Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 1086
April 22, 2018
Europe’s Largest Bank Pulls Plug on Coal, Oil Sands and Arctic Drilling
HSBC has joined an increasing list of large banks in refusing to finance coal-fired plants, oil sands and arctic drilling.
Europe’s largest bank HSBC won’t fund new coal power plants, oil sands and arctic drilling, except in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam. (Image courtesy of Håkan Dahlström via Flickr.)
HSBC has joined an increasing list of large banks by announcing Friday it would not longer finance coal-fired plants, oil sands and arctic drilling.
The move, announced by Europe’s largest bank at its annual meeting as part of its new energy policy, seeks to head off criticism from investors who want the institution’s actions to be aligned with the Paris Agreement, a global pact to limit greenhouse gas emissions and curb rising temperatures.
Daniel Klier, HSBC’s sustainability boss, said the decision reflected the bank’s ambition to help its customers make the transition to a low-carbon economy.
“Europe’s largest bank, however, will continue to finance coal-fired power plants in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam.
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“We recognize the need to reduce emissions rapidly…
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The Ancient Use of Psychodelic Herbs
DMT: A Lost History
Chris Rice (2015)
Film Review
This is a documentary about ancient civilizations’ use of psychodelic plants in religious ceremonies. Unlike his more recent Hidden History of Cannabis, the evidence Rice presents is this film is more circumstantial. Yet in my view, the documentary leaves little doubt that dimethyltryptamine (DMT) containing plants were used in religious ceremonies in ancient Egypt, India, Persia, Greece and possibly ancient Israel.
DMT is the active ingredient in ayahuasca, a psychodelic herb used throughout early South American cultures. It currently shows great promise in the treatment of alcohol and other drug addictions and PTSD (see Ayahuasca and Addiction). It can be smoked or taken by mouth. When taken by mouth, it must be combined with a second herb containing an MAO inhibitor to keep it from being degraded in the gut.
The ancient Egyptians derived DMT from the acacia plant (Acacia nilotica), which they referred to as “The Tree of Life.”
The ancient Hindu Vedas refer to “soma,” an elixir that allegedly enabled practitioners to “commune with God.” Rice believes soma was derived from DMT containing herbs and may be responsible for much of the psychodelic art produced in ancient India. Sacred Zorastrian texts from ancient Persia also refer to “soma.” Ancient Greek texts refer to mystical ceremonies involving similar herbal elixirs.
Rice points to evidence that the “mana” (literally gift from God) provided to Israelites in their flight out of Egypt may actually have been DMT-containing mushrooms. A number of the original gospels describe to Christ offering “mana” to his disciples, though most of them were removed from the Catholic Bible when emperor Constantine banned the Gnostic sects.
The section of the film I found most interesting describes how use of DMT persisted in the rituals of numerous secret societies, including the Freemasons. Although there is no written record of Freemasonry prior to the 17th century, their oral tradition contains accounts of early Masonic rituals involving potions made from the acacia tree.
April 21, 2018
How Wikipedia Lies
If Wikipedia is the best that ‘the market’ can come up with for ‘a free press’ in a ‘democracy’, then democracy isn’t at all possible.
Eric Zuesse
Did you know that Vice President Dick Cheney admitted that on 11 September 2001 he, as President George W. Bush’s brief stand-in during the 9/11 attacks that hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, issued an order (and it was carried out) to shoot down United Airlines Flight 93 while it was in the air near Pittsburgh? If what he said at the time was true, then the standard ‘historical’ account of the plane’s having been brought down as a result of action by the passengers, would be concocted, not history at all.
Here is the video-clip of V.P. Cheney on 9/11, making this claim and explaining why he gave that order:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vV3fjfeb9Q&list=PLOg2tzhKRd4j-yNHID9_Ru3MWe-VwwCxl&index=4
The Wikipedia article on Flight 93 provides the standard account, and fails even so much as just to mention the Vice President’a assertion and explanation that he provided on national TV at the…
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Sen. Charles Schumer introduces measure to decriminalize marijuana!
“In the past week or so, we’ve seen an unprecedented escalation of political support for marijuana law reform,” said Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority. “It seems as if both parties may have finally realized just how popular marijuana legalization is with voters and are afraid of the other party stealing the issue.”
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday introduced legislation to decriminalize marijuana. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)
The Senate’s top Democrat announced Friday that he is introducing legislation to decriminalize marijuana, the first time that a leader of either party in Congress has endorsed a rollback of one of the country’s oldest drug laws.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a statement called the move “simply the right thing to do.”
“The time has come to decriminalize marijuana,” Schumer said. “My thinking — as well as the general population’s views — on the issue has evolved, and so I believe there’s no better time than the present to get this done. It’s simply the right thing to do.”
Schumer first shared his intentions Thursday in an interview with Vice News, in which he decried the negative effects of current marijuana laws, under which the drug has…
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23 Years Later: The Oklahoma City Bombing Story You Were Never Told About
Terry’s last known words were, “As soon as I shake these Feds that are following me, I’ll be back and we’ll go to dinner.” He never came back.
(ANTIMEDIA) — Sgt. Terrance Yeakey was an Oklahoma City Police Officer, a first responder to the OKC bombing, and an American hero. Officer Yeakey, known to friends as Terry, saved the lives of eight people from the Alfred P. Murrah building on the morning of April 19, 1995.
Terry was a few blocks away from Timothy McVeigh and the now infamous Ryder truck-which was brimming with explosives-when it detonated and erased the lives of 168 people, including 19 children. Yeakey rushed to the blast site, and without regard for his own life, began pulling people from the rubble one by one.
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April 20, 2018
Trump’s next $100 billion tariff dilemma: hit Wal-Mart or Apple Store?
A Reuters analysis of Chinese imports shows that to quickly reach $100 billion worth of goods to tax, Trump may have to target cellphones, computers, toys, clothing, footwear, furniture and other consumer goods, prompting price rises at U.S. retailers.
April 20, 2018
By David Lawder and Howard Schneider
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? U.S. consumers may be about to directly feel the effects of the trade fight started by U.S. President Trump with China and other countries this year when a new list of Chinese imports to be taxed is announced in coming days.
After imposing import tariffs on solar panels and washing machines in January, Trump moved to levy steel and aluminum in March along with about $50 billion in other goods.
After China responded with a list of U.S. goods that would be subject to tariffs, Trump raised the takes on April 4 by directing the U.S. Trade Representative to consider $100 billion in additional levies.
But a Reuters analysis of Chinese imports shows that to quickly reach $100 billion worth of goods to tax, Trump may have to target cellphones, computers, toys, clothing, footwear, furniture and other…
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North Korea’s Kim Says “Mission Complete”: Will Abandon Nuke Tests, Seek Peace
Kim says no further nuclear tests are needed, and will stop launching test-flights of ICBMs on April 21st.
Just a few short days after President Trump proclaimed “mission accomplished” in Syria, North Korea’s leader has followed suit, reportedly saythe nuclear test site in the north of the country has completed its mission and will be abandoned.
Furthermore, Yonhap reports Kim says no further nuclear tests are needed, and will stop launching test-flights of ICBMs on April 21st.
As a reminder, the nuclear test facility in the northern part of the country was potentially a major problem as we noted previously the fact that it was collapsing.
Additionally, KCNA reports that North Korea says it will actively engage dialogue with the international community to achieve peace and refocus on economic growth.
Seems like that trip to Beijing recently made some serious difference!!
While there are few details, it is hard to misinterpret the Korean headlines.
We are sure President Trump will be quick to congratulate Kim…
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The Hidden History of Cannabis
The Hidden History of Cannabis
Chris Rice (2018)
Film Review
This documentary traces the medical, textile and spiritual use of cannabis from its first discovery in ancient China. It’s use for 100 different medical conditions is listed in the first Chinese “materia medica” in 2,800 BC. Archeological evidence suggests it was in wide use for cloth, paper and rope for centuries before that. It has long been one of the 50 herbal remedies used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Archeologists believe that Caucasus tribes known as Aryans spread cannabis use to India and Persia along primitive trade routes that pre-dated the Silk Road. In India it was used in Hindu sects devoted to Shiva, in Buddhism and Sikhism. According to legend, Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) subsisted on cannabis alone for six years prior to his enlightenment.
In 500 BC, when the Persian empire (Iran) extended from the Indian border to Egypt, it played an essential role in Zororastianism. There is also good evidence Egyptians used it for medicinal purposes 700 years prior to their conquest by Persia (in 552 BC).
Following the unsuccessful Persian attack on Greece (in 492 BC), Greek physicians began using it to treat a variety of medical conditions. Both Pythagoras and Socrates refer to its mind enhancing properties. Cannabis would make its way to Rome by way of Greece.
Use of Cannabis in Judaism and Christianity
Rice also traces how Kaneh Bosm (which English Biblical scholars have mistranslated “calamus”) was used extensively along with frankincense and other psychoactive herbs to anoint ancient Jewish priests. Christ (which means “the anointed one”) used similar holy oils to anoint his twelve disciples. Some scholars believe Kaneh Bosm may have played a role in his healing miracles – due to its medicinal properties. Early gnostic gospels, which were banned by Emperor Constantine in 325 AD, cover the subject far more extensively than the New Testament.
Cannabis was also widely used by Muslim physicians, Sufi sects and by assassins (derived from the word hashish) of the secret 11th century Islamic sect Nizari Ismailis.
Cannabis Spreads to Europe and the New World
Cannabis cultivation spread from Rome to northern Europe via Germanic tribes who used the seeds as a food source. Prior to the conquest of the Americas, Europeans used it mainly as a source of fiber. When the New World tobacco trade made pipe smoking popular in Europe, a growing middle class also began smoking cannabis and opium.
Queen Elizabeth initiated the legal requirement that the North American colonies grow hemp to help supply the British Navy with rope and sails. Shakespeare, James Madison and James Monroe all smoked it, and Washington used it for toothache.
During the 18th century, it became widely available in various patent medicines – until the American Medical Association began a state-by-state campaign to ban it. Its ready availability and effectiveness for pain relief posed a major threat to the fledgling medical profession.
The advent of alcohol Prohibition in 1919, caused a surge in the use of cannabis, which was still legal surged.
The Corporate Conspiracy to Suppress Hemp Production
In 1936, a corporate conspiracy to suppress hemp production in favor of wood fiber and synthetic fibers (see The Politics of Hemp) would lead to the controversial 1936 Marijuana Tax Act.
Psychodelic guru Timothy O’Leary would initiate the first legal challenge to the Act, leading a federal court to overturn it in 1969. Nixon’s response was to ban cannabis altogether, under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.
April 19, 2018
Timeline of CIA Interventions in Syria
This partial timeline provides evidence that the U.S. government and Obama in particular bear a significant responsibility for the Syrian war and the results of that war. Obama approved elements of CIA plans that go back over 65 years.
By Michael S. Rozeff
Global Research, April 17, 2018
Lew Rockwell 3 October 2015
Understanding the US led war on Syria. It started in the late 1940s. This article was first published by Lew Rockwell and Global Research in October 2015
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This partial timeline provides evidence that the U.S. government and Obama in particular bear a significant responsibility for the Syrian war and the results of that war. Obama approved elements of CIA plans that go back over 65 years. The CIA meddling is distinct from the Pentagon’s failed plan to train “moderate rebels”, not covered in this timeline.
1940s and 1950s “…if you want to understand the origins of authoritarian rule in Syria today, it is important to go back to the 1940s and the 1950s and see the role the CIA played in that land.” See also here, p. 122: “In the late 1940’s, U.S. policymakers…
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Brain cancer strongly linked to cell phone radiation in brand-new, large-scale study
Last month, after assessing a $25 million study conducted by the National Institutes of Health’s National Toxicology Program (NTP), an expert peer review panel found that RF radiation’s association with heart and brain tumors provides “clear evidence of carcinogenicity” – at least, in animals.
April 19, 2018 by Lori Alton
(Naturalhealth365) Even if the wireless industry would like you to ignore this truth: it looks like very little cell phone use – per month – can cause a big increase in the risk of brain cancer.
An astounding 95 out of 100 adult Americans currently own cell phones, a testament to the nation’s near-universal embrace of a mode of communication that – as recently as 25 years ago – was considered by many to be nothing more than a ‘novelty.’
Clearly, cell phones are here to stay – but at what cost? As natural health advocates continue to warn of the potential dangers of cell phone radiation, a panel of experts recently assessed a landmark government study that links radiation produced by cell phones and wireless devices to the development of heart and brain cancer in rats.
Study results link…
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