Nestlé agrees to pay all employees living wage

Company to pay entire UK workforce – including agency and contract staff – minimum of £8.80 in London or £7.65 elsewhere

theguardian.com, Press Association, Monday 30 June 2014

Nestle becomes the largest manufacturer to sign up to the living
wage in the UK. Photograph: Laurent Gillieron/EPA

Food giant Nestlé has become the first leading manufacturer to commit to paying the living wage.

The firm already pays at least the living wage to its 8,000 staff but the move will benefit contract employees and agency workers. About 800 contractors working with Nestlé will implement it by December 2017.

The announcement was described by campaigners as a significant milestone in the drive to persuade employers to pay the living wage, which is currently set at £8.80 an hour in London and £7.65 elsewhere, compared to the national minimum wage of £6.31.

Nestlé UK & Ireland's chief executive, Fiona Kendrick, said: "We are proud to be the first mainstream manufacturer in the UK to become a living wage employer and see this as an opportunity to be a positive influence in our sector.

"As a major UK employer, we know that this is the right thing to do. Not only does it benefit our employees but also the communities they live and work in."

Living Wage Foundation director Rhys Moore said: "The accreditation of Nestlé as a living wage employer marks a significant milestone in the campaign to tackle in-work poverty. We hope that the leadership they have shown will encourage others in this industry to follow suit and improve conditions for those at the lowest end of the pay scale and sub-contracted staff.

"We are aware that Nestlé is going above and beyond the basic requirements of becoming an accredited employer, and is extending their commitment to graduate, internship and school leaver programmes."

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said: "With in-work poverty on the rise, many employers are simply ignoring their responsibility to pay staff a decent wage. They should take note from Nestlé's positive stance which shows that paying a living wage is not just good for communities but makes good business sense too."

Tim Roache, of the GMB union, said: "Nestlé have always recognised their greatest asset is their workforce and are demonstrating this with action, not just words. This shows once and for all that if one leading manufacturer can pay a living wage to all employees including young workers and those contracted out, then many more are able to do so."

The business secretary, Vince Cable, said: "I welcome Nestlé's decision and encourage all businesses to pay their staff above the minimum wage when it is affordable and not at the expense of jobs."

The shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, said: "It is fantastic news that Nestlé is announcing its accreditation as a living wage employer, having worked in collaboration with Unite, GMB and the Living Wage Foundation to achieve this.

"We want to see as many businesses as possible take the decision to become living wage employers, so I hope other firms will follow the strong example which Nestlé is setting."

Civil partnerships can be converted to marriages from December

Married transgender people will also be able to change legal gender without ending marriage, provided partner agrees

theguardian.com, Rowena Mason, political correspondent,  Thursday 26 June 2014

Same-sex couples can convert their civil partnerships into marriages by attending
 a registry office and signing a declaration that they wish to be married in front of
a registrar. Photograph: Jupiterimages/Getty Images/Comstock Images

Same-sex couples will be able to convert their civil partnerships to marriages from December this year, the culture secretary has said.

Sajid Javid added that married transgender people will be able to change their legal gender without ending their marriage, provided their partner agrees.

He made the announcements after a consultation on what should happen to civil partnerships now same-sex couples have been allowed to marry since March.

It concluded that civil partnerships will continue to be available to gay couples but will remain barred for opposite-sex couples.

To convert a civil partnership into marriage, a couple will have to attend a registry office and sign a declaration that they wish to be married in front of a registrar.

Writing for PinkNews, Javid, who is also an equalities minister, said the change would take place from 10 December.

"This is something that many, many people have been clamouring for since the first equal marriages took place in March, and the final preparations are well underway.

"You don't have to have a big party to celebrate with all your friends and family, but I certainly won't try and stop you if you do."

Peter Tatchell, the equal rights campaigner, said it was great that same-sex couples in civil partnerships will be able to convert. But he accused David Cameron of "betraying the principle of equality" by refusing to allow opposite-sex couples to have a civil partnership.

"Same-sex couples now have a legal advantage over straight couples. They have two options: civil marriage and civil partnership. In contrast, opposite-sex couples have only one option: marriage. This is unjust and unfair," he said.

"The government's decision to retain civil partnerships is welcome. Not everyone wants to get married, given that marriage has a long sexist and homophobic history. It is right that all couples should have a choice."

Related Articles:

India top court recognises transgenders as 'third gender'
Australia’s Top Court Recognizes ‘Gender Neutral’ Sex Category
Germany to allow third gender option at birth


"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)

“… Gender Switching

Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."

It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”

3D printing technology used in surgery

English.news.cn   2014-06-25

CHANGSHA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese hospital has become the country's first to experiment with 3D printing technology in vascular surgery.

Huang Jianhua, director of surgery in Hunan Xiangya Hospital in central China's Hunan Province, said on Wednesday that 3D printing had been used in an operation to remove an aneurysm from a patient's abdomen. It was used to increase precision of the surgery.

He said the operation, which was completed earlier this month, involved a high level of risk because the tumor had swollen the patient's aorta from 2 cm in diameter to 6 cm.

The hospital contracted a 3D printing firm to make a 3D print of the CT scan of the patient's tumor and its surrounding blood vessels.

Surgeons used the printed model to set up intravascular tubes and remove the tumor.

3D printing is more popular in the manufacturing and construction sectors. Its application in the clinical medical field is still in an initial phase.

Editor: Xiang Bo

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The plastic skull was made with the help of a 3D printer: Photo: UMC Utrecht

Doctors Save Life Of Kaiba Gionfriddo, Ohio Boy, By 3-D 'Printing' Him An Airway Tube

Assisted suicide campaigners await supreme court verdict on right to die

Court will decide on two legal challenges, but one former lord chief justice believes this issue should be decided by parliament 

theguardian.com, Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent, Wednesday 25 June 2014

Paul Lamb, a right-to-die campaigner awaiting a verdict from the supreme court
on his challenge to the law. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

Campaigners for the right to assisted suicide will learn on Wednesday whether the ban on doctors helping to end the lives of their patients can be lifted. The supreme court will deliver its verdict this morning on two related cases brought by men who are severely ill but require medical assistance in order to die.

The legal challenges have been brought by Paul Lamb, who suffered catastrophic injuries after a car accident, Jane Nicklinson, the widow of the right-to-die campaigner Tony, and a claimant known only as AM or "Martin".

Nine of the 12 justices on the supreme court sat on the bench considering the appeals, a sign of the legal sensitivities surrounding the claims. In the court of appeal, the former lord chief justice, Lord Judge, declared such issues were a matter for parliament and that: "the law relating to assisting suicide cannot be changed by judicial decision".

Paul Lamb, 58, who needs 24-hour care, is supporting the case originally brought by Tony Nicklinson, a sufferer of "locked-in syndrome" who died in 2012, a week after losing his high court euthanasia battle.

Their lawyers argue that the prohibition on assisted suicide in the Suicide Act 1961 is incompatible with rights to respect for private and family life as contained in article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

A defence of necessity, they maintain, exists making it lawful for a doctor to assist, or to have assisted, in the suicide of people who have made a voluntary, clear, settled and informed wish to end their lives but were unable to do so on their own.

Lamb experiences constant pain and is constantly on morphine. His condition is, under present medical knowledge, irreversible and he wishes to end his life with the assistance of a medical professional.

Martin is 49,a man who, in August 2008 at the age of 43, suffered a brainstem stroke that left him unable to speak and virtually unable to move. He also wishes to commit suicide, but is unable to do so without assistance.

His legal challenge is slightly different. Since February 2010, when the director of public prosecutions (DPP) guidelines were changed, friends and close family members who take individuals to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland for assisted dying no longer face being charged.

However, Martin's friends and family are unwilling to provide such help so he would have to rely on others. As the legal guidelines now stand, anyone else helping him would be at risk of criminal prosecution.

Martin's lawyers says that the DPP's guidelines should be rewritten because they interfere with his article 8 rights and make the consequences of a person encouraging or assisting him to commit suicide "insufficiently foreseeable".

Under the Suicide Act 1961, helping someone end their life is a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. A number of organisations have intervened in the case, including Dignity in Dying, the British Humanist Association and Care Not Killing.

Lord Falconer, a former Lord Chancellor, has introduced a private member's bill into the House of Lords aimed at legalising assisted dying. It would permit doctors to administer a lethal dose of drugs to terminally-ill patients given less than six months to live.

Related Articles:

Assisted suicide campaigners fail to get supreme court to overturn ban - New

Top French court grants coma patient the right to die
Belgian law on euthanasia for children, with no age limit, will be first in world

Europe split on right-to-die regulations

French panel recommends legalising assisted suicide

Euthanasia declaration should be renewed regularly
Nine myths about euthanasia in the Netherlands


 "Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"... The Ethics of Life

You, as a Human Being, are designed to appreciate and love life. But you put it in a box. You think you live once. You say, life is precious; make it count; keep it going at all costs; make it work. And the underlying thought is that because you only go around one time, all the purpose is wrapped up in one lifetime. Well, I'm going to give you something to think about, something that happened just recently that tens of millions of people all over earth who have the western news media know of.

It was all about one woman's life, and you know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Terri [Terri Schiavo]. And I'm going to talk about Terri because, you know, she's here [speaking of the real Terri]! And I'm going to give you a perspective about Terri that perhaps you hadn't thought about before, and as I do it, she's going to watch.

It's very metaphysical, you know? This perspective is one from my side of the veil. Terri leaned into the wind of birth many years ago, just as you did. I was there, too. There were potentials laying in front of her - a track that she could take if she wished. There was no predestination, only predispositions of energy that laid before her: the parents she would have (which she had selected), the man she might meet or marry, the accident waiting to happen. All of these things were in her "potential track," and she could have chosen not to go there.

But like so many of you, she looked at it and examined it. These were the times we spoke to her and said, "Dear one, you're going into another Human lifetime that has a potential that's awesome - grander than most Humans on the planet will ever experience. You'll get to present something to tens of millions of people. You'll make them think about life. You'll change the legal system of your country. You'll awaken peoples' awareness to situations that need to be addressed with respect to morality, integrity, and even intuition. Will you do it?"

And I remember what she said. The grand angel who stood before me, who you now call Terri, smiled broadly and said, "I'm ready for that." And some of you cry in your sorrow and say "Why is this Human dead? How could such a thing be tolerated? Why would such a thing happen? Life is so precious." And I ask you this, as Terri looks on in her joy, would you take this away from her? Would you take that away from humanity, what she showed and did that resulted directly in her passing?

Start thinking of these things, perhaps differently. We've told you before that there are even those Human Beings who come in with a predisposition of suicide! What a horrible thought, you might say. "Kryon, could that even be appropriate?" And we say this: More than appropriate, it's by design! "But why should that be?" You might say. "What a horrible dishonorable death." And if that's your reaction, you're placing the whole grand picture in your own little Human box.

When you start examining it spiritually, without Human bias, you start to see that around a suicide there's this energy that develops. It's all about the family. Is there shame? Is there drama? Does it kick the family in the pants so that perhaps they might study things they never did - or perhaps they might they even look within themselves for spirituality? Blessed is the one that comes in with these tasks [like suicide]. There are so many of them who do. For these are the grease of personal change within families, and provide a gift that is grand!

You see, Spirit looks at these things differently. The curtain goes up, it goes down. You come and you go and there are profound lessons, some of which are taught harshly, by those who teach them through their own deaths.

"Well, what is it Kryon? Don't dodge the question with a diversion to suicide, for this isn't what Terri did. Is it proper or is it improper to have somebody in this vegetative state put to death by others around her?" Our answer: Exactly which Human are you talking about? You want a blanket answer, don't you? For six and half billion souls and paths, you want one answer for all. Well, you won't get one. For Terri, the answer is a solid yes. It was as it should have been. She came in with this grand opportunity to change the world, and she did it while everyone watched.

There is appropriateness in all things and sometimes you create for yourselves what seems to be inappropriate. Yet later you understand what the gift was within the challenge. Celebrate Terri, and don't think of this as a shameful thing that Humans did to her. Think of it instead as a book that was written for you to look at, one which pushes you to a place to ask, "What should we do about this now, personally? What should our legislatures do about this, if anything? How can we approach these things more humanely and with more honor? Is our culture addressing this issue? Are we addressing this issue personally?" Let's put these questions where they belong. It's not about "right to life"; it's about the appropriateness of "this life." Each case is individual, and some are profoundly given for the planet and for those around the individual.

Oh, as all of you came into this planet and leaned into the wind of birth separately, each was unique. Each of you has a different story, a different goal, but all have the same purpose: the elevation of the vibration of the planet. Sometimes it happens to many of you at the same time. We'll get to that before we finish. ..."

"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death) - (Text version)

Top French court grants coma patient the right to die

France 24, 2014-06-24

AFP

France’s top court ruled Tuesday to allow doctors to take Vincent Lambert off life support after nearly six years in a coma, siding with his wife in a case that has revived the debate about euthanasia and bitterly divided his family.

The Council of State, France's top administrative court, ruled that doctors had the right to end the medical support that has kept Lambert, brain-damaged and in vegetative state, artificially alive since a motorbike accident on the way to work plunged him into a coma in September 2008.

The verdict follows a heart-rending battle between Lambert’s wife Rachel, who was seeking to let the former psychiatric nurse die, and his parents, who took legal action last year to stop her.

A picture taken on January 9, 2014

 shows the front entrance to the State

Council in Paris

Doctors treating Vincent Lambert in the northeastern city of Reims, as well as his wife, nephew and six siblings, wanted to halt intravenous food and water supplies under a 2005 French law that allows for “passive euthanasia”.

But his deeply religious Catholic parents, another brother and another sister opposed the decision and took the matter to court in Chalons-en-Champagne near Reims, which ruled against ending his life earlier this year.

An investigation run by three court-appointed doctors has since concluded that Lambert is in a “completely unconscious vegetative state” and recommended ending his life support.

Rémi Keller, advocate general to the State Council, on Friday urged judges to follow the investigators' advice and allow Lambert to die, saying his treatment had “no other effect than to artificially maintain his unconscious solitude” and that there was no hope of recovery.

Vincent is ‘still with us’

"I would like the [report’s] conclusions to be followed by the State Council, that we let Vincent go peacefully, with dignity," his wife Rachel told Europe 1 radio on Tuesday.

But his parents, meanwhile, lodged an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in case of a ruling in favour of passive euthanasia. The European body said on Tuesday it would make an announcement immediately after the State Council gives its verdict.

Pierre and Viviane Lambert insist their son is "still with us”.

“Vincent is not a vegetable,” his mother told BFM TV. “I cannot conceive how the judges could possibly follow the [investigators’] recommendations.”

Lambert’s nephew François, who has been vocal in calling for Vincent to be allowed to die, told AFP: “All the evidence points towards terminating his treatment. But the day the State Council says his life support should be switched off, I won’t be jumping with joy.”

The question of whether he should be kept alive artificially comes at a time of intense debate in France over euthanasia, as the high-profile trial of a doctor accused of poisoning seven terminally-ill patients takes place.

Dr Nicolas Bonnemaison, 53, is accused of pushing the boundaries of the 2005 “passive euthanasia” law by actively shortening the lives of terminally ill patients.

Apart from places such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, few countries in the world explicitly permit euthanasia or assisted suicide, sometimes known as mercy killings.

But in France, where President François Hollande has promised to introduce new right-to-die legislation, grey legal areas remain regarding the more passive forms of euthanasia allowed under the 2005 law.

The so-called Leonetti law does not legalise euthanasia but also states that doctors should not provide "unnecessary or disproportionate" treatment that has no other effect than to maintain life "artificially".

(France24 with Reuters and AFP)

Related Articles:

French doctor acquitted of poisoning charges after giving lethal injections - New

Former doctor Nicolas Bonnemaison arrives at the courthouse

 of Pau, southwestern France before his acquittal. Photograph:

Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian law on euthanasia for children, with no age limit, will be first in world

Europe split on right-to-die regulations

French panel recommends legalising assisted suicide

Euthanasia declaration should be renewed regularly
Nine myths about euthanasia in the Netherlands


 "Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"... The Ethics of Life

You, as a Human Being, are designed to appreciate and love life. But you put it in a box. You think you live once. You say, life is precious; make it count; keep it going at all costs; make it work. And the underlying thought is that because you only go around one time, all the purpose is wrapped up in one lifetime. Well, I'm going to give you something to think about, something that happened just recently that tens of millions of people all over earth who have the western news media know of.

It was all about one woman's life, and you know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Terri [Terri Schiavo]. And I'm going to talk about Terri because, you know, she's here [speaking of the real Terri]! And I'm going to give you a perspective about Terri that perhaps you hadn't thought about before, and as I do it, she's going to watch.

It's very metaphysical, you know? This perspective is one from my side of the veil. Terri leaned into the wind of birth many years ago, just as you did. I was there, too. There were potentials laying in front of her - a track that she could take if she wished. There was no predestination, only predispositions of energy that laid before her: the parents she would have (which she had selected), the man she might meet or marry, the accident waiting to happen. All of these things were in her "potential track," and she could have chosen not to go there.

But like so many of you, she looked at it and examined it. These were the times we spoke to her and said, "Dear one, you're going into another Human lifetime that has a potential that's awesome - grander than most Humans on the planet will ever experience. You'll get to present something to tens of millions of people. You'll make them think about life. You'll change the legal system of your country. You'll awaken peoples' awareness to situations that need to be addressed with respect to morality, integrity, and even intuition. Will you do it?"

And I remember what she said. The grand angel who stood before me, who you now call Terri, smiled broadly and said, "I'm ready for that." And some of you cry in your sorrow and say "Why is this Human dead? How could such a thing be tolerated? Why would such a thing happen? Life is so precious." And I ask you this, as Terri looks on in her joy, would you take this away from her? Would you take that away from humanity, what she showed and did that resulted directly in her passing?

Start thinking of these things, perhaps differently. We've told you before that there are even those Human Beings who come in with a predisposition of suicide! What a horrible thought, you might say. "Kryon, could that even be appropriate?" And we say this: More than appropriate, it's by design! "But why should that be?" You might say. "What a horrible dishonorable death." And if that's your reaction, you're placing the whole grand picture in your own little Human box.

When you start examining it spiritually, without Human bias, you start to see that around a suicide there's this energy that develops. It's all about the family. Is there shame? Is there drama? Does it kick the family in the pants so that perhaps they might study things they never did - or perhaps they might they even look within themselves for spirituality? Blessed is the one that comes in with these tasks [like suicide]. There are so many of them who do. For these are the grease of personal change within families, and provide a gift that is grand!

You see, Spirit looks at these things differently. The curtain goes up, it goes down. You come and you go and there are profound lessons, some of which are taught harshly, by those who teach them through their own deaths.

"Well, what is it Kryon? Don't dodge the question with a diversion to suicide, for this isn't what Terri did. Is it proper or is it improper to have somebody in this vegetative state put to death by others around her?" Our answer: Exactly which Human are you talking about? You want a blanket answer, don't you? For six and half billion souls and paths, you want one answer for all. Well, you won't get one. For Terri, the answer is a solid yes. It was as it should have been. She came in with this grand opportunity to change the world, and she did it while everyone watched.

There is appropriateness in all things and sometimes you create for yourselves what seems to be inappropriate. Yet later you understand what the gift was within the challenge. Celebrate Terri, and don't think of this as a shameful thing that Humans did to her. Think of it instead as a book that was written for you to look at, one which pushes you to a place to ask, "What should we do about this now, personally? What should our legislatures do about this, if anything? How can we approach these things more humanely and with more honor? Is our culture addressing this issue? Are we addressing this issue personally?" Let's put these questions where they belong. It's not about "right to life"; it's about the appropriateness of "this life." Each case is individual, and some are profoundly given for the planet and for those around the individual.

Oh, as all of you came into this planet and leaned into the wind of birth separately, each was unique. Each of you has a different story, a different goal, but all have the same purpose: the elevation of the vibration of the planet. Sometimes it happens to many of you at the same time. We'll get to that before we finish. ..."

"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death) - (Text version)

Doctors vote for ban on UK cigarette sales to those born after 2000

British Medical Association hails vote as step towards achieving goal of a tobacco-free society by 2035, but critics call it 'illiberal'

theguardian.com, Haroon Siddique, Tuesday 24 June 2014

The proposer of the motion said it represented an opportunity to make the
UK the first country to eradicate cigarettes. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

Doctors have voted overwhelmingly to push for a permanent ban on the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2000

The motion passed at the British Medical Association's annual representatives' meeting on Tuesday means that the doctors' union will lobby the government to introduce the ban, in the same way it successfully pushed for a ban on lighting up in public places and on smoking in cars carrying children, after votes in 2002 and 2011.

Tim Crocker-Buque, a specialist registrar in public health medicine, who proposed the motion, said it represented an opportunity to make the UK the first country to eradicate cigarettes. "Smoking is not a rational, informed choice of adulthood," he said. "Eighty per cent of smokers start as teenagers as a result of intense peer pressure.

"Smokers who start smoking at age 15 are three times as likely to die of smoking-related cancer as someone who starts in their mid-20s."

The proposal was supported by Sheila Hollins, chair of the BMA's board of science, who said it would help "break the cycle of children starting to smoke" and be a step towards achieving the association's goal of a tobacco-free society by 2035.

A number of doctors spoke against the proposal. Yohanna Takwoingi from Birmingham said the number of 11 to 15-year-olds smoking had halved in 16 years. "Seeking a headline ban is a headline-grabbing initiative that may lead to ridicule of the profession," he said. He also said that alcohol should be banned if tobacco was.

But Crocker-Buque said: "Tobacco is not the same as alcohol and prohibition will not work in the same way. The vast majority of people who use alcohol do safely."

Other opponents said a ban would demonise the working classes and lead to a black market in the trade of cigarettes that would be potentially more dangerous than their legal equivalent.

Ahead of the vote, the proposal was condemned by the smokers' group Forest and the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association, who both said that existing laws stopping children smoking should be enforced.

Simon Clark of Forest called the proposal "arbitrary, unenforceable and completely illiberal".

The motion was initially passed at the BMA's public health conference in February.

Related Article:

Plain cigarette packaging regulations to be announced by ministers

Muslim Council of Britain says female genital mutilation is 'un-Islamic'

Group issues explicit guidance for the first time, condemning practice which it says is no longer linked to religious teaching

theguardian.com, Alexandra Topping,  Monday 23 June 2014

Anti-FGM campaigners prepare to deliver a 250,000-signature petition to
 education secretary Michael Gove. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the Guardian

The Muslim Council of Britain, the country's largest Muslim organisation, has condemned the practice of female genital mutilation as "un-Islamic" and told its members that FGM risks bringing their religion into disrepute.

The influential MCB has for the first time issued explicit guidance, which criticises the practice and says it is "no longer linked to the teaching of Islam". It added that one of the "basic principles" of Islam was that believers should not harm themselves or others.

The organisation will send flyers to each of the 500 mosques that form its membership, which will also be distributed in community centres in a drive to eradicate a practice that affects 125 million women and girls worldwide and can lead to psychological torment, complications during childbirth, problems with fertility, and death.

The MCB has collaborated with the African women's support and campaigning organisation Forward and the Muslim Spiritual Care Provision in the NHS (MSCP) to raise awareness of the dangers of FGM and warn practitioners that they face up to 14 years in prison if they subject girls to the practice, which involves the removal of the clitoris, or in more extreme cases the removal of the outer labia and the sewing up of the vagina, with a small hole left for menstruation and to pass urine.

The leaflet states: "FGM is not an Islamic requirement. There is no reference to it in the holy Qur'an that states girls must be circumcised. Nor is there any authentic reference to this in the Sunnah, the sayings or traditions of our prophet. FGM is bringing the religion of Islam into disrepute."

It also states that there is "an increasingly high risk of being prosecuted" for carrying out mutilation, which has been illegal in Britain since 1985.

Dr Shuja Shafi, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "We at the MCB are pleased to address this very important issue of female genital mutilation. Working closely together we can end this practice and ensure it is no longer linked to the religion of Islam or the teachings of the prophet Muhammad."

Dr Soheir Elneil, chair of the African women's campaign group Forward, which helped to prepare the leaflet, said the publication was a step forward in the battle to bring FGM to an end within a generation. "This is the first time such a publication has been achieved with the full cooperation and support of the relevant parties, and we hope all those working in FGM will find it a helpful tool in the work that they do," she said. "It states that FGM is non-Islamic and is against the teachings of Islam, that it is putting the health of women and girls at risk, and informs the reader of the legal implications in the UK of carrying out the practice."

Last week the Home Office held a summit at which other religious organisations, including the Shia al-Khoei Foundation and the Muslim Women's Network UK, announced their support for a government declaration against FGM to be published next month.

Related Articles:

Ban Ki-moon: FGM a 'human rights violation' that must end

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear and beloved Kryon: What should we know about "Brit-Mila" (Jewish circumcision)?

Answer: All circumcision was based on commonsense health issues of the day, which manifested itself in religious-based teaching. That basically is what made people keep doing it. This eighth-day-from-birth ritual is no more religious today than trimming your fingernails (except that Brit-Mila is only done once, and it hurts a bit more).

It's time to start seeing these things for what they are. Common sense is not static. It's dynamic, and related to the culture of the time. Yesterday's common sense about health changed greatly with the discovery of germs. It changed again with practices of cleanliness due to the discovery of germs, and so on. Therefore, we would say that it really doesn't make a lot of difference in today's health practices. It's done almost totally for cultural historic and traditional purposes and holds no energy around it other than the obvious intent of the tradition.

This is also true for a great deal of the admonishments of the Old Testament regarding food and cleanliness, and even the rules of the neighborhood (such as taking your neighbor's life if he steals your goat, or selling your daughter in slavery if you really need the money... all found in scripture). The times are gone where these things matter anymore, yet they're still treated with reverence and even practiced religiously in some places. They're now only relics of tradition, and that's all. If you feel that you should honor a tradition, then do it. If not, then don't. It's not a spiritual or health issue any longer.

Be the boss of your own body and your own traditions. Follow what your spiritual intuition tells you is appropriate for your own spiritual path and health.

Scientists explain stress-heart attack link

Yahoo – AFP, 22 June 2014

A nurse measures the blood pressure of a patient, on September 20,
2013 in Lens (AFP Photo/Philippe Huguen)

Paris (AFP) - Scientists said Sunday they may have unravelled how chronic stress leads to heart attack and stroke: triggering overproduction of disease-fighting white blood cells which can be harmful in excess.

Surplus cells clump together on the inner walls of arteries, restricting blood flow and encouraging the formation of clots that block circulation or break off and travel to another part of the body.

White blood cells "are important to fight infection and healing, but if you have too many of them, or they are in the wrong place, they can be harmful," said study co-author Matthias Nahrendorf of the Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Doctors have long known that chronic stress leads to cardiovascular disease, but have not understood the mechanism.

To find the link, Nahrendorf and a team studied 29 medical residents working in an intensive care unit.

Their work environment is considered a model for chronic stress exposure given the fast pace and heavy responsibility they carry for life-and-death decisions.

Comparing blood samples taken during work hours and off duty, as well as the results of stress perception questionnaires, the researchers found a link between stress and the immune system.

Particularly, they noticed stress activate bone marrow stem cells, which in turn triggered overproduction of white blood cells, also called leukocytes.

White blood cells, crucial in wound healing and fighting off infection, can turn against their host, with devastating consequences for people with diseases like atherosclerosis -- a thickening of artery walls caused by a plaque buildup.

The study then moved on to mice, which were exposed to the rodent equivalent of stress through techniques like crowding and cage tilting.

The team chose atherosclerosis-prone mice.

They found that excess white blood cells produced as a result of stress accumulated on the inside of arteries and boosted plaque growth.

"Here, they (the cells) release enzymes that soften the connective tissue and lead to disruption of the plaque," said Nahrendorf.

"This is the typical cause of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke."

He added leukocytes were only a part of the picture -- factors like high cholesterol and blood pressure, smoking and genetic traits also contribute to heart attack and stroke risk.

"Stress might push these over the brink," the researcher told AFP.

Tai chi practitioners in Yunyang, Chongqing. (File
photo/Xinhua)

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'Sugar tax' needed to curb childhood obesity, say experts

Tax to deter consumption of soft drinks among measures proposed by Action on Sugar, as well as ban on junk food sports sponsorships

theguardian.com, Press Association, Sunday 22 June 2014

Action on Sugar said: 'Obesity in children leads to the premature development
 of cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart attacks and heart failure.' Photograph:
Nick Ansell/PA

A campaign group has called on the government to introduce a "sugar tax" to discourage consumption of sweetened soft drinks.

Action on Sugar said it had developed a seven-point plan to curb childhood obesity following a request for its views from the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

The measures include bringing in a sugar tax, limiting the availability of ultra-processed foods and sweetened soft drinks, and banning "junk food sports sponsorships".

The group's chairman, Professor Graham MacGregor, said: "Obesity in children leads to the premature development of cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart attacks and heart failure, which are the commonest cause of death and disability in the UK.

"Obesity predisposes to type 2 diabetes, which further increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and also, importantly, it can lead to severe complications, ie the commonest cause of blindness, renal dialysis and amputation of the lower limbs.

"These complications are extremely expensive to manage, and will cripple the NHS if the increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes is not stopped immediately.

"Obesity is preventable if the food environment is changed, yet the current policies are not working. The UK requires the implementation of this coherent strategy, starting by setting incremental sugar reduction targets for soft drinks this summer. No delays, no excuses."

Dr Aseem Malhotra, cardiologist and science director of Action on Sugar, said: "It is really quite shameful that the food industry continues to spend billions in junk food advertising targeting children, the most vulnerable members of society. They even manage to associate sugary products with sport.

"Physical activity has a multitude of benefits but a child doing an hour of PE every day would be putting all to waste if they ended up gorging on a burger and chips and a packet of crisps washed down with a sugary drink. One has to run half a marathon to burn off those calories. It's time to bust the myth of physical activity and obesity and dissociate junk food and sport."

The seven measures called for are:

• Reduce added sugars by 40% by 2020 by reformulating food.

• Cease all forms of targeted marketing of ultra-processed, unhealthy foods and drinks to children.

• Dissociate physical activity with obesity via banning junk food sports sponsorships.

• Reduce fat in ultra-processed foods, particularly saturated fat – 15% reduction by 2020.

• Limit the availability of ultra-processed foods and sweetened soft drinks as well as reducing portion size.

• Incentivise healthier food and discourage drinking of soft drinks by introducing a sugar tax.

• Remove responsibility for nutrition from the Department of Health and return it to an independent agency.

Action on Sugar – a group of specialists concerned with sugar and its effects on health – is working to reach a consensus with the food industry and government over the harmful effects of a high sugar diet, and bring about a reduction in the amount of sugar in processed foods.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "We know some people eat too many calories including sugar. Childhood obesity is at its lowest since 1998 but more should be done.

"Next week we will get expert scientific advice on sugar which will help shape future thinking. We will consider these recommendations as part of this."

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Kryon Q&A

(13) Question: Dear Kryon, I’m very concerned about the obesity epidemic, particularly in the U.S. Around me I see people getting bigger and more unhealthy, all for the sake of convenience and saving time. You mentioned at one point a famine, and I suspect the famine won’t be from a lack of food, but from an abundance of food that has no nutritional value.

I wonder how we can honor the Earth by eating nothing that comes straight from it? Of course this involves caring for the lands and oceans as part of a bigger issue and making that connection, too. Is this what it will finally take for people to switch to a healthier way of living?

Its amazing how detached people are from the food they eat. We don’t even honor our digestive processes, the way we combine foods. Whatever happened to nutrition? Atkins is no solution; there is no balance in it. Gastric bypass is all about quantity reduction, not quality increase. When will people make the direct connection between what/how they eat and their health? Is a change in diet and lifestyle part of the upcoming shift?

Answer: The shift has little to do with it. It’s a culture-specific problem and has to do with consciousness of health. Go study the cultures on your planet that have very few overweight Humans. Start with the Japanese. They have some of the same western work ethics and live in very sophisticated industrial-based environments. Yet they aren’t overweight. It’s about the core food groups and the combination of them.


(39) Question: Dear Kryon: I've noticed how many children are developing severe allergies to foods (my daughter included). When I've researched this, it seems that most of the allergies are essentially to seeds, grains, legumes, eggs, and dairy. I've noticed that these foods all hold the potential for life, or in the case of dairy, are essentially used to sustain the first stages of life in an animal's baby. My feeling is that because we're not releasing the life force within these foods (that is, sprouting, etc.), they're becoming harmful to us. I would like your impressions of this.

Answer: For thousands of years, these foods have worked for humanity. In these cases you speak about, the main culprit continues to be the way in which these foods are collected and processed. You won't find these allergies in third-world countries, and you won't find them within the children who work on farms, where they eat the foods directly. There will eventually have to come a day when you relax some of your efficiency attributes and go back to the way food was meant to be collected and eaten. And yes... there are effects from how the dairy animals are treated, too. Going back to some basics will help, and so will eliminating some of the procedures that supposedly create a "safer food." These procedures have instead made them begin to look like foreign food to the Human body.


(15) Question: Dear Kryon, please help us understand the increase of allergies. What can we do to heal this phenomenon?

Answer: Reduce the steps in your food chain, which are adding chemistry to fresh food.