Now, that's encouraging...

[Hervé]

The 'tuned out' Canadians who don't pay for TV
http://tech.ca.msn.com/the-tuned-out-canadians-who-dont-pay-for-tv-2

TORONTO - The number of "tuned out" Canadians, those who don't subscribe to conventional TV, has doubled in recent years and now represents eight per cent of the population, suggests a new report.



http://blu.stb.s-msn.com/i/FE/69CC342AE1DC771D747043350B5E5_h256_w371_m2_q80_cHWbVNdAv.jpg

A customer looks at televisions at a Best Buy store, Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, in Franklin, Tenn. The number of "tuned out" Canadians, those who don't subscribe to conventional TV, has doubled in recent years and now represents eight per cent of the population, suggests a new report. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mark Humphrey


TORONTO - The number of "tuned out" Canadians, those who don't subscribe to conventional TV, has doubled in recent years and now represents eight per cent of the population, suggests a new report.

Since 2007, a steady four per cent of Canadians surveyed by the Media Technology Monitor, which regularly polls Canadians about tech trends, reported they were tuned out.

Tuned out Canadians either didn't have a TV set, only used it to watch VHS tapes, DVDs or Blu-rays, or streamed digital content rather than paying for a TV plan. They tended to be younger and highly educated and major users of the Internet, says MTM.

In the recent fall survey, about 49 per cent were between 18 and 34, and 51 per cent had a university education. Tuned out Canadians spent 20 hours a week surfing the web compared to the 15.4 hours TV subscribers were online.

MTM noted the numbers of tuned out Canadians started to rise in 2011, after those who were receiving analog over-the-air signals for free TV were forced to transition to a digital signal or lose access to the limited number of channels they were picking up by antenna.

According to MTM, many decided they were fine without TV, as the number of tuned out Canadians nearly doubled to seven per cent of the population.

In 2012, the number of tuned out Canadians rose another percentage point, which MTM attributed to the growing availability of video content available to stream online, via TV network websites and services such as Netflix.

MTM's most-recent numbers on tuned out Canadians are based on polling of 8,011 adults conducted between October and December of last year and are considered accurate within plus or minus 1.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Another report, released Tuesday by the Convergence Consulting Group, suggested about 2.1 per cent of Canadian TV customers, totalling about 250,000, cancelled their subscriptions between 2011 and 2012. The report predicted the figure would rise to 3.2 per cent, or about 380,000 households, by the end of 2013.

Rogers says their company is paying attention to tuned out Canadians and exploring ways to turn them into customers.

"There's definitely thinking going on about what kind of model would make sense — to university students (for example) who perhaps don't have a cable, satellite or IPTV subscription — how do you create a product that's relevant for them?" said David Purdy, senior vice-president of content for Rogers.

"You've got to be customer-centric and innovate and recognize there's a certain number of people out there that today don't subscribe to (a TV package). But you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot with pricing that's not smart."

Rogers already sells digital access to its Sportsnet World programming, including international soccer, rugby and cricket matches, for between $99 to $275 a year, to view within a web browser. Curling fans can also pay $25 to stream one of the Grand Slam of Curling tournaments or $80 for the whole package.


****************************


I don't have a TV anymore and sure don't miss it, not even for VHS or DVDs.

[OOO]

I'm one of the "tuned out"...

[Hervé]

Lamestream TV titans lose US viewers over slanted stories (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkbytLyOjWQ&feature=player_embedded)
http://www.sott.net/article/261397-Lamestream-TV-titans-lose-US-viewers-over-slanted-stories
YouTube, Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00 CDT

The major TV news networks in the US are losing viewers tired of opinionated coverage and carefully selected stories, according to a recent study by an American nonpartisan thinktank. RT's Gayane Chichakyan looks into the phenomenon.


SkbytLyOjWQ

Source: RT

[InCiDeR]

I do not have any TV either, even though I am aware that "they" can probably broadcast whatever "they" want directly into my brain by other means.

In Sweden, since the year 2011, the amount of time people spend watching TV are gradually declining. Especially the young people choose other ways of entertain themselves. On the other hand, the use of other media plattform are going up, so the total time spent in the "media landscape" are actually increasing. In average 6 hours a day in Sweden, according to latest statistic.

Source (http://www.radioochtv.se/Documents/Publikationer/Medieutveckling_2012-2.pdf)
(The publication is in Swedish)

Hopefully will people be "tuned in" to other things than pure entertainment in the near future.

[Spiral]

It could be people turning to the internet & video game is a lot of cases, but the actual quality of TV programs; documentaries, soaps, comedies, dramas, & news are ALL getting worse & worse, the writing is appalling, on the british police drama "New Tricks" most of the cast left because they got sick & tired of having to re-write the script them selves it was so bad.

The modern documentary goes into no depth & repeats every thing as if talking to people with learning difficulties & the news is no longer news, even when they are actually reporting an event, it was most likely on the internet days before...

Hollywood films are also getting worse, being dictated to by accountants chasing the American teenage demographic its not hard to see why...

[Jean-Marie]

We disconnected the dish satellite network. Hooked up apple tv boxes to each tv and stream our programs over the internet. Using the Apple Ipad you can take any you tube video or internet video and send it to any tv in the house. You can also use the IPad to send messages to the teenagers on their tv screens.

[Hervé]

Colorado: Entire police force quits; town does not descend into chaos (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/entire-police-force-colorado-quits-abandoning-posts-town-descend-chaos/)

Matt Agorist The Free Thought Project (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/entire-police-force-colorado-quits-abandoning-posts-town-descend-chaos/) Sat, 23 Apr 2016 18:52 UTC



http://www.sott.net/image/s15/315814/large/police_state_1024x628.png (http://www.sott.net/image/s15/315814/full/police_state_1024x628.png)


Without giving any reason whatsoever, the entire Green Mountain Police department in Colorado has quit. (http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/31788572/an-entire-police-force-quits-in-a-colorado-town)

The chief of police announced his resignation on Tuesday and he was quickly followed by all the other officers. It has now been 4 days and, remarkably, the town of Green Mountain Falls does not look like a scene out of Mad Max.

"In an election year there's always some people who choose to stay and some people who choose to go, and I think that happens at every level of government," Green Mountain Falls Mayor Jane Newberry said.

Despite giving no reason, it is likely that the department disagreed with the local politics and reacted by abandoning their duty as public servants — thereby illustrating the irrelevance of their job in the first place.

Unfortunately, the town of Green Mountain Falls will likely seek out a new group of armed enforcers to ticket them for petty offenses, but in the meantime, this is a perfect example of how societies can function peacefully without the threat of state violence.

The idea that police protect you is a misconception as well, as they will seldom prevent violence. They normally show up after the violence or crime has been committed and then try and find a culprit, or not.

The average response time to a 9-1-1 call is 10 minutes nationwide (http://apbweb.com/featured-articles/1188-response-times-city-to-city.html); for poor areas that time quadruples. In some cases, the dispatchers do not even take the caller seriously (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-ignore-911-call-9-year-boy-murdered-mother/) and the victim ends up dead, when a crime could have actually been prevented.

The reality is that police act as revenue collectors for the state and solely exist to enforce the law only.

In a perfect world, police would show up prior to a crime and stop it, or at least during a crime, but this is simply not a reality.

Police in America also do not "protect and serve." If you doubt this claim simply refer to Warren v. District of Columbia, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the police do not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm.

Sure, Green Mountain Falls is a small town and the likelihood of a crime wave bursting on to the scenes is rare regardless of police presence. However, we've seen similar situations involving millions. At the end of 2014, for example, the NYPD stopped doing its job after the murder of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu and something amazing happened — crime went down.

The Post reported that arrests were down 66% in the week following the deaths of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, compared to the same period in 2013.

For certain offenses, the arrest levels are staggeringly low, according to the numbers put out by the Post. (http://nypost.com/2014/12/29/arrests-plummet-following-execution-of-two-cops/)


Citations for traffic violations fell by 94 percent, from 10,069 to 587, during that time frame.

Summonses for low-level offenses like public drinking and urination also plunged 94 percent — from 4,831 to 300.

Even parking violations are way down, dropping by 92 percent, from 14,699 to 1,241.

Drug arrests by cops assigned to the NYPD's Organized Crime Control Bureau — which are part of the overall number — dropped by 84 percent, from 382 to 63. It wasn't a slowdown — it was a virtual work stoppage. And, in spite of police not writing tickets for jaywalking, arresting people for marijuana possession, and failing to wear their seatbelts, the city of New York did not descend into chaos either.

[Bob]

A miniature town with a miniscule amount of residents -

Green Mountain Falls, Colorado (https://gmfco.elpasoco.com/)
The Town of Green Mountain Falls is north of Pikes Peak and is 11 miles west of Colorado Springs just off U.S. Highway 24. At an altitude of 7,800 feet, the Town is set in a picturesque narrow mountain valley surrounded on three sides by Pike National Forest. The El Paso County/Teller County line goes North – South through Green Mountain Falls. Sixty two percent (62%) of the town is in El Paso County. Thirty eight percent (38%) is in Teller County. Natural assets include three creeks, waterfalls, a lake, rugged cliffs, forests, wildflowers, and abundant wildlife.

Green Mountain Falls is a quiet and peaceful mountain town with a year-round population of approximately 676. The number of people in Town increases significantly in the summer as people from other states arrives to use their family cabins. These people are commonly called “summer residents” and they bring a sense of tradition and a love for the community.

Architecturally, the Town has a variety of rustic summer log cabins and Victorian houses mixed with newer homes. The Town’s character is reflected in the preservation of historic structures including the original land office building, hotels, and the Church in the Wildwood. The Town’s focal point is an 1890 Victorian gazebo on an island in a small lake.

The Town location supports a unique life style by providing a beautiful natural setting for a mountain home close to the employment opportunities, services, and culture of a nearby large city.

They are lucky they have even 1 officer it seems to me. Politics maybe? I think it is encouraging that they have kept the community SMALL, and tight with each other.

[DeDukshyn]

I was raised in a very rural area outside of a small town. We did have an RCMP detachment - a small force, maybe 8 members or so. The town has a population of under 2000, I think, but services about 20,000 people spread out in the surrounding areas. In such a place, crime is super easy; and relatively easy to get away with - it's all foresty-hills with thousands of roads, and millions of square miles of forested crown land.

One would think crime here would be horrendous! It's not at all. In fact, during my whole raising (to 18) I think there was one murder. Most of the crime was things like marijuana related offenses, drunk in public, fighting / brawls (between willing parties almost always), Tires too big on your truck, partying in public places, stuff like that. Not too many violent crimes it seemed at all.

I think, perhaps with a strong boost from the media, we have almost become accustomed to fear an imagined lack of policing. Crime overall, particularly has been on decent downslope since 1990. Our minds though would tell us the opposite is real ... interesting.

[fourty-two]

While waiting for a bus at the airport I got to talking to a young woman who had just returned from Mexico City after visiting her family. She commented that she was apprehensive about the visit, after listening to all the news media here in the USA for the past 3 years. But, she said, much to her relief, EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL.
Perhaps much of the data we get here is unfounded.

[Hervé]

2 Years After Raising Taxes on the Rich, Here's the Hellscape Minnesota Has Become (http://mic.com/articles/111424/2-years-after-raising-taxes-on-the-rich-here-s-what-happened-to-minnesota-s-economy#.J2sOXH3Nn)

http://media3.mic.com/ZGM4ZDY2MTU2MSMvTE1FZ000bUp0S2NtcVpMRWJlcEhfQ1I3WjZNPS8yNXgyNS9zbWFydC9odHRwczovL3MzLmFtYXpvbmF3cy5j b20vcG9saWN5bWljLWltYWdlcy83YWM2OGQxNTk3NWM1Y2M3YWJlODg1YWFlNmE3N2JmMjBlZjEwYmVkYjQyNDhkZWJiNzI0Mzcy MGI4OWYyMzA1LmpwZw==.jpg (http://mic.com/profiles/177870/zeeshan-aleem) By Zeeshan Aleem (http://mic.com/profiles/177870/zeeshan-aleem) March 02, 2015


Since 2011, Minnesota has been doing quite well for itself. The state has created more than 170,000 jobs, according to the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-gibson/mark-dayton-minnesota-economy_b_6737786.html). Its unemployment rate stands at 3.6% — the fifth-lowest (http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm) in the country, and far below the nationwide rate of 5.7% (http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000) — and the state government boasts a budget surplus of $1 billion (http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/01/23/gov-dayton-sheds-light-on-education-funding-increases-in-budget/). Forbes considers (http://www.forbes.com/best-states-for-business/list/) Minnesota one of the top 10 in the country for business.

Given that Minnesota's governor is a well-connected millionaire (http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/120249814.html) whose family controls (http://www.forbes.com/profile/dayton/) the Target fortune, one could be forgiven for thinking this was the result of embracing the corporate world. But in fact, over the past four years, the state has undergone a series of policy reforms that most of the corporate world decries: It has imposed higher taxes on the wealthy and raised the minimum wage.

When each of these progressive policies was initially proposed, Minnesota Republicans made dire predictions (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/mark-dayton-minneosta_n_2529174.html) about their effects on the economy, and argued that bleeding-heart concerns about economic fairness would stifle growth. Despite all the warnings, Minnesota's economy hasn't tanked. Instead, it's sailing with greater force than it has in years.

How Minnesota did it:
The progressive economic policies in the North Star State came into being after the election of Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton. In 2010, Dayton surprised many political observers in Minnesota when he managed to win the governor's mansion, the first Democrat to seize it in more than two decades. His political career up until that point was mainly defined (http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/magazine/77869/eeyore-governor) by failure, despite the fact that he was a billionaire heir with countless resources.

Dayton's margin of victory wasn't impressive, but he was eventually able to make a dramatic mark on the direction of the state's public policies. He instituted a wide variety of progressive policies that rendered him the "most liberal governor in the country in terms of his willingness to raise taxes and to spend," University of Minnesota political scientist Larry Jacobs told Mother Jones (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/mark-dayton-minnesota-governor-profile-scott-walker?page=1).

In the last few years, Minnesota took a number of measures to make its taxation and wages more progressive. Mother Jones reports (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/mark-dayton-minnesota-governor-profile-scott-walker?page=1) that Dayton targeted the top 2% with a tax raise — "one of the largest hikes in state history." Corporate taxes increased (http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/purple-wisconsin/280089862.html). The state income tax on the highest earners increased to 9.85% in 2013, making it the fourth highest in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation (http://taxfoundation.org/blog/top-state-income-tax-rates-2014).


https://www.sott.net/image/s15/317419/large/ODY3Y2NlNDhhYyMvSVpadDFDSEh3bD.jpg
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton smiles at a question as he addressed a news conference after state officials presented the upcoming 2016-17 Minnesota budget forecast, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, in St. Paul, Minn. Source: Jim Mone/AP (http://ap.org)


The state's minimum wage is set to increase (http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2014/08/minnesotas-new-minimum-wage-explained) to $9.50 by 2016, and last year Dayton signed (http://www.startribune.com/politics/258830761.html) a sweeping bill strengthening protections for women in the workplace and guaranteeing equal pay. Other progressive measures have included a tuition freeze (http://www.startribune.com/local/212250001.html) at public universities and two-year colleges, increased spending on public education and increased unionization, according to Mother Jones.

The critics who feared Dayton's campaign to have the top 2% pay their fair share would ruin growth and cause business interests to flee appear to have been crying wolf. Minnesota's labor market is healthy. Minnesota was ranked one of the fastest-growing economies (http://www.mprnews.org/story/2013/06/17/economy/minnesota-growing-economy) in the country by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in 2013. Gallup found (http://www.gallup.com/poll/181514/economic-confidence-index-highest-minn-lowest.aspx) economic confidence in the state to be the highest in the nation.

A tale of two states:
As Minnesota has enjoyed economic success, observers have often compared the state's situation to that of its neighbor Wisconsin. Republican Scott Walker also won the governor's mansion in Wisconsin in 2010, but pursued a deeply conservative agenda for managing the economy. He made huge spending cuts to vital services ranging from education to health care. He reduced taxes on the wealthy, and got rid of tax credits for low-wage earners.


https://www.sott.net/image/s15/317418/large/NWIwMTE0ZDY4YiMvZHVoSFpjREVWS1.jpg
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks at the winter meeting of the free market Club for Growth winter economic conference at the Breakers Hotel Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, in Palm Beach, Fla. Source: Joe Skipper/AP (http://ap.org)


By a number of measures, Wisconsin hasn't fared as well as Minnesota. As the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal reports (http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/purple-wisconsin/280089862.html), Wisconsin's job growth has been among the worst in the region, and income growth is one of the worst in the country. It has a higher unemployment rate than Minnesota. And the budget is in bad shape:

Our transportation budget has a $750 million hole (http://www.jsonline.com/news/scott-walker-hopes-to-sell-increased-road-funding-with-tax-cuts-eleswhere-b99181426z1-239689401.html) in it, our health care budget is $760 million in the red (http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/state-needs-760-million-more-for-health-care-over-next-two-years-b99352545z1-275286471.html), and that's all on top of a $1.8 billion general budget deficit (http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/wisconsin-state-budget-shortfall-projected-at-nearly-18-billion-b99345660z1-274364501.html). Add it up and Walker has essentially taken a balanced budget and turned it into a deficit nearly as large as the one created by the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. Now, no political leader can take full credit or blame for the economic health of the state they oversee — the economy is shaped by a number of structural factors and historic trends that any one politician has little control over. Consider, for example, that Minnesota's economy was outperforming Wisconsin by a number of measures beginning earlier than the recession.

But here's what we can say: Dayton's progressive vision for Minnesota has not ruined the economy, and has likely helped it. Walker's conservative vision has clearly not ushered in the free market paradise he envisioned. And it's noteworthy that since the Great Recession and the implementation of their divergent philosophies, Minnesota's economy has pulled further ahead (http://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2015/01/minnesota-economy-beats-wisconsin-7-charts-1-table/) of Wisconsin in several areas.

What's next?
While Walker spends time running for president and making ill-advised comparisons (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/02/26/3627775/scott-walker-crushed-wisconsin-unions-can-handle-isis/)between fighting organized labor and battling the Islamic State group, Dayton is busy thinking about how to invest in the ordinary people who make up Minnesota's economy.

Dayton began his second term in January and is already gunning to take advantage of his budget surplus. His new budget plan aims to boost spending on education (http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2015/02/26/governor-dayton-invests-in-minnesotas-students/#.VPRwMrPF9M4) from kindergarten through college, and he's angling to invest in public transit, paid sick time for workers and child care tax credits for middle-class families, according to Mother Jones. History suggests the investments will pay off.

[Bill Ryan]

EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL.
Perhaps much of the data we get here is unfounded.

I experienced this in my last visit to the US, in 2012. There was a (thin!) veneer of normality everywhere.

The shopping malls were all right there. In a city, one only needed to drive a few blocks to find just about anything one might ever need, right off the shelf.

If not, one could order anything online and get it within a couple of days.

There were $$s in the ATMs. Bank tellers were friendly and efficient. People looked normal. The freeways were busy. TVs in hotel rooms showed exactly the same programs. Planes in airports were on time.

None of that counts for anything much. It was just a veneer. If one looked carefully, one could FEEL things were not right. And everything I saw was social theater. Everyone was MEANT to feel that everything was normal... until it's not.

[Mike]

EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL.
Perhaps much of the data we get here is unfounded.

I experienced this in my last visit to the US, in 2012. There was a (thin!) veneer of normality everywhere.

The shopping malls were all right there. In a city, one only needed to drive a few blocks to find just about anything one might ever need, right off the shelf.

If not, one could order anything online and get it within a couple of days.

There were $$s in the ATMs. Bank tellers were friendly and efficient. People looked normal. The freeways were busy. TVs in hotel rooms showed exactly the same programs. Planes in airports were on time.

None of that counts for anything much. It was just a veneer. If one looked carefully, one could FEEL things were not right. And everything I saw was social theater. Everyone was MEANT to feel that everything was normal... until it's not.


Something strange must be going on - even with my atrocious credit, ive recently been approved for 3 credit cards;). one of them, after i'd paid my balance faithfully for a mere 3 months, raised my credit limit by $2000.

Huh?

:flypig:

[shaberon]

I took fourty two's comment to be based from the family living in Mexico City, and that their actual life was normal.

And then I think Mike explains the "veneer of normal appearance" in the States that Bill noticed: all the well stocked stuff and things running right, is just a reflection of some investor's credit. Which is neither "deserved", nor going to bear out as a solution for very long. I'd bet three dollars and fifteen cents that a substantial portion of stuff that looked new in 2012 has already collapsed, or is still running on credit instead of making money. Sure, there's some places that are doing well, but it's kind of like a fully staffed ghost town.

Did I mention that these brilliant investors are going to colonize the woods with 50,000 people right down the street from me?

[Hervé]

We ‘Slayed the Dragon’: Community Wins as Nestle Drops Water Extraction Plans (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/community-wins-fight-water-nestle-drops-plans-suck-dry-long-battle/?utm_source=getresponse&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=savoymatt&utm_content=The+Free+Thought+Project+Newsletter)

Andrea Germanos (http://www.commondreams.org/author/andrea-germanos-staff-writer) | Common Dreams The Free Thought Project (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/author/tftp/) June 11, 2016

Community Wins Fight for Their Water — Nestle Drops Plans to Suck Town Dry After Long Battle


https://www.sott.net/image/s16/324962/large/nestle.jpg

Victory for Monroe County, Penn. community comes on heels of another loss of bottled water giant in Oregon.

After facing community resistance (http://wnep.com/2016/01/05/trying-to-stop-nestle-water-project/), bottled beverage giant Nestlé Waters North America this week ditched its plans to extract water from a Monroe County, Penn. spring.

The plan would have seen Nestlé take 200,000 gallons of water per day from the source in Kunkletown, located in Eldred Township, and truck it away daily to a nearby plant where it would have been bottled under its Deer Park brand.

The plans for the water grab, helped by the municipality, which may have improperly adopted (http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20160212/NEWS/160219795) a corporate-friendly ordinance, had drawn the ire (https://www.facebook.com/TCCET/%20) of many local residents, who celebrated the development.

“This entire village of Kunkletown came together and slayed the dragon, and it’s something to be proud of,” Eldred Township resident Donna Deihl told the Allentown Morning Call (http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nestle-ends-spring-project-eldred-township-20160609-story.html%20).

The change in plans was announced (http://www.lvb.com/article/20160609/LVB01/160609867/nestle-waters-ends-plan-to-extract-water-in-monroe%20) at a township supervisors meeting Wednesday, during which Eric Andreus, a hydrogeologist for Nestlé, said (https://localtvwnep.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/june-8-community-announcement.pdf) (pdf) the company faced “logistical and design challenges.”

He also acknowledged local opposition, adding, “it is clear to us that the community in Eldred Township does not believe the process around this project worked the way it was intended and that many of you have concerns about this project,” adding, “We have not been successful in gaining the same acceptance here in Eldred Township as we have in other communities that host our operations.”

When the announcement came, “The room went crazy,” Deihl said (http://www.pahomepage.com/news/nestle-water-extraction-plan-dries-up-in-kunkletown). “We clapped, we applauded, standing ovation. We cried.”

The news comes less than a month after voters in Hood River County, Ore. stopped (http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/18/people-power-just-trumped-corporate-power-oregon-county-rejects-nestle-water-grab) a years-long attempt by Nestlé to extract up to 100 million gallons a year of Oxbow Springs water and bottle it under the Arrowhead brand.

Indeed, as Alexis Bonogofsky previously reported (http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/06/10/%20http%3A//www.alternet.org/activism/nestle-trying-break-us-pennsylvania-town-fights-predatory-water-extraction), “Kunkletown residents’ effort to keep Nestlé out of their community is not an isolated or parochial fight. Nestlé, which has the largest share of the bottled water market in the United States, is looking to secure and privatize water resources in the U.S. and around the world.”

One such place the corporation is taking water (http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36161580) is in drought-stricken California.

Activists are gearing up for a rally outside a federal courthouse in Riverside, Calif. where a judge will consider a challenge to Nestlé’s water-bottling pipeline in the San Bernardino National Forest. “Why should Nestlé — the largest food and beverage company in the U.S. — get to operate a huge bottled water operation on a permit that’s been expired for 30 years during a historic drought when it’s causing what used to be a perennial stream that wildlife use to go dry?” said (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2016/san-bernardino-national-forest-06-10-2016.html) Ileene Anderson, senior scientist and public lands deserts director at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups behind the legal challenge.

Addressing such battles, Charles Pierce wrote (http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a44865/water-wars-nestle-pennsylvania/) at Esquire last month, ” If there is one element that cannot be turned over to whatever people believe market forces to be, it’s water. It should never be commodified or sold off to make some investor wealthy far from the people who need it. That this ever needs to be argued is a measure of how far we’ve allowed corporate power to change us as a nation,” he wrote.

[Hervé]

Montana town wins back municipal water supply from private company (https://www.rt.com/usa/354515-missoula-montana-water-supply/)

Published time: 3 Aug, 2016 18:25
Get short URL (http://on.rt.com/7ljn)


https://cdn.rt.com/files/2016.07/thumbnail/57924a7dc461888c738b4596.jpg (https://www.rt.com/usa/352768-marijuana-water-hugo-colorado/)


The city of Missoula, Montana won a state Supreme Court case to exercise eminent domain powers to seize water from private utility companies, ending a lengthy and expensive legal battle.

On Tuesday, the Montana Supreme Court ruled 5-2 in favor of Missoula to turn over control of the municipal Mountain Water Company’s water infrastructure from a private company.

The high court upheld the Missoula District Court, which ruled last spring that the ownership of the water system by the city was “more necessary” than its use by a private company. The lower court’s opinion cited $48,000 that goes to "travel and entertainment," a $103,000 "board of directors fee,” and $1.3 million for salaries of staff in California that it said made the cost of water the highest of any municipality in the state. Missoula was the only city in the state where a private company controlled the water supply.

The Supreme Court said this decision was based on “detailed factual findings.”

“The city desired to own the water system that serves its residents because city officials believe a community's water system is a public asset best owned and operated by the public,” the justices wrote in their decision.

Water commissioners set the value of the Montana Water Company’s water utilities at $88.6 million. However, because Montana Water Company’s former parent company, Carlyle Group, sold it to another owner during the legal proceedings, it’s unclear how exactly the transfer will take place.

The decision is also a reversal of a 1980's Montana Supreme Court ruling which had blocked an earlier effort by the city to wrest control of the water supply.

Mayor John Engen had waged a two-year legal battle that costed the city government nearly $6.2 million.

“I know that it has felt risky and expensive and long, but I’ve been convinced from day one that it was my responsibility to work with the community to figure this out and that the courts would help us get there,” Engen said, according (http://missoulian.com/news/local/updated-montana-supreme-court-clears-way-for-city-s-mountain/article_3aa3936a-7b41-5fc2-b91e-48ecb16bee36.html) to the Missoulian. “We have placed our trust in the system, and my sense is that the system has worked."

Justices Jim Rice and Laurie McKinnon gave minority opinions against the decision. Rice claimed the District Court had deprived Mountain Water of a constitutional right to due process, and McKinnon argued that the District Court had undermined policy issues surrounding public and private ownership.

Missoula is the largest city in Western Montana, with a population of more than 70,000.

[Hervé]

An elementary school has kids meditate instead of punishing them and the results are profound (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/school-sending-children-meditate/http://thefreethoughtproject.com/school-sending-children-meditate/)

John Vibes Free Thought Project (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/school-sending-children-meditate/http://thefreethoughtproject.com/school-sending-children-meditate/) Sun, 18 Sep 2016 20:49 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s17/345332/large/meditate.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s17/345332/full/meditate.jpg)


It was recently reported that Robert W. Coleman Elementary in West Baltimore will be taking a new and holistic approach to disciplining students. Instead of punishing them or sending them to the principal's office, administrators will now be sending children to "the mindful moment room" where they will be able to meditate and wind down.

The new policy has been in place for over a year, and in the time that the meditation room has been set up, there has actually been no suspensions throughout the entire year.

The program is an initiative organized by the Holistic Life Foundation, a Baltimore-based nonprofit organization committed to nurturing the wellness of children and adults in underserved communities.

Andres Gonzalez, one of the organizers of the project, says that children are even bringing home what they are learning to their families.
"That's how you stop the trickle-down effect, when Mom or Pops has a hard day and yells at the kids, and then the kids go to school and yell at their friends," he says. "We've had parents tell us, 'I came home the other day stressed out, and my daughter said, Hey, Mom, you need to sit down. I need to teach you how to breathe,'" Gonzalez said. (http://www.oprah.com/inspiration/Baltimore-City-Elementary-Meditation-With-Kids?FB=fb_omag_baltimore_elementary_meditation) There are many advantages to meditation, which are now being confirmed by scientific studies. We have learned through scientific research that meditation can relieve pain, enhance creativity, relieve stress and boost immune systems. In 1998, a breakthrough study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, by a DR. Dean Ornish showed that meditation can actually reverse heart disease. This study lasted for over 5 years and involved various control groups that all had coronary artery disease, and only one of these groups practiced meditation. Amazingly the group that practiced meditation had actually managed to reverse the effects of the illness.

The consistent application of bringing one's attention to the present moment is key to any form of meditation. This means that nearly any experience can be meditative. A bike ride, a walk under the stars, writing poetry, or any practice that offers individual quiet time within your own heart and mind can be considered a form of meditation.

Over time, various teachers organized their specific meditation practices into cohesive styles and philosophies, each with its own instructions and insights. Around the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, Confucian and Taoist meditations appear in China, and Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist meditations developed in India.

These various schools of meditation taught different methods for remaining in the present moment, some involving the counting of breaths, contemplative thought, or repeating sacred words and sounds known as Mantras.

There are also different types of meditation positions. Some schools practice sitting cross-legged ("lotus" or "half lotus"), walking, or lying down meditation. You also may have noticed that certain traditions will feature symbolic hand gestures and positions during their meditation. These are known as mudras and are found in Hindu and Buddhist practices. People also meditate for different reasons. Most people would say that meditation can be a religious or spiritual experience, while others find it to be a helpful relaxation and anger management tool.

In this one Baltimore school, the powers of living in the present are coming to fruition.

[Hervé]

Canada: Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project protest declared a victory (http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/11/04/the-protest-at-muskrat-falls-mainstream-media-ignored-and-why-its-important/)

Alexa Erickson Collective Evolution (http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/11/04/the-protest-at-muskrat-falls-mainstream-media-ignored-and-why-its-important/) Sun, 06 Nov 2016 15:38 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s17/355784/large/muskratfallsprotest_759x500.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s17/355784/full/muskratfallsprotest_759x500.jpg)
The protest site at the multibillion-dollar hydroelectric project in Labrador is finally coming to a close.


This marks an important victory for the Inuit, who protested and went on hunger strikes in the wake of Harvard University studies that warned the project at Muskrat Falls would poison their food sources. They urged the government to wake up and step in to help keep methylmercury from making its way into their waterways.

"The decisions that will be made, going forward, will not be at the whim of government," announced Todd Russell (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/nl-premier-aboriginal-leaders-make-progress-after-marathon-muskrat-falls-meeting/article32531403/), president of the NunatuKavut Community Council. "They will be made by science and it will incorporate the traditional knowledge of our people. This is a huge step forward."

People took the protesting to extremes, like Labrador Inuk artist and activist Billy Gauthier, who vowed he would die if that's what it took to ensure the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project was done right."I know this is for a good reason, for a good cause, and I will stand for as long as I can," he said (http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-october-25-2016-1.3818896/protesters-on-hunger-strike-oppose-plan-for-muskrat-falls-project-1.3818899).

Ossie Michelin, another protestor, had reported not eating for nearly two weeks, and had lost 21 pounds.

In Muskrat Falls, protesters had breached the gates at the project site, which is run by Nalcor Energy. The protestors explained that they weren't opposed to the project moving forward, but wanted to make sure it was done the right way, and that involves eliminating methylmercury.

Methylmercury occurs in nature when bacteria react with mercury in water, soil, or plants. As it moves up the food chain, its levels increase.

"You could drink a swimming pool of this water every day and it would not affect your health," explained Trevor Bell (http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/muskrat-falls-labrador-mehylmercury-1.3821827), a Memorial University of Newfoundland geographer and project leader on a study of methylmercury risks with the Muskrat Falls project. "When you get to the top of [the food chain], the fish and the seals, that's 10 million times the concentration as in the water."

The U.S. National Library of Medicine (https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001651.htm) calls methylmercury a poison that causes severe brain and spinal cord damage. It can lead to blindness, growth problems, and birth defects, and hinder mental functioning. It may also lead to cerebral palsy.

Mainstream media has been overwhelmingly quiet on this protest, as they seem to be with many important issues globally, but when the facts are presented, when people are risking their lives to stop others' lives from being harmed, something must, and needs, to be said.

Michelin noted (http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-october-25-2016-1.3818896/protesters-on-hunger-strike-oppose-plan-for-muskrat-falls-project-1.3818899) that the flooding, if the project went the way it was initially supposed to, would contaminate "our fish, our seals, our game, our way of life."

He continued on to say, "This isn't just our food source because we also have issues around food security, but our whole culture is is based upon hunting and fishing and gathering from the land. It's who we are."

Much like the water protectors at DAPL, Michelin says people did not come to the site to cause trouble. "We're not activists. We're just normal people fighting for our home."

Initially, Nalcor Energy wanted to flood the Muskrat Falls reservoir to build its dam. The biggest problem with this plan is that it could cause the already-present mercury at the site to turn into methylmercury, since it would release carbon from the soil and plant life, triggering the process of methylation. This reservoir is just upstream from the Lake Melville marine estuary, which is the Inuit's main source of fishing and hunting. Studies even concluded that the flooding could spike levels of methylmercury in Lake Melville far beyond what naturally occurs (http://www.pnas.org/content/112/38/11789).

And thanks to the plentiful information the protestors brought with them when occupying the reservoir to block the flooding, they were able to reach an agreement (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/dwight-ball-comments-meeting-1.3821277) that will ensure scientists analyze ways to reduce methylmercury contamination, and hopefully reveal the potential to clear the reservoir.

Bell called the agreement a win for grassroots democracy and science-based policy.

"The agreement is important for Labradorians and for Muskrat Falls, but has an impact beyond Labrador and nationwide on hydroelectric developments and evidence-base decision-making," he said (http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/muskrat-falls-labrador-mehylmercury-1.3821827).

[Hervé]

After Govt Ignored Him, this Man Turned a Dying River of Human Waste into Paradise — by Himself (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/man-turned-dying-river-human-waste-beautiful-paradise-teeming-life/)

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/man-turned-dying-river-human-waste-beautiful-paradise-teeming-life/)
Sat, 09 Apr 2016 00:00 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379020/large/9370689_1460192595_725x725.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379020/full/9370689_1460192595_725x725.jpg)
© Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal


In the year 2000, Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal decided that it was time to clean up a sacred part of the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, the Kali Bein river.

For centuries, city governments along the river had been dumping their human waste and garbage into this sacred Sikh waterway. After unsuccessfully attempting to convince the governments to stop dumping waste into the river, Seechewal drew on the Sikh tradition of kar sewa (free voluntary service).

That's when Sant Sichewal (also spelled Sancherwal, Sabarwahl, and Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal) jumped in for a cleansing bath of a different kind: one designed to awaken the people. He began cleaning the river single-handedly until his example, and his many narrations on the history and value of the Bein to Sikh history drew hundreds of followers to the task.


https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379022/large/ecobaba3_1460192736_725x725.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379022/full/ecobaba3_1460192736_725x725.jpg)
© Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal


Seechewal built a small team of recruits who would, in turn, teach the local people along the Kali Bein why they should clean their river. Their successful campaign raised funds for equipment, enlisted countless volunteers to provide physical work, and more than two dozen villages began helping in the efforts.

Through kar seva, he and thousands have, in a labor of love of untold hours, cleaned the river.


https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379026/large/386944487_1460192736_725x725.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379026/full/386944487_1460192736_725x725.jpg)
© Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal


According to the SikhiWiki, (http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Kali_Bein,_Kar_Sewa_Restores_the_Historic_River) the scale of the task was gigantic — volunteers cleared the entire riverbed of water hyacinth and silt, and built riverbanks and roads alongside the river. When appeals to government and municipal bodies failed to stop dirty water flowing into the river, Seechewal launched a public-awareness campaign to encourage villagers to dispose of their sewage elsewhere.


https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379024/large/12512248_1024435817649834_2243.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379024/full/12512248_1024435817649834_2243.jpg)
© Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal


Some villages revived traditional methods of waste disposal and treatment, and farmers lined up for a share of the treated water. After they could no longer deny the astonishing effects of Seechewal's efforts, a government order to divert water from a nearby canal was finally obtained. As the riverbed was cleared, natural springs revived and the river began to fill up.


https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379028/large/maxresdefault_1460192677_725x7.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379028/full/maxresdefault_1460192677_725x7.jpg)
Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, also known as 'Eco Baba'


According to the India Times, (http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/meet-sant-balbir-singh-seechewal-the-man-whose-single-mission-cleaned-up-a-dying-river-in-punjab-253204.html)not only did they clean it up and rejuvenate some parts of the river which had been dry for many years, but the team also worked hard to beautify the banks by planting trees.

With the restoration of its water flow, thousands of hectares of land have been reclaimed from water-logging in Tehsil Dasuya of Hoshiarpur District, from desertification in the Kapurthala district, and from floods in the Mand area of confluence of Beas and Satluj rivers.


https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379025/large/12936648_1024377560988993_6592.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379025/full/12936648_1024377560988993_6592.jpg)
© Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal


After a 400-year long period of neglect and pollution, today, this once revolting river now teems with life and is a beautiful sight for all who live near it.

Seechewal's mission teaches humanity a lesson of how to incite meaningful change — without the use of government force. For decades, people attempted to petition the government to halt the pollution of the Bein, but this was pointless. No action was ever taken.

Even if the government had "mandated" through the threat of force that the river not be polluted, many people would have ignored this as they had no other means or knowledge to act otherwise.

The only thing that saved this sacred river from becoming a flowing pit of toxic death was one man's ability to lead by example, and the seeking of a lesser ignorance.

Instead of using force to make the residents along the Bein stop polluting, Seechewal and his team spread knowledge.

According to the India Times, Sant Seechewal's works don't stop there. He has also been involved in setting up schools, technical centers and degree colleges, and also works toward eradicating poverty, ignorance, superstition, and atrocities against women.


https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379029/large/509353570_1460192860_725x725.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s18/379029/full/509353570_1460192860_725x725.jpg)
Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal


A crusader for the environment, Sant Seechewal has established plant nurseries at Seechewal and Sultanpur Lodhi where one lakh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh) plants are distributed annually, free of cost.

[Hervé]

ADHD solved when Texas schools increase recess time (http://www.wakingtimes.com/2017/02/28/texas-school-triples-recess-time-solving-attention-deficit-disorder/)

Vic Bishop Waking Times (http://www.wakingtimes.com/2017/02/28/texas-school-triples-recess-time-solving-attention-deficit-disorder/)
Tue, 28 Feb 2017 16:58 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s19/381055/large/Playground.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s19/381055/full/Playground.jpg)


Public education is more stressful than ever for our children, as standardized testing (http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/03/26/4th-grader-eloquently-rips-government-standardized-testing/) requirements increase and programs like art, music and physical education are being phased out. The result of this type of environment is predictable, and the medical establishment (http://www.wakingtimes.com/2017/02/16/medical-kidnapping-state-forcing-dangerous-treatments-kids/) and big pharma (http://www.wakingtimes.com/2016/07/19/outrageous-ways-big-pharma-bribed-doctors-shill-drugs/) are making a killing by drugging active children with ADHD (http://www.wakingtimes.com/?s=ADHD) medications and other psychotropic drugs in order to ensure conformity.

There are better solutions. Meditation in schools (http://wakingtimesmedia.com/elementary-school-kids-meditate-instead-punishing-results-profound/) is highly effective at reducing school violence and increasing concentration for learning. Higher quality nutritious and organic foods, rather than processed snack foods and fast foods, when served in school cafeterias are another part of creating an environment more conducive to the needs of children.

The most common sense, natural solution to inattentive behavior in school children, however, may be the basic idea of giving children more time to free play and to engage their bodies in physical activity. It's such a simple notion in such unusual times that it actually sounds revolutionary, and several schools in Texas are being hailed for trying a new program which solves behavioral problems by doing nothing more than allowing children to play outside more often during the school day (http://www.today.com/parents/want-kids-listen-more-fidget-less-try-more-recess-school-t65536).

Simple ideas like this have been proven to work well in places like Finland (https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-finland-keeps-kids-focused/373544/), where students' test scores improved along with increased play time, a case which serves as the inspiration for a program in Texas schools which have quadrupled the amount of outdoor recreational time, seeing amazing results in terms of overall increase in focus and decreases in distraction and behavioral interruptions.
"According to Today (http://www.today.com/parents/want-kids-listen-more-fidget-less-try-more-recess-school-t65536), the Eagle Mountain Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas, has been giving kindergarten and first-grade students two 15-minute recess breaks every morning and two 15-minute breaks every afternoon to go play outside. At first teachers were worried about losing the classroom time and being able to cover all the material they needed with what was left, but now that the experiment has been going on for about five months, teachers say the kids are actually learning more because they're better able to focus in class and pay attention without fidgeting." [Source (http://www.scarymommy.com/texas-school-triples-recess-time-and-sees-immediate-positive-results-in-kids/)] The key to the success of the program is 'unstructured play' four times a day to break up the physical and mental monotony of the classroom, allowing developing minds and bodies to constructively use their energies, so that their may be more effectively applied in learning.

While administrators in schools trying the program initially thought it would negatively affect testing results, the results have proven that the opposite is in fact true, which is in line with how the American Academy of Pediatrics sees playtime.
"The American Academy of Pediatrics (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/1/183) agrees, calling recess "a crucial and necessary component of a child's development." Studies show it offers important cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits, yet many schools are cutting down on breaks to squeeze in more lessons, which may be counterproductive, it warns." [Source (http://www.today.com/parents/want-kids-listen-more-fidget-less-try-more-recess-school-t65536)] Medicating restless children (http://www.wakingtimes.com/2014/01/02/mental-handcuffs-kids-view-adhd-medications/) for them to better fit in to a dumbed down education system is a grave mistake, criminal even. Programs like these desperately need to be implemented nation wide.
"You start putting 15 minutes of what I call 'reboot' into these kids every so often and... it gives the platform for them to be able to function at their best level." ~ Dr. Debbie Rhea, creator and director of the Liink Program (https://liinkproject.tcu.edu/)

Related:
See post # 17 (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?57933-Now-that-s-encouraging...&p=1099890&viewfull=1#post1099890), above.

[BongoBob]

There are better solutions. Meditation in schools (http://wakingtimesmedia.com/elementary-school-kids-meditate-instead-punishing-results-profound/) is highly effective at reducing school violence and increasing concentration for learning. Higher quality nutritious and organic foods, rather than processed snack foods and fast foods, when served in school cafeterias are another part of creating an environment more conducive to the needs of children.

The most common sense, natural solution to inattentive behavior in school children, however, may be the basic idea of giving children more time to free play and to engage their bodies in physical activity. It's such a simple notion in such unusual times that it actually sounds revolutionary, and several schools in Texas are being hailed for trying a new program which solves behavioral problems by doing nothing more than allowing children to play outside more often during the school day (http://www.today.com/parents/want-kids-listen-more-fidget-less-try-more-recess-school-t65536).

Simple ideas like this have been proven to work well in places like Finland (https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-finland-keeps-kids-focused/373544/), where students' test scores improved along with increased play time, a case which serves as the inspiration for a program in Texas schools which have quadrupled the amount of outdoor recreational time, seeing amazing results in terms of overall increase in focus and decreases in distraction and behavioral interruptions.
"According to Today (http://www.today.com/parents/want-kids-listen-more-fidget-less-try-more-recess-school-t65536), the Eagle Mountain Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas, has been giving kindergarten and first-grade students two 15-minute recess breaks every morning and two 15-minute breaks every afternoon to go play outside. At first teachers were worried about losing the classroom time and being able to cover all the material they needed with what was left, but now that the experiment has been going on for about five months, teachers say the kids are actually learning more because they're better able to focus in class and pay attention without fidgeting." [Source (http://www.scarymommy.com/texas-school-triples-recess-time-and-sees-immediate-positive-results-in-kids/)] The key to the success of the program is 'unstructured play' four times a day to break up the physical and mental monotony of the classroom, allowing developing minds and bodies to constructively use their energies, so that their may be more effectively applied in learning.



Better solutions indeed! Now, how about we get the children learning how to plant community gardens on the schoolyards, with lessons spanning the range of permaculture ideas. Not only would classes like these supplant the "Unstructured playtime alotted outside", but also allow the children to solve the issue of lacking nutritious foods! :flower:

[Hervé]

A miracle in Chicago (https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2017/03/07/a-miracle-in-chicago/)

By Jon Rappoport (https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/author/jonrappoport/) Mar 7 (https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2017/03/07/a-miracle-in-chicago/), 2017

It turns out that gang killings and drugs are not the only markers of life and death in Chicago. Far from it.

If you consult the Chicago Urban Agriculture Directory (https://auachicago.org/resources/chicago-urban-agriculture-directory/), you find a staggering list of city farms and gardens where clean nutritious food is grown:

Urban Farms and Gardens in Chicago and Nearby
• 62nd & Dorchester Community Garden
• Academy for Global Citizenship School Garden
• African Heritage Garden
• Altgeld Sawyer Corner Farm
• Angelic Organics Learning Center Urban Initiative (Eat to Live Englewood Learning Garden, Urban Incubator Farm, etc)
• Bay Bay’s Peace Garden (Loud Grade Produce Squad)
• The Bayless Production Garden (Shores Garden Consulting)
• Benton House Backyard Botany
• Big Delicious Planet Kitchen Garden
• Bronzeville Community Garden
• Chicago Honey Co-Op
• Chicago Lights Urban Farm
• Chicago Patchwork Farms
• City Farm
• DePaul Urban Garden
• Dunne Technology Academy Mini Farm
• East Garfield Block Club Garden
• Eden Place Nature Center
• The Edible Gardens (Lincoln Park Zoo)
• El Paseo Community Garden
• Farmed Here
• Frankie Machine Community Garden (Wicker Park)
• Gardeneers School Gardens
• Gingko Organic Gardens
• Global Garden Refugee Training Farm
• GreenTown Waukegan
• Growing Power Chicago Farms
• Growing Home Farms
• KAM Isaiah Israel’s Farm and Gardens
• Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse and Community Garden
• Loyola University
• Metropolitan Farms
• The Millenium Neighborhood Garden
• Moah’s Ark
• The Mycelia Project
• Natalie G. Heineman Smart Love Preschool Garden
• Peterson Garden Project
• The Plant
• Pleasant Farms
• preSERVE garden
• Purple Leaf Farms
• Rainbow Beach Victory Garden
• Roots & Rays
• Roseland Community Peace Garden
• Rosemarie Rochetta Wessies Rooftoop Garden (Loyola)
• The Ruby Garden
• South Chicago Art Center’s Artists’ Garden
• The Talking Farm
• Third Unitarian Church Community Garden
• Timuel D. Black Edible Arts Garden
• Uncommon Ground Organic Roof Top Farm
• Urban Canopy
• Weiss Rooftop Farm (Loud Grade Produce Squad)
• Windy City Harvest (Chicago Botanic Garden)
• Xochiquetzal Peace Garden
And this is only a partial list. The Chicago Urban Agriculture Mapping Project (https://auachicago.org/projects/urban-agriculture-mappinginventory-project/) has a much larger count, which includes private/residential gardens. Their total, which is constantly updated? 888.

I have written several articles about the needed expansion of urban farms across America, particularly in poverty-stricken communities, and how, with that expansion, there is a critical-mass point at which the basis of all life in those areas would be transformed in a positive revolutionary way.

Of course, not only do citizens participate in growing their own clean nutritious food and eating it, but they can sell the excess to markets and launch profit-making enterprises. True value for value.

Such an expansion would do more for those cities and communities, from coast to coast, than all the federal programs of the past 50 years, since Lyndon Johnson announced the US government War on Poverty. Trillions of dollars have been spent (https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/outrage-in-inner-cities-the-source/), with no true accounting. Who knows how much has been diverted and stolen. But the upshot is, conditions are far worse now, in many areas, than they were 50 years ago.

But in Chicago (and other cities), people have taken matters into their own hands. They’ve launched farms and gardens and they’ve endured and grown.

I’m trying to remember the last time Chicago Mayor Emanuel gave a major extended speech about local urban farms, their vital value, and the need for their expansion. Oh, never. That’s right.

And when did Barack Hope & Change Obama, George W No Child Left Behind Bush, Bill I Feel your Pain Clinton, and the other George Kinder and Gentler Bush deliver such a speech?

But to repeat, in Chicago (and other cities), people have taken matters into their own hands. They’ve launched farms and gardens, and they’ve endured and grown.

They haven’t waited. They haven’t waited for the politicians to catch up. Smart move.

It’s absurd to consider how, with an infinitesimal fraction of the funds poured out in the War on Poverty, every city in America could, by now, be flourishing in so many ways—through urban farms. Greater vitality, greater health, greater participation, greater profits, a greater citizen-stake in safe neighborhoods…

And those federal seed monies could have come in the form of long-term loans—all of which would have been paid back by now.

If Mr. Trump and Mr. Bannon want to take a few minutes out of their schedule, they might consider a new idea people have known about since the industrial revolution…since, in fact, there were cities: growing food in urban areas—and what it could do to make America great again.

Jon Rappoport

[Hervé]

Police chief encourages officers to practice meditation to help ease stress of policing and aid development (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/arizona-police-chief-meditation-key-piece-officer-development/story?id=45966480)

Lauren Effron ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/arizona-police-chief-meditation-key-piece-officer-development/story?id=45966480)
Wed, 08 Mar 2017 17:26 UTC


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At a time when there is an uneasy, sometimes even volatile, divide between some communities and the police officers who are sworn to protect them, one police chief is encouraging her department to practice meditation as a way to help ease the stress of policing.

Chief Sylvia Moir, who has been the head of the Tempe Police Department in Tempe, Arizona, for the past year and has nearly 30 years of policing experience, believes teaching and practicing meditation should be a key piece of police officer development.

"In policing, it's essential that we respond. We don't react," Moir told ABC News' Dan Harris in an interview for his "10% Happier (http://abcn.ws/10percent)" podcast. "Without a doubt I think the [meditation] practice shows promise, getting us to be present, not take triggers, not take the bait that makes us react and if the practice can get us to see the perspective of another to enhance our compassion, then I think it does lend itself to broader application in policing."
It's important for officers to "be tactically sound and physically fit," Moir said. She practices mindfulness, a series of meditation techniques that are designed to slow the mind, focus on the breath and bring attention back from distraction, as well as gratitude -- focusing on positive emotions.

"I really practice gratitude a lot," she said. "I say thank you for the people that come at me with anger, I say thank you for things I used to fight against, and it's given me a really interesting kind of path."
Moir said she usually practices meditation in the early morning for about 10 minutes while sitting in a chair.

"The great thing about meditation is that it takes no equipment," she said. "I'm a runner and I've run, in the past, full marathons and I need my shoes and nowadays I need my GPS and I need my fuel and I need all my stuff and meditation really offers you ... this equipment-free practice that enriches your life."
Moir spoke at length about benefits of meditation, including how it not only helps officers make smarter decisions in the field but also how it makes them more thoughtful people who see tense situations from all perspectives, not just their own.

"It takes courage because there's this narrative around police officers that we are hard and tough and cynical," she said. "[But] I have found police officers to be incredible people, and we view our responsibility, our duty and this call that we are guardians always and warriors when we need to be."
Moir admitted that some of her officers will grumble about whether it will make them lose their "edge," but she doesn't see it that way.

"We're really good at -- I call them perishable skills, the shooting, driving, defensible tactics," she said. "And what we're doing with mindfulness practices is we're saying, 'Look, we're going to give you a set of tools, you take it, you use it for the whole you, personal and professional, make it what works for you. Maybe a little quirky. ... Maybe different from what somebody else does but you make it yours.'"
As chief, Moir said mindfulness helps her deal with the public in high-stress situations and also lead her fellow officers. The practice has been useful, she said, in helping her realize "micro-cues" she may be unintentionally sending, such as a raised eyebrow or a squint, when she's meeting with an officer or a grieving family member.

"I meet with a lot of people who are really angry," she said. "I meet with people who are suffering, who don't feel like they have been served by the justice system ... with family members who have lost someone, [with] officers that have done wrong and I'm holding them accountable ... it's in those moments where I have to really engage but also listen."

[Hervé]

Starting with increase in recess-times fun (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?57933-Now-that-s-encouraging...&p=1138301&viewfull=1#post1138301) and meditation (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?57933-Now-that-s-encouraging...&p=1099890&viewfull=1#post1099890) instead of punishment, here is what can happen to a 330,000-strong community (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland) when "family values" and "community's future" are envisaged:

Iceland knows how to stop teen substance abuse - but the rest of the world isn't listening (https://mosaicscience.com/story/iceland-prevent-teen-substance-abuse?utm_source=homepage%20promo)

Emma Young Mosaic (https://mosaicscience.com)17 January 2017
In Iceland, teenage smoking, drinking and drug use have been radically cut in the past 20 years. Emma Young finds out how they did it, and why other countries won’t follow suit.
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It's a little before three on a sunny Friday afternoon and Laugardalur Park, near central Reykjavik, looks practically deserted. There's an occasional adult with a pushchair, but the park's surrounded by apartment blocks and houses, and school's out - so where are all the kids?

Walking with me are Gudberg Jónsson, a local psychologist, and Harvey Milkman, an American psychology professor who teaches for part of the year at Reykjavik University. Twenty years ago, says Gudberg, Icelandic teens were among the heaviest-drinking youths in Europe. "You couldn't walk the streets in downtown Reykjavik on a Friday night because it felt unsafe," adds Milkman. "There were hordes of teenagers getting in-your-face drunk."

We approach a large building. "And here we have the indoor skating," says Gudberg.

A couple of minutes ago, we passed two halls dedicated to badminton and ping pong. Here in the park, there's also an athletics track, a geothermally heated swimming pool and - at last - some visible kids, excitedly playing football on an artificial pitch.

Young people aren't hanging out in the park right now, Gudberg explains, because they're in after-school classes in these facilities, or in clubs for music, dance or art. Or they might be on outings with their parents.

Today, Iceland tops the European table for the cleanest-living teens. The percentage of 15- and 16-year-olds who had been drunk in the previous month plummeted from 42 per cent in 1998 to 5 per cent in 2016. The percentage who have ever used cannabis is down from 17 per cent to 7 per cent. Those smoking cigarettes every day fell from 23 per cent to just 3 per cent.

The way the country has achieved this turnaround has been both radical and evidence-based, but it has relied a lot on what might be termed enforced common sense. "This is the most remarkably intense and profound study of stress in the lives of teenagers that I have ever seen," says Milkman. "I'm just so impressed by how well it is working."

If it was adopted in other countries, Milkman argues, the Icelandic model could benefit the general psychological and physical wellbeing of millions of kids, not to mention the coffers of healthcare agencies and broader society. It's a big if.

"I was in the eye of the storm of the drug revolution," Milkman explains over tea in his apartment in Reykjavik. In the early 1970s, when he was doing an internship at the Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital in New York City, "LSD was already in, and a lot of people were smoking marijuana. And there was a lot of interest in why people took certain drugs."

Milkman's doctoral dissertation concluded that people would choose either heroin or amphetamines depending on how they liked to deal with stress. Heroin users wanted to numb themselves; amphetamine users wanted to actively confront it. After this work was published, he was among a group of researchers drafted by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse to answer questions such as: why do people start using drugs? Why do they continue? When do they reach a threshold to abuse? When do they stop? And when do they relapse?

"Any college kid could say: why do they start? Well, there's availability, they're risk-takers, alienation, maybe some depression," he says. "But why do they continue? So I got to the question about the threshold for abuse and the lights went on - that's when I had my version of the 'aha' experience: they could be on the threshold for abuse before they even took the drug, because it was their style of coping that they were abusing."

At Metropolitan State College of Denver, Milkman was instrumental in developing the idea that people were getting addicted to changes in brain chemistry. Kids who were "active confronters" were after a rush - they'd get it by stealing hubcaps and radios and later cars, or through stimulant drugs. Alcohol also alters brain chemistry, of course. It's a sedative but it sedates the brain's control first, which can remove inhibitions and, in limited doses, reduce anxiety.

"People can get addicted to drink, cars, money, sex, calories, cocaine - whatever," says Milkman. "The idea of behavioural addiction became our trademark."

This idea spawned another: "Why not orchestrate a social movement around natural highs: around people getting high on their own brain chemistry - because it seems obvious to me that people want to change their consciousness - without the deleterious effects of drugs?"

By 1992, his team in Denver had won a $1.2 million government grant to form Project Self-Discovery, which offered teenagers natural-high alternatives to drugs and crime. They got referrals from teachers, school nurses and counsellors, taking in kids from the age of 14 who didn't see themselves as needing treatment but who had problems with drugs or petty crime.

"We didn't say to them, you're coming in for treatment. We said, we'll teach you anything you want to learn: music, dance, hip hop, art, martial arts." The idea was that these different classes could provide a variety of alterations in the kids' brain chemistry, and give them what they needed to cope better with life: some might crave an experience that could help reduce anxiety, others may be after a rush.

At the same time, the recruits got life-skills training, which focused on improving their thoughts about themselves and their lives, and the way they interacted with other people. "The main principle was that drug education doesn't work because nobody pays attention to it. What is needed are the life skills to act on that information," Milkman says. Kids were told it was a three-month programme. Some stayed five years.

In 1991, Milkman was invited to Iceland to talk about this work, his findings and ideas. He became a consultant to the first residential drug treatment centre for adolescents in Iceland, in a town called Tindar. "It was designed around the idea of giving kids better things to do," he explains. It was here that he met Gudberg, who was then a psychology undergraduate and a volunteer at Tindar. They have been close friends ever since.

Milkman started coming regularly to Iceland and giving talks. These talks, and Tindar, attracted the attention of a young researcher at the University of Iceland, called Inga Dóra Sigfúsdóttir. She wondered: what if you could use healthy alternatives to drugs and alcohol as part of a programme not to treat kids with problems, but to stop kids drinking or taking drugs in the first place?

Have you ever tried alcohol? If so, when did you last have a drink? Have you ever been drunk? Have you tried cigarettes? If so, how often do you smoke? How much time do you spend with your parents? Do you have a close relationship with your parents? What kind of activities do you take part in?

In 1992, 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds in every school in Iceland filled in a questionnaire with these kinds of questions. This process was then repeated in 1995 and 1997.

The results of these surveys were alarming. Nationally, almost 25 per cent were smoking every day, over 40 per cent had got drunk in the past month. But when the team drilled right down into the data, they could identify precisely which schools had the worst problems - and which had the least. Their analysis revealed clear differences between the lives of kids who took up drinking, smoking and other drugs, and those who didn't. A few factors emerged as strongly protective: participation in organised activities - especially sport - three or four times a week, total time spent with parents during the week, feeling cared about at school, and not being outdoors in the late evenings.

"At that time, there had been all kinds of substance prevention efforts and programmes," says Inga Dóra, who was a research assistant on the surveys. "Mostly they were built on education." Kids were being warned about the dangers of drink and drugs, but, as Milkman had observed in the US, these programmes were not working. "We wanted to come up with a different approach."

The mayor of Reykjavik, too, was interested in trying something new, and many parents felt the same, adds Jón Sigfússon, Inga Dóra's colleague and brother. Jón had young daughters at the time and joined her new Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis when it was set up in 1999. "The situation was bad," he says. "It was obvious something had to be done."

Using the survey data and insights from research including Milkman's, a new national plan was gradually introduced. It was called Youth in Iceland.

Laws were changed. It became illegal to buy tobacco under the age of 18 and alcohol under the age of 20, and tobacco and alcohol advertising was banned. Links between parents and school were strengthened through parental organisations which by law had to be established in every school, along with school councils with parent representatives. Parents were encouraged to attend talks on the importance of spending a quantity of time with their children rather than occasional "quality time", on talking to their kids about their lives, on knowing who their kids were friends with, and on keeping their children home in the evenings.

A law was also passed prohibiting children aged between 13 and 16 from being outside after 10pm in winter and midnight in summer. It's still in effect today.

Home and School, the national umbrella body for parental organisations, introduced agreements for parents to sign. The content varies depending on the age group, and individual organisations can decide what they want to include. For kids aged 13 and up, parents can pledge to follow all the recommendations, and also, for example, not to allow their kids to have unsupervised parties, not to buy alcohol for minors, and to keep an eye on the wellbeing of other children.

These agreements educate parents but also help to strengthen their authority in the home, argues Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir, director of Home and School. "Then it becomes harder to use the oldest excuse in the book: 'But everybody else can!'"

State funding was increased for organised sport, music, art, dance and other clubs, to give kids alternative ways to feel part of a group, and to feel good, rather than through using alcohol and drugs, and kids from low-income families received help to take part. In Reykjavik, for instance, where more than a third of the country's population lives, a Leisure Card gives families 35,000 krona (£250) per year per child to pay for recreational activities.

Crucially, the surveys have continued. Each year, almost every child in Iceland completes one. This means up-to-date, reliable data is always available.

Between 1997 and 2012, the percentage of kids aged 15 and 16 who reported often or almost always spending time with their parents on weekdays doubled - from 23 per cent to 46 per cent - and the percentage who participated in organised sports at least four times a week increased from 24 per cent to 42 per cent. Meanwhile, cigarette smoking, drinking and cannabis use in this age group plummeted.

"Although this cannot be shown in the form of a causal relationship - which is a good example of why primary prevention methods are sometimes hard to sell to scientists - the trend is very clear," notes Álfgeir Kristjánsson, who worked on the data and is now at the West Virginia University School of Public Health in the US. "Protective factors have gone up, risk factors down, and substance use has gone down - and more consistently in Iceland than in any other European country."

Jón Sigfússon apologies for being just a couple of minutes late. "I was on a crisis call!" He prefers not to say precisely to where, but it was to one of the cities elsewhere in the world that has now adopted, in part, the Youth in Iceland ideas.

Youth in Europe, which Jón heads, began in 2006 after the already-remarkable Icelandic data was presented at a European Cities Against Drugs meeting and, he recalls, "People asked: what are you doing?"

Participation in Youth in Europe is at a municipal level rather than being led by national governments. In the first year, there were eight municipalities. To date, 35 have taken part, across 17 countries, varying from some areas where just a few schools take part to Tarragona in Spain, where 4,200 15-year-olds are involved. The method is always the same: Jón and his team talk to local officials and devise a questionnaire with the same core questions as those used in Iceland plus any locally tailored extras. For example, online gambling has recently emerged as a big problem in a few areas, and local officials want to know if it's linked to other risky behaviour.

Just two months after the questionnaires are returned to Iceland, the team sends back an initial report with the results, plus information on how they compare with other participating regions. "We always say that, like vegetables, information has to be fresh," says Jón. "If you bring these findings a year later, people would say, Oh, this was a long time ago and maybe things have changed..." As well as fresh, it has to be local so that schools, parents and officials can see exactly what problems exist in which areas.

The team has analysed 99,000 questionnaires from places as far afield as the Faroe Islands, Malta and Romania - as well as South Korea and, very recently, Nairobi and Guinea-Bissau. Broadly, the results show that when it comes to teen substance use, the same protective and risk factors identified in Iceland apply everywhere. There are some differences: in one location (in a country "on the Baltic Sea"), participation in organised sport actually emerged as a risk factor. Further investigation revealed that this was because young ex-military men who were keen on muscle-building drugs, drinking and smoking were running the clubs. Here, then, was a well-defined, immediate, local problem that could be addressed.

While Jón and his team offer advice and information on what has been found to work in Iceland, it's up to individual communities to decide what to do in the light of their results. Occasionally, they do nothing. One predominantly Muslim country, which he prefers not to identify, rejected the data because it revealed an unpalatable level of alcohol consumption. In other cities - such as the origin of Jón's "crisis call" - there is an openness to the data and there is money, but he has observed that it can be much more difficult to secure and maintain funding for health prevention strategies than for treatments.

No other country has made changes on the scale seen in Iceland. When asked if anyone has copied the laws to keep children indoors in the evening, Jón smiles. "Even Sweden laughs and calls it the child curfew!"

Across Europe, rates of teen alcohol and drug use have generally improved over the past 20 years, though nowhere as dramatically as in Iceland, and the reasons for improvements are not necessarily linked to strategies that foster teen wellbeing. In the UK, for example, the fact that teens are now spending more time at home interacting online rather than in person could be one of the major reasons for the drop in alcohol consumption.

But Kaunas, in Lithuania, is one example of what can happen through active intervention. Since 2006, the city has administered the questionnaires five times, and schools, parents, healthcare organisations, churches, the police and social services have come together to try to improve kids' wellbeing and curb substance use. For instance, parents get eight or nine free parenting sessions each year, and a new programme provides extra funding for public institutions and NGOs working in mental health promotion and stress management. In 2015, the city started offering free sports activities on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and there are plans to introduce a free ride service for low-income families, to help kids who don't live close to the facilities to attend.

Between 2006 and 2014, the number of 15- and 16-year-olds in Kaunas who reported getting drunk in the past 30 days fell by about a quarter, and daily smoking fell by more than 30 per cent.

At the moment, participation in Youth in Europe is a haphazard affair, and the team in Iceland is small. Jón would like to see a centralised body with its own dedicated funding to focus on the expansion of Youth in Europe. "Even though we have been doing this for ten years, it is not our full, main job. We would like somebody to copy this and maintain it all over Europe," he says. "And why only Europe?"


§

After our walk through Laugardalur Park, Gudberg Jónsson invites us back to his home. Outside, in the garden, his two elder sons, Jón Konrád, who's 21, and Birgir Ísar, who's 15, talk to me about drinking and smoking. Jón does drink alcohol, but Birgir says he doesn't know anyone at his school who smokes or drinks. We also talk about football training: Birgir trains five or six times a week; Jón, who is in his first year of a business degree at the University of Iceland, trains five times a week. They both started regular after-school training when they were six years old.

"We have all these instruments at home," their father told me earlier. "We tried to get them into music. We used to have a horse. My wife is really into horse riding. But it didn't happen. In the end, soccer was their selection."

Did it ever feel like too much? Was there pressure to train when they'd rather have been doing something else? "No, we just had fun playing football," says Birgir. Jón adds, "We tried it and got used to it, and so we kept on doing it."

It's not all they do. While Gudberg and his wife Thórunn don't consciously plan for a certain number of hours each week with their three sons, they do try to take them regularly to the movies, the theatre, restaurants, hiking, fishing and, when Iceland's sheep are brought down from the highlands each September, even on family sheep-herding outings.

Jón and Birgir may be exceptionally keen on football, and talented (Jón has been offered a soccer scholarship to the Metropolitan State University of Denver, and a few weeks after we meet, Birgir is selected to play for the under-17 national team). But could the significant rise in the percentage of kids who take part in organised sport four or more times a week be bringing benefits beyond raising healthier children?

Could it, for instance, have anything to do with Iceland's crushing defeat of England in the Euro 2016 football championship? When asked, Inga Dóra Sigfúsdóttir, who was voted Woman of the Year in Iceland in 2016, smiles: "There is also the success in music, like Of Monsters and Men [an indie folk-pop group from Reykjavik]. These are young people who have been pushed into organised work. Some people have thanked me," she says, with a wink.

Elsewhere, cities that have joined Youth in Europe are reporting other benefits. In Bucharest, for example, the rate of teen suicides is dropping alongside use of drink and drugs. In Kaunas, the number of children committing crimes dropped by a third between 2014 and 2015.

As Inga Dóra says: "We learned through the studies that we need to create circumstances in which kids can lead healthy lives, and they do not need to use substances, because life is fun, and they have plenty to do - and they are supported by parents who will spend time with them."

When it comes down to it, the messages - if not necessarily the methods - are straightforward. And when he looks at the results, Harvey Milkman thinks of his own country, the US. Could the Youth in Iceland model work there, too?


§

Three hundred and twenty-five million people versus 330,000. Thirty-three thousand gangs versus virtually none. Around 1.3 million homeless young people versus a handful.

Clearly, the US has challenges that Iceland does not. But the data from other parts of Europe, including cities such as Bucharest with major social problems and relative poverty, shows that the Icelandic model can work in very different cultures, Milkman argues. And the need in the US is high: underage drinking accounts for about 11 per cent of all alcohol consumed nationwide, and excessive drinking causes more than 4,300 deaths among under-21 year olds every year.

A national programme along the lines of Youth in Iceland is unlikely to be introduced in the US, however. One major obstacle is that while in Iceland there is long-term commitment to the national project, community health programmes in the US are usually funded by short-term grants.

Milkman has learned the hard way that even widely applauded, gold-standard youth programmes aren't always expanded, or even sustained. "With Project Self-Discovery, it seemed like we had the best programme in the world," he says. "I was invited to the White House twice. It won national awards. I was thinking: this will be replicated in every town and village. But it wasn't."

He thinks that is because you can't prescribe a generic model to every community because they don't all have the same resources. Any move towards giving kids in the US the opportunities to participate in the kinds of activities now common in Iceland, and so helping them to stay away from alcohol and other drugs, will depend on building on what already exists. "You have to rely on the resources of the community," he says.

His colleague Álfgeir Kristjánsson is introducing the Icelandic ideas to the state of West Virginia. Surveys are being given to kids at several middle and high schools in the state, and a community coordinator will help get the results out to parents and anyone else who could use them to help local kids. But it might be difficult to achieve the kinds of results seen in Iceland, he concedes.

Short-termism also impedes effective prevention strategies in the UK, says Michael O'Toole, CEO of Mentor, a charity that works to reduce alcohol and drug misuse in children and young people. Here, too, there is no national coordinated alcohol and drug prevention programme. It's generally left to local authorities or to schools, which can often mean kids are simply given information about the dangers of drugs and alcohol - a strategy that, he agrees, evidence shows does not work.

O'Toole fully endorses the Icelandic focus on parents, school and the community all coming together to help support kids, and on parents or carers being engaged in young people's lives. Improving support for kids could help in so many ways, he stresses. Even when it comes just to alcohol and smoking, there is plenty of data to show that the older a child is when they have their first drink or cigarette, the healthier they will be over the course of their life.

But not all the strategies would be acceptable in the UK - the child curfews being one, parental walks around neighbourhoods to identify children breaking the rules perhaps another. And a trial run by Mentor in Brighton that involved inviting parents into schools for workshops found that it was difficult to get them engaged.

Public wariness and an unwillingness to engage will be challenges wherever the Icelandic methods are proposed, thinks Milkman, and go to the heart of the balance of responsibility between states and citizens. "How much control do you want the government to have over what happens with your kids? Is this too much of the government meddling in how people live their lives?"

In Iceland, the relationship between people and the state has allowed an effective national programme to cut the rates of teenagers smoking and drinking to excess - and, in the process, brought families closer and helped kids to become healthier in all kinds of ways. Will no other country decide these benefits are worth the costs?

Related:
What is the root cause of addiction, and how do you heal it? (http://upliftconnect.com/the-root-cause-of-addiction-and-how-to-heal-it/)
School to prison pipeline: New hysterical Missouri law makes schoolyard fights a felony (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/school-fights-felony-prison-pipeline/)

===========================================

Of course, such programs are flying in the teeth of Agenda 21 and its programmed destruction of the family unit as building block of nations. Never mind the CIA fund raising lucrative business...

On the other hand, such programs built from scratch on solid rationals, do away with community elders and/or religious dogmas instituting their "Because we said so! (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?79200-A-paper-examining-the-rise-and-fall-of-empires&p=1138264&viewfull=1#post1138264)"

[Flash]

And there would be more if the communication companies - telephone cie who supply cable and fiber optic with tv - telephone - internet bundles would not force us to get tv by making it as expensive to have telephone and internet alone without tv and/or with tv (same price, no reduction in pricing if you cancel the tv). So we just do not unsubscribe, but do not listen to tv.

I bet anything 8% would be 16% without the bundles sold to us. None of my friends listen to tv, none of my daughter's friends either.


The 'tuned out' Canadians who don't pay for TV
http://tech.ca.msn.com/the-tuned-out-canadians-who-dont-pay-for-tv-2

TORONTO - The number of "tuned out" Canadians, those who don't subscribe to conventional TV, has doubled in recent years and now represents eight per cent of the population, suggests a new report.



http://blu.stb.s-msn.com/i/FE/69CC342AE1DC771D747043350B5E5_h256_w371_m2_q80_cHWbVNdAv.jpg

A customer looks at televisions at a Best Buy store, Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, in Franklin, Tenn. The number of "tuned out" Canadians, those who don't subscribe to conventional TV, has doubled in recent years and now represents eight per cent of the population, suggests a new report. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mark Humphrey


TORONTO - The number of "tuned out" Canadians, those who don't subscribe to conventional TV, has doubled in recent years and now represents eight per cent of the population, suggests a new report.

Since 2007, a steady four per cent of Canadians surveyed by the Media Technology Monitor, which regularly polls Canadians about tech trends, reported they were tuned out.

Tuned out Canadians either didn't have a TV set, only used it to watch VHS tapes, DVDs or Blu-rays, or streamed digital content rather than paying for a TV plan. They tended to be younger and highly educated and major users of the Internet, says MTM.

In the recent fall survey, about 49 per cent were between 18 and 34, and 51 per cent had a university education. Tuned out Canadians spent 20 hours a week surfing the web compared to the 15.4 hours TV subscribers were online.

MTM noted the numbers of tuned out Canadians started to rise in 2011, after those who were receiving analog over-the-air signals for free TV were forced to transition to a digital signal or lose access to the limited number of channels they were picking up by antenna.

According to MTM, many decided they were fine without TV, as the number of tuned out Canadians nearly doubled to seven per cent of the population.

In 2012, the number of tuned out Canadians rose another percentage point, which MTM attributed to the growing availability of video content available to stream online, via TV network websites and services such as Netflix.

MTM's most-recent numbers on tuned out Canadians are based on polling of 8,011 adults conducted between October and December of last year and are considered accurate within plus or minus 1.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Another report, released Tuesday by the Convergence Consulting Group, suggested about 2.1 per cent of Canadian TV customers, totalling about 250,000, cancelled their subscriptions between 2011 and 2012. The report predicted the figure would rise to 3.2 per cent, or about 380,000 households, by the end of 2013.

Rogers says their company is paying attention to tuned out Canadians and exploring ways to turn them into customers.

"There's definitely thinking going on about what kind of model would make sense — to university students (for example) who perhaps don't have a cable, satellite or IPTV subscription — how do you create a product that's relevant for them?" said David Purdy, senior vice-president of content for Rogers.

"You've got to be customer-centric and innovate and recognize there's a certain number of people out there that today don't subscribe to (a TV package). But you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot with pricing that's not smart."

Rogers already sells digital access to its Sportsnet World programming, including international soccer, rugby and cricket matches, for between $99 to $275 a year, to view within a web browser. Curling fans can also pay $25 to stream one of the Grand Slam of Curling tournaments or $80 for the whole package.


****************************


I don't have a TV anymore and sure don't miss it, not even for VHS or DVDs.

[Hervé]

Inspirational: North Carolina Police Chief stops arresting opioid addicts - finds that offering help causes crime and addiction to plummet (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-chief-stops-arresting-opioid-addicts-offers-help-instead/)

Jay Syrmopoulos Free Thought Project (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-chief-stops-arresting-opioid-addicts-offers-help-instead/)
Wed, 26 Jul 2017 16:06 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s20/409577/large/police_chief_696x366.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s20/409577/full/police_chief_696x366.jpg)
Chief Thomas Bashore: A cop with heart and brains © CNN


Crime is down 40 percent in a North Carolina town where police began offering help and recovery options to drug addicts, instead of throwing them in jail.

A police chief in a small eastern North Carolina town, Chief Thomas Bashore, in collaboration with town manager Hank Raper, began a program - using compassion instead of violence - known as the HOPE initiative that is both saving lives and lowering crime.

Nashville, North Carolina, a town of 5,400 offers a unique program to help addicts recover, rather than continue the cycle of crime and addiction, by allowing addicts to turn themselves into police with their drugs and paraphernalia, without being thrown in a cage.

Instead of them facing arrest, they get help getting into a program to fight addiction.

Thomas Spikes, 24, has battled addiction since before he was a teenager, and credits (http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/23/health/north-carolina-police-help-opioid-addicts/index.html) Bashore with saving his life by putting him on a path to recovery from the deadly scourge of opioid addiction.

"He saved my life for sure," he said. "I owe a lot to him and the program."

As opioid deaths continue to rise dramatically across the United States, replacing (http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/drug-overdoses-killed-50-000-u-s-more-car-crashes-n694001) car accidents as the number one cause of unintentional deaths, the state of North Carolina has seen a more than 340 percent increase in opioid deaths from 2010 to 2016.

"There's no clear characteristic of what a heroin or opioid addiction looks like," Raper told CNN. "It's not a white problem, it's not a black problem, it's not a Hispanic problem, middle class, working class, upper class. It affects all peoples of all walks of life."

The HOPE initiative was modeled on the "Angel" program (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-program-to-give-drug-addicts-help-instead-of-prison-so-effective-its-now-in-28-states/) in Gloucester, Massachusetts, which allows addicts to safely get medical help and police assistance-without fear of being arrested. These innovative programs are creating a new paradigm that reconfigures the manner in which law enforcement responds to addiction.

"They walk into the front door, if they have drugs or paraphernalia on them at any time, they can turn it in to us at that time, and have no charges filed. And we facilitate them into recovery," Bashore said.

"We have actually had individuals who have brought in heroin bags and turned that over because they knew that they were going to get into recovery and they didn't want that around when they got out," Bashore said.

To ensure that there would be no impediments to the HOPE program, Chief Bashore and Raper recruited the county district attorney, who was on board with the initiative, ensuring that addicts seeking help would not be charged. With the support of the county attorney, the HOPE program began on Feb. 9, 2016-with the first addict coming into the police station seeking help only eight days later.

"It was eye-opening," recalled Bashore. "That individual came in and we spent the better part of 7 and a half hours getting him processed. Only then did I leave the hospital and come back to the police department to start calling facilities to start having him placed, after he left detox. You can spend hours on the phone, calling facilities, saying, 'Do you have a bed?'"

Bashore has been intimately involved in the program, driving many of the 172 men and women that have been helped by the HOPE initiative. Revealing the changing nature of law enforcement's fight against drug addition-and a clear movement from a punitive "War on Drugs" mentality, to a recovery-based model-Bashore has worked to build personal relationships with numerous rehabilitation facilities across North Carolina.

The business cards he passes out even have his personal cellphone number so that rehab facilities across the state can personally alert him when a space opens up for an addict.

"My cellphone, it rings all the time," Bashore said. "Each participant who comes through the program and all their family members have it. So, when they need something, they reach out."

In addition to helping numerous addicts get clean, the HOPE initiative has substantially changed the dynamics between the police and the community. Bashore said he is working to help people understand that substance abuse is a disease and that his department's goal is to "supportive not only for their benefit, but for the community benefit."

Revealing exactly how this new approach by law enforcement, to drugs and addiction, can drastically alter crime rates, Bashore said that crime is down 40 percent since the program's inception.

"We've had a pretty significant drop in our crimes that are associated with substance-abuse disorder," Bashore said. "Things like shoplifting and larcenies and breaking into cars."

The beautiful thing is that HOPE does not limit its services to residents of Nashville, as people from across the state have taken advantage of the program-as well as people from as far away as California and Pennsylvania.

The initiative has no cost to participants in the program, and is funded through small grants, fundraisers, and donations.

"The chief paid for the first two months that I was there and the rehab I was at," recalled Spikes. After spending over half his life in the grip of addiction, Spikes has now been clean for four months after leaving the rehabilitation facility.

In an interview with CNN, Spikes said that he first used drugs when he was 12 years old. "It started off with just smoking weed," he said, "then occasional pills, and it progressed through the years." Eventually, his addiction became a $200 to $300 a day habit at its worst.

After being caught with heroin and sent to jail in October 2016, he had his first encounter with Chief Bashore. Initially, Spikes was skeptical of any help police offered, and expressed a commonly held belief: "You don't talk to cops, you don't associate with them, they're not your friends."

Spikes' perceptions quickly began to evolve when he recognized that Bashore was solely there to help him, no questions asked.

The chief "never tried to pry into anything in my life in that era," Spikes said. "[He doesn't] care who you hang out with, what kind of drugs you do."

After having gone through countless rehab facilities in the past, Spikes said his life has changed because of Chief Bashore and the HOPE initiative.

"He saved my life for sure because if it wasn't for the HOPE Initiative, I wouldn't have gotten help," Spikes said. "My life has done a 180. I'm working, I have a vehicle, a house, I have a beautiful girlfriend with a baby on the way."

This inspirational police chief decided that criminalizing addiction is a clear recipe for failure, and increased crime and death in his community-and made a decision to do something about it. By not comporting with the "get tough on crime" mentality that is often prevalent in law enforcement, Bashore is actually making a difference in people's lives. He is also saving taxpayers money as the cost of rehabilitation is far less than prison, and it is being independently funded.

"Of those 172 people that have come through the program, I've actually been to two funerals. Knowing what the alternative could have been for Thomas ... (who) just recently disclosed to me that his girlfriend's pregnant, he's going to be a father," he said. "So, that's an amazing thing. That touches me deeply."

[Hervé]

The new self-reliance: Ignored by Big Telecom, Detroit's marginalized communities are building their own internet (https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kz3xyz/detroit-mesh-network)

Kaleigh Rogers Motherboard (https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kz3xyz/detroit-mesh-network)
Thu, 16 Nov 2017 20:01 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s21/435140/large/1510847311337_DSC00182.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s21/435140/full/1510847311337_DSC00182.jpg)


40 percent of Detroit residents don't have any access to internet at all.


Being stuck without access to the internet is often thought of as a problem only for rural America. But even in some of America's biggest cities, a significant portion of the population can't get online.

Take Detroit, where 40 percent of the population has no access to the internet-of any kind, not only high speed-at home, according (http://transition.fcc.gov/c2h/10282015/marc-hudson-presentation-10282015.pdf) to the Federal Communications Commission. Seventy percent of school-aged children in the city are among those who have no internet access at home. Detroit has one of the most severe digital divides in the country, the FCC says.

"When you kind of think about all the ways the internet affects your life and how 40 percent of people in Detroit don't have that access you can start to see how Detroit has been stuck in this economic disparity for such a long time," Diana Nucera, director of the Detroit Community Technology Project (https://www.alliedmedia.org/dctp), told me at her office.


[Video at link (https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kz3xyz/detroit-mesh-network)]


Nucera is part of a growing cohort of Detroiters who have started a grassroots movement to close that gap, by building the internet themselves. It's a coalition of community members and multiple Detroit nonprofits. They're starting with three underserved neighborhoods, installing high speed internet that beams shared gigabit connections from an antenna on top of the tallest building on the street, and into the homes of people who have long gone without. They call it the Equitable Internet Initiative.


https://www.sott.net/image/s21/435141/medium/1510847330087_IMG_9636.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s21/435141/full/1510847330087_IMG_9636.jpg)
© Lara Heintz


The issue isn't only cost, though it is prohibitive for many Detroiters, but also infrastructure. Because of Detroit's economic woes, many Big Telecom companies haven't thought it worthwhile to invest in expanding their network to these communities, Nucera told me. The city is filled with dark fiber optic cable that's not connected to any homes or businesses-relics from more optimistic days.

Residents who can't afford internet, are on some kind of federal or city subsidy like food stamps, and students are prioritized for the Initiative, Nucera told me. The whole effort started last summer with enlisting digital stewards, locals from each neighborhood who were interested in working for the nonprofit coalition, doing everything from spreading the word, to teaching digital literacy, to installing routers and pulling fiber.

Many of these stewards started out with little or no tech expertise, but after a 20-week-long training period, they've become experts able to install, troubleshoot, and maintain a network from end to end. They're also aiming to spread digital literacy, so people can truly own the network themselves.

"We want to make sure that we're not just installing all the equipment, but also educating the community," said Rita Ramirez, one of the stewards working on the project in Detroit's Southwest neighborhood.


https://www.sott.net/image/s21/435142/large/1510847349623_DSC00191.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s21/435142/full/1510847349623_DSC00191.jpg)
© Lara Heintz


One component the groups are most eager to build out is the intranet that will result from connecting so many homes (about 50 in each neighborhood) to a shared wireless connection. They are encouraging local residents to take advantage of that intranet and build shared tools like a forum and emergency communication network that is completely localized and secure.

In a city that is rebuilding after a decade of economic turmoil, the internet can no longer be a luxury for the wealthy. Detroit's renaissance won't happen without each of the city's diverse communities having access to the basic tools of modern work, education, healthcare, and communication. All of Detroit (or, certainly, more than 60 percent) needs access to the internet and the current structure established by Big Telecom hasn't made this an easy goal.

"Communication is a fundamental human right," Nucera said. "This is digital justice."

Dear Future is a partnership with CNET that will explore the people, companies, and communities that are ushering in the future we were all promised. Follow along here (https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/topic/dear-future).


----------------------------------------------------------


Zerohedge adds some more information (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-24/detroits-digital-divide-low-income-citizens-build-their-own-internet?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook):


The city of Detroit, in the U.S. state of Michigan, has experienced an impressive economic and demographic shift over the past 50-years.

Deindustrialization coupled with depopulation has stripped the city of it's economic strength cascading it into turmoil. Global competition from automakers shifted manufacturing jobs out of the area. As businesses left, communities decayed, inducing a terrifying surge in violent crime. Urban rot came next festering from within and eventually sending the city into bankruptcy in 2013 where it reemerged in 2014.

Five-years later, Detroit has gotten worse - not better - and the city is having trouble providing basic utilities for its residents.

In particular, the city along with internet service providers are failing to deliver high-speed internet to a significant part of the low income areas.

That is why one community group of technology geeks have banded together to create (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a13819941/the-citizens-of-detriot-are-building-their-own-internet/) an internet of their own.

Equitable Internet Initiative (EII) is a program that teaches Detroit residents how to build high speed WiFi networks. EII says Detroit is one of the top 5 least connected cities in the United States coupled with 60% of the city residents that do not have access to high-speed internet. The group aims to stop the growing digital divide that is leaving many low income residents behind and forgotten in the inner cities where there is only death and destruction.

EII has trained teams in the North End, Island View, and Southwest Detroit to setup infrastructure: a church that functions as a hub and internet service provider which then a signaled is beamed to communities that don't have access to high-speed internet.

Residents who want internet from EII have to meet two requirements:

can't afford internet
don't already have internet or <10 Mbps

Once the requirements are met, EII will send a team to the residential location and install an outdoor directional antenna and an indoor router with a setup time around one-hour. EII recognizes that access to high-speed internet is a worldwide problem and if that is not fixed a "digital class system" will develop.

EII wants high-speed access for everyone..Popular Mechanics also said (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a13819941/the-citizens-of-detriot-are-building-their-own-internet/),
The EII offers a radical proposition that would allow people to get Internet outside of a major telecom. But it's got its own money concerns. Initially, it worked off a federal grant. When that money dried up, the deal with Rocket Fiber made it viable again.

But that partnership will not cover the costs of more and more internet connections growing in perpetuity. Jenny Lee, the executive director of Allied Media Projects, the group behind EII, raised the question in a recent article (http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/equitable-internet-initiative-073117.aspx). "How do we do this in way that doesn't replicate the inequities of other utility companies? Are we going to be the equivalent of water department coming to shut you off if you don't pay your bill?"

One way the group hopes it will prove its worth is by creating apps. Its Next Gen Apps program teaches students coding basics like CSS, HTML, Javascript, and Node.js. Combined with the EII's efforts to provide internet in their areas, there's a hope that people will truly make the internet their own. Bottomline: Detroit is a prime example of citizens working together for survival in a post collapsed bankrupt city. The one question we have: how long until government shuts down this private internet?

[Hervé]

Police department helps thwart police brutality by offering yoga classes to officers (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-being-taught-yoga/)

Matt Agorist
Free Thought Project (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-being-taught-yoga/)
Sun, 07 Jan 2018 18:50 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s22/443219/large/cop_yoga_696x366.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s22/443219/full/cop_yoga_696x366.jpg)

Aside from the overwhelming physical benefits of yoga, like increased flexibility, muscle strength, and protection from injury, the mental benefits are many. Yoga has been shown (https://nccih.nih.gov/health/yoga/introduction.htm)in numerous studies to help in the reduction of stress, anxiety, and depression, while at the same time improving blood pressure. Although, the list of mental and physical benefits, while immense, is lacking any mention of reduction in police brutality. However, thanks to a forward-thinking department in San Leandro, California, that could soon change.

Late last year, Beth Zygielbaum, a San Leandro resident, and yoga instructor called the San Leandro Police Department after becoming fed up with news reports of racial disparity and brutality among American police.

"I was just calling to find out what the heck was going on. I was calling as a concerned citizen," she explained to ABC 7. (http://abc7news.com/health/calm-cool-cops-take-yoga-in-east-bay-for-clarity/2835270/)

Instead of ignoring her call and writing her off as 'anti-cop', Chief Jeff Tudor actually called her back. During their conversation, Zygielbaum offered to help the department in the best way that she knew how. Being a certified yoga instructor, she offered to teach yoga to the officers and staff at the department-for free.

Zygielbaum's classes are already starting to have their effect.

"Do you buy into the idea of mindfulness," ABC 7 News Reporter Katie Utehs asked Officer Alex Hidas who had just taken the class.

"Absolutely," Hidas responded. "I've experienced several times where I'm out there and I can feel my body, I can feel under stress, the adrenaline pumping, and your fine motor skills kind of go out the window and what brings you back is being able to control your breathing."

The idea of curbing police brutality with yoga through seeking mindfulness may seem like a stretch to some. However, the benefits of simply being mindful are so compelling that UC Berkeley has launched a study to measure the results specifically on police officers.

"Anecdotally at least the effects seem to be positive," said Professor Jack Glaser a social psychologist and Associate Dean of Public Policy at UC Berkeley who launched the study over the fall.

"It appears to have a lot of benefits that could be relevant to policing both in terms of the performance of their job and in terms of emotional welfare that they experience," said Glaser.

According to ABC 7, this study will look at mindfulness as a deterrent to racial profiling. Simply put, participants will be shown pictures depicting police scenarios and potential suspects. One group will be lead through a mindfulness meditation before doing the exercise. The other group will just look at the pictures.

"All of the things that lead-up to that split second decision are where the opportunities lie for avoiding that happening at all and mindfulness, I think, has great potential for just that sort of thing," Glaser said.

According to Glaser, the study will take two years to complete. However, Chief Tudor decided that he won't wait that long to reap the benefits of his officers achieving mindfulness. The chief has begun building a wellness program inside the department with the aim of improving officer health-both mentally and physically. The program will include a gym, as well as nutrition and sleep course, and-most importantly-yoga to teach the officers how to be mindful.

"With that health becomes a more patient officer and that's what our communities expect and deserve," explained Chief Tudor. "If I can in any way impact them by providing them with some tools or some knowledge that can better their lives that's the ultimate goal," he said.

As the number of citizens killed by police continues in its epidemic levels, clearly American cops are in need of intervention. What better way to combat obstinate violent tendencies than with mindfulness and peace.

[Hervé]

Australian anti-vaxxers provide new model for the world (https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2018/03/04/australian-anti-vaxxers-provide-new-model-for-the-world/)

by Jon Rappoport (https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/author/jonrappoport/) Mar 4 (https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2018/03/04/australian-anti-vaxxers-provide-new-model-for-the-world/), 2018

Out of the ashes of government tyranny comes a solution.

In the Australian state of Queensland, childcare facilities can refuse to allow unvaccinated children to attend, so…

Parents there have formed their own community, which has already grown to 800 members. As ABC (Australia) reports (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-28/anti-vax-network-sets-up-own-social-groups-no-jab-no-play/9491054):
“Sunshine Coast vaccine refuser and leader of the Natural Immunity Community, Allona Lahn, said her anti-vaccine network had grown to 800 members and was becoming stronger since the regulations were introduced.”

“’Out of sheer necessity we’ve created a community base to support families — we’ve had no choice other than to start our own social services’.”

“Ms Lahn said the network with like-minded families included their own childcare, schools and health services away from the mainstream.”

“’We organise group childcare arrangements and we’re now devising our own combined homeschooling system,’ she said.”

“’We use health practitioners within the anti-vaccine networks around Australia and ‘anti-vaccination-friendly’ doctors in the community’.”

“Ms Lahn said network members were turning away from mainstream health services because they faced intimidation and coercion.”
This is decentralization par excellence.

If like-minded parents in other countries take notice and launch their own communities, who knows how strong this movement could become?

Islands of resistance—but more than that. New answers, new strategies, new victories. And ongoing proof that parents can raise healthy children without vaccinations.

That proof is the dagger to the incessant lies about vaccines being absolutely necessary. Mainstream media promote those lies day and night—but the truth is, parents can and do raise unvaccinated children with strong immune systems, which is the natural defense against harm from disease.

The medical establishment has done NO proper, long-term studies comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children’s health outcomes. And the real reason is:
they don’t want to face the results of such studies. They rightly fear the facts that would emerge.
I’m sure Allona Lahn, the leader of the Queensland network, doesn’t think of herself as a hero. She’s just doing what she knows is right, and she and her compatriot parents are, above all, protecting their children from the well-established toxic effects of vaccines. But she is a hero.

Every aware parent should salute her.

Jon Rappoport

[Hervé]

Score for common sense: Utah legalizes 'free-range parenting' (http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/380485-utah-becomes-first-state-to-pass-free-range-parenting-law)

Morgan Gstalter The Hill (http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/380485-utah-becomes-first-state-to-pass-free-range-parenting-law)
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 14:35 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s14/290786/large/maxresdefault2_1024x576.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s14/290786/full/maxresdefault2_1024x576.jpg)


Utah has become the first state to legalize "free-range parenting," codifying that kids can participate in unsupervised activities without their parents facing neglect charges.

Utah. Gov. Gary Herbert (R) signed the law (https://le.utah.gov/~2018/bills/static/SB0065.html) earlier this month that redefines child "neglect," ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Family/utah-passes-free-range-parenting-law-allowing-kids/story?id=54020213) reported Tuesday.
"Absence evidence of clear danger, abuse or neglect, we believe that parents have the best sense of how to teach responsibility to their children" Herbert said in a statement.
The new law prevents parents from being considered negligent by state authorities for letting their child walk outside alone, play without supervision or wait alone in a car.

State Sen. Lincoln Fillmore (R), a sponsor on the bill, said society has become "too hyper" about protecting children and ends up sheltering them from opportunities.
"Kids need to wonder about the world, explore and play in it, and by doing so learn the skills of self-reliance and problem-solving they'll need as adults," Fillmore said.
Lenore Skenazy, the author of "Free Range Kids," a book about letting her 9-year-old ride the New York subway alone, says she contacted Fillmore about the proposal.
"My law is the way that our kids have the right to some unsupervised time, and we have the right to give it to them without getting arrested," Skenazy said.
Parents will disagree about what age a child should be allowed to do certain activities without an adult. But the law will prevent authorities from starting investigations into parents, who have the right to choose, she said.
"I would definitely not let a 3-year-old play in the park alone, but I definitely would let their 10-year-old sister play in the park for an hour and come home," she said.

"I definitely would let my 7-year-old walk to school, but maybe you won't let your 7-year-old walk to school."
Dr. Dave Anderson, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, said Tuesday that free-range parenting should be considered on a "case-by-case" basis.
"If your 12-year-old is capable of walking home from the bus stop by themselves, that's something that you might make a decision about where another 12-year-old may be too impulsive," Anderson said on "Good Morning America."
Anderson encouraged parents to use "common sense" and have clear guidelines with their children about safe practices.

The bill passed unanimously through both houses of Utah's legislature and goes into effect in May.


Related:
The increasing criminalization of parenthood (https://www.sott.net/article/282051-The-increasing-criminalization-of-parenthood)

============================================

The terrible and illogical thing is that this adds one more card/law to the already massive, monster house of cards built up by "lawmakers."

[Hervé]

Durham is first US city to ban police from going to Israel for 'military-style' training (https://www.rt.com/usa/424376-durham-bans-exchanges-israel/)

RT (https://www.rt.com/usa/424376-durham-bans-exchanges-israel/)
Tue, 17 Apr 2018 09:57 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s23/462676/large/police_israel_696x366.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s23/462676/full/police_israel_696x366.jpg)


Durham City Council, North Carolina, has voted to abolish international exchanges with Israel, under which officers receive "military-style training." The council wants to prevent the "militarization" of law enforcement.

Late on Monday, after a heated debate in the city council, the members voted 6 to 0 in what one of the activist groups, Jewish Voice for Peace, described (https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/durham-votes-for-nations-first-ban-on-police-exchanges-with-israel/) as "the first city to prohibit police exchanges with Israel." The group was one of those which pushed forward the move together with the Durham2Palestine coalition - a movement opposing police militarization in the US and calling to stop supporting human rights abuses in Israel. The activists launched (https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/demilitarize-from-durham2palestine) a petition in fall of last year demanding that the city authorities "immediately halt" any such partnerships with Israeli forces.
"The council opposes international exchanges with any country in which Durham officers receive military-style training since such exchanges do not support the kind of policing we want here in the City of Durham," the council said (http://cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/ViewDocument/Final-Published%20Attachment%20-%2012493%20-%20OTHER%20-%20INTERNATIONAL%20POLICE%20EXCHANGES%20-%20.pdf?meetingId=254&documentType=Agenda&itemId=7787&publishId=33043&isSection=false) in a statement.
Exchanges between US and Israeli law enforcement are common training practice, organized by governmental bodies as well as NGOs and private companies.It appears that each city can make its own decision on the matter.

However, the mayor of Durham, Steve Schewel, said that people were given "completely false information" and that the city's police force has not been engaged in training with the Israeli army. Earlier, Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis echoed the statement (http://cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/ViewDocument/Final-Published%20Attachment%20-%2012493%20-%20OTHER%20-%20INTERNATIONAL%20POLICE%20EXCHANGES%20-%), saying that since she has been in office there has been "no effort... to initiate or participate in any exchange to Israel, nor do I have any intention to do so."

There is also a broader campaign (https://deadlyexchange.org/frequently-asked-questions-deadly-exchange/) calling on the US government to halt such partnerships with Israel to challenge "state violence and discrimination in both countries."

As the city council passed (http://www.wral.com/durham-petition-calls-for-end-of-israeli-police-exchanges/17490942/) the motion, the activist groups which were campaigning for the move praised the decision. However, some also criticized the measure as inciting "anti-Israel" sentiment and possibly encouraging other American cities to do the same, Bob Gutman, a co-chair of Voice for Israel, said, as cited by local media.

Prior to the decision, activists (https://www.facebook.com/events/205323833577463/) gathered in front of City Hall, calling for "demilitarization from Durham to Gaza." The organizers of the rally cited the recent events in Gaza and police brutality against black people as examples of "state violence."

[Michelle Marie]

Durham is first US city to ban police from going to Israel for 'military-style' training (https://www.rt.com/usa/424376-durham-bans-exchanges-israel/)

RT (https://www.rt.com/usa/424376-durham-bans-exchanges-israel/)
Tue, 17 Apr 2018 09:57 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s23/462676/large/police_israel_696x366.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s23/462676/full/police_israel_696x366.jpg)


Durham City Council, North Carolina, has voted to abolish international exchanges with Israel, under which officers receive "military-style training." The council wants to prevent the "militarization" of law enforcement.

Late on Monday, after a heated debate in the city council, the members voted 6 to 0 in what one of the activist groups, Jewish Voice for Peace, described (https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/durham-votes-for-nations-first-ban-on-police-exchanges-with-israel/) as "the first city to prohibit police exchanges with Israel." The group was one of those which pushed forward the move together with the Durham2Palestine coalition - a movement opposing police militarization in the US and calling to stop supporting human rights abuses in Israel. The activists launched (https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/demilitarize-from-durham2palestine) a petition in fall of last year demanding that the city authorities "immediately halt" any such partnerships with Israeli forces.
"The council opposes international exchanges with any country in which Durham officers receive military-style training since such exchanges do not support the kind of policing we want here in the City of Durham," the council said (http://cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/ViewDocument/Final-Published%20Attachment%20-%2012493%20-%20OTHER%20-%20INTERNATIONAL%20POLICE%20EXCHANGES%20-%20.pdf?meetingId=254&documentType=Agenda&itemId=7787&publishId=33043&isSection=false) in a statement.
Exchanges between US and Israeli law enforcement are common training practice, organized by governmental bodies as well as NGOs and private companies.It appears that each city can make its own decision on the matter.

However, the mayor of Durham, Steve Schewel, said that people were given "completely false information" and that the city's police force has not been engaged in training with the Israeli army. Earlier, Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis echoed the statement (http://cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/ViewDocument/Final-Published%20Attachment%20-%2012493%20-%20OTHER%20-%20INTERNATIONAL%20POLICE%20EXCHANGES%20-%), saying that since she has been in office there has been "no effort... to initiate or participate in any exchange to Israel, nor do I have any intention to do so."

There is also a broader campaign (https://deadlyexchange.org/frequently-asked-questions-deadly-exchange/) calling on the US government to halt such partnerships with Israel to challenge "state violence and discrimination in both countries."

As the city council passed (http://www.wral.com/durham-petition-calls-for-end-of-israeli-police-exchanges/17490942/) the motion, the activist groups which were campaigning for the move praised the decision. However, some also criticized the measure as inciting "anti-Israel" sentiment and possibly encouraging other American cities to do the same, Bob Gutman, a co-chair of Voice for Israel, said, as cited by local media.

Prior to the decision, activists (https://www.facebook.com/events/205323833577463/) gathered in front of City Hall, calling for "demilitarization from Durham to Gaza." The organizers of the rally cited the recent events in Gaza and police brutality against black people as examples of "state violence."

I wonder if there is a list somewhere that identifies the U.S. Cities that ARE participating in this militarization of police force training.

I had no idea that was happening. It explains a lot.

The "anti-Israel" criticism sounds like cabal propaganda that supports terrorism. If anything, measures that promote peace are "pro Israel" and "pro humanity".

I like good news, Herve! Thanks. :)

MM

[Foxie Loxie]

It would surprise me if anything "anti-Israel" would fly in the Bible Belt! ;) How about congressmen & senators who have dual citizenship with Israel? What is THAT all about?! :confused:

[Michelle Marie]

It would surprise me if anything "anti-Israel" would fly in the Bible Belt! ;) How about congressmen & senators who have dual citizenship with Israel? What is THAT all about?! :confused:

The true terrorists co-opt and leverage ideologies, or rather use their buzz words and vocabulary for Weaponization. I can see how this works on some Christians who are staunch Bible supporters who don't seem to take into account the changes made to the original texts. According to them, if you go against Israel, you go against God.

As I stated in the post above, what they are saying in criticism doesn't make sense. They are duping some people, and like you mention, Foxie Loxie, it is the Bible Belt people and other fundamentalist Christians. They hide behind the mask of "Pro-Israel", when they are Satanist-Nazis and their actions are murderous and violent and they operate through deception, secrets, lies, and subversion.

True believers who are "spiritual" may be able to see though all that and get the truth. To me, Truth IS spirit. No book required. (Some are helpful, though. Discernment is quite necessary!)

Cognitive dissonance may break the fetters of the dark intents, purposes, and agenda-driven initiatives. This good news posted by Herve is the evidence. Humanity is awakening.

I expect more good news! :happy dog:

MM

[Hervé]

French & Italian dock workers refuse to load Saudi arms ship over Yemen war (https://www.rt.com/news/459806-saudi-arms-ship-blocked-italian-port/)

RT (https://www.rt.com/news/459806-saudi-arms-ship-blocked-italian-port/)
Tue, 21 May 2019 10:17 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s26/523093/large/5ce2cadcfc7e937b698b4594.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s26/523093/full/5ce2cadcfc7e937b698b4594.jpg)
© Reuters/Massimo Pinca


Italian unions have refused to load cargo onto a Saudi ship carrying weapons, in protest against Riyadh's war on Yemen. The dock workers have gone on strike, refusing to work until the ship leaves port in Genoa.

While the Saudi Arabian ship, the Bahri-Yanbu, was expected to leave for Jeddah by the end end of the day, it seems the delivery might end up being rather late. After unsuccessful attempts to have the ship barred from docking in Italy altogether, it was greeted by banners and a protests as it arrived in port Monday.

Workers were joined by human rights campaigners who oppose stocking the ship over fears the supplies will be used against the civilian population in Yemen. The demonstrators held signs opposing the war and arms trafficking.

"We will not be complicit in what is happening in Yemen," union leaders said in a statement. Port officials have acknowledged that the generators that protesters fear may be used for military purposes have been blocked from being brought on board, but say some non-critical goods will still be loaded. Union leaders are scheduled to meet with the port's prefects to discuss the impasse.

The ship was loaded with weapons in Belgium, but successfully blocked from picking up additional arms at a French port as a result of a similar protest.

The UN describes the four-year-long Saudi-led war as the worst humanitarian disaster in the world today, with the death toll expected to top 230,000 by the end of the year. Italy's 5-Star movement, a part of the government's ruling populist-leaning coalition, has fought to end the government's arms deals with the Saudi kingdom for years.

===================================

The "little" people doing something about something :happythumbsup:

[petra]

There were $$s in the ATMs. Bank tellers were friendly and efficient. People looked normal. The freeways were busy. TVs in hotel rooms showed exactly the same programs. Planes in airports were on time.

None of that counts for anything much. It was just a veneer. If one looked carefully, one could FEEL things were not right. And everything I saw was social theater. Everyone was MEANT to feel that everything was normal... until it's not.

Reminds me of the song London, by Lily Allen. She sings sarcastically "when you look with your eyes, everything seems nice, but if you look twice, you can see it's all lies"

[Gwin Ru]

A Canadian research project gave homeless people $7,500 each — the results were 'beautifully surprising' (https://ca.news.yahoo.com/b-c-researchers-gave-50-202638197.html)

Yahoo! News (https://ca.news.yahoo.com/b-c-researchers-gave-50-202638197.html)
Wed, 07 Oct 2020 00:01 UTC

https://www.sott.net/image/s29/585682/large/tents_park_BC.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s29/585682/full/tents_park_BC.jpg)



The results of a B.C. research project that gave thousands of dollars to homeless people are in and, according to one researcher, could challenge stereotypes about people "living on the margins."

The New Leaf project (https://forsocialchange.org/impact) is a joint study started in 2018 by Foundations for Social Change, a Vancouver-based charitable organization, and the University of British Columbia. After giving homeless Lower Mainland residents cash payments of $7,500, researchers checked on them over a year to see how they were faring.

All 115 participants, ranging in age between 19 and 64, had been homeless for at least six months and were not struggling with serious substance use or mental health issues. Of those, 50 people were chosen at random to be given the cash, while the others formed a control group that did not receive any money.

"I had no expectations and really high hopes," said Claire Williams, CEO of Foundations for Social Change, on CBC's The Early Edition on Tuesday.

What researchers found after 12 months, she said, was "beautifully surprising."

Budget breakdown

Not only did those who received the money spend fewer days homeless than those in the control group, they had also moved into stable housing after an average of three months, compared to those in the control group, who took an average of five months.

Those who received the money also managed it well over the course of a year.
"We saw people retain over $1,000 for 12 months, which is remarkable in the Lower Mainland," said Williams.
On average, cash recipients spent 52 per cent of their money on food and rent, 15 per cent on other items such as medications and bills, and 16 per cent on clothes and transportation.

Almost 70 per cent of people who received the payments were food secure after one month. In comparison, spending on alcohol, cigarettes and drugs went down, on average, by 39 per cent.

Too often people dismiss the idea of giving homeless people money because they assume it will be mismanaged, Williams said.
"It challenges stereotypes we have here in the West about how to help people living on the margins," she said.
New beginnings

Ray, whose last name project researchers did not release for privacy reasons, was living in an emergency shelter before receiving money from the New Leaf project.

He said the money helped him get housing and take a computer class he needed to work toward his goal of becoming a frontline worker for people with substance addictions.

WATCH | Ray, a study participant, says what the money meant for him:" data-reactid="39">WATCH | Ray, a study participant, says what the money meant for him:

icWhu5icsJ0

"I kind of want to give back where I've came from," said Ray.

"I might one day be that important person that has a powerful voice... a seed can grow into an oak tree."
According to Williams, providing people like Ray the cash they need to get ahead also helps Canadian taxpayers.

She said it costs, on average, $55,000 annually for social and health services for one homeless individual. According to study data, the project saved the shelter system approximately $8,100 per person for a total of roughly $405,000 over one year for all 50.
"The common belief is that the status quo is cheap... in fact, it is incredibly expensive," said Williams.
According to the 2018 B.C. Homeless Count, there are about 7,600 homeless people living in the province — meaning a group of 115 study participants is relatively small.


Related:


The Global Financial System Explained, Kim Goguen, LifeForce, & the Assemblies (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?112361-The-Global-Financial-System-Explained-Kim-Goguen-LifeForce-the-Assemblies)

[Gwin Ru]

...

Well, the light is getting into the tunnel(s):

YSkTtnP0cD0
Starts @ ~ 12:00