SchwartzReport: Obesity Linked to Antibiotics?

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 04 Education, 05 Energy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 11 Society, 12 Water, Civil Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government

Here for the first time we see a possible explanation for the explosion of Obesity, and the connection between the rampant overuse of antibiotics and our deeply sick industrial agriculture system. Once again it demonstrates the profit of the few over the wellness of the many. Our society is dying because we either cannot or will not commit to social policies that prioritize national wellness.

Obesity in the United States – Dysbiosis From Exposure to Low-dose Antibiotics?
Lee W. Riley, Eva Raphael, and Eduardo Faerstein, Division of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology, School of Public Health, University of California – Frontiers in Public Health

Phi Beta Iota: Obesity is a cultural outcome of social decay and a mix of corporate and government irresponsibility. It has many causes. What does not exist today in accessible form to the public is a true cost analysis of corrupt agriculture, corrupt energy, corrupt water, and corrupt everything these — obesity is symptom of a society that has lost its mind and soul.

See Also:

Obesity @ Phi Beta Iota

2014/02/07

Jean Lievens: P2P Podcast of the Day/XE: Gwendolyn Hallsmith and Bernard Lietaer on Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies

Civil Society, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Gift Intelligence

Podcast of the Day/XE: Gwendolyn Hallsmith and Bernard Lietaer on Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies

From our friends at The Extraenviromentalist Podcast.

From the episode notes:

Occupy Wall Street has directed our attention to the extreme concentration of wealth resulting from decades of policy designed to trickle down prosperity. Through using a single type of bank debt currency, we allocate our labor and resources to benefit a global elite instead of our communities. Can we engage our local leaders and municipal governments to break this currency monoculture? Can global examples of currency ecology provide a map for improving educational experiences, enhancing the arts and building resilience to the fragility of central bank finance mechanisms?

Continue reading “Jean Lievens: P2P Podcast of the Day/XE: Gwendolyn Hallsmith and Bernard Lietaer on Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies”

2014/02/06

Owl: Is Jeb Bush Getting Ready to Buy the White House?

Civil Society, Corruption, Government

Kissinger told the Chinese Jeb Bush was supposed to be declared the candidate out of a dead-locked Republican convention in 2012. We can only wonder as what financial machinations set that plan aside. If Jeb Bush — with his major narcotics and other criminal interests based in Flordia — is actually a viable candidate for the Republican Party, then at one level this confirms the death of the GOP, and at another level it opens the way for a third party coalition that is neither Democratic nor Republican, merely honest.

Chris Christie's Loss Could Be Jeb Bush's Gain

"As long as we don't piss off all of the people all of the time, we can keep living large." — “As long as we don't piss off all of the people all of the time, we can keep living large.”

See Also:

Jeb Bush @ Phi Beta Iota

Kissinger @ Phi Beta Iota

2014/02/06

John Robb: One Man Can Change the World…

Civil Society, Ethics

Update on One Man vs. the World

When I wrote Brave New War back in 2006, I made this aggressive projection on how rapid technological change would change warfare:

The threshold necessary for small groups to conduct global warfare has finally been breached, and we are only starting to feel its effects. Over time, in as little as perhaps twenty years and as the leverage of technology increases, this threshold will finally reach its culmination — with the ability of one man to declare war on the world and win.

It seems that we are on track with my projection. Recently, we saw individuals leveraging the power of computers and networks launch (open source) protests that toppled governments. It didn't end there. Edward Snowden (love him or hate him) proved it is possible to wage a one-man information war against the biggest, most powerful national security establishment in the world. The US government. A country that spends more than all other countries in the world combined on national defense. He was able to:

steal the crown jewels of the US security system by himself,
initiate an information war against the entire US national security bureaucracy while eluding capture, and
initiate economic disruptions that have done billions of dollars in damage to US corporations (from Boeing to RSA).

Continue reading “John Robb: One Man Can Change the World…”

2014/02/022014/02/02

Robin Good: 10 Content Curation Best Practices

Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Ethics

If you are new to content curation here the ten, key fundamental steps you need to take to out yourself on the right course. Content curation is not about saving time. It is about selecting, organizing, adding value and context, and finally about effectively presenting information on a specific topic to a selected group of people. Here the ten key steps to take to effetively curate content, visualized by the great team at Scoop.it. Slideshare presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/Scoopit/10-tips-to-curate-like-a-rockstar

Content Curation Ten Fundamentals

1. Choose a topic that you care deeply about.

2. Be specific with your topic choice.

Continue reading “Robin Good: 10 Content Curation Best Practices”

2014/02/01

SchwartzReport: Koch Money Behind Effort to Change Electoral Vote Counting

Civil Society, Corruption, Government

It is a measure of how deeply corrupted our electoral system has become that this can go on, and not be illegal. It is a direct assault on the form and substance of our democracy.

Koch-Tied Groups Funded GOP Effort to Mess With Electoral College Rules
MARIAH BLAKE, Reporter – Mother Jones

Each state and the District of Columbia has a certain number of electoral votes, based on their population, and they get to decide for themselves how those votes should be allotted. Currently, every state except Maine and Nebraska gives all of their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the statewide popular vote. But in 2011, GOP lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin introduced bills that would divide electoral votes among candidates based on how many congressional districts they won. Because Republicans drew the boundaries of the districts in those states, this scheme would be almost certain to hand Republican presidential candidates the majority of their electoral votes—even if more voters cast ballots for Democrats. (Read more about how the plan would work here.) Presuming the race is close enough, this could decide the nationwide outcome.

Phi Beta Iota: The current method is not representative. An Electoral Reform Acvt is needed.

2014/01/292014/01/29