first week of July 2020 convened more than 350 leaders from the public and private sectors in 52 countries to design a common framework “for safe border reopening” around the world. The proposed framework involves the following:
Eventually, the CommonPass framework will be integrated with already existing personal health apps such as Apple Health and CommonHealth. If you want to travel, your personal health record will be evaluated and compared to a country’s entry requirements, and if you don’t meet them, you’ll be directed to an approved testing and vaccination location. A screen grab from the video illustrates the general idea of how this will all work. When you get your test result or vaccine, that data is uploaded to an app on your cellphone. The app generates a barcode that is then scanned at the airport, at hotel check-in and wherever else vaccine status verification is deemed necessary. That the Rockefeller Foundation is one of the three founders of CommonPass should surprise no one, considering they basically laid the groundwork for it in their April 21, 2020, white paper2 “National COVID-19 Testing Action Plan — Strategic Steps to Reopen Our Workplaces and Our Communities.” That white paper laid out a strategic framework that is clearly intended to become part of a permanent surveillance and social control structure that severely limits personal liberty and freedom of choice. It also warns that elimination of privacy will be required, stating that “Some privacy concerns must be set aside for an infectious agent as virulent as COVID-19 …” The tracking system proposed by The Rockefeller Foundation also demands access to other medical data, which tells us the system will have any number of other uses besides tracking COVID-19 cases. Worldwide Tracking BeginsThis digital clearance system is currently being tested by United Airlines3 on flights between London and Newark, and Cathay Pacific on flights between Hong Kong and Singapore.4 As reported by Tott News, November 15, 2020:5
CommonPass Is a Cog in The Great Reset WheelAs explained in “What You Need to Know About ‘the Great Reset’,” the current pandemic is being used as a justification for why we need to reset the global economy and shift away from capitalism and free enterprise into a new system of technocracy. The word “technocracy” is never used by actual technocrats, mind you. Instead, they talk about the Great Reset and the fourth industrial revolution, the nuts and bolts of which boil down to transhumanism. In years past, this plan was referred to as a “new world order” or “one world order.” All of these terms, however, refer to an agenda that has the same ultimate goal. It’s a plan that is decades in the making. Ultimately, the goal is to monitor and control the world through technological surveillance. It’s a world government run by self-appointed elitists; hence, it calls for the total dismantling of the political system, which includes the U.S. Constitution. National borders are also destined to be erased. Sustainable Digital FinanceTechnocracy is a resource-based economic system, which is why the World Economic Forum talks about the creation of “sustainable digital finance,”6 a carbon-based economy and carbon credit trading.7 As explained on its website:8
These rather innocuous-sounding definitions hide a true intent that would shock people to their core, were they to see the complete picture. Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, has stated that the fourth industrial revolution will “lead to a fusion of our physical, digital and biological identity,” complete with implantable microchips capable of reading your thoughts.9 This no longer sounds so far-fetched when you consider that technocracy requires social engineering to work. It requires total surveillance. It requires each person to be tied to the digital matrix — physically, mentally and financially — such that they cannot rebel. To learn more about the history and intent behind technocracy, consider reading Patrick Wood’s books, “Technocracy Rising: The Trojan Horse of Global Transformation”10 and “Technocracy: The Hard Road to World Order.”11 The Plan to Dehumanize HumanityWhen world leaders now talk about “building back better” and spin tales about a utopia in which humanity no longer has a negative impact on the environment, what they’re really talking about is the transition to a world in which mankind is no longer free to do any of the things we’ve previously engaged in and typically enjoyed. CommonPass is a cog in this Great Reset plan. It’s the beginning stage of mass tracking and tracing, under the guise of keeping everyone safe from infectious disease. Rest assured, it will not be limited to COVID-19. The pandemic is just the justification for ushering in this radical new way of life. The global lockdowns are part and parcel of this plan too. You may have seen articles musing about how waterways and air cleared up while everyone kept indoors for weeks on end. Who knows, in the future, we may well have rolling lockdowns to look forward to — periodic house arrests for the sake of the environment, if not to prevent the latest outbreak. Meanwhile, social distancing and mask wearing separates us from our fellow man, demoralizes and dehumanizes us and makes us alone, fearful and anxious, which in turn prevents us from thinking logically and from coordinating resistance efforts with others. Add to that a grossly biased media and draconian censorship, where the Big Tech overlords decide what opinions and even facts are allowable and which are not. When you multiply it all together, it starts looking like the biggest psyop in the history of mankind, which in turn begs the question: If the direction they want us to go will actually lead to utopia, would this kind of social engineering effort really be necessary? Welcome to 2030November 10, 2016, the World Economic Forum published an article12 in Forbes titled, “Welcome to 2030: I Own Nothing, Have No Privacy and Life Has Never Been Better.” Let’s read beyond the creepy headline and see what this is all about, shall we?
Techno-Tyranny Steps Into Broad DaylightAs noted in The Last American Vagabond’s article13 “Techno-Tyranny: How the U.S. National Security State Is Using Coronavirus to Fulfill an Orwellian Vision,” the U.S. is rapidly adopting an artificial intelligence-driven mass surveillance system rivaling that of China, and legal and structural obstacles are being swept away “under the guise of combating the coronavirus crisis.” Again, technocracy requires social engineering to work, the effectiveness of which in turn requires mass surveillance and automation. In the first half of the 20th century, George Orwell wrote a dystopian novel, “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” in which the government controlled every aspect of a person’s life, including their very thoughts. Today, scientists seem intent on turning Orwell’s nightmarish vision into reality, using the COVID-19 pandemic, national security and public health as their justification for doing so. Don’t expect them to admit this, however. Instead, be prepared for variations of the Forbes article above. It’s basically a world in which everyone has been stripped of purpose. Artificial intelligence algorithms make decisions for you, and if you disobey or start thinking fancy thoughts all on your own, you can expect to be financially and socially disenfranchised. Effectively eliminating an individual from society will be as easy as pressing a button and putting a freeze on your digital wallet and identification. Already, many truth-tellers that were purged from YouTube and other social media platforms simultaneously lost their PayPal and other digital payment accounts. No advance warning, and no justification given. Imagine if all your finances were tied together in a digital finance system and everything was shut down all at once. That, I’m sure, would discourage most everyone from expressing any contradictory views. If you think this kind of technology is still in its cradle, check out Spiro Skouras video below, in which he discusses the rollout of the United Nations’ biometric digital wallet. This, undoubtedly, brings the UN one step closer to becoming the world’s de facto leadership hub. Artificial Intelligence Is Further Along Than Most Can ImagineIndeed, artificial intelligence is a key component of effective surveillance and social engineering. Data is useless unless you can interpret it and make decisions based on it. As noted by The Last American Vagabond:14
The document17 the article refers to was produced by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), a government organization created by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2018. Its purpose is “to consider the methods and means necessary to advance the development of artificial intelligence, machine learning and associated technologies to comprehensively address the national security and defense needs of the United States,” and ensure the U.S. maintains a technological advantage. To that end, the NSCAI is pushing for an overhaul of the American way of life and economy in order to usher in a more comprehensive AI-driven surveillance apparatus. In other words, a Great Reset. How to Resist the Great ResetIronically, while the real plan is to usher in a tech-driven globalist-run dystopia free of democratic controls, technocrats speak of this plan as a way to bring us back into harmony with Nature. As I discuss in “The Global Takeover Is Underway,” the medical tyranny and censorship of anti-groupthink that has emerged during this pandemic are an unavoidable element of the Great Reset, and if you think it’s bad now, just wait until the whole system is brought fully online. The mere idea of dissent will become a thought of the past, because your life — your health, educational and work opportunities, your finances and your very identity — will be so meshed with the automated technological infrastructure that any attempt to break free will result in you being locked out or erased from the system, leaving you with no ability to learn, work, travel or purchase anything. It sounds far-fetched, I know, but when you follow the technocratic plan to its inevitable end, that’s basically what you end up with. The warning signs are all around us, if we’re willing to see them for what they actually are. The only question now is whether enough people are willing to resist it to make a difference. Along those lines, let us carefully reflect on one of the United States’ founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, in his warning and caution with respect to losing our liberty. I frequently reflect on them when I consider potential options in this new contrived crisis challenges we are confronted with: If you are open for some practical strategies on how you can respond in light of all the tyrannical interventions that have been imposed on us you can watch James Corbett’s interview with Howard Lichtman below. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/24/commonpass.aspx From the time you were a small child, you may have been conditioned to expect new and exciting things as autumn arrives. Every fall, children go back to school, see their friends and begin to anticipate the holiday season. One of the fruits closely associated with fall is pumpkin. From pumpkin pie to pumpkin spice lattes or jack-o-lanterns it’s likely you associate fall with some type of pumpkin. Kathryn Lively, professor of sociology at Dartmouth College, spoke with a reporter from The Huffington Post about the expectations children have and how this conditions a response pattern that often travels into adulthood.1 Fall is a structural landmark, in the way significant dates help create structure in the perception of the passage of time.2 For example, just as January 1 is a landmark associated with developing personal growth and development goals, fall may be a time when your anticipation begins to grow, and you’re motivated to learn new skills or change behaviors. Licensed psychologist and professor at Chapman University Amy Jane Griffiths, Ph.D., says, “We all crave the comfort and security that comes with traditions and predictability.”3 Many of us have traditions and events associated with fall weather, while others may dread the leaves changing or signs that winter is coming. What Color Are Your Pumpkins?Many have an interest in the science behind your anticipation of fall weather, fall foods and the hope of curling up with a blanket and a good movie. But it may still be difficult to explain the vast number of people who buy pumpkins each fall. In the U.S., Illinois is the No. 1 producer of this round orange squash, growing twice as many each year than in the other five top producing states.4 While you might think of it as a vegetable, the pumpkin is a fruit that's known as much for its place in the kitchen as on your front porch. Mary Liz Wright, a University of Illinois Extension specialist, does not advise using your typical jack-o-lantern pumpkin in your fall recipes.5 This is because there are two distinct species of pumpkin. The first has been bred for size, structure and color to enhance your fall decor. The second is bred for consistency, flavor and texture of the meat. Pumpkins that are bred for flavor are tan or buckskin color on the outside with bright orange flesh on the inside. They're also more reminiscent of butternut squash in shape, rather than the more rounded outline of decorative pumpkins. Nathan Johanning, also a University of Illinois Extension specialist, spoke about the 2020 fall crop and the agritourism trade pumpkins support, sharing that one farm in Illinois had 5,000 tourists pass through in one weekend. If you're planning on saving the flesh from your pumpkins, Wright advises you cook and freeze it, since it is not advisable to can pumpkin or even pressure can it. The center of the dense flesh may not get hot enough to prevent botulism growth, which you can avoid by cooking it first and then freezing it. Nutritious and Delicious PumpkinsThere are many health benefits to eating pumpkin and pumpkin seeds, as you'll see in this short video. Although you can buy them year-round at the store, consider adding pumpkins to your garden since nearly every part of the plant can be eaten. You'll be assured of a toxin-free fruit from which you can harvest the seeds as well as carve and cook your pumpkins in the fall. Dried pumpkin seeds, also called pepitas, are high in healthy fats and rich in omega-3 fats, zinc, calcium, iron and an array of phytochemicals.6 After being dried and shelled, the seeds have just 180 calories in one-fourth cup and are also packed with manganese, phosphorus, copper and magnesium.7 People have used pumpkin seed extract and oil in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. This is a noncancerous enlargement of the prostate gland that may respond to the nutrients found in pumpkin seeds. Because most of the studies have involved extracts or oils from pumpkin seeds, it's not possible to extrapolate the information to eating the pumpkin seeds themselves.8 The meat of the pumpkin contains only 49 calories in 1 cup of cooked mashed flesh. It is rich in riboflavin and vitamins A, C and E.9 The rich orange color indicates the high level of beta-carotenes and antioxidants that your body uses to neutralize free radicals. The high levels of vitamin A and C have a positive impact on your immune system, and it is a major source of lutein and zeaxanthin linked to healthy eyesight.10 The high levels of potassium, vitamin C and fiber are all associated with cardiovascular benefits. For instance, one literature analysis found an inverse association between potassium and the risk of stroke.11 Another study demonstrated people with higher levels of potassium intake had lower risk of high blood pressure.12 The levels of beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin C all contribute to healthy skin, collagen production13 and protection against the damage of ultraviolet rays.14 Pumpkin Seeds May Reduce Your Risk of Kidney StonesIn addition to the health benefits listed above, pumpkin seeds have a special superpower: They protect your kidneys by reducing the risk of calcium-oxalate crystal formation, better known as kidney stones. There are four types of kidney stones that can form, including calcium, struvite, uric acid and cystine stones.15 Of these, calcium oxalate is the most common. Nearly 80% of calcium stones that form are calcium oxalate. By manipulating urine chemistry through dietary intake, you can help prevent calcium stone formation. The highest urine chemistry risk factors for calcium oxalate crystals are hypercalciuria and hyperoxaluria.16 Dietary risk factors that increase your potential for calcium oxalate stones include chronic dehydration and a diet that is rich in protein, oxalates, sodium and sugar.17 People with certain digestive disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease, can also have a higher risk of calcium oxalate kidney stones. Oxalate can be found in these foods:18,19
One study evaluated the ability of pumpkin seed supplementation to change the chemistry of the participants’ urine and reduce the risk of calcium oxalate crystal formation.20 Researchers engaged 20 boys from the Ubol Province in Thailand where there is a high incidence of kidney stones.21 During the experiment the boy’s urine was measured before any intervention as a control period. During two periods of the intervention they received an oxalate supplement and a pumpkin seed or orthophosphate supplement. The participants’ urine chemistry was tested before and after each intervention. The results of the study showed that while the boys were receiving the pumpkin seed supplement, the urine chemistry had the lowest potential risk for calcium oxalate crystal formation. The researchers found the high levels of phosphorus in the pumpkin seed may be a "potential agent in lowering the risk of bladder-stone disease."22 Pumpkin Spice Blend Elicits an Emotional ResponseThe scents associated with pumpkin pie are not strictly from pumpkin but, rather, a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, which are the traditional spices used in the pie. This combination of scents can trigger a strong emotional response in your brain, which causes you to recall experiences associated with the smell.23 The emotional response that odors generate have an impact on your decision to like or dislike something. Your sense of smell and memory are closely linked since scents travel from the limbic system through the amygdala and hippocampus, which are regions of the brain related to emotion and memory.24 The scent of pumpkin spices is popular during the fall months, especially in homemade products and the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Catherine Franssen, Ph.D., director of psychology at Longwood University, is a fan of the flavor and understands why this particular combination of spices elicits an emotional response. She commented to CNN:25
Starbucks seemed to stumble onto their popular Pumpkin Spice Latte in 2003 when it was first released.26 Each fall the Pumpkin Spice Latte drink makes a return to stores, along with other “pumpkin-flavored” drinks — which may or may not actually have pumpkin in them — and baked goods. This year it’s the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew.27 In a press release, Peter Dukes, product manager who led the development of the Pumpkin Spice Latte, commented, "Nobody knew back then what it would grow to be. It's taken on a life of its own."28 However, as enticing as the scent may be, the product is loaded with sugar and packs a whopping 52 grams of carbohydrates into a 16-ounce mug.29 Instead, consider making the healthy and tasty alternative at home demonstrated in the video below. Neuroscience, Sugar Addiction and MarketingThe emotional response generated by scent is something marketers take advantage of. Pleasant scents affect your mood, which is a way of engaging your hand-to-wallet response. In experiments comparing odorless placebo sprays against fragrances, researchers found while you will have a response to the placebo when you anticipate the fragrance, the actual scent has a dramatic effect on improving your mood.30 Although your preference is highly personalized, a general assumption is made that most people will find pumpkin spice in the fall and cinnamon during Christmas associated with good memories. As the scent of pumpkin spice triggers a happy memory, it can also trigger a desire to buy a cup. Franssen comments on the neuroscience involved in scent and advertising:31
The popular trend of promoting all things pumpkin in the fall even generated a hoax in 2014 when a Facebook meme reported Charmin toilet tissue would soon be released in a new pumpkin spice scent. Not soon after Charmin Company tweeted: "While we love it, we can promise you this. You will not be seeing #PumpkinSpice Charmin anytime soon. #StopTheMadness"32 from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/23/what-you-should-know-about-pumpkins.aspx Melatonin is a hormone synthesized in your pineal gland and many other organs.1 While it is most well-known as a natural sleep regulator, it also has many other important functions.2 For example, melatonin:
Melatonin Also Has Important Role in COVID-19 TreatmentMelatonin has also been shown to play a role in viral infections14 and according to a June 2020 research paper15,16,17 in Life Sciences journal, it may be an important adjunct to COVID-19 treatment. According to the authors, melatonin attenuates several pathological features of COVID-19, including:18
They point out that melatonin is also “effective in critical care patients by reducing vessel permeability, anxiety, sedation use, and improving sleeping quality, which might also be beneficial for better clinical outcomes.”19 The scientific review paper,20 “Melatonin Potentials Against Viral Infections Including COVID-19: Current Evidence and New Findings,” published October 2020 in Virus Research journal, also summarizes the many potential mechanisms by which melatonin can protect against and ameliorate viral infections. The authors review research looking at melatonin’s beneficial effects against a variety of viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, viral hepatitis, viral myocarditis, Ebola, West Nile virus and dengue virus. Based on these collective findings, they believe melatonin may offer similar protection against SARS-CoV-2. Melatonin Reduces Risk of Positive COVID-19 TestData21,22 from Cleveland Clinic also supports the use of melatonin. Here, the researchers analyzed patient data from the Cleveland Clinic’s COVID-19 registry using an artificial intelligence platform designed to identify drugs that may be repurposed.23,24 By identifying clinical manifestations and pathologies shared by COVID-19 and 64 other diseases, they were able to conclude that certain proteins associated with chronic diseases are highly connected with SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Put another way, a number of proteins appear to play a key role in the pathologies seen both in COVID-19 and other chronic diseases. For example:25
The diagram below illustrates (among other things) the basic pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 (figure A) and the network of disease manifestations associated with the infection (figure C). These connections suggest that drugs already in use for a chronic disease may be repurposed and used in the treatment of COVID-19, as it acts on one or more shared biological targets. Melatonin stood out in this regard. Patients who used melatonin as a supplement had, on average, a 28% lower risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. Blacks who used melatonin were 52% less likely to test positive for the virus. Confounding variables adjusted for in the calculations included age, sex, race, smoking history and several known comorbidities. The authors point out that while the findings look promising, large observational studies and randomized controlled trials are still needed to validate the clinical benefits of melatonin. Two key data points missing from the analysis are the dosage used and the length of supplementation. These data were not included in the patient registry, so we don’t know how much melatonin is required to lower your risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection to the degree found in this study. High-Dose Melatonin Successfully Treats COVID-19It’s possible that higher doses than those used for sleep may be needed, at least when treating an active infection. A recent case series26 published in the journal Melatonin Research details how high-dose intravenous melatonin can benefit patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Here, patients were given 36 mg to 72 mg per day in four divided doses as an adjunct therapy to standard of care. Most supplements contain between 0.5 mg and 5 mg, and when used for sleep, you’d typically start with the lowest dose and work your way up as needed. All of the patients given melatonin improved within four to five days, and all survived. On average, those given melatonin were discharged from the hospital after 7.3 days, compared to 13 days for those who did not get melatonin. This is far better than the expensive treatment Remdesivir, which costs over $3,000 and doesn’t produce anywhere near this improvement. Other Doctors Are Also Using Melatonin Against COVID-19Dr. Richard Neel and colleagues at Little Alsace and Uvalde Urgent Care clinics in Texas also report using high-dose melatonin in combination with vitamin C and vitamin D, and had as of the last week of July 2020 successfully treated more than 400 patients.27 As reviewed in a section below, melatonin enhances vitamin D signaling and the two work synergistically to enhance your mitochondrial function. Melatonin and vitamin C are both also involved with ACE2, the receptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses to gain entry into the cell. Together, melatonin and vitamin C help reduce SARS-CoV-2 virulence by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasomes, which in turn inhibits cytokine storms. The Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Working Group (FLCCC)28 also lists melatonin as an optional addition to their MATH+ protocol for COVID-19. How Melatonin Combats COVID-19Research suggests melatonin may have the ability to combat COVID-19 via several different mechanisms. For example, it’s been shown to regulate immune responses and prevent cytokine storms.29 As explained by the authors of one such study,30 when your immune cells are in a hyper-inflammatory state, their metabolism changes in a way similar to that of cancer cells:
Cytokine storm is one of the reasons why sepsis (blood poisoning) is so lethal, and studies have confirmed melatonin has a favorable influence on sepsis. (Sepsis is also a feature of severe COVID-19.) As reported in a 2010 study in the Journal of Critical Care:31
More recently, a 2019 animal study32 in the journal Frontiers in Immunology discusses how melatonin can protect against polymicrobial sepsis — i.e., sepsis caused by more than one microbial organism — which has a twofold higher lethality than unimicrobial sepsis (sepsis caused by a single microbe).33 In this case, melatonin appears to offer protection by having an antibacterial effect on white blood cells called neutrophils. A high neutrophil count is an indicator for infection. Melatonin may also combat SARS-CoV-2 infection by:34
General Guidance for SupplementationAs mentioned, it’s very difficult to make dosage recommendations based on the limited evidence currently at hand, but since Cleveland Clinic looked at the supplements patients reported using, it seems reasonable to assume they were using it as you typically would. Most melatonin supplements contain between 0.5 mg and 5 mg. In the case report mentioned earlier, patients were given 36 mg to 72 mg of melatonin intravenously per day, which would likely be excessive for prophylactic use. That said, research37 has found no adverse effects for dosages ranging from 20 mg up to 100 mg. Whatever dose you take, and I recommend starting low, at 1 mg or less, be sure to take melatonin at night, before bed. Rising melatonin levels is the reason you feel sleepy in the evening, so it’s ill advised to take it in the morning or during the day, when your natural level is (and should be) low. If you happen to wake up in the middle of the night, especially if you’re exposed to a light source, you could also take some then, to help you go back to sleep. Melatonin is also best taken sublingually, either in the form of a spray or sublingual tablet. Sublingually, it can enter your blood stream directly and doesn’t have to go through the digestive tract. As a result, its effect will be felt more rapidly. Melatonin and Vitamin D Are a Winning ComboAnother supplement of crucial importance in the age of COVID-19 is vitamin D. Interestingly, melatonin enhances vitamin D signaling, and optimizing your vitamin D may be one of the most beneficial steps you can take to lower all of the risks associated with COVID-19, from reducing your risk of testing positive to lowering your risk of severe infection and death. To learn more about this, download my free vitamin D report from StopCovidCold.com. Together, melatonin and vitamin D synergistically act to optimize your mitochondrial function. In fact, your mitochondria are the final common target for both.38 A deficiency in either vitamin D or melatonin has been associated with the pathogenesis of several chronic diseases, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes, just to name a few.39 These conditions have also emerged as comorbidities that significantly raise your risk of death from COVID-19. Synthesis of both vitamin D and melatonin is also dramatically reduced with advancing age, and old age is a primary risk factor for COVID-19 death. So, while vitamin D3 and melatonin supplementation may be beneficial for most people, it’s particularly important for the elderly. Support Your Body’s Production of Melatonin and Vitamin DKeep in mind, however, that it makes little sense to take a supplement unless you’re also seeking to optimize your body’s natural production. In the case of melatonin, this includes making sure you get good sleep on a regular basis. You also need a good dose of natural sunlight around midday to synchronize your circadian clock so that your body produces melatonin at the appropriate time (i.e., in late evening). As the evening wears on and the sun sets, you’ll want to avoid bright and all blue lighting, as blue light inhibits melatonin synthesis. Blue lighting is predominant in LED and fluorescent bulbs that are “cool white.” Sun exposure, of course, is also the ideal way to optimize your vitamin D. I recommend getting sensible sun exposure on large portions of your body on a regular basis, ideally daily. For further guidance, see “The Risks and Benefits of Sun Exposure.” If for whatever reason you cannot get sufficient amounts of sun exposure, consider taking a vitamin D3 supplement (along with a little extra vitamin K2 to maintain a healthy ratio between these two nutrients). I personally have not taken any oral vitamin D for well over 10 years and my levels are typically over 60 ng/mL, even in the winter. I have, however, started taking sublingual melatonin a few years ago as I am now in my mid-60s, even though I sleep in pitch dark and get bright sun exposure during the day. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/23/cleveland-clinic-melatonin.aspx 1 "The Great Reset" refers to which of the following scenarios?
2 Why is it important to identify the origin of SARS-CoV-2?
3 One of the many unanswered questions in Pfizer's trial has to do with:
4 To optimally limit false positives, a COVID-19 PCR test should have a cycle threshold (CT):
5 An estimated 10% of COVID-19 patients report lingering symptoms that fit the diagnostic criteria for which of the following conditions, which has previously been linked to viral infections?
6 Washington state banned farmed salmon, which will be phased out by 2025, because of:
7 Which of the following was the name of a covert CIA operation that involved hiring journalists to spread political propaganda?
from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/23/week-157-health-quiz.aspx Sharyl Attkisson is an award-winning investigative journalist with uncompromising integrity. Her latest book, “Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism,” is scheduled for release right around Thanksgiving, November 24, 2020. In this, her third book, she addresses one of the most pressing issues of our time: media bias and the deterioration of objective journalism — a topic on which she has first-hand experience. A former anchor at CNN and CBS News, Attkisson now produces her own Sunday television news program, “Full Measure,” as well as two podcasts: “Full Measure After Hours” and “The Sharyl Attkisson Podcast,” in which she covers the kinds of stories that mainstream news no longer touches. Slanted MediaPropaganda through media certainly isn’t a new thing. Starting in the late 1940s,1 the CIA ran a well-documented but at the time covert campaign called “Operation Mockingbird,” in which they recruited journalists as assets to spread propaganda — news slanted in one way or another. While the program is always referred to in the past tense, as it is said to have been ended in the 1970s,2 evidence suggests it never really stopped.
Big Industry Also Influences the NewsMultinational industries, the drug industry in particular, also has a similar level of influence over content relating to their particular interests. In 1996, direct-to-consumer drug advertising was legalized, and as drug advertising became a major income stream for media companies, their reporting on health and medicine became increasingly biased. The reason is simple. They cannot afford to “bite the hand that feeds them.” If an advertiser doesn’t want the public to know about a particular finding, all they have to do to influence the reporting is to threaten to withdraw its advertising, which will hurt the media company’s bottom line. Drug companies have also become major sponsors of medical education; thus, doctors are taught to prescribe drugs for all ills, but they’re not taught about the side effects and drawbacks of those drugs. Today, the drug industry also controls fact-checking organizations such as NewsGuard, as it is funded by Publicis, which is supported by drug companies. When feeding from the Big Pharma trough, how could they possibly be objective in their fact-checking? Reality shows us they can’t because they aren’t. Big Tech — Master Manipulators of MindsBig Tech companies, of course, are also masters of censoring anything that might hurt themselves or their technocratic allies. As just one of countless examples, you can no longer post a link to Mercola.com on Twitter. First, they added a false warning that made it look like my site contained dangerous malware when readers would click on a posted link. After a while, they simply blocked the ability to post links to our site altogether.
Presidential Treatment Takes on a New MeaningIn her book, Attkisson also spends an entire chapter dissecting the highly-biased treatment of President Trump, and how the media have, through their own admission, suspended traditional journalistic ethics simply because they consider him “uniquely dangerous.”
The Invention of LyingPrior to President Trump, virtually no one in the media would accuse someone of lying. The standard was to question an individual’s statement or point out a discrepancy to another source, but not call it an outright lie, because it’s easy to get confused on specifics. A lie is a very specific allegation that implies an intent to deceive. Just because you misremember a fact doesn't mean you lied.
Massaging COVID-19 MessagesIn terms of health, COVID-19 reporting has taken censorship and media manipulation to brand new heights, eclipsing just about all previous efforts. They don’t even hide the bias anymore. All social media platforms are openly censoring dissenting views about the virus, particularly its origin and treatment. Even well-respected doctors and scientists have been axed for speaking against the desired narrative dictated by the World Health Organization. August 26, 2020, the CDC had released data3 showing 94% of people who had died during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. died “with” the virus, not “from” it. Only 6% had COVID-19 listed as the sole cause of death on the death certificate. Hence, the real death toll, those who unarguably died as a direct result of the infection, is only around 10,000. “For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death,” the CDC stated. This is an important distinction. Yet mainstream media continues to report that nearly 200,000 have died “from” COVID-19 in the U.S, thereby increasing national fear so they can implement their lockdowns and other strategies to limit our personal freedoms and liberty.
When a ‘Case’ Is Not a CaseThe media are also grossly misusing the term “case,” in reference to the COVID-19 case load. A case is a medical term for a patient with a symptomatic type of infection. It’s not someone who tests positive for antibodies or pieces of viral DNA. By referring to all positive tests as “cases,” they’re able to fan the flames of panic, making the situation sound far worse than it actually is. Many still do not understand that most of those who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 are asymptomatic. They think these are sick people in the hospital and that rising “case” numbers mean there will be a rise in deaths. Statistics reveal this simply isn’t true, and that there’s not a linear correlation between positive tests and deaths.
Search for Truth and Unbiased FactsThe clear take-home message I got from reading, “Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism,” is that there’s a profoundly serious problem with most mainstream conventional media. The obvious question is: Where can you go to get the truth? We would like to be informed, but we also want the truth. We don't have time to waste to be brainwashed by propaganda. At the end of her book, Attkisson lists a variety of sources she’s come to trust. It may be worth getting the book for those recommendations alone.
from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/22/sharyl-attkisson-media-bias.aspx Dr. Mercola Interviews the Experts This article is part of a weekly series in which Dr. Mercola interviews various experts on a variety of health issues. To see more expert interviews, click here. In this interview, Dr. William Seeds, an orthopedic surgeon, reviews how to optimize your metabolic function, improve cellular efficiency and make you more resilient against respiratory viruses using ketones — a topic previously discussed in my recent interview with Travis Christofferson, who wrote the book “Ketones: The Fourth Fuel.”
How Ketone Esters Control InflammationKetones are water-soluble fats that have powerfully beneficial metabolic benefits and also aid in tissue healing. Ketone esters are a convenient way to increase ketones and are helpful in cases of viral infections such as COVID-19, as they reestablish cellular homeostasis, provide rapid energy, recharge your antioxidants and control oxidation within the cell.
How Ketones Improve Antioxidant LevelsKetones also increase nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate hydrogen (NADPH), a powerful metabolic co-factor that improves your body's ability to recharge antioxidants like superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and hexokinase-1 to their functional state by donating an important reducing electron. NADPH, in my view, is probably one of the most important biomolecules in your body, right up there with NAD+ and ATP. It is the primary way your body recycles its antioxidants. It essentially transfers electrons to them to help reduce excessive oxidative stress. This is important because once those antioxidants are used, whether produced endogenously or taken exogenously in a supplement, they no longer work. They need to be recharged, which is what NADPH does. This explains why many studies that have attempted to show benefit from taking high dose antioxidants fail. When antioxidants are taken as supplements they have the potential to indiscriminately suppress beneficial free radicals, but when you recharge antioxidants with NADPH, your body is able to selectively and wisely discriminate between the specific free radicals you want eliminated. There are beneficial free radicals, such as nitric oxide, that you don’t want to eliminate. Seeds agrees, adding:
Ketones Suppress Proinflammatory PathwaysIn addition to increasing NADPH, ketones also suppress inflammatory pathways present as a result of an infection. Infection initiates an inflammatory cascade of proinflammatory cytokines. One of the benefits of ketone augmentation, either endogenous or exogenous, is that it suppresses potent proinflammatory pathways like NRLP3. As explained by Seeds, the NRLP3 process is all about activation of the inflammasome. NF kappa B is a transcription factor in the nucleus of the cell responsible for initiating the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6 and TNF alpha. The overproduction of these cytokines by your immune system is what results in a proinflammatory state. In addition to boosting NADPH, ketones can also elevate NAD+, which in turn upregulates SIRT genes, SIRT3 in particular, that directly control inflammation. SIRT3 deacetylates inflammasome and decreases the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
In addition to SIRT3, SIRT1 and SIRT2 are also important, and they tend to be activated by beneficial nutrients that we take in our diets, such as resveratrol. However, SIRT1 is useless unless NAD+ is high enough. And, as explained by Seeds, when you upregulate SIRT1, you also upregulate AMPK, which in turn improves mitochondrial biogenesis. SIRT2, meanwhile, is activated by a polyphenol flavonoid called quercetin. I believe quercetin may be a superior alternative to hydroxychloroquine because not only does it act like a zinc ionophore to increase zinc levels inside the cell but it also activates SIRT2 and has beneficial effects on inflammasome. The two graphics below are from the paper Seeds wrote, describing the effects of metabolic therapy on COVID-19.1 Exogenous Ketone Esters for Respiratory InfectionsThere are strategies to boost your endogenous ketone levels — such as following a cyclical ketogenic diet and taking C8 (caprylic acid) MCT oil — which is what I prefer. This typically takes more time and commitment but is far less expensive, as ketone esters are typically about $1 per gram and a therapeutic dose can range from 5 to 25 grams. Seeds typically uses exogenous ketones such as 1,3-butanediol beta-hydroxybutyrate, which is available in products like KetonAid. This strategy has high compliance and helps you achieve more rapid change in ketone levels and ketosis, and allows for greater precision but is costlier.
Through his peptide society, the SSRP Society,2 he’s been able to work with hundreds of U.S. doctors, describing these protocols and how exogenous ketones can be used in early treatment of COVID-19, and as a prophylactic. In many cases, a patient’s respiratory status can be improved within minutes. The use of ketones is one of three interventions that I'm convinced can have nearly immediate benefit. The other two are molecular hydrogen and nebulized hydrogen peroxide. Each one of these can provide near-miraculous benefits in a very short amount of time. Key Notes on MCT Oil and Carb IntakeWe also discussed the use of C8 caprylic acid in greater depth in the interview, which is the most effective form of MCT oil, so for more details, please listen to the interview. We also discuss the use of ketone esters in professional athletics. One fascinating fact brought up by Seeds is that they now have evidence showing that taking C8 MCT oil about 20 minutes before radiation exposure, such as an X-ray or flying in a commercial aircraft, can inhibit 100% of the radiation damage. Another important aside is that when you take MCT oil or ketone esters, their efficacy will be significantly increased if you cut down on carbohydrates. There’s a big difference in the blood ketone levels you can achieve taking either of them with a high-carb diet, a low-carb diet or when fasting. Fasting will raise your ketone blood levels the most. Lowering Inflammation With Baking Soda and Alka-Seltzer GoldSeeds also segues into a discussion about how good old-fashioned baking soda and Alka-Seltzer Gold can be used to squelch excessive inflammation at the molecular level, as bicarbonate immediately neutralizes peroxynitrites, which are among the most damaging free radicals there are. Seeds summarizes a typical regimen:
While simple baking soda (sodium bicarb), as Seeds recommends, will work, I personally use and recommend using potassium bicarb. You can purchase it inexpensively in pound quantities at nuts.com. The key to using it effectively is to pick up some litmus pH paper and regularly monitor your urine. Ideally, your pH should be about 7. Without the bicarb it will likely be 6 or even lower. I use about one-half teaspoon three to four times a day based on my urine pH. This is a powerful strategy I would encourage nearly everyone to adopt as by keeping your urine pH around 7 with the bicarb you will avoid having to neutralize the acidity with either amino acids from your muscles or calcium and other minerals from your bones. This is a simple inexpensive habit that can go a long way to improving your health Bicarbonate Improves Cellular Power OutputBicarb also works well together with ketone esters, as the bicarbonate improves the power output of the cell. This can be particularly useful for athletes. Seeds explains:
More InformationTo learn more about Seed’s practice and how he’s revolutionizing medicine with peptide therapy, see Seeds.md. He’s also written a book on peptide protocols — which is a discussion we did not cover in this interview — and how they can improve metabolic function and cellular efficiency. “Peptide Protocols: Volume One” was released August 24, 2020, and can be found on Amazon.com. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/22/do-ketones-reduce-inflammation.aspx A growing interest in health and heath food has helped drive consumer demand for fish to an all-time high. A diet rich in fish has grown so popular that global fish consumption jumped 122% from 1990 to 2018, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).1 Fish is often viewed as a healthier alternative to meat2 due to the so-called “benefits” on human health and the environment. But is it really healthier for you and the planet? That all depends on what kind of fish you’re eating and where it’s sourced from. An increasing amount of fish on the market — in restaurants and grocery stores — is sourced from large-scale industrial fish farms. These farms rely on a toxic cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides and even genetically engineered crops such as soy.3 Industrial ocean fish farms or factory fish farms, where fish are raised numbering in the hundreds of thousands or millions, often in net pens in the open ocean, pollute the environment with massive amounts of fish waste and threaten already vulnerable wild fish with disease. Fish raised in crowded and unsanitary conditions are, unfortunately, on the rise. The number of fish produced on fish farms skyrocketed 527% from 1990 to 2018, according to FAO. There are a couple of reasons for this spike, one being the world’s appetite for fish is growing. Another reason is that, by 2016, 90% of the world’s wild fish stocks had already been depleted due to overfishing.4 The result is more people are eating farm-raised fish produced on land in massive tanks or in open ocean net pens. In fact, the world now produces more farmed fish than it does beef.5 And, 50% of the fish eaten worldwide is now farm-raised.6 Health Benefits of Farmed Salmon Versus Wild-Caught SalmonSalmon is one of the most widely sold types of factory farm fish, and salmon farms are now the fastest-growing type of food production system in the world.7 A fan favorite among fish eaters, salmon is often a go-to for health-conscious consumers. Loaded with vitamins, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, salmon has all the characteristics associated with healthy food. But salmon is only healthy if it is wild-caught, meaning it was fished from its natural habitat, where it fed on natural organisms. Salmon is not healthy for you if it is farm-raised. Farmed salmon actually has more in common with junk food than health food. Farmed fish are raised on a diet of processed, high-fat, high-protein feed that can include everything from genetically engineered soybeans and pesticides, to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins, to antibiotics.8 The dry pellet feed given to farmed salmon is what makes it so toxic to you when you eat it. The toxins in farmed salmon feed accumulate in salmon fat. One study,9 which tested 700 salmon samples collected from around the world, found PCB concentrations in farmed salmon are, on average, eight times higher than in wild salmon.10 Farmed salmon in general contain higher levels of contaminants than wild salmon, in part because of their elevated fat content. So even when raised in similarly contaminated conditions, farmed salmon will absorb more toxins than wild fish. Farmed salmon also does not have the nutritional profile of wild salmon, containing far higher amounts of omega-6, which can have deleterious health ramifications, seeing how most people are deficient in omega-3 while getting far more omega-6 than they need. Majority of Salmon Eaten in the US Comes From Fish FarmsWith all the farmed salmon floating around, you might be surprised to learn that the U.S. captures nearly one-third of the world’s wild salmon. But more than half of it is sent overseas, where it’s deboned and processed using cheap labor. There was a time when our wild-caught salmon would be shipped back to us after processing but, today, the majority of it stays in Asia as a result of Japan’s shrinking fish supply and China’s improved economic status, which allows its citizens the luxury to purchase it. The result is more farm-raised salmon for Americans. Two-thirds of the salmon we eat here in the U.S. is imported, mostly from industrial fish farms in Chile, Canada, Norway and processing factories in China.11 Similar to industrial animal agriculture, farming salmon (and fish in general) on a large scale results in a massive amount of animal waste or, in this case, fish waste. According to The Guardian:12
Ocean Water Fish Farms Are Invisible Factory FarmsFrom an outward perspective, the environmental impact of large fish farms can easily be obscured. Similar to factory farms on land, which house large numbers of cows, pigs and chickens yet are often kept out of public view, ocean fish farms are hidden from the public eye. The fish pens are placed up to 164 feet beneath the surface of the water. These seemingly invisible underwater pens can hold up to 200,000 fish each. In Norway — which has a huge farmed salmon industry — some fish farms have eight to 10 pens. That means factory fish farms can house up to 2 million fish, which is more fish than the wild Atlantic salmon population of the entire world, The Guardian reports.13 Fish farms of this scale require a lot of capital, which is why most salmon farms are owned by large multinational companies. Escaped Farmed Salmon Threaten Vulnerable Wild SalmonAnother major problem with open ocean fish farms is fish that escape. Whenever Atlantic salmon are farmed near wild Atlantic salmon, mixing occurs. When males escape, they usually die off because they aren’t tough enough to compete with wild males during the spawning process. But when females escape, they lay eggs that are fertilized by wild males. This is problematic because the genes of farmed fish are not equipped to survive in the wild. Farmed fish also lack the basic survival skills that wild fish have. According to The Guardian:14
Farmed salmon that escape from ocean net pens are so common that more than one-third of “wild-caught” salmon from the Faroe Islands, tucked between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean (and politically part of Denmark), are actually escaped farmed fish.15 Fear of farmed fish escaping into the wild and threatening wild fish is why fish farming is now banned — and will be phased out by 2025 — in Washington state.16 In 2017, a fish-farm spill occurred off Cypress Island when a net pen holding 263,000 salmon gave way. The farm’s owner, Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, tried to downplay the seriousness of the spill and initially said only around 160,000 Atlantic salmon had escaped. But it was later confirmed that the number was as high as 263,000. Fish Farms Spread Parasitic Sea Lice to Wild SalmonCooke blamed the damaged pens on a solar eclipse that brought “exceptionally high tides and currents.”17 But an investigation by the state of Washington found that Cooke was negligent because the company failed to properly clean the nets on the pens. This led to an excessive buildup of mussels and other sea life on the nets, The Seattle Times reported.18 The spill threatened native wild salmon including the endangered Chinook. The concern was the farmed Atlantic salmon would crossbreed with the wild Pacific salmon and expose the wild fish to disease and pests such as sea lice. Sea lice are a major problem for farmed salmon, and thanks to industrial ocean fish farms, it’s now a problem for wild salmon, too. Sea lice that run rampant in fish farms can attack wild salmon swimming nearby. Fisherman on the west coast have reported seeing wild salmon swimming near fish farms infected with sea lice. The Guardian reports:19
‘All Natural’ Atlantic Salmon Come From Fish FarmsAnother problem with fish farming is that the companies that raise farmed fish aren’t exactly truthful about their practices. Mowi USA, the world’s largest producer of Atlantic salmon products, is accused of misleading consumers with false marketing claims. Organic Consumers Association (OCA) filed a lawsuit in August 2020 against Mowi and Mowi Ducktrap for deceptive marketing and advertising of smoked Atlantic salmon products sold under the Ducktrap River of Maine brand.20 Many popular smoked Atlantic salmon brands lure in consumers with misleading claims such as “all natural,” “healthy and nutritious” or “sustainably sourced.” But the truth is that all smoked Atlantic salmon products are made from salmon raised on massive industrial fish farms that, in some cases, are nowhere near the Atlantic Ocean. As Katherine Paul of OCA writes:21
To take action on this issue, please sign the petition telling Ducktrap of Maine to stop falsely claiming its smoked Atlantic salmon is “all natural.” Enjoy Safe and Delicious FishFrom the toxic drugs and chemicals used in fish farming, to its environmental impact on wild fish and the false and misleading marketing claims used by multinational fish farm companies, there are plenty of reasons to avoid farmed fish. Instead, I only recommend eating safer seafood choices such as wild-caught Alaskan salmon, sardines, anchovies, mackerel and herring. All of these are at low risk of contamination yet are high in healthy omega-3 fats, without the problems posed by fish farming. You’ll want to opt for sustainably harvested wild-caught fish as well. One of the best options toward this end is to look for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) logo, which features the letters MSC and a blue check mark in the shape of a fish. The MSC logo ensures the seafood came from a responsible fishery that uses sustainable fishing practices to minimize environmental impacts.22 from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/21/cost-of-farm-raised-salmon.aspx The Internet Archive, commonly known as Archive.org and IA, is intended to act as a historical archive. In addition to digitally hosting more than 1.4 million books and other documents, Archive.org acts as a historical vault for the internet, preserving cached versions of websites that are no longer accessible to the public.1 Billing itself as a "nonprofit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and more,"2 Archive.org's Wayback machine contains records of more than 20 years of web history, including more than 486 billion web pages. "We began in 1996," their website states, "by archiving the internet itself, a medium that was just beginning to grow in use. Like newspapers, the content published on the web was ephemeral — but unlike newspapers, no one was saving it."3 The whole purpose and value of Archive.org lies in its ability to preserve information that has been removed or deleted, whether intentionally or for other reasons. With the use of IA, you can look at things that are no longer in existence via its valuable, really priceless, historical archive. Now, however, Archive.org has jumped on the fact-checking bandwagon, raising concerns that the integrity of its archive could be at risk. Archive.org Adds 'Fact-Checked' Propaganda to PagesCensorship continues to run rampant in the U.S. and elsewhere, particularly when it comes to information regarding public health. It was for this reason, along with their unscrupulous data mining efforts, that I left Facebook in 2019. Not only is mainstream media being bought off by organizations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but social media and the internet are being attacked by an army of "fact-checkers." October 30, 2020, Archive.org announced in a blog post:4
The problem with labeling something as "false and misleading information" is the damage that occurs if said information is not actually false or misleading. When a banner pops up on social media, for instance, warning readers that the content is false, most people will not click through. In fact, according to The Poynter Institute, one of Facebook's fact-checking partners, which bills itself as a "global leader in journalism" that believes that a free press is essential,5 once a Facebook post is flagged as false by a fact-checker, its reach is decreased by an average of 80%.6 Now, archived content that presents an accurate record of history is being flagged by fact-checking organizations while in the historical vault. It's like burning the library, in a sense, because valuable information may only get further buried out of the public's reach. One example is an article that was published on Medium in April 2020, which was removed for violating the site's Covid-19 Content Policy.7 The article, which discusses the need to establish a new treatment protocol for COVID-19 "so we stop treating patients for the wrong disease," is archived on IA, but now has a yellow banner at the top, which reads:8
Archive.org states that the fact-checkers "provide context" for the archived web pages, but really the notices add another layer of potential bias to what should be an impartial historical archive, essentially just spreading the reach of censorship further. Who's Doing the Fact-Checking?Ironically, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated publically that it's not the job of social media to be an arbiter of truth,9 but it's partnered with Poynter's International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to be just that. All of Facebook's third-party fact-checkers are certified by IFCN, and Archive.org has also partnered with a Poynter affiliate, Politifact, for fact-checking, among others. The Poynter Institute states it has a mission "to fortify journalism's role in a free society [by championing] freedom of expression, civil dialogue and compelling journalism,"10 but it actively enables the silencing of free speech, in part via its partnership with Google11 and its widespread fact-checking efforts. In 2019, for instance, Poynter compiled a list12 of 515 "unreliable" websites, including 29 conservative media outlets, based on "fake news" databases created by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, Merrimack College, PolitiFact and Snopes, among others. Poynter also called on advertisers to blacklist the named sites, as advertising dollars are what keep them going. After significant backlash,13 Poynter issued a retraction,14 but it appears the blacklisting is still occurring, through the joint efforts of IFCN and its partners, including Facebook. It's important to understand that the vast majority of fact-checkers do not have a traditional journalism background, nor are a majority of fact-checking sites run by established media. Increasingly, then, news — and the fact-checking that used to be part of a journalist's job description — is being outsourced to individuals who aren't journalists and aren't trained to think and act like one. Even under the best scenarios, Stephen J. Ceci, a professor of development psychology at Cornell University, writes in Scientific American:
Gates Foundation Funds Poynter Institute, MediaSo-called "independent" fact-checkers are subject not only to their own inherent biases but also to those placed upon them by funders. The Poynter Institute, for instance, is among a number of journalistic organizations that have received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Writing in Columbia Journalism Review, Tim Schwab examined the recipients of nearly 20,000 Gates Foundation grants, finding more than $250 million had been given to major media companies, including BBC, NBC, Al Jazeera, ProPublica, National Journal, The Guardian and the Center for Investigative Reporting.16 Ironically, "The foundation even helped fund a 2016 report17 from the American Press Institute that was used to develop guidelines18 on how newsrooms can maintain editorial independence from philanthropic funders," Schwab writes, adding, "Gates's generosity appears to have helped foster an increasingly friendly media environment for the world's most visible charity:"19
Fast Company's Alex Pasternack is among those who claim that Facebook's fact-checking policies are also influenced by its own political and business agendas, citing "more than half a dozen instances in which Facebook managers have interfered with fact checks in ways that appear at odds with the program's spirit of independence and nonpartisanship." Still, Pasternack notes:20
Facebook Fact-Checkers SuedChildren's Health Defense (CHD), founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sued Facebook, its CEO Mark Zuckerberg and three of its fact-checking partners — Science Feedback, Poynter Institute and PolitiFact21 — for censoring their truthful public health posts and fraudulently misrepresenting and defaming CHD. On CHD's Facebook page, the social media giant added a label stating, "This page posts about vaccines," along with a link to the CDC for "reliable, up to date information."22 They also deactivated the page's donate button — stopping fundraising efforts — and prohibited CHD from buying online advertisements while adding a warning in gray overlay stating that their independent fact-checkers found false information, which, according to CHD, "has the intended effect of reducing both click-throughs to the underlying content and shares. The net effect is to drastically reduce by 95% the traffic to Children's Health Defense website."23 By deactivating CHD's donate button and using deceptive forms of technology like shadow banning, which essentially renders posts invisible to the public without the user knowing, Facebook attempted to silence CHD's criticism of government policies and pharmaceutical products. According to CHD:24
Taken together, the deceptive "fact checks," misleading warning labels and disabling of the nonprofit's donate button may violate the First and Fifth Amendments, the Lanham Act, which protects against misleading advertising and labeling,25 and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which seeks to eradicate organized crime. "Those statutes protect CHD against online wire-fraud, false disparagement, and knowingly false statements," CHD noted, adding, "CHD asks the Court to declare Facebook's actions unconstitutional and fraudulent, and award injunctive relief and damages."26 Fact-Checkers Rewriting HistoryWith Archive.org's announcement that they're now allowing fact-checkers to essentially rewrite history by adding various warning labels to archived pages, even more power is being placed with fact-checking organizations that are spreading the falsity that they're responsible for fact-checking everyone else and telling you what to think about what you read. It's one more step toward centralized control of the web, when maintaining a decentralized web is the only way to protect it. Activist Post added:27
Efforts to shut down public discussions about health information are in full force. So what can you do? Knowledge truly is power, so look beyond fact-checkers' labels, and the corporations behind them, in your search for truth. "The most important thing about the story, and something that doesn't seem to bother a lot of people, is that we have outsourced decisions like this to corporations," Andrew Dessler, professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University, told Fast Company. "This is a truly terrible situation to be in."28 from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/21/history-rewritten-with-alerts-for-fact-checked-sites.aspx Many people make the mistake of believing artificially sweetened beverages and products are healthier since they have fewer calories and no sugar. Yet, a study revealed that both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages are harmful to your heart, even if you only drink about half a can a day. The study was led by a group of scientists from Sorbonne Paris Nord University and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.1 It followed years of research linking sugar sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages to obesity, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.2,3 Many experts believe the rising rates of obesity and cardiovascular disease can be attributed in large part to junk food, of which sugary beverages and soft drinks are contributing factors.4 According to a report from Healthy Food America, the majority of people in the U.S. drink at least one sugary beverage each day. Although consumption has decreased since a peak in 2000, industry sales data have not shown a recent decline.5 At the time of the report, nearly half of all added sugars were coming from sugary drinks. However, this may have recently changed with COVID-19. If sugary beverage consumption is following alcohol use during the pandemic, the numbers are rising, which could have serious implications on heart health — even if sugary beverages are swapped for diet versions.6 Regular or Diet Soda Raises Risk of Cardiovascular DiseaseOver the years, there has been an increasing number of studies demonstrating the risk of artificial sweeteners. A recent study from France, however, finds about half a can of soda, sweetened with sugar or artificially sweetened, increased the risk a person would experience a cardiovascular event compared to those who drank none.7 The researchers adjusted for compounding factors including alcohol, whole grains, legumes and overall calorie count. The analysis also accounted for other comorbidities that affect cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. The endpoint of the study was first-time cases of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, stroke, acute coronary syndrome and a transient ischemic attack. The data revealed people who drank 6.26 ounces or more per day of regular, sugar-sweetened soda had much higher risk of cardiovascular events over a median 6.6 years of follow-up. Those who drank 5.97 ounces of artificially sweetened beverages per day similarly experienced an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. People who drank 1.58 ounces or less per day did not experience any negative events. This meant people who drank one can of soda every eight days had no negative effects, but people who drank one or more cans every two days were at high risk. There were 104,760 people who volunteered for the study and kept a 24-hour dietary record every six months. An average of 5.7 records were collected for every person during the follow-up. The scientists acknowledged there were limitations to the study, including potential confounding factors that had not been included in the adjustments. Soft Drinks Raise the Risk of All-Cause MortalityThese results were similar to another 20-year study involving 451,743 people from 10 European countries.8 The data revealed there was higher all-cause mortality in people who drank two or more glasses of soft drinks per day, whether those drinks were sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened. In this study, there was an association between artificially sweetened soft drinks and circulatory diseases, as well as a link between sugar-sweetened beverages and digestive diseases. It is important to note that one glass in the study was equivalent to 250 milliliters (8.4 ounces), which is less than the standard soft drink can in the U.S., which contains 355 milliliters (12 ounces).9 In other words, one can of soda is nearly 1.5 times one serving, and two cans would be well over what was measured in the study. The results of both studies also suggest that policies aimed at cutting sugar consumption by reformulating products with artificial sweeteners may likely have disastrous consequences. More Children Have Fatty Liver DiseaseBefore 2006, the prevalence of fatty liver disease in children was relatively unknown. Following a retrospective review of 742 autopsies in children ages 2 to 19 years, the results revealed fatty liver was present in 13% of the children and showed the highest rate in obese children at 38%.10 It's possible that consumption of sugary beverages is playing a role in these increases.11 Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is also found in adults. When excess fat is stored in the liver it can result in one of two types of NAFLD: the more serious nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and simple fatty liver.12 These are two different conditions and children will typically have one or the other. Experts estimate with rising obesity in children, NAFLD has become more common, and one study found 23% of those examined had excess fat in their liver. The condition can be found in children of all races and ethnicities, but is more commonly found in Hispanic and Asian American children. Risk factors include insulin resistance, obesity, diabetes or prediabetes and abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels.13 There are often no symptoms until serious scarring in the liver has happened. The condition is reversible when people make lifestyle changes, including weight management and routine physical activity. PepsiCo ranks second in sales behind the Coca-Cola Co., which garnered 43.7% of the market.14 Despite years of scientific evidence demonstrating the link between high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), obesity and NAFLD,15,16,17 PepsiCo continues the campaign to justify HFCS in their products:18
In the face of an obesity epidemic, internal documents from Coca-Cola have revealed the company's effort at targeting teenage customers. The Washington Post reported on the public relations campaign called "Movement Is Happiness," which was "to increase Coke brand health scores with teens" and "cement credibility in the health and well-being space."19 The information was produced by Australia's Deakin University in collaboration with U.S. Right to Know (USRTK), a nonprofit public health group. After a review of thousands of pages, Gary Ruskin, co-director of USRTK, found a theme emerging. He spoke with a reporter from The Washington Post about his concerns that the conglomerate is targeting vulnerable populations:20
Sweeteners Alter Gut BacteriaYour gut bacteria are important to overall health, including your immune system. Negatively altering your gut microbiome may also increase your risk of obesity. This is one mechanism through which sugar and artificially sweetened beverages work to expand your waistline. The risks associated with metabolic and cardiovascular diseases are mediated in part by your gut microbiome. The composition and functionality of your gut microbiota is impacted by your dietary intake. Studies have demonstrated a high intake of sugar increases the abundance of proteobacteria and decreases the populations of Bacteroidetes.21 This alteration creates an imbalance in the microbiota and increases inflammatory response, decreasing the regulation of epithelial integrity leading to leaky gut. By modulating the microbiota, sugar creates systemic inflammation and metabolic dysregulation. Research has also demonstrated that artificial sweeteners that have been approved and deemed safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cause DNA damage in, and interfere with the normal and healthy activity of, gut microbiota.22 Business Insider reported the research team concluded that all the sweeteners tested "had a toxic, stressing effect, making it difficult for gut microbes to grow and reproduce."23 While the authors do not directly refer to them as having antibiotic effects, when something is killing bacteria, that's essentially what's happening. The tested artificial sweeteners included:
Zero Calorie Doesn't Mean Zero Impact on Your HealthThe lure of artificial sweeteners started with reduced calories. Yet, years of exposure to them have demonstrated it has not made a positive impact on the obesity epidemic. In fact, the impact has been decidedly the opposite. Since the 1980s, the prevalence of obesity has continued to rise among adults. Data from the 2019 report from The State of Obesity showed that in 2012 no state in the U.S. had an obesity rate greater than 35%, yet the most recent statistics revealed there are currently nine states with obesity rates over 35% and only one state where the obesity rate is less than 25%.24 In an effort to lower the number of artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverages sold in Philadelphia, a beverage excise tax was levied in 2017. One study compared the changes in prices and sales following the tax as compared to Baltimore, which served as a control city without tax.25 They found the tax was associated with a substantial decline in the number of beverages sold. However, that volume was partially offset by rising sales in the neighboring areas. A second study demonstrated the positive impact employers could have by banning sales of sugar-sweetened beverages in the workplace.26 The before-and-after study with 214 adults found a reduction in waist circumference without a change in body mass or insulin sensitivity. However, the ban existed only during work hours and employees were free to drink as they wished outside of work. This meant reducing sugar sweetened beverages for eight to 10 hours, five days a week was enough to impact the employees' waistlines. American Beverage Association Protecting ProfitsTo protect profits, the American Beverage Association (ABA), the trade Association representing the nonalcoholic beverage industry, pushes back against the media and science. In the same article in which Fox Business reported on the study demonstrating the negative effects of soft drinks across 10 European countries,27 a spokesperson for the ABA, William Dermody, told the Fox reporter:28
The ABA has released similar statements in the past when research regarding low-calorie artificial sweeteners was published. In 2013, the organization published a press release to address what they called an opinion piece published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism.29 The report included charts, a glossary and 54 citations to past published studies supporting the assertion that artificial sweeteners induced metabolic derangements. The ABA wrote:30
USRTK has summarized some of the past work of the ABA.31 They wrote the ABA defends the use of flame retardant chemicals in soda, excusing the toxic load by claiming water is polluted as well. They have downplayed the risks associated with benzene after it was discovered in soft drinks and refer to questions about artificial sweeteners as "internet myths." While the advertising for clean, pure water may not be as enticing, the health benefits are life-giving. If you enjoy flavored water, make your own by adding a slice of lemon or lime. Carry your own water in a glass bottle and avoid the multiple problems associated with plastic containers as well. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/11/20/sweetened-and-artificially-sweetened-drinks-are-bad.aspx |
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