"They had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.”
(Revelation 9:8 )

Teeth Of Lions

Dear Friends,

Greetings!

The above verse, which is part of a series of verses in Revelation, chapter nine, verses seven through ten, has generally been taken figuratively rather than literally. Many Bible prophecy teachers have suggested that John, while being shown the vision which he himself was unable to understand or comprehend, tried to relate it to areas to which he was familiar.

This concept is not that uncommon in the Bible. Another well known example of this concerns the prophet Daniel. After receiving a tremendous 'End Time' prophecy, Daniel asked what it meant. “And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?” The reply back to Daniel was; “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:8-9)

The entire description from Revelation 9, reads: “ And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.”

As mentioned above, these verses have generally been interpreted figuratively, such as John seeing future war machines of our time which he had to relate to his time. This may very well be the case.

Is there any possibility though that there could also be a literal interpretation to these verses? As we continue to explore 'Tom Horns' dissertation on 'Transhumanism', 'H+', in our first article below, we may see that there may be a more literal meaning to these verses.

Luke 21:26 does say, “Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”

Again in Revelation 9; “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.”

Or maybe they are a combination of the figurative and literal combined together, much as 'Transhumanism' is working on combining humankind, with machine, animal and plant genes in the GRIN and other advanced technologies, (although this is nothing to smile about).

Although the articles included this week are somewhat long, if you have the time, you may find them quite interesting. See what you think!

It has been said that Black Opts and Black Science is at least fifty years ahead of what the public is generally aware.

We know that all this could be disconcerting and just plain scary, but remember when we know God loves us we know everything is going to be alright.

Faith will vanquish fear.

And remember “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10)

Thomas R. Horn's Paper To

The American Academy of Religion

"Transhumanism and Religion" Consultation

(Continued)

Having taken the lead in human enhancement studies as a U.S. military objective decades ago, Darpa saw the writing on the wall and, in scenes reminiscent of Saruman the wizard creating monstrous Uruk-Hai to wage unending, merciless war (from J. R. R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings), began investing billions of tax dollars into the Pentagon's Frankensteinian dream of "super-soldiers" and "extended performance war fighter" programs...

Not everybody likes the imperatives espoused by Darpa and other national agencies, and from the dreamy fantasies of Star Trek to the dismal vision of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, some have come to believe there are demons hiding inside transhumanism's mystical (or mythical?) "Shangri-la."...

The 21^st-century technologies--genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics...are so powerful that they can spawn whole new classes of accidents and abuses. Most dangerously, for the first time, these accidents and abuses are widely within the reach of individuals or small groups. They will not require large facilities or rare raw materials. Knowledge alone will enable the use of them.

Thus we have the possibility not just of weapons of mass destruction but of knowledge-enabled mass destruction (KMD), this destructiveness hugely amplified by the power of self-replication.

I think it is no exaggeration to say we are on the cusp of the further perfection of extreme evil, an evil whose possibility spreads well beyond that which weapons of mass destruction bequeathed to the nation states, on to a surprising and terrible empowerment...

(Read full articles)

***

Dannion.com

Global ALERT - Human Chipping is Here

03/01/2012

On Sunday March 21, 2010 the Senate Healthcare bill HR3200 was passed and signed into law the following Tuesday. Page 1004 of the new law (dictating the timing of this chip), reads:

"Not later than 36 months after the date of the enactment" (H.R. 3200 section 2521, Pg. 1001, paragraph1).

"The Secretary shall establish a national medical device registry (in this subsection referred to as the'registry') to facilitate analysis of post-market safety and outcomes data on each device that-- ''is or has been used in or on a patient; ''and is-- ''a class III device; or ''a class II device that is implantable, life-supporting, or life-sustaining."

This chip will not only contain your personal information with tracking capability but it will also be linked to your bank account. So, what this is saying is that by March 23rd 2013 we will be required to have an RFID chip underneath our skin and this chip will be linked to our bank accounts as well as have our personal records and tracking capability built into it. Ah, That Ain't Nothin'!!!!

Moreover,  H.R. 3200 section 2521, Pg. 1001 reads:

"The Secretary shall establish a national medical device registry (in this subsection referred to as the 'registry') to facilitate analysis of postmarket safety and outcomes data on each device that-- ''is or has been used in or on a patient; ''and is-- ''a class III device; or ''a class II device that is implantable, life-supporting, or life-sustaining."

So, what exactly is a class II device that is implantable? It is the device approved by the FDA under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act:

A class II implantable device is an "implantable radio frequency transponder system for patient identification and health information." The purpose of a class II device is to collect data in medical patients such as "claims data, patient survey data, and standardized analytic files that allow for the pooling and analysis of data from disparate data environments, electronic health records, and any other data deemed appropriate by the Secretary."

Class III devises are items such as breast implants, pacemakers, heart valves, etc.

A Class II device that is implantable is, as you seen from the FDA, an implantable radio frequency transponder, RFID chip. From breast implants, to pacemakers, to RFID chips which one is the only possible one that can used for the stated purpose in section B which is, "for linking such data with the information included in the registry"? As we know from subsection A, the information in the registry is the name of a device. In plain speak, we are in a clear way being told that our electronic medical records are going to be linked to a class II implantable device!

"The Secretary to protect the public health; shall establish procedures to permit linkage of information submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A, remember subparagraph A is the class 2 implantable device reference) with patient safety and outcomes data obtained under paragraph (3, which is electronic medical records); and to permit analyses of linked data;"

Continuing on to page 1007, in the STANDARDS, IMPLEMENTATION CRITERIA, AND CERTIFICATION CRITERIA section, the secretary of health and human services is given full power to intact all mandates from the laundry list of to-do items in the creation process of the registry as well as dictate how the devises listed in the National Medical Device Registry are to be used and implemented.

"The Secretary of the Health Human Services, acting through the head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, shall adopt standards, implementation specifications,and certification criteria for the electronic exchange and use in certified electronic health records of a unique device identifier for each device described in paragraph 1 (National Medical Device Registry), if such an identifier is required by section 519(f) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360i(f)) for the device."

Remember, It's one thing to read about this, but it's another thing to see how is doing it. The clinical trials for the Class II implantable device has already begun.  In my recent (and free) That Ain't Nothin' article I reveal the people who want to chip you... and your children.

Dannion.com

Examples of Chipping Going Mainstream

04/26/2012

(1) Microchips That Allow Over the Phone Drug Delivery

A microchip now allows doctors and nurses to administer drugs inside your body by phone from miles away. The implant can be controlled wirelessly by a doctor or nurse using a phone or computer to release drugs in the right amounts at regular times by remote control. Now, cancer patients and those who take drugs and medicines at set times during the day won't have to worry they will forget to take their drugs.

Roughly the size of a pacemaker, the device holds daily doses of a drug inside tiny wells that pop open either on a pre-programmed schedule or via a wireless signal. The company plans to file for regulatory approval for its first microchip device in 2014 and says it could be widely available in five years.

(2) Microchips and Medication

Patients will be monitored in the most personal way imaginable, from the inside-out. Microchips on pills to enforce obedience to the medical regime will be used in the UK by the end of the year. The so-called "failure" of patients to take their medicine is cited as the reason for this loss of privacy. People are conceptualized as pathetic children unable to decide how their own bodies should be managed. No possibility of a person's right to choose not to take a prescribed pharmaceutical drug is considered.

The product, named Helius® (also known as the Raisin Personal Monitor), is made by Proteus Biomedical, a California corporation. A contract signed with Lloyd's Pharmacies in the UK will give them exclusive rights to sell the product for three years. Initially, Helius will be sold to patients, families, and caregivers.

(3) Chips Being Added to School Uniforms in Brazil

Some 20,000 pupils in the north-eastern city of Vitoria da Conquista will have microchips embedded in their school T-shirts. The parents will get a text message when their children arrive at school, or if they are late for classes. The authorities say the measure will help teacher-parent relations. The authorities say the measure will help teacher-parent relations. The authorities in Vitoria da Conquista, Bahia state, call the micro chipped T-shirts "intelligent uniforms".

They say that by next year all local pupils aged up to 14 would use them. The chips are placed underneath the badge of a school uniform, or on a sleeve. When a pupil passes through sensors at the school entrance, the chip sends an SMS message to parents. If they are  20 minutes late for class, their families are alerted with a message: "Your child has still not arrived at school." Read More

(4) Ghana and Biometric Voting

Ghana is getting ready for its first-ever biometric voter registration ahead of December's general elections. The $45-million project has been piloted in some areas, but social and technological difficulties remain, according to a report in Voice of America. Ghana joins Nigeria, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo who adopted the fingerprint scanning technology to help prevent electoral fraud. Ghana hopes the bio-metric system will verify that those who are voting should be voting, and that they only vote once. Read More

(5) Fingerprint Scanning in Schools

While fingerprint scanning isn't chipping many realize this as a precursor to chipping. Fingerprint scanning and RFID ID cards are popping up in schools in Alabama, Washington DC, Ohio and West Virginia.

Article Credit: Thank you to Eddie Sage and WorldTurth.tv.

Dannion.com

This month, I want  to talk about Healthcare...

Welcome once again to That Ain't Nothin'. This blog is about looking back through The Boxes Of Knowledge as seen in my first near-death experience in 1975, and written about in my books, Saved By The Light and At Peace In The Light. If  you have not read these two books, I recommend you do...

Since 1976, I have said that the battle of the souls of human kind would be fought over healthcare. I described in both, Saved By The Light and At Peace In The Light, that these events could lead to total control over our way of life.

In Saved By The Light, I outline the probable future that we as humanity face if we do not change our mindset and spiritual focus.  One of the most important probable possibilities was about human chip implants in the physical body and how they would be used sometime in the future. Back in 1975, this was unheard of. Today, the process has begun.

By looking in the current healthcare bill, the most important factor is about human chip implanting.  Think about the fact that the healthcare bill is in the hands of the Supreme Court. The long awaited debate or battle is upon us.

This February, a research article was published about wireless chips in Science Translational Medicine. The research article shows that in the present healthcare bill, the implantation of a type 2 and type 3 chip could be mandated; and the complete control of your life under this mandate is very possible.

As you read the abstract to the research article below, you will see that under these rules we could be forced to give up control over our lives in order to protect ourselves and/or our loved ones.

"The first clinical trial of an implantable microchip-based drug delivery device is discussed. Human parathyroid hormone fragment [hPTH(1-34)] was delivered from the device in vivo. hPTH(1-34) is the only approved anabolic osteoporosis treatment, but requires daily injections, making patient compliance an obstacle to effective treatment. Furthermore, a net increase in bone mineral density requires intermittent or pulsatile hPTH(1-34) delivery, a challenge for implantable drug delivery products. The microchip-based devices, containing discrete doses of lyophilized hPTH(1-34), were implanted in 8 osteoporotic postmenopausal women for 4 months and wirelessly programmed to release doses (!!!) from the device once daily for up to 20 days. A computer-based programmer, operating in the Medical Implant Communications Service band, established a bidirectional wireless communication (!!!) link with the implant to program the dosing schedule and receive implant status confirming proper operation. Each woman subsequently received hPTH(1-34) injections in escalating doses. The pharmacokinetics, safety, tolerability, and bioequivalence of hPTH(1-34) were assessed. Device dosing produced similar pharmacokinetics to multiple injections, and had lower coefficients of variation. Bone marker evaluation indicated that daily release from the device increased bone formation. There were no toxic or adverse events due to the device or drug, and patients stated that the implant did not impact quality of life."

It is important to also point out the "Author Affiliations" section of this article. Notice how some of the most prestigious research establishments in the United States are behind this. A coincidence? I think not.

MicroCHIPS, Inc., Waltham, MA 02451, USA.

Harvard Medical School, Mass. General Hospital, Endocrine Unit, Boston, MA 02114, USA.

Case Western Reserve University, Department of Pathology, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.

On Demand Therapeutics, Inc., Tyngsboro, MA 01879, USA.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

The Christian Institute

'Evangelicals are like totalitarian Muslims', says Govt advisor

Fri, 3 Aug 2012

Evangelical Christians have been labelled extremist, and likened to "totalitarian Muslims" by a senior government advisor.

Alan Judd, an advisor to the Secretary of State for Education, was commenting on recent free school applications by Evangelical Christians.

Mr Judd's comments were strongly refuted by the Evangelical Alliance, which said the comments demonstrate a "woeful lack of religious understanding at the heart of government".

Lunatics

Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, said: "It is wrong and worrying that a senior government advisor brands evangelical Christians as extremist.

"There are approximately 2 million evangelical Christians in the UK, the fastest growing part of the church worldwide. They take their faith seriously, but that does not make them extremist."

Commenting on the news, the ConservativeHome blog highlighted that evangelical Christians were also often misrepresented by the media and portrayed as horrendous bigots or murdering lunatics.

Fundamentalism

Mr Judd, writing in The Telegraph last month, said: "To ban believers from setting up free schools would be to exclude a large number of able, well-meaning and experienced people who can do much to raise levels generally".

"The trouble is, as always, when it's taken to extremes, whether it's evangelical Christians, totalitarian Muslims or segregationist Jews.

"Such applications need careful vetting, not because there shouldn't be far-out religious and ideological beliefs, but because the taxpayer shouldn't pay to propagate them - and because children should be able to participate in a wider society without having their horizons narrowed by fundamentalism."

Terrorists

In 2004 the Home Secretary at the time, David Blunkett, drew criticism when he equated evangelical Christians with Islamic terrorists.

Mr Blunkett was controversially proposing to create a new criminal offence of inciting religious hatred.

He argued society needed protection from "...those who would take our lives because they reject our faith, and it applies equally from far right evangelical Christians, to extremists in the Islamic faith."

Washington's Blog

Why Is the U.S. Government Funding Islamic Terrorists Who Are Killing Christians?

- August 4, 2012

Most Americans are Christians.

But few know that the acts of our American government are leading to the persecution of Christians in numerous countries.

According to the Vatican's official news service - Fides - and many other Christian news sources, the Syrian opposition is targeting Christians.  Priests and bishops on the ground in Syria confirm these reports.

As a Syrian priest writes in the Guardian:

Despite what you might read in much of the western media, Syria is an enlightened,secular society with a deeply spiritual core and the common belief is that Syria is for everybody. A fundamentalist state would destroy the traditions of co-existence and religious harmony that have existed here since the fall of the Ottoman Empire nearly 100 years ago. Syrian independence was won with the blood of all Syrians - Muslim, Christian, Druze, Alawite and Kurdish.

As BBC notes:

Syria has for much of the century had a sizeable Christian minority, making up at least 10% of the population.

+++

In recent years Syria has been considered one of the easier Middle Eastern countries for Christians to live in. Power is concentrated in the hands of the Alawite minority - a Shia sect considered heretical by many Muslims - which has clamped down hard on extreme forms of Islam.

Indeed, PBS reports that Syrian Christians are accepting arms from the government to protect themselves against Islamic terrorists.

Similarly, for all his faults, Saddam was a secular ruler who tolerated Christians ... but Christians have been persecuted by the post-Saddam regime.

As the Syrian priest notes:

In Iraq, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, western allies admitted that they had no postwar plan and many have paid the price for this - especially the Iraqi minorities; since Saddam fell, hundreds of thousands of Christians as well as Muslims have fled Iraq in the face of sectarian violence and terrorism. Now, people are calling for a regime change in Syria without a clear plan for what should happen next. Should the minorities pay the same price in Syria?

BBC points out:

A rise in attacks on Christians after the US-led invasion in 2003 led to up to half the Christian population leaving, although there are no official statistics.

The Guardian reports:

In 2003 ... the number of Chaldeans, the Christian Iraqis, was between 800,000 and 1.4 million. In 2009-2010, it was estimated are between 400,000 and 500,000, and rapidly decreasing. Cairo's violent repression shows a similar process is under way in Egypt as well, where they still represent roughly 10% of the population.

Similarly, Christians were protected - or at least tolerated - by Libya's secular leader Gaddaffi.   A Roman Catholic priest told Christian News Service:

Under Gaddafi, we've been protected.

And Christianity is an officially-recognized and protected religion in Iran.  BBC points out:

Iran's traditional Christian populations are recognised in the constitution, guaranteed freedom to worship and allocated seats in the parliament ....

But the U.S. government is supporting - with money, arms, and logistical support - Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist groups in a number of nations.

The U.S. is:

• Supporting Al Qaeda and other terrorists in Syria

• Funding terrorist groups in Iran

• Supporting Al Qaeda terrorists in Libya (and here)

And the U.S. supports Saudi Arabia as one of our closest allies, even though:

• Saudi Arabia restricts all religions other than Islam, including the possession of religious items such asthe Bible, crucifixes, and Stars of David

• Christians are arrested and lashed in public for practicing their faith openly

• Muslims are forbidden to convert to another religion. If one does so and does not recant, they may be executed

A 9/11 Commissioner and Co-Chair of the Congressional Inquiry into 9/11 say in sworn declarations that the Saudi government is linked to the 9/11 attacks

Note:  This post focuses on Christians, but a similar analysis could be applied to Jews. For example, Iran - which has the largest Jewish population in the Muslim world - has a constitution which officially protects Jews.

***

Paul Harvery

If I Were the Devil

The following is the text from an audio version of Paul Harvey's "If I Were the Devil." You will see that Antonio Gramsci was on target and his radical heirs have been successful: "If I were the devil, I wouldn't be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree - Thee. So I'd set about however necessary to take over the United

States. I'd subvert the churches first - I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: 'Do as you please. Do as you please.' To the young, I would whisper, 'The Bible is a myth.' I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good, and what is good is 'square.' And the old, I would teach them to pray. I would teach them to pray after me, 'Our Father, which art - in Washington ...' "And then I'd get organized. I'd educate authors on how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I'd threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I'd pedal narcotics to whom I could. I'd sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I'd tranquilize the rest - with pills. "If I were the devil I'd soon have families that war with themselves, churches that war with themselves, and nations that war with themselves; UNTIL each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings I'd have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, and neglect to discipline

emotions - just let those run wild, until before you know it, you'd have to have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade I'd have prisons overflowing, I'd have judges promoting pornography - soon I could EVICT God from the courthouse, and then the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money... "If I were the devil I'd TAKE FROM those who have, and give to those in want until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. What do you bet I could get whole states to PROMOTE gambling as the way to get rich? I would question against extremes and hard work, and Patriotism, and moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on the TV is the way to be. And thus I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure. In other words, if I were the devil I'd keep on doing what he's doing. Paul Harvey, - good day."

***

MailOnline

Is not joining Facebook a sign you're a psychopath? Some employers and psychologists say staying away from social media is 'suspicious'

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 7 August 2012

- Facebook has become such a pervasive force in modern society that increasing numbers of employers, and even some psychologists, believe people who aren't on social networking sites are 'suspicious.'

The German magazine Der Taggspiegel went so far as to point out that accused theater shooter James Holmes and Norwegian mass murder Anders Behring Breivik have common ground in their lack of Facebook profiles.

On a more tangible level, Forbes.com reports that human resources departments across the country are becoming more wary of young job candidates who don't use the site.

Normal: Facebook has become so pervasive in this culture that not having a profile is considered 'abnormal'

The common concern among bosses is that a lack of Facebook could mean the applicant's account could be so full of red flags that it had to be deleted.

'If you're of a certain age and you meet someone who you are about to go to bed with, and that person doesn't have a Facebook page, you may be getting a false name. It could be some kind of red flag,' he says.

Manjoo points out that these judgements don't apply to older people who were already productive adults before social media became widespread.

The tech news site Slashdot summed up Der Taggspiegel's story about social networking as 'not having a Facebook account could be the first sign that you are a mass murderer.'

It points out that Holmes, who is accused of killing 12 people and an unborn child and wounding 58 others at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, and Breivik, who murdered  77 people with a car bomb and mass shooting, did not use Facebook and had small online footprints.

Breivik used MySpace and Holmes was reportedly on the hookup site Adult Friend Finder.

Psychologist Christopher Moeller told the magazine that using Facebook has become a sign of having a healthy social network.

Psychologists have noted that Holmes, along with several noted mass murderers, have lacked any real friends.

And this is what the argument boils down to: It's the suspicion that not being on Facebook, which has become so normal among young adults, is a sign that you're abnormal and dysfunctional, or even dangerous, ways.

***

MailOnline (Edited from longer article.)

Merkel is running the 'Fourth Reich': Fury in Germany after Berlusconi newspaper prints picture of Chancellor with hand raised and compares her government to the Nazis

Il Giornale also showed Chancellor Merkel raising her right arm in salute, a gesture associated with the Nazi salute used by Hitler's followers

The newspaper also suggested that two world wars and millions of dead 'was not enough to quieten German egomania'

Article has heightened a bitter war of words between Italy and Germany over the handling of the ongoing Euro crisis

By Nick Pisa

PUBLISHED: 6 August 2012

An Italian newspaper owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has caused controversy by printing a front page headline which said 'Fourth Reich' above a picture of German chancellor Angela Merkel.

The picture in newspaper Il Giornale also showed Chancellor Merkel raising her right arm in salute, a gesture associated with the Nazi salute used by Hitler's followers.

The article, which was published on Friday, has heightened a bitter war of words between Italy and Germany over the handling of the ongoing Euro crisis.

War of words: An Italian newspaper owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has caused controversy by printing a front page headline which said 'Fourth Reich' above a picture of German chancellor Angela Merkel

The angry article attacked tough talking Chancellor Merkel saying that her intransigence had brought 'us and Europe to its knees' adding that 'Italy is no longer in Europe but in the Fourth Reich.'

It went on to say: 'In the First Reich, Germany also wanted the title Emperor of Rome and in the next two they used their own means again against the states of Europe, two world wars and millions of dead, obviously this was not enough to quieten German egomania.

'Once again it has surfaced but this time not with the use of cannon, this time it's the Euro.

'The Germans believe it's theirs and we have to submit, surrender, hand ourselves over to the new Kaiser Angela Merkel who wants to rule in our own house.'

***

Government Committee

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The Telegraph

Spanish parents to be charged three euros for packed lunches

Crisis-hit Spain is to charge parents for sending their children to school with packed lunches.

School councils have defended the measure arguing that the fee is necessary to pay the private contractors for canteen equipment and staff who oversee supervision of the children during the two-hour break 

Photo: Alamy

By Fiona Govan, Madrid

08 Aug 2012

A daily fee of up to €3 (£2.36) will be introduced when the new term begins next month.

The charge — which reflects “the relative cost for the use of the dining room and the supervision that entails” — has been condemned as “barbaric” by parents.

Traditionally, Spanish children have eaten hot meals in the school canteen during a two-hour lunch break for a monthly fee paid by parents that averages about €4.50 (£3.50) a day.

The economic crisis has left Spain with a 25 per cent unemployment rate and many parents have opted to save money and send their children to school with home-made lunches.

Until now, low-income families have been eligible for grants for school meals but austerity measures introduced by the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy have forced regional education boards to make stringent cuts and impose the charges.

Regional variations in the fee have further fuelled discontent. Catalonia, Spain’s north-eastern autonomous region, has said it would start charging parents up to €3 a day for sending their children to school with a lunch box, while Valencia in the east has said it is considering a levy of up to €1.45 a day.

Percival Manglano, the finance minister of the Madrid region, announced on Tuesday that it would be up to school councils to decide if and how much they wanted to charge.

In Madrid alone, the regional education board has cut €26 million in grants for school dinners and text books for the new school year.

Parent associations in Spain have condemned the fees and warn that they will hit those worst affected by the economic crisis.

Luis Carbonel, the president of the Catholic Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said the measure could force parents to skip the meal entirely. “It seems excessive to charge to fill the dining room or for use of a microwave,” he said. “It may mean that those hardest up might choose instead to feed their children big breakfasts to see them through to the evening meal at home.”

Jesus Maria Sanchez, the president of the Spanish Confederation of Associations of Parents, said: “The measure is barbaric. It means that those parents trying to save a bit of money by cutting out school meals will actually notice very little difference at all.”

Schools profit from providing meals, an income that helps to fund extras not covered in the education budget. That income has been seriously eroded by pupils bringing in packed lunches.

“It does seem harsh on the families but schools are so stretched at the moment that any further loss of income will be devastating,” said Sarah Albrecht, a primary school teacher working in the Madrid state school system.

School councils have defended the measure, arguing that the fee is necessary to pay the private contractors for canteen equipment and staff supervision.

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The Local

Germans find evidence of Antarctic rainforest

Published: 2 Aug 12

The Antarctic used to be a buzzing green rain forest - yes of course it was ages ago, but still... - - Germans find evidence of Antarctic rainforest - The Local - www.thelocal.deThe icy Antarctic coast was once a lush green subtropical rainforest, teeming with plants, trees and insects, a German scientist told The Local - after finding pollen of trees in ancient rock samples deep under freezing waters.

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MailOnline

'The most convincing Nessie photograph ever': Skipper claims to have finally found proof that Loch Ness Monster exists

George Edwards has hunted Nessie for 26 years and holds tours of the Loch

He even says image was verified by team of US military monster experts

A Nessie sighting specialist has backed his claims, adding: 'It proves Nessie is definitely NOT a sturgeon'

By MATT BLAKE

PUBLISHED: 3 August 2012

- He has dedicated more than two decades of his life to the hunt for the elusive Loch Ness monster, spending 60 hours a week on the water.

And now George Edwards believes he has finally fulfilled his ambition of spotting 'Nessie'; he even photographic evidence to prove it.

Mr Edwards, who has spent 26 years on his quest, managed to capture this image of a dark hump slinking in and out of the lake's waters from the deck of his boat, Nessie Hunter, before it vanished back into the deep.

He claims the picture is the best-ever taken of the Loch Ness Monster and proves once and for all that the elusive leviathan exists - and is definitely not a sturgeon.

Evidence? Mr Edwards' picture that he claims proves the existence of Nessie

'Unequivocal': George, left, says he has even had the picture independently verified by a team of US military monster experts as well as a Nessie sighting specialist

He says he has even had it independently verified by a team of US military monster experts as well as a Nessie sighting specialist.

Mr Edwards spends his life on the loch - around 60 hours a week - taking tourists out on his boat Nessie Hunter IV, and has led numerous Nessie hunts over the years.

'I was just about to return to Temple Pier (in Drumnadrochit) and I went to the back of the boat which was facing the pier and that's when I saw it,' said 60-year-old Mr Edwards, a lifelong believer in the monster.

'It was slowly moving up the loch towards Urquhart Castle and it was a dark grey colour. It was quite a fair way from the boat, probably about half a mile away but it's difficult to tell in water.'

After watching the object for five to ten minutes, Mr Edwards said it slowly sank below the surface and never resurfaced.

'I'm convinced I was seeing Nessie as I believe in these creatures. Far too many people have being seeing them for far too long,' he said.

'The first recorded sighting was in 565AD and there have been thousands of eye witness reports since then.

'All these people can't be telling lies. And the fact the reports stretch over so many years mean there can't just be one of them. I'm convinced there are several monsters.'

Steve Feltham, who has dedicated the past 21 years to hunting for Nessie was unequivocval. 'It is the best photograph I think I have ever seen,' he said.

From his base on Dores beach and has studied many Nessie sighting photographs.

'I think the images are fantastic - that's the animal I have been looking for all this time,' he said yesterday.

'I would say it doesn't prove what Nessie is, but it does prove what Nessie isn't, a sturgeon which is a fish that has been put forward as one of the main explanations as to what Nessie could be but this hasn't got a serrated spine like the sturgeon.

Mr Edwards attempted to use his vessel's sonar to make a contact but to no avail.

Bashful beast: George said the monster was slowly moving up the loch towards Urquhart Castle (pictured)

'I hung around for a good half-an-hour and used the deep scanning sonar to try and pick it up, but I'm afraid I had no luck at all.'

Mr Edwards took the photo at 9am on 2nd November last year on a compact Samsung digital camera that he always keeps on the boat.

Before releasing it publicly he sent it to the USA for analysis, though he can't reveal further details.

'I did not want to mention my sighting until I was sure that I had not photographed a log or something inanimate in the water,' he said. 'I have friends in the USA who have friends in the military.

'They had my photo analysed and they have no doubt that I photographed an animate object in the water. I was really excited as I am sure that some strange creatures are lurking in the depths of Loch Ness.'

Questions: This is the sonar image that revived belief that there's something unexplained out there, taken by skipper Marcus Atkinson in February

In February 2012, a sonar image of a large mystery object deep below the surface of Loch Ness netted boat skipper Marcus Atkinson the Best Nessie Sighting of The Year Award - the first time in several years it has been presented by bookmaker William Hill.

The sonar picture, that shows a large unidentified living object deep underwater, was recorded by Loch Ness boat skipper Marcus Atkinson.

Mr Atkinson's sonar fish-finder device records the width of objects in the depths directly below his tourist boat every quarter of a second.

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Health Impact News Daily

Health Impact News Editor Comments:

A new study done at Rhode Island Hospital continues to confirm that Alzheimer's Disease has a strong link to brain insulin resistance, or type 3 diabetes. Since the National Institute of Health financed the study, we can probably expect people with Alzheimer's to now be prescribed even more drugs, the same drugs that are prescribed for type 2 diabetes.

Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical companies have a terrible track record when it comes to diabetes drugs. The drug Actos, a drug that France and Germany pulled from the market a year ago after it was found to cause bladder cancer and tumors in people using it for type 2 diabetes, is a drug still found in the market in the United States. Since the FDA has not pulled it off of the market in the US, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed, including one from a whistle blower claiming the manufacturer "is benefiting in tens of billions of dollars in sales at the expense of the lives of people still taking the drug." Another diabetes drug, Avandia, was removed from pharmacies because it led to increased heart attacks killing thousands of people.

Today's senior citizens living in managed care facilities are taking an average of over 30 different prescription drugs! The one class of drug that is prescribed the most, statin drugs to lower cholesterol, is linked to increasing the incidence of Alzheimer's by starving the brain of needed cholesterol. Another side effect of statin drugs is: diabetes! (See: Statin Drugs Shown to Increase Risk of Diabetes Significantly, Yet the Media Scramble to Protect the Drugs' Reputation; FDA Admits Statins Cause Memory Loss, Liver Damage, and Diabetes; and Lower Your Cholesterol, Increase Your Diabetes Risk By 48%) One out of every four Americans over the age of 55 is currently taking statin drugs.

So while it is positive to see studies like this help us understand some of the causes of Alzheimer's Disease, turning to drugs to treat these symptoms is heading in wrong direction. Type 2 and type 3 diabetes is a lifestyle issue, and can be controlled or even prevented by dietary choices and avoiding too many drugs. There has also been tremendous success in controlling and eliminating diabetes through a low-carb and high fat diet (see: The Positive Effects of Low-Carbohydrate High Saturated Fat Diets on Diabetes;  Study finds that patients with diabetes can discontinue their medication if they follow a low carb, ketogenic diet; and Ketogenic Diet for Remission in Type 1 Diabetes).

Given all the evidence regarding insulin resistance, diabetes, and the link to Alzheimer's, it is not surprising that people are reporting incredible benefits from consuming coconut oil. (See: Coconut Oil and Diabetes and Coconut Oil and Alzheimer's

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Until next week...keep on believing.

Almondtree Productions

“When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”
(Matthew 24:33)

For Arthur, a dear friend. You will be missed.