From: Gregory Brown

From: Gregory Brown To: undisclosed-recipients:; Bcc: [email protected] Subject: Greg Brown's Weekend Reading and Other Things.. 09/06/2015 Date: Sun, 06 Sep 2015 10:38:10 +0000 Attachments: Mediterranean_Diet_101, A Meal Plan That Can Save Your Life Kris Gunnars AN.docx; Nick Cave bio.docx; docx; 26 ,_2015.docx Inline-Images: image.png; image(I).png; image(2).png; image(3).png; image(4).png; image(5).png; image(6).png; image(7).png; image(8).png; image(9).png; image(10).png; image(10.png; image(12).png; image(13).png; image(14).png; image(15).png; image(16).png; image(17).png; image(18).png; image(19).png; image(20).png; image(21).png; image(22).png; image(23).png; image(24).png; image(25).png; image(26).png; image(27).png; image(28).png DEAR FRIEND 25 Life Lessons from loo-Year-Old David Rockefeller, The World's Oldest Billionaire David Rockefeller Sr transformed Chase bank and Rockefeller Center, dined with presidents and has given away hundreds of millions of dollars. Wisdom accumulates with age. At too years old, David Rockefeller Sr., who reaches the centennial milestone today, has sagacity in spades. Some of it is shared below — insight culled from FORBES interviews and his autobiography, Memoirs. There is perhaps no better way to mark the birthday of the world's oldest billionaire, and patriarch of one of its leading families, than to let him speak for himself. EFTA01194634 I. In business and in life. profit is important. "The lure of profits generates employment, creates wealth and empowers people in ways that no other social or economic system has been able to:" 2. Divorce and politics are expensive. "A family adviser once said the two most expensive things a Rockefeller can do are run for public office and get divorced." 3. At work, make money — and friends. "Grandfather formed intense friendships with his business partners. On the rare occasions when I heard him mention his business career, he spoke of the fun they had, despite the hard work and long hours." 4. One boss is always better than two. "Co-chief executive arrangements rarely work because they represent an uncomfortable compromise." 5. Get out of the office. "I called on bank customers in 42 of the 50 states...ate approximately ten thousand business meals (more if you count the ones that I consumed in New York), and participated in thousands of customer calls and client meetings." 6. ...get as far out of the office as you can. "I logged more than 5 million air miles (the equivalent of 200 round-the-world trips)... During my 35 years at Chase , I visited 103 countries; this included 41 trips to France, 37 to England and three extensive tours of sub-Saharan Africa." 7. Go ahead, do business with friends. "I firmly believe that the most successful business associations are based on trust, understanding and loyalty, the same qualities that are essential to a close personal friendship." 8. Champion capitalism. "No one should feel guilty shout making money." 9. Capitalism will require the government and the market working together. "Relying on either government or the market alone to solve all problems and cure all ills has always seemed to be more doctrinaire than realistic." 10. If you're upset about that, write your Congressman. "I feel someone in my position should be able to express his views to members of Congress and the administration. Certainly every other group in society feels free to express their concerns." EFTA01194635 11. The right last name opens doors. "Having the name Rockefeller can be an advantage.... more apt to get through on the telephone to somebody." 12. While closing others. "It also means people are somewhat more suspicious, somewhat more cynical. It means they assume anything you achieve is the result of the name rather than doing something yourself." 13. And, yes, haters will hate. "Having a thick skin is very important to anyone who sticks his head above the crowd even a few inches." 14. Becoming a father provides new perspective on your own. "Having become a father myself and learned of my own inadequacies in that role, I became more sympathetic to my father's idiosyncrasies and limitations. You do the best you can." 15. Standby your family. "Grandfather and his partners were tough competitors, but they were guilty of no more than the common business practices of their day?' 16. No, really: Standby your family. "It wasn't that common for me to become publicly involved in Nelson's campaigns, but when he came to my territory, I felt a brotherly obligation to appear with him." 17. Though, family can surprise the most. "When we first heard about Nelson's affair with Happy, we were shocked. It often happens that those who are closet are the last to find out." 18. Find a hobby. "When I was a young child, I took a course in nature study and fell in love with beetles. Whenever I go on a trip, I always carry a jar in my pocket. They're easy to collect because they have firm shells and can be kept easily." 19. In life, opposites do attract. "While my wife and I enjoyed being together, we also had different interests, which we pursued independently. This was the key to our long and very happy marriage?' 20. Live within your means. "Easy credit might well lead to heavy speculation and over•expansion." EFTA01194636 21. Live by embracing adventure. "When my brother, Laurance, was at Princeton and roomed with a rather fast crowd, he told me that he believed in trying anything once...Later on he became a highly successful venture capitalist. His interest in unconventional ideas never diminished." 22. Find a good teacher, too. "I attribute my lifelong interest in history to Elmina Lucke, my sixth grade teacher, who made the past come vividly alive." 23. Embrace it abroad. "Although my parents felt their children should first get to know their own country, they believed it was just as important for us to learn about European cultures and civilization." 24. Also, live free of any regrets. "Grandfather never breathed a sigh of remorse to my father, his grandchildren or anyone else. He believed Standard Oil benefited society." 25. Create something that lasts. "Part of the joy of business is...permanence and value beyond oneself." Abram 1F1rwan -- Farb., •• June 12. 2015 ****** China Bashing It may sound cool on a Republican podium but it is stupid policy. EFTA01194637 As Fareed Zakaria wrote/warned this week in an op-ed in The Washington Post - Republican candidates bash China at our own peril. Because in this silly season of the jockeying between the 17 Republican candidates trying to get noticed, and 16 of them struggle to compete with The Donald, perhaps we should not be surprised to hear crazy rhetoric and outlandish ideas. In recent days, Chris Christie has proposed that all legal visitors to the United States be tracked every minute, like FedEx packages. Mike Huckabee has compared Planned Parenthood to the Islamic State because they both "take people's heads off." And as Zakaria points out we haven't even gotten to Donald Trump. The brunt of this extremism has been borne by immigrants, especially Mexicans. It's crude and obnoxious but ultimately inconsequential. The policies being proposed could never be enacted or implemented. And although Mexicans might be deeply offended — and rightly so — their country has to find a way to make peace with its gigantic neighbor to the north. None of this is true about China, the new target of irresponsible Republican rhetoric. China is the world's second-largest economy, almost 21/2 times the size of the next largest, Japan. Even if growth slows substantially, China will continue to have seismic effects on the global system. Scott Walker has declared that the upcoming state visit of China's president, Xi Jinping, should be canceled. Marco Rubio would allow Xi to come but downgrade his trip and use it as an opportunity to "speak bluntly to this authoritarian ruler." In a speech billed as outlining his foreign policy, Rubio argued that China is "a rising threat to our economic interests" and "a growing danger to our national security." Christie explained that Washington needs a "military approach" to China. Trump goes further and is coarser. When Zakaria asked the senior-most foreign policy statesman in the Republican Party, Henry Kissinger, what he makes of this rhetoric. "It is foolishness," he said, "but dangerous foolishness. It could have extremely grave repercussions."I also asked Hank Paulson, the most recent Republican treasury secretary, who has visited China more than too times over the past 25 years and negotiated with the Chinese as a businessman, government official and conservationist. "This summit means a lot to both countries and provides an opportunity to get important things done," Paulson said. "But particularly, because China is experiencing some economic problems at home, if we slight them or overplay our hand, they may leave questioning their ability to work with us. That would be terrible for both nations." Part of the problem is that China's government remains a black box and few people understand what is happening there — which makes it easy to ascribe malign intentions to Beijing's every move. Take, for example, the Chinese central bank's recent decision to allow its currency to fall — instantly denounced by politicians in Washington as an effort to flood the U.S. market with cheap goods. Over the past few years, the renminbi had appreciated substantially against the dollar and the yen. The Chinese government appeared to be responding to Western pressure to allow market forces to reign, which in this case made the currency fall. That is why the International Monetary Fund praised Beijing's decision to devalue. And when the renminbi fell too far, Beijing spent an estimated $200 billion trying to prop it up — hardly the actions of a government trying to devalue. As with the stock market, Beijing's policies have been inconsistent and ineffective, but that does not mean that they are evil. "From the rhetoric I hear," Kissinger told Zakaria, "one would imagine that China has decided to embark on a series of policies, economic and military, that threaten the United States. What is really going on is that China is in the midst of an enormous transformation, economic and political.... The internal turmoil in the country today is comparable only to the Cultural Revolution." And, he noted, it would be far better for the United States if China makes this transition to a more stable economy successfully. The Republican rhetoric on China, Mexico and immigration reveals a breakdown of the party's ideological vision and internal discipline. For decades, Republicans have favored internationalism, engagement and free markets. In 2016, it is quite possible that the party's nominee will be populist, nativist and protectionist. The consequences of this new climate of China-bashing could be serious. "It might turn out that over time we determine that it is not possible to cooperate with China," Kissinger said. "But we should exhaust every effort to have a serious, constructive relationship. If not, the tensions will build, misunderstandings will grow, and I worry that we would find ourselves in an atmosphere similar to that of Europe before World War I — a war no one wanted but no one knew how to stop." Also, does anyone really believe that it is prudent for America to dins the leadership of a country holding $2 trillion of treasuries? But then this latest clown car often speak without thinking. EFTA01194638 Bonanza for the Super Rich: The Fund Managers' Tax Break As Dean Baker recently wrote in The Huffington Post — The reason most of us have seen little gain from economic growth over the last three decades is that the rich have rigged the rules to ensure that money flows upward. Through their control of trade policy, Federal Reserve Board policy, and other key levers of government, they have structured the market to weaken the bargaining power of ordinary workers and benefit the CEOs and Wall Street crew. As a result, the typical worker has seen almost none of the gains from economic growth over the last four decades. Most of this rigging comes in before-tax income. The big gains to the rich have not been primarily because they have become better at avoiding taxes than they were four decades ago, but there are some notable exceptions. At the top of this list is the fund managers' tax break (a.k.a. the carried interest tax deduction). As tens of millions of people prepare to file their tax returns this week, it is a good opportunity to celebrate this tax deduction which gives billions of dollars every year to some of the richest people in the country for no reason whatsoever. Many issues in tax law are complicated; the fund managers' tax break is not. And as Dean Baker says, "It's just a good old- fashioned rip-off of ordinary taxpayers for the benefit of the wealthy." The basic point is very simple. The fund managers' tax break allows managers of hedge funds, private equity funds, and various other investment funds to have much of their pay taxed at the capital gains tax rate rather than the tax rate applied to wage income. At present, this will typically mean a savings of almost 20 percentage points since the capital gains tax rate for the rich is 20 percent, compared to a 39.6 percent tax rate on ordinary wage income. The people who benefit from this tax break include some of the richest people in the country. Typically these fund managers earn paychecks that run well into the millions. Earnings in the tens of millions annually, or even hundreds of millions are not uncommon. (Think of Mitt Romney. He was one of the beneficiaries of the fund managers' tax break.) The fund managers' tax break is real money for the people affected. In the case of a fund manager looking at $100 million in carried interest income, the tax break will mean an additional $20 million in their pockets. To put this in perspective, this is equal to k5o,000 months of food stamps for the typical beneficiary. The rationale for giving the super-rich a lower tax rate on this money is that they are paid based on what they earn for their clients. Typically, the "carried interest" is equal to 20 percent of the earnings of a fund over some threshold. In other words, the fund managers are paid partly on a commission. In this way fund managers don't differ from millions of other workers in the economy. Realtors, car salespeople, even clerks in clothing stores or shoe stores typically get much of their pay on commission. The difference between these workers and the super rich who run hedge funds and private equity funds is that ordinary workers have to pay the same tax rate on their earnings regardless of whether they are paid a straight salary or whether they earned it as a commission. It is only the fund managers who get to have their earnings taxed at a lower rate because they earned them on a commission. There has been considerable discussion in the last year over inequality. Some have argued that increase in inequality over the last three decades is an inevitable part of capitalism, or at least that this inequality has been necessary to sustain the growth that benefits everyone. It is difficult to see anything inevitable about the fund managers' tax break. Surely it is EFTA01194639 possible to envision a less corrupt Congress that doesn't make up tax rules exclusively to benefit the very rich. It is also difficult to see how the economy benefits from creating tax loopholes that cause people to spend their time gaming the tax code rather than doing productive work. If presidential candidates and other political figures are serious about addressing inequality, it would be difficult to envision a better place to start than eliminating the fund managers' tax break. There are serious policy questions around many other measures to reduce inequality. On the fund managers' tax break there are none. It's really pretty simple: handing taxpayers' money to some of the richest people in the country increases inequality. And this is from someone who believes in capitalism and has no problem with people making millions and billions of dollars. My only issue is that these types of carve-outs and this in particular is unfair to everyone else who is paid commissions. The Constitution the Republicans Can't Stand D Do 66' 4' 6'/" 624 5‘0" -60' Kt 68* 56" 2- a Lawbreaker Kim Davis and the lawless Ted Cruz As Dana Milbank wrote this week in an op-ed in The Washington Post under the title of Lawbreaker Kim Davis and the lawless Ted Cruz - What Kim Davis did was troubling. But what Ted Cruz did was downright alarming. Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky, refused to issue marriage certificates to gay couples. She said she was operating "under God's authority," but she now sits in jail for ignoring federal authority. Davis, at least, is facing the consequences of her actions. Not so Cruz, senator from Texas and Republican presidential candidate. "Today, judicial lawlessness crossed into judicial tyranny," he said. "Today, for the first time ever, the government arrested a Christian woman for living according to her faith.... I stand with Kim Davis. Unequivocally." As Milbank points out — Tyranny? Our system of government gives the Supreme Court final say over constitutional matters, and, though Cruz doesn't like it, the court ordered states to recognize same-sex marriages. In fact, the high court specifically declined to give relief to Davis, and the federal judge who ordered her jailed for contempt of court is a George W. Bush appointee and son of a former Republican senator. Now Cruz, who took an oath of office to "support and defend the Constitution," wants people to defy the Supreme Court's authority? Who is the lawless one? Cruz isn't the only Republican candidate seeking the nation's highest office while encouraging people to ignore its laws. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, declared: "I thank God for Kim Davis, and I hope more Americans will stand with her." Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, too, supported Davis, and Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) called her jailing "absurd" and said stands such as Davis's are "an important part of the American way." Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said that "you have the freedom to practice religious beliefs out there. It's a fundamental right." True. And there's a proud American tradition of defying unjust laws with civil disobedience. But nobody is denying Davis freedom to believe what she wishes; she's merely being ordered to do what she swore to do: "faithfully execute the duties of my office without favor." Refusing to do so doesn't make her Martin Luther King Jr. It makes her George Wallace. " When they put their personal beliefs above their responsibilities as public servants, that's not civil disobedience, its abuse of power," says Michael Keegan of the liberal group People for the American Way, which tracks such actions by public EFTA01194640 officials. "Elected officials who feel like they can't in good conscience fulfill their duties have an honorable way to proceed: They can find another line of work." Defenders of Davis, a Democrat, cite President Obama's "lawlessness" — but even his expansive view of presidential power doesn't include ignoring court orders. They cite San Francisco's "lawless" sanctuary-city statute — but the ordinance has survived 26 years without being invalidated. Jeb Bush, to his credit, said Davis "is sworn to uphold the law." But a large number of Republican officeholders are encouraging people to ignore a variety of laws. When Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy last year undertook an armed standoff against the federal government, Paul, Ben Carson (also now a GOP presidential candidate), Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and others took Bundy's side. Huckabee and Rick Santorum, another GOP presidential candidate, signed a pledge not to "respect an unjust law that directly conflicts with higher law." Huckabee is on record saying that "the Supreme Court is not the Supreme Being, and they cannot overturn the laws of nature or of nature's God." Huckabee floated the notion of using federal troops to block people from getting abortions. He also said: "I will not acquiesce to an imperial court any more than our Founders acquiesced to an imperial British monarch." Paul recently sounded a call to arms against the city of Houston over a rescinded attempt to subpoena local pastors. "That's at the point at which civil resistance is in order," he said. Former Texas governor Rick Perry, for his part, said last year that his state wouldn't comply with a federal prison-rape law. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), meanwhile, encouraged states not to comply with a proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule. Various judges and clerks across the country have taken stands like Davis's. Davis got support for her law-breaking from Matt Bevin, the Republican candidate for governor of Kentucky, and from her husband, Joe, one of three men to whom she has been married. Ominously, he said he's not afraid of harassment by gay-marriage supporters, and he invoked his gun-toting rights under the Second Amendment. '1. an old redneck hillbilly, that's all I've got to say," he said. "Don't come knocking on my door." It's fitting that, as Kim Davis undermines the rule of law, Joe Davis threatens violence. When you lose the former, all you are left with is the latter. If you are running for office as a Republican today, you have to mention your reverence for the Constitution at least as much as you mention your love for Ronald Reagan. The Second Amendment — every word should be taken literally because it was literally ordained by God! The First Amendment protects my right to discriminate against gay people! Neither the Constitution nor the Bible contains the word "Obamacare"! But Republican politicians have a few glaring blind spots when it comes to the Constitution. One of those is the 14th Amendment, a pillar of our inclusive democracy, a key component of which Republican presidential candidates are now asking us to ignore or change. The Republican presidential contenders' rush to badmouth a basic constitutional right — in an apparent attempt to appeal to their supposedly Constitution-loving far-right base -- speaks volumes about what they really mean when they talk about constitutionalism. They use their pocket Constitutions for the parts that come in handy. The rest of it? Not so much. We have to challenge our political leaders who on one hand bathe themselves in The Constitution except when it conflicts with the desires of their constituents, no matter how wrong or wacko they are. They shouldn't be allowed to cherry-pick provisions in The Constitution that support their personal beliefs, because your God and my God may not be the same and the neutrality of The Constitution and its premise that we are all equal under the law, is not only a right, it is the right that glues us together as a civilized moral country. Like Mrs. Davis, Senator Cruz and those like him should be made to pay a price.... Which should be disqualification from political office, because when you seek political office you are pledging to protect the rights for everyone, not just those who believe and support your secular beliefs. And for those of you who see Mrs. Davis as a modern day Rosa Parks, you truly don't understand what Rosa Parks really did or why she is celebrated for doing it. ****** THIS IS CRAZY EFTA01194641 We Are Averaging One Mass Shootings a Day As A Result of a Culture of Violence in America And America's Lack of Gun Regulation Is Shameful Political Cowardice Aug. 26 is the 238th day of the year. And with the fatal shooting in Virginia Wednesday — in which a gunman shot himself after killing two reporters and wounding one more person — plus the shooting of four during a Minneapolis home invasion, the number of mass shooting incidents has risen to 247 for the year. These numbers are compiled by the moderators of the GunsAreCool subreddit, a sarcastically named community that tracks gun violence in America. They define "mass shooting" as any single incident in which at least four people are shot, including the gunman. The tracker comes in for some criticism because its definition is broader than the FBI's definition, which requires three or more people to be killed by gunfire. But the broader definition is nonetheless a useful one, because it captures many high-profile instances of violence — like the recent Lafayette theater shootings — that don't meet the FBI's criteria. Some gun rights advocates — like John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center — object that the broader definition includes a lot of gang killings and domestic disputes that the average person wouldn't necessarily consider a "mass shooting." But there's an uncomfortable assumption here that some crime victims' lives should be valued differently — or are less worthy of attention — than others. A more expansive definition of "mass shooting" underscores the extent to which firearms make it relatively easy to hurt large numbers of people in a very short time. With a gun, you're able to inflict bodily harm on a person once they're in your line of sight. With something like a knife or your hands, you need to get right up close to a person. EFTA01194642 238 days, 247 mass shootings Numbers reefs encamp et • reams. gnawing shaoter) by day olyear. 2015 January February March 1 1 0 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 0 0' 0 2 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 / 1 0 1 1 • 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 3 1 ,4_, 2 O 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 .1 O 1 0 1 1 0 0 April 1 1 0 June 0 1 1 0 0 0 17 ' 3 3' 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 2 2 1 11 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 3 0 2 1 0 0 3 2 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 1 S. 0 2 0 0 0 4 1 1 0 3 1 2 3 1 0 2 0 1 4 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 5 2 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 2 0 3. 0 0 1 1 wOn.0 LOG 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 01 4 0 0 1 , • 2. 0 0 1 2 There's no easy fix to gun violence in this country. As gun rights proponents are quick to point out, municipalities with strict gun laws, like Chicago and M., see more than their fair share of gun crime. But it's nevertheless a fact that the level of gun violence we see in the U.S. is like nothing seen in other wealthy Western nations. More importantly as Shaw Van Diver recently wrote in the Huffington Post — America's lack of gun regulation is shameful political cowardice. Since December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children, six adults, and himself, there have been at least 887 mass shootings, with shooters killing at least 1,148 people and wounding 3,184 more. Thousands and thousands of people, including several prominent politicians have been trying to get this discussion going for years, yet even after Sandy Hook there have been more than 8o0 mass shootings since Sandy Hook there doesn't appear to be enough outrage to institute even the most elementary legislation that would make it harder for the mentally unstable to get arms to gun or band assault rifles which were designed for the military. Web Link: Our politicians were too chicken-shit to even extend the Brady Bill, named after James Brady, who served as press secretary for President Ronald Reagan, was shot in the head by John Hinckley, Jr., during an attempt on President Reagan's life outside a hotel in Washington, Reagan himself was shot and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 30, 1993 and the law went into effect on February 28, 1994. So under unremitting legal assaults the Supreme Court ruled that the provision of the Brady Act that compelled state and local law enforcement officials to perform the background checks was unconstitutional on loth amendment grounds. In light of the above statistics people in other industrialized countries wonder why this epidemic of gun violence persist in America without any meaningful reform on gun violence. It is unexplainable that U.S. politicians still don't care beyond the minimum expected lip service immediately following an incident. They don't even have the guts to pursue reforms to prevent weapons and ammunition from making their way into the hands of the mentally or create any national standards for background checks on gun buyers. Have we seen any efforts to restrict the most dangerous weapons, the highest capacity magazines, or the most damaging ammunition? Not a chance. EFTA01194643 The failure to implement even the most general or common sense reforms in the light of 800 mass shootings is an absolute refusal to lead on the part of Congress. It's a flat-out disregard for the safety of American citizens. It's shameful political cowardice. When Australia had a sickening mass shooting, they banded together as a nation and took action. When we have a mass shooting, the NRA pushes for more guns. What happened to America being an example for the world? The U.S. government regulates all kinds of industries and products to ensure the safety of the American public. Take cars, for instance: before you are allowed to drive one, you have to take and pass both a written and operational test to get a driver's license. Those licenses are regulated by a government agency. You need to have car insurance. If you're diagnosed with certain medical conditions, you may lose your right to get behind the wheel. All of these things are true, because while we as a nation see the value of cars, we also acknowledge that careless ownership and operation of motor vehicles can be dangerous to the public, and we believe that if we can prevent unnecessary harm to each other, we should. It's time we apply that same standard to gun ownership. Our leaders in Washington must recognize these basic truths and have the courage to stand up to the "all-powerful" gun lobby. Yes, the NRA is a powerful interest group. Yes, it's tough for an elected official to go against their campaign donors' wishes. But your responsibility lies with the American people—a people who face the horror of random violence in movie theatres, elementary schools, and now their morning newscasts. If just a few of you used your backbone, you could potentially save hundreds, or thousands, of Americans who will be future victims of gun violence. In light of the latest mass shooting that was captured on local morning news in Virginia that has outraged America that somehow the cacophony of voices begging for change is heard, because it's a sad day when the greatest nation in the world cannot take simple action to protect her citizens. One hopes that the public remembers this tragedy and everyone before and after it on Election Day. One should support regulation insuring that everyone who wants to own a gun has to go through training, background checks, and mental health screening — as this is the right thing to do. And for a country that makes everyone take off their shoes before getting on an commercial airplane because one person tried to unsuccessfully tried to ignite a bomb in their shoe, one would think that they would do everything possible to slowdown this epidemic of gun violence that is causing the death of more than ii,000 people a year.... And this is my rant of the week.... WEEK's READINGS 2O Foods Banned in the World (But Allowed in the U.S.) EFTA01194644 It's common knowledge nowadays that the United States is behind on the times in certain regards. With the trans-fat movement sweeping headlines lately, we've coming to discover that what we've been eating in our country, isn't always the healthiest. But what may shock you, is that there are a plethora of foods that are banned worldwide, yet the United States still allows for consumption. Ready for a very scary list, then read below because food coloring, synthetic chemicals that are flame retardant, chemicals that rob the body of micro-nutrients, arsenic that is actually considered poison, phosphates that are actually arterial toxins, synthetic hormones found in non-organic dairy products and something called pink slime which if people realized is in chicken nuggets no one would eat it See below Scary... Scary.... Scary 1. Farmed Salmon: In the U.S., we eat a lot of farmed or factory farmed meats and proteins. Because our country is consuming at such a high rate, production needs to be fast-forwarded tenfold. Farmed salmon, along with other factory farmed proteins have squalid living conditions and are pumped full of antibiotics and other chemicals that we end up ingesting. 2. Blue Dye #2: More often than we realize, companies add food coloring to their product in order to make it seem more appetizing. But what we aren't told, is that these artificial colors are predominantly made from coal tar. Back in the day, food coloring came from spices such as turmeric and saffron, but now, artificial dyes are chock full of chemical agents that we should not be ingesting so regularly. Stay away from the blueberry Nutrigrain bars! 3. Yellow #5: But it's worth mentioning one dye to stay away from in particular: Yellow *5. This dye is by far the worst to be consumed as it has been found to cause genotoxicity, a cell mutation that may lead to cancer. So steer clear of the boxed and Mountain Dew. 4. Red Dye #40: As one of the most widely used and consumed dyes, this one has been proven to accelerate tumors in mice and in children. Kraft Catalina dressing? Say goodbye. 5. Flame Retardant Drinks: Speaking of...it's time to ditch the Dew. Mountain Dew and other citrus-flavored sports drinks contain a synthetic chemical called brominated vegetable oil. Sounds delicious, right? This chemical was originally introduced to the public by chemical companies as a flame retardant. Yum. 7. Potassium Bromate: Now that we're talking about brominated vegetable oil, BVO, we also can find Potassium Bromate in certain dough that we eat. It's an agent used to strengthen the dough, but is dangerous enough to be a banned additive in Europe, China, and Canada. 7. Azodicarbonamide: On the topic of dough, there's an ingredient that actually bleaches flour, and it's called azodicarbonamide. It's found in a majority of breads and baked goods in the U.S., but is banned in Australia and the U.K., for being known as an asthma-causing allergen. 8. Olestra: We've all heard of the fat-free fad of the late gos, which fortunately didn't last long. Many of these fat-free products, such as potato chips, were filled with chemicals to rid the fats. Olestra was one of these chemicals, which actually EFTA01194645 robbed us of micro-nutrients that our body desperately needed for continuous, healthy functions. 9. Arsenic-based Drugs: Factory farms often need their animals to grow more quickly than nature allows, for a higher turnover rate. However, in order to do this, they add an arsenic-based drug to their feed. Scientific reports have shown that this organic arsenic could potentially transform into inorganic arsenic, which is extremely deadly. 10. Preservatives BHA & BHT: Preservatives are used in so many products nowadays, it's hard to keep track: chewing gum, beer, nut mixes, and so forth. So when you see ingredients such as BHA and BHT, steer clear. These chemicals are speculated to be a cancer-causing agent in humans, and also cause organ system toxicity. 11. Ractopamine-Tained Meat: Sounds like a mouthful, but not the good kind. Similar to arsenic-based drugs, Ractopamine is used to promote rapid growth in livestock animals. Yet, human consumption of this ingredient has direct links cardiovascular problems as well as hyperactivity. 12. rBGH and rBST: This hormone, as well as the synthetic version of the hormone, are found in non-organic dairy products in order to increase milk production. These hormones have been banned in many countries primarily for the concerns in regards to animal welfare. 13. DPA: Diphenylamine, (say that three limes fast) is used on apples to give that glossy sheen that shouts "buy me! I look delicious!". But this coat has been actually deemed as a poison by the EFSA, European Food Safety Authority. DPA is actually what allows us to buy apples any lime of the year, despite being harvested in the fall. 14. Genetically Modified Papaya: Genetically modified anything is pure garbage, but papaya has it worst. Skeptics worry about long term effects of the genetic modification, and in Europe Genetically modified papaya is strictly banned. 1$. Pink Slime: We've all seen that photo going around regarding what's really in McDonald's thicken nuggets. Pink slime is apparently what companies refer to as "meat". Yet, it's really used as an additive to bulk up cheap meat. And we all know how great additives are... 16. Carrageenan: What's used as an emulsifier and thickener in processed dairy goods, actually causes gastrointestinal issues. Even scarier, this ingredient is said to be found in baby formula... yikes. 17. Atrazine: One of the most widely used herbicide in the United States is atrazine. Yet, when sprayed on crops, atrazine has been known to leak into the ground and contaminate drinking water. So the poison used to keep bugs away, we're consuming without knowledge. 18. Chlorine Chicken: Sounds delicious, no? Factory farms host very sad and strenuous conditions for chicken, which ultimately lead to a lot of disease and harmful pathogens. An easy solution? Chlorine doused chicken to kill off any unnecessary germs. Replacing germs with poison, sound promising. 19. Phosphates: Phosphates are often added to meat in order to enhance certain things like color, flavor and moisture absorption. However, phosphate is an arterial toxin known to increase heart disease. 20. Irradiated Meat: In the U.S., foods are preserved through exposure to low levels of radiation. This also prevents food borne illnesses. However, the European Union does not allow this as a replacement for good hygiene, as it actually changes the chemical composition of the food. We should really question why the above foods which are banned in other industrialized countries are allowed and sold in the U.S. because the truth is that they are killing people. ***** The average American woman now weighs as much as the average 196os man EFTA01194646 Americans get heavier. Average r.verghl 01 American men and women. 1960-2010 200 lbs. 190 180 170 160 150 14 1960 1970 1980 1990 Men Women 2000 2010 WAPO WONKOLOG Source CDC As Salynn Boyles wrote in WebTV in 2007 the obesity epidemic is actually a worldwide pandemic that has global implications for health and disease, new research shows. Citing one of the largest studies ever to examine obesity rates across the globe, researchers found that more than 60% of men and 50% of women were either overweight or obese. They concluded that obesity is a growing problem in all regions of the world, even among traditionally lean Asian populations. "The study shows that excess body weight is pandemic, with one-half to two-thirds of the overall study population being overweight or obese," researcher Beverley Balkau, PhD, of the French health service INSERM, says in a news release. The study involved 69,409 men and 98,750 women from 63 countries across five continents evaluated by their primary care doctors for body weight, height, cardiovascular disease (heart disease or stroke), diabetes, and waist circumference. The U.S. was not included in the study. Waist circumference is now considered an important marker of obesity-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. A waist circumference of more than 4o inches in men and 35 inches in women is considered a risk factor for these diseases. The people in the study had visited their doctor on one of two specially designated days in which detailed information on weight, height, waist circumference, and disease history were collected for the trial, providing a snapshot of the prevalence of obesity worldwide. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from the weight and height measurements. BMI looks at a person's weight in relation to height and is used to determine obesity and overweight. Forty percent of men and 30% of women met the criteria for being overweight, meaning they had a BMI of 25 to 29.9. Fully a quarter of men and women met the BMI definition of obese (BMI of 30 or greater), but obesity rates did differ by region, ranging from a low of 7% among men and women living in southern and eastern Asian countries to a high of 36% among men and women living in Canada. Just under one in three men and almost half of the women had waist circumferences of more than 4o and 35, respectively, putting them at higher risk for heart disease and diabetes. The rate of diagnosed heart disease among male and female study participants was 16% and 13%, respectively. A total of 13% of men and 11% of women had known diabetes. The men and women in the study with the largest waists were more than twice as likely as those with the smallest waists to have heart disease. Today the average American woman now weighs as much as the average 196os man. The average American woman weighs 166.2 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As Reddit recently pointed out, that's almost exactly as much as the average American man weighed in the early 196os. As for men over the same time period the average man has gained nearly 3o pounds, from 166.3 in the 6os to 195.5 today. Doing the same comparison as above, today's American man weighs almost as much as 1.5 American women from the 196os. At 195.5 pounds, put five American guys in a room and you've gathered roughly half a ton of manhood. Overall weight gain since 196o is slightly greater for women (18.5 percent) than for men (17.6 percent). And both sexes have gained roughly an inch in height over the same period, which accounts for some of that weight gain. But story is mostly one of growing girth, and it basically boils down to three factors: we're eating less healthy food, we're eating more of EFTA01194647 it, and we're not moving around as much. According to a study published in 2012 in the journal BMC Public Health, Americans are now the world's third-heaviest people, behind only the Pacific island nations of Tonga and Micronesia. The average American is 33 pounds heavier than the average Frenchman, 4o pounds heavier than the average Japanese citizen, and a whopping 70 pounds heavier than the average citizen of Bangladesh. To add up to one ton of total mass, it takes 20 Bangladeshis but only 12.2 Americans. Together, the world's adult human beings added up to 287 million tons of biomass in 2005, according to the BMC Public Health study. But if every country had the same weight distribution as the U.S., the world would be 58 million tons fatter, an increase of 20 percent. The study concludes that "tackling population fatness may be critical to world food security and ecological sustainability."And as with so many of the world's problems, the solutions start at home -- on the bathroom scale in this case. More Importantly - Some of the Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity are, High Blood Pressure, Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, Type 2 Diabetes, Abnormal Blood Fats, Metabolic Syndrome, Cancer, Osteoarthritis, Sleep Apnea, Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome, Reproductive Problems and Gallstones among other diseases. And just to give you an example, diabetes risk was three times higher for the quarter of men with the biggest waists and almost six times higher for women, compared with the quarter of the study population with the smallest waists. So the next time you reach for the second donut, soda or hand of potato chips know that getting fat is no joke unless you are willing to run five miles every day.... .... For more information attached please find the health related risks of overweight and obesity from the NIH. ****** Bishop Tutu's Dream "0 Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous—therefore judgment comes forth perverted." — Cry of the Hebrew prophet Habakkuk This ancient plea strikes a deep chord in me and among many today. After the horror of the racist terrorist murders in Charleston, South Carolina many of us have been crying out with questions about all the strife and violence permeating our nation. How long until America confronts its historic love affair with guns and violence and undergoes a healing process of first truth and then reconciliation about our profound crippling birth defects of slavery, Native American genocide, and exclusion of all women and non-propertied men from America's dream and electoral process? Only when we face the truths of our past which continue to flare up in our present can we work toward true reconciliation and wholeness as a people and begin to close the huge gap between our dream of equality and our reality of massive racial and economic inequality. How long and what will it take to make America America? EFTA01194648 In South Africa, many people credit that nation's formal Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a key component in the country's transition from the brutality of apartheid to the ongoing struggle to build a fuller and freer democracy. The Commission was a court-like body set up to bear witness to, record, and in some cases grant amnesty for the violence and human rights abuses of the past—giving South Africans from all sides a formal way to acknowledge their shared history of violence, racism and injustice. At its interfaith commissioning service in February 1996, South African President Nelson Mandela said: "Ordinary South Africans are determined that the past be known, the better to ensure that it is not repeated. They seek this, not out of vengeance, but so that we can move into the future together. The choice of our nation is not whether the past should be revealed, but rather to ensure that it comes to be known in a way which promotes reconciliation and peace." Our nation has not gone through a similar truth process. Our "racial" wars—including slavery, genocide, lynchings and repeated unjust deaths of Black citizens at the hands of law enforcement officials and self-appointed vigilantes or racist terrorists—have been manifestations of racial beliefs among us in various incarnations. Today, a Cradle to Prison Pipeline feeds our mass incarceration system. Our resegregated and still hugely unequal schools for children of color, especially if they are poor, are repeating pre-Brown v. Board of Education era practices. Our massive child and family poverty—which unjustly affects children and people of color—and indefensible massive wealth and income inequality continue two Americas of haves and have nots. And guns, guns, guns everywhere lethalize hate, terrorize inner-city children daily in dangerous neighborhoods, and darken the future of millions of children in search of America's elusive dream. There are no safe havens from the carnage of guns which kill or injure a child or teen every 3,5 minutes. The recently publicized police killings of unarmed Black boys and men have opened a new chapter in exposing many old and still deeply engrained systemic problems of racism and classism in America. And the murders of nine Black churchgoers in a Charleston, South Carolina prayer meeting by a 21-year-old White man remind us that the most aberrant and violent kind of racial hatred is still alive in our gun saturated society—passing on the old poisons to new generations. While the removal of the Confederate flag and statues of Confederate war heroes symbolizing slavery and racial apartheid is a step forward, it does not confront the deeper historical national blight of slavery and the structural and cultural inequalities and racial seeds from our shared past that still permeate the tainted soil of our nation today. It's time for real truth and then reconciliation in America from the bottom up and top down. And it must begin with teaching truthfully American history. And while we can't just imitate South Africa's or Germany's or Rwanda's or other countries' processes we can learn from them in designing a process that fits America's history and context if we are to redeem our future for our children's sake. There are thoughtful beginnings with Brown University's examination of the slave trade's role in its history and Trinity Church Boston's and Trinity Church Providence's examination of their historic engagement with slavery. Perhaps other colleges, universities, churches, denominations and other prominent institutions which benefited from slavery and the slave trade should consider following their examples to set history straight. All of us would benefit from reading Ebony and Ivy by Craig Steven Wilder and supporting efforts by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama led by Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy, to put up markers indicating where slave markets existed and documenting lynchings in our not very distant past. When the prophet Habakkuk asked "how long," the answer he received was: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay." America's great loth century prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., answered the same question in his time: "We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man. I know you are asking today, 'How long will it take? Somebody's asking, 'How long will prejudice blind the visions of men?'...I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because 'truth crushed to earth will rise again.' How long? Not long, because 'no lie can live forever.' How long? Not long, because 'you shall reap what you sow'....How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." EFTA01194649 Archbishop DesmondTutu South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, appointed by President Mandela to chair South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is a prophetic voice in our world today. An outspoken defender of human rights and campaigner for justice for the oppressed, he is revered for his commitment to fighting poverty, racism and all forms of discrimination against any human beings, and dedication to reshaping our conversations about peace, equality and forgiveness. He sent a video message to faith and youth leaders attending the ztst annual Children's Defense Fund (CDF)'s Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry in July at CDF-Haley Farm and shared what he believes is God's dream for all human children: "And God says, I have a dream. I have a dream that all of my children will discover that they belong in one family—my family, the human family—a family in which there are no outsiders; all are held in the embrace of the one whose love will never let us go; the one who says that each one of us is of incredible worth, that each one of us is precious to God because each of us has their name written on the palms of God's hands. And God says, there am no outsiders—black, white, red, yellow, short, tall, young, old, rich, poor, gay, lesbian, straight—everyone. All belong. And God says, I have only you to help me realize my dream. Help me." I hope America can realize God's dream for all humankind. I believe we can realize God's and Dr. King's and Bishop Tutu's dream if each of us holds ourselves accountable and refuses to give up challenging our personal and collective prejudices and special privileges. I hope all of us will do whatever is necessary to pass on to our children and grandchildren a better and more just country and world than we inherited. But to do so, we must wake up, open our eyes and ears, avoid convenient ignorance, seek the truth, speak up, stand up, and never give up fighting for justice for all. How long? Not long, if a critical remnant among us is determined to do whatever is necessary to make sure that love trumps hate and that the truth of our history is taught and discussed and enabled to help make us free. Marian Wright Edelman - The Huffington Past - September 3. 2015 These 18 Cities Will See the Most Economic Growth Next Year With the oil boom fading, Florida's retirement communities are poised to rise to the top For the past few years, oil towns have dominated the ranks of the fastest-growing economies in America. Now that the energy boom is fading, a new leader is emerging: Retirement communities in Florida that are buoyed by a surge in baby boomers. EFTA01194650 Naples, Florida, topped the list of metropolitan areas that are expected to see the most economic growth next year, according to an analysis of data in a new report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors prepared by IHS Global Insight. The economy there will grow 4.9 percent in 2016, according to the forecasts. The Villages, a sprawling senior community that has already been the fastest-growing city by population for two straight years, ranked third. The map below shows how metro areas in Florida made up half of the top 18 performers. These Are the New Hubs of Economic Growth Florida dominates the ranks of the 18 metropolitan areas that will see the most economic growth next year 4.1% X 4.1% 4.2% I. 1.000017. wtabmwen & $0140$01 4.1% 4 4.3% 4.2% 7. 0:0. 4.4% a IL 11000000.. a oamda B. A.00$ Sorb. Kwanono• 1$.0n0 4 Sanlail 2:0. 4.7% 2.4,• Mil & Th0V.10...- i ds 4.8% 4.0% 1 Senn, 4.1% • O. M.C. 4.0% .• St Wes 4.0% 4.5% 1.10.Sen 4. Cc* C 4.9% 10ntxrp het Wert Mac. 4.000.0.0. Mew 0.0.0 Mottos inert a ban keeptaesd OrawItM2005 Sc.- U.S Conhovou of Mayors .S114 O12.711maght In 2014, the front runners consisted of mostly energy patch areas, many of which will probably end up as some of the worst-performing economies next year. Nowhere is the shift clearer than in Midland, Texas, which saw the best economic growth in the country in 2014 (11.9 percent) according to the report's data. The expectation is that it will rank dead last (3.2 percent contraction) in forecasts for 2016. Other areas that are also expected to struggle include Midland's neighbor Odessa and Casper, Wyoming. With these previous oil and gas hubs tumbling down the ranks, it makes room for Florida's metro economies to take their places at the top of the list in 2016. Other metropolitan areas slated for growth in 2016 include greater San Jose, California, which makes up the heart of Silicon Valley; Austin, Texas; and Provo, Utah. Erin Roman - Bloomberg Business — July 20, 2015 How China used more cement in 3 years than the U.S. did in the entire 20th Century EFTA01194651 WPM in 100 years 4.5 gigatons 119C1-20301 in 3 years ° MI 0° 0. 6.6 gigatons 12011-20731 Sometimes you see a headline in a newspaper that is so mind-boggling that you actually have to read the article just to make sure that your eyes weren't playing games on you and one example of this was a recent article in The Washington Post by Ma Swanson titled — How China used more cement in 3 years than the U.S. did in the entire loth Century. The article starts with a mind blowing assertion — China used more cement between 2011 and 2013 than the U.S. used in the entire loth Century. And the reason why this came to light was that Bill Gates used it in one of his blogs as an example of China's amazing growth which I experience having first travel to country in the early 1980s when it was still the land of 800 million people living in extreme poverty. And as Swanson wrote — But can it be true, and, if so, how? Yes, China's economy has grown at an extraordinary rate, and it has more than four times as many people as the United States. But the rgoos were America's great period of expansion, the century in which the U.S. built almost all of its roads and bridges, the Interstate system, the Hoover Dam, and many of the world's tallest skyscrapers. And China and the U.S. are roughly the same size in terms of geographic area, ranking third and fourth in the world, respectively. The statistic seems incredible, but according to government and industry sources, it appears accurate. What's more, once you dive into the figures, they have a surprisingly logical explanation that reveals some fascinating differences between the two countries, and some ominous realities about China. Using cement as a statistic — historian Vaclav Smil, calls cement "the most important material in terms of sheer mass in our civilization." (In case you need a refresher, cement is a powdery lime-and-clay substance that is combined with water and gravel or sand to make concrete.) Smil got his estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey, whose figures for the American use of cement in the loth Century are below. U.S. cement consumption, 1900-1999 120.000.000 100,000.000 80.000,000 60.000.000 40.000,000 20.000,000 0 Anz7,1 ;;;Eia.AriAAH„AAirri US. Geological Survey EFTA01194652 This chart shows some interesting economic trends — including dips in construction during the Great Depression, World War II and the recession of the early 1980s. MI of America's cement consumption during the century adds up to around 4.4 gigatons (i gigaton is roughly 1 billion metric tons). In comparison, China used around 6.4 gigatons of cement in the three years of 2011, 2012 and 2013, as data below from the International Cement Review, an industry publication based in London, shows. U.S. Geological Survey estimates on China's cement consumption are similar: According to Hendrik van Oss, a mineral commodity specialist at the USGS, China's cement consumption between 2010-12 was about 140 percent of U.S. consumption for 1900-99. Cement consumption US. vs China ,®Wear 4./C0.40010) INO.GI/ CO/ 1/700.030 COI Cra.1011 1 Cloy /ell V.S. Geological Survey and International Ckenent Review 1 0...201111 Clearly, the amount of cement that China has used in recent years is just stunningly huge. Here it is as a cube, overlooking Chicago. A cube representing China's use of cement over the past three years overlooking Chicago So how did China use so much cement? First, the country is urbanizing at a historic rate, much faster than the U.S. did in the 20th Century. More than 20 million Chinese relocate to cities each year, which is more people than live in downtown New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago combined. This massive change has taken place in less than so years. In 1978, less than a fifth of China's population lived in cities. By 2020, that proportion will be 6o percent. China's cities have been transformed to make room for this influx of people. By some estimates, half of China's infrastructure has been built since 2000, with new rail networks, interstates, dams, airports and high-rise apartment buildings springing up across the country. For example, the gif below shows how Shanghai's Eastern Pudong District changed between 1987 and 2013. You can see why Spike Jonze chose Pudong as the setting for a city of the future in the recent movie "Her." EFTA01194653 1987 REUTERS/Stringer, July 31, 2013. More stunning than Shanghai's transformation is the growth of the Pearl River Delta, a megalopolis on the Chinese mainland across from Hong Kong. The manufacturing hub had 42 million inhabitants in 2010, according to the World Bank. If considered a single urban area — which makes sense, since the cities there all run together — the Pearl River Delta would be the world's largest city by both area and population. What's almost more impressive than China's biggest cities is the incredible number of "small" cities that no one has ever heard of. In 2009, China had 221 cities with more than a million people in them, compared with only 35 in Europe. Even relatively minor cities like Zhengzhou and Jinan are more populous than Los Angeles or Chicago. Beyond China's incredible urbanization, there are a few more facts that make the cement scat even more believable. As Goldman Sachs pointed out in a note, China's population today is only about four times as large as the U.S., but it is 15 times as large as the U.S. was in the early loth Century, and nine times the size of the U.S. in 1950. The world also experienced a shift in building materials over the loth Century. In 1950, the world manufactured roughly as much steel as cement; by 2010, steel production had grown by a factor of eight, but cement had gone up by a factor of 25. And where many houses in the U.S. are made of wood, China suffers from a relative lack of lumber. Unlike in the U.S., many people in China live in high- or low-rise buildings made out of cement. Finally, China's cement industry is much larger than it should be. Many of China's cement manufacturers are state-owned, and they benefit from government support and arrees to cheap capital. As in other overcapacity state-owned industries -- aluminum, steel, and shipbuilding — China's cement sector has undergone a period of explosive growth without much regard for product quality or profits. EFTA01194654 4.5 Meekly Or ao 35 30 C 2 75 / 20 3 15 10 5 0 Owe 14.0. Meta, Vas are. C... no, I. ...o.. \ Mat nibefts• ▪ ...0 ••••••••••• 0••• SOS •••••••• oaCv•-• ask Vas. w owl... a.. LOCO 2.000 3.030 4.030 5.003 6,000 7.000 Urban lend (so ScI11 This massive cement industry also takes a heavy toll on the environment. Scientists estimate that the global cement industry accounts for around 5 percent of the world's carbon emissions, and more than half of the world's cement production capacity is based in China. What's more, low standards for construction quality mean some of China's concrete buildings may have to be knocked down and replaced in as little as 20 or 3o years. According to Goldman Sachs, about a third of the cement that China uses is low-grade stuff that wouldn't be used in other countries. When Bill Gates wrote in his blog about China's stunning cement consumption, he pointed out that the issue of materials is key to helping the world's poorest people improve their lives. Replacing mud floors with concrete improves sanitation; paving roads with concrete allows vegetables to get to market, kids to get to school, and the economy to flourish. In China, the building boom has spurred economic growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. And yet, China's massive cement use also points to a darker side of the economy: The waste that occurs with too much top- down economic planning, and the environmental toll of growth at all costs. China's cement splurge is impressive, yes, but it may hold the seeds of a more ominous story, as there are a number of new cities for hundreds of thousands each (if not millions) with few to no people living in them. I recently tried to explain to a friend that cities like Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai each have more skyscrapers than the states of California and Texas combined. For Americans who don't travel internationally if cement is an indicator of progress China has passed us by. And if you don't want to use cement, other indicators such as education, renewable energy development, state of the art airports and 25o mph trains show that we in the United States are being left behind no matter how exceptional that we claim to be. MIMI** Now some food for thought EFTA01194655 World Median Ages gp MEDIAN AGE: • teens twenties • thirties • forties YOUNGEST: I N9tr NS I) 2 Game (15 5) 3 Mal Pa) e. WM' 116 3) 5.Zemla0 Cie 7) OIMST: I Gwmmy6 Japan IGS II 2 litey lilt 51 3 Au* :o Me 3) e Vtankketcli. Mediterranean diet: A heart-healthy eating plan If you're looking for a heart-healthy eating plan, the Mediterranean diet might be right for you. The Mediterranean diet incorporates the basics of healthy eating — plus a splash of flavorful olive oil and perhaps even a glass of red wine — among other components characterizing the traditional cooking style of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Most healthy diets include fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains, and limit unhealthy fats. While these parts of a healthy diet remain tried-and-true, subtle variations or differences in proportions of certain foods may make a difference in your risk of heart disease. Benefits of the Mediterranean diet Research has shown that the traditional Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart diqPned. In fact, an analysis of more than 1.5 million healthy adults demonstrated that following a Mediterranean diet was aseniated with a reduced risk of death from heart disease and cancer, as well as a reduced incidence of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends the Mediterranean diet as an eating plan that can help promote health and prevent disease. And the Mediterranean diet is one your whole family can follow for good health. EFTA01194656 Meats Doily serving Key components of the Mediterranean diet Sweets Poultry, eggs, ch and yogurt lik Fish and seafood yit Fruits, vegetables, bread, pasta, rice, other grains, potatoes, olive oil, beans, nuts, legumes, seeds, herbs, and spices The Mediterranean diet emphasizes: • Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts • Replacing butter with healthy fats, such as olive oil • Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods • Limiting red meat to no more than a few times a month • Eating fish and poultry at least twice a week • Drinking red wine in moderation (optional) • The diet also recognizes the importance of being physically active, and enjoying meals with family and friends. Focus on fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains The Mediterranean diet traditionally includes fruits, vegetables and grains. For example, residents of Greece average six or more servings a day of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables. Grains in the Mediterranean region are typically whole grain and usually contain very few unhealthy trans fats, and bread is an important part of the diet. However, throughout the Mediterranean region, bread is eaten plain or dipped in olive oil — not eaten with butter or margarine, which contains saturated or trans fats. Nuts are another part of a healthy Mediterranean diet. Nuts are high in fat, but most of the fat is healthy. Because nuts are high in calories, they should not be eaten in large amounts — generally no more than a handful a day. For the best nutrition, avoid candied or honey-roasted and heavily salted nuts. Choose healthier fats The focus of the Mediterranean diet isn't on limiting total fat consumption, but rather on choosing healthier types of fat. The Mediterranean diet discourages saturated fats and hydrogenated oils (trans fats), both of which contribute to heart disease. EFTA01194657 The Mediterranean diet features olive oil as the primary source of fat. Olive oil is mainly monounsaturated fat — a type of fat that can help reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels when used in place of saturated or trans fats. "Extra-virgin" and "virgin" olive oils (the least processed forms) also contain the highest levels of protective plant compounds that provide antioxidant effects. Canola oil and some nuts contain the beneficial linolenic acid (a type of omega-3 fatty acid) in addition to healthy unsaturated fat. Omega-3 fatty acids lower triglycerides, decrease blood clotting, and are associated with decreased incidence of sudden heart attacks, improve the health of your blood vessels, and help moderate blood pressure. Fatty fish — such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon — are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Fish is eaten on a regular basis in the Mediterranean diet. What about wine? The health effects of alcohol have been debated for many years, and some doctors are reluctant to encourage alcohol consumption because of the health consequences of excessive drinking. However, alcohol — in moderation — has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease in some research studies. The Mediterranean diet typically includes a moderate amount of wine, usually red wine. This means no more than 5 ounces (148 milliliters) of wine daily for women of all ages and men older than age 65 and no more than io ounces (296 milliliters) of wine daily for younger men. More than this may increase the risk of health problems, including increased risk of certain types of cancer. If you're unable to limit your alcohol intake to the amounts defined above, if you have a personal or family history of alcohol abuse, or if you have heart or liver rlic.PAQ.P, refrain from drinking wine or any other alcohol. Putting it all together The Mediterranean diet is a delicious and healthy way to eat. Many people who switch to this style of eating say they'll never eat any other way. Here are some specific steps to get you started: • Eat your veggies and fruits — and switch to whole grains. A variety of plant foods should make up the majority of your meals. They should be minimally processed — fresh and whole are best. Include veggies and fruits in every meal and eat them for snacks as well. Switch to whole-grain bread and cereal, and begin to eat more whole-grain rice and pasta products. Keep baby carrots, apples and bananas on hand for quick, satisfying snacks. Fruit salads are a wonderful way to eat a variety of healthy fruit. • Go nuts. Nuts and seeds are good sources of fiber, protein and healthy fats. Keep almonds, cashews, pistachios and walnuts on hand for a quick snack. Choose natural peanut butter, rather than the kind with hydrogenated fat added. Try blended sesame seeds (tahini) as a dip or spread for bread. • Pass on the butter. Try olive or canola oil as a healthy replacement for butter or margarine. Lightly drizzle it over vegetables. After cooking pasta, add a touch of olive oil, some garlic and green onions for flavoring. Dip bread in flavored olive oil or lightly spread it on whole-grain bread for a tasty alternative to butter. Try tahini as a dip or spread for bread too. • Spice it up. Herbs and spices make food tasty and can stand in for salt and fat in recipes. • Go fish. Eat fish at least twice a week. Fresh or water-packed tuna, salmon, trout, mackerel and herring are healthy choices. Grill, bake or broil fish for great taste and easy cleanup. Avoid breaded and fried fish. • Rein in the red meat. Limit red meat to no more than a few times a month. Substitute fish and poultry for red meat. When choosing red meat, make sure it's lean and keep portions small (about the size of a deck of EFTA01194658 cards). Also avoid sausage, bacon and other high-fat, processed meats. • Choose low-fat dairy. Limit higher fat dairy products, such as whole or 2 percent milk, cheese and ice cream. Switch to sldm milk, fat-free yogurt and low-fat cheese. THIS WEEK's QUOTE HOW COOL "Racism isn't born, folks. It's taught. I have a 2-year-old son. Know what he hates? Naps. End of list." FELLOW MUSIC LOVERS... THIS IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE MOST INCREDIBLE MUSIC E-MAIL I'VE EVER SEEN. AFTER CLICKING ON AlV ARTIST, LOOK TO SEE ALMOST ALL OF THEIR FAMOUS WORKS, THEY ARE THERE FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE. ENJOY AND PASS THIS ON. 1) Elvis Presley 2) Roy Orbison 3) Beatles 4) Abba 5) Bee Gees 6) Michael Jackson 7) John Lennon 8) Celine Dion 9) Frank Sinatra 10) Creedence Clearwater Revival 11) Julio Iglesias 12) Queen 13) Neil Diamond 14) Paul Mccartney. 15) Rolling Stones 16) Pink Floyd 17) Bruce Spagaent 18) Elton John 19) YA 20) George Harrison 21) Cliff Richard 22) Tina Turner 23) Bah Morley 24) Andrea Botch( 25) hire Straits 26) Barbra Streisand 27) Esigks28) Madonna 29) Simon A Garfunkel 30) Ac/be 31) ath_Llylan 32) Dean Martin 33) Andr? 1+17, 34) lam J_01185 35) Eria_Claittsm 36) John Denver 37) Frnc Ramnzzotti 38) DeepPurgle 39) Led-Zeppelin 40) Rod Stewart 41) StalmsChgt 42) Louis Armstrong 43) Fleetwood Mac 44) Bryan Adnmq 45) Jimi Hendrix 46) Barry White 47) Mat King_Cale48) Santana 49) Michael Buble SO) fiipsy_Kings 51) David Bowie 52) Agrigagfelentima 53) Robbie Williams 54) Charles Aznavour 55) Metallic(' 56) boors 57) Maio 58) legality' 59) Cat Stevens 60) Magid 61) MD 62) Joe Cocker 63) Whitney Houston 64) Phil Collins 65) Eprique_rolesjas 66) Ric Martin 67) Ray Charles 68) Ka 69) Zz Top 70) Van Morrison 71) Bingo Starr 72) Stevie Wonder 73) Gloria Estefan 74) &ppertrctesp 75) Jethro Tull76) Black Sabbath 77) Marco Borsato 78) Guns N? Roses 79) Neil Young 80) Chuck lktry 81) Bey Joel 82)5_110983) Kinks 84) 85) Laura Pausini 86) Genesis 87) Who 88) Monkees 89) Animals 90) limpleMiSs 91) Prince 92) Aretha Franklin 93) B. b. King 94) Iron Maiden 95) Pearl Jam 96) Christina Aguilera 97) Alice Cooper 98) Dgpeche Mode 99) Miryano100) Gary Moore Top 70 Songs: 1) Always On My Mind - Elvis Presley 2) Fernando - Abba 3) Dancing EFTA01194659 kicked by the police Queen - Abba 4) Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison 5) 5psnigEs ysi - Elvis Presley 6) Are You Lonesome Tonight2 - Elvis Presley 7) Chiquitita - Abba 8) Massachusetts - Bee Gees 9) Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley 10) lowing- John Len non 11) Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley 12) California Blue - Roy Orbison 13) My Way.- Elvis Presley 14) Billie Jean - Michael Jackson 15) In Dreams - Roy Orbison 16) Blue Bayou- Roy Orbison 17) Only The Lonely - Roy Orbison 18) I ave A bream - Abba 19) Yesterday - Beatles 20) Mamma Mia - Abba 21) Thriller - Michael Jackson 22) Amazing Grace - Elvis Presley 23) Unchained Melody - Roy Orbison 24) Can?t Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley 25) Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley 26) Ave Maria - Celine Dion 27) And I Love You So - Elvis Presley 28) Blue Moon - Elvis Presley 29) Hey Jude - Beatles 30) L.Sinaginkg- Bee Gees 31) My Way. - Frank Sinatra 32) Hotel California - Eagles 33) A Rig Hunk O? Love - Elvis Presley 34) Bridge Over Troubled Water Elvis Presley 35) The Winner Takes It All - Abba 36) Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival 37) Ben - Michael Jackson 38) Waierlrin - Abba 39) Stayin? Alive - Bee Gees 40) Words - Bee Gees 41) Smitten Is Your Love - Bee Gees 42) Crying - Roy Orblson 43) Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley 44) Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley 45) Beat It - Michael Jackson 46) A Da The Life - Beatles 47) Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen 48) let It Be - Beatles 49) Only You - Roy Orbison 50) Sweet Caroline - Roy Orblson 51) A Hard bay2shlight - Beatles 52) Bad - Michael Jackson 53) Earth - Michael Jackson 54) Woman-John Len non 55) Imagine (Ilya)- John Len non 56) Heal The World - Michael Jackson 57) Stand By Me - John Len non 58) Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond 59) Q Sole Mio - Andrea Bocelli 60) Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel 61) Man In The Mirror - Michael Jackson 62) Strangers In The Night - Frank Sinatra 63) Black Or White - Michael Jackson 64) Only You - John Len non 65) My Sweet Lord - George Harrison 66) What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong 67) 24 Horas - Julio Iglesias 68) Everybody Loves Somebody- Dean Martin 69) I Just Can?t Stop Lovin You - Michael Jackson 70) Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson BEST VIDEO OF THE WEEK How not to get your ass instagram&tn itteritt funnyndugitt • Web Link: efgmylybkIlagyklithenucbJjosaIM5.2)%1D%3DRzr1=8/7kvabi=457&nh=790c5 I 7c409bd900/Rbredr94a flkh518me=55n I 70fla EFTA01194660 THIS WEEK's MUSIC Nick Cave This week I invite you to enjoy the music of Nick Cave (born 22 September 1957), an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional film actor. He is best known as the frontman of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1983, a group known for its diverse output and ever-evolving line-up. Prior to this, he fronted the The Birthday Party, which achieved renown as one of the most extreme and intense post-punk bands of the early 1980s. In 2006, he formed the garage rock band Grinderman, releasing its debut album the following year. Cave's music is generally characterized by emotional intensity, a wide variety of influences, and lyrical obsessions with death, religion, love and violence. He is often referred to as rock music's "Prince of DarknessTM. Cave has also worked as a composer for films, often in collaboration with fellow Australian musician Warren Ellis. Their films together include The Proposition (2005, based on a screenplay by Cave), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and The Road (2009). Cave is the subject and co-writer of the semi-fictional "day in the life" documentary 20,000 Days on Earth (2014). Upon Cave's induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame, ARIA Awards committee chairman Ed St John said: "Nick Cave has enjoyed — and continues to enjoy — one of the most extraordinary careers in the annals of popular music is an Australian artist like Sidney Nolan is an Australian artist — beyond comparison, beyond genre, beyond dispute." Nick Cave start his first group in 1973 with several fellow classmates from his grammar school in Australia. Their repertoire consisted of proto-punk cover versions of songs by Lou Reed, David Bowie, Mice Cooper, Roxy Music and Alex Harvey, among others. Later, the line-up slimmed down to four members including Cave's friend Tracy Pew on bass. In 1977, after leaving school, they adopted the name The Boys Next Door and began playing predominantly original material. Guitarist and songwriter Rowland S. Howard joined the band in 1978, expanding to five members. From 1977 until their dissolution in 1983 (by which time they were known as The Birthday Party) the band explored various styles. They were a leader of Melbourne's post-punk scene in the late 1970s, playing hundreds of live shows in Australia before formally changing their name to The Birthday Party in 1980 and moving to London, then West Berlin. The band were notorious for their provocative live performances which featured Cave shrieking, bellowing and throwing himself about the stage, backed up by harsh pounding rock music laced with guitar feedback. Cave utilized Old Testament imagery with lyrics about sin, curses and damnation. The lyrics were full of "American gothic imagery", talking about horror stories. Their single "Release the Bats" (1981), became highly influential in the gothic genre. At that time, Cave also became a regular member of a gothic club in London called The Batcave. After establishing a cult following in Europe and Australia, The Birthday Party disbanded in 1984. EFTA01194661 The band with Cave as their leader and frontman has released fifteen studio albums. Pitchfork Media calls the group one of rock's "most enduring, redoubtable" bands, with an accomplished discography. Though their sound tends to change considerably from one album to another, the one constant of the band is an unpolished blending of disparate genres, and song structures which provide a vehicle for Cave's virtuosic, frequently histrionic theatrics. Critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Steve Huey wrote: "With the Bad Seeds, Cave continued to explore his obsessions with religion, death, love, America, and violence with a bizarre, sometimes self-consciously eclectic hybrid of blues, gospel, rock, and arty post- punk." Since achieving fame Cave has collaborated with a wide array of musicians as well as filmmaker having written song a scored a number of films and stage plays, as well as writing books and screen plays. Nick Cave's journey has taken him the Dflos Punk era cover band frontman to a modem renaissance artist and cult idol around the world, with numerous awards and honors including; a 2012 Doctor of Letters honorary degree from the University of Brighton, 2011 MOJO Awards: Song of the Year for "Heathen Child" by Grinderman, 2007 ARIA Awards ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, 2006 Venice Film Festival: Gucci Award (for the script to The Proposition), 2005 AFI Awards: Best Original Music Score with Warren Ellis (The Proposition), 2004 MOJO Awards: Best Album of 2004 (Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus),1990 Time Out Magazine: Book Of The Year (And the Ass Saw the Angel) among many others. Although I am not a personal fan of his music, there is no denying that Nick Cave is an important artist well representing his generation. So with this I again invite you to explore and enjoy the a small sampling of the music of Mr. Nick Cave Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Give Us A Kiss -- ijt I u-S7GA Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Jubilee Street — hlipLaymiljage(pfiGZXG7Hwq Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Higgs Boson Blues -- htl youtu.be/S-XaFi6tWck and http youtu.be/m0OWmE3 rig Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Push The Sky Away -- blips-Bynum heMyJ215joySug Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — The Mercy Seat -- SI q) //:sy °utak/I IG- LB7'4 Nick Cave — Suzanne -- bbps://youttihr/Nw174h6MIn Nick Cave — Into My Arms — hnps2tyoutu.bc/FG0-cncMpla Nick Cave — The Ship Song -- http youtu.hefrKlaV-9Vzsk Nick Cave — Hallelujah — hunaSyskuabeaLlairsfirs,k Nick Cave — Stagger Lee -- nI Ellyoutu.bc/Ejlfa'lc Nick Cave — Bring it on -- blips-Bynum) heielaHaLIRT I k Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds — The Weeping Song -- hnnsayoutu.belthlix7cdnaAc Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds — Still In Love -- httn youtu.beilmkaTV2-vb1I Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - God Is In The House -- hflaysithacaahluagilifa Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds — Wonderful Life - liaflyroutu.beJsEC N3HrHw Nick Cave & El Harvey - Henry Lee -- bilanutu beluildNrHnmHII Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue - Where The Wild Roses Grow -- http_sj jrJ outu.be/WwxzExizts I hope that you have enjoyed this week's offerings and wish you and yours a wonderful week as well as a great Labor Day holiday Sincerely, EFTA01194662 Greg Brown Gregory Brown Chairman & CEO GIobSCaM US: Tel: Fm: Sk . 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