Belgian court upholds rapist Van Den Bleeken's right to die

An appeals court in Belgium has upheld convicted murderer and rapist Frank Van Den Bleeken's approval to be euthanized. He will be the first detainee in the country put to death for psychiatric reasons.

Deutsche Welle, 29 Sep 2014

The appeals court in Brussels upheld the decision on Monday, after a separate court had approved Van Den Bleeken's right to seek assisted suicide in mid-September.

"He can leave the jail for 24 hours in order to seek euthanasia," a court press spokesman said.

The exact date of Van Den Bleeken's euthanasia is not known.

Seeking an end to 'psychological pain'

Van Den Bleeken was found guilty of murder and rape on multiple instances, and has spent nearly 30 years behind bars. He considers himself a danger to the public. The 50-year-old says he suffers from "psychological pain" that cannot be treated and is unable to control his sexual urges.

"I am a human being, and regardless of what I've done, I remain a human being. So, yes, give me euthanasia," Van Den Bleeken told VRT Flemish Belgian television.

His lawyer, Jos Vander Velpen, defended the court's ruling, saying his "client suffers endlessly."

A sister of one of Van Den Bleeken's victims expressed dismay at the decision. "He should die in his cell," she told the daily Het Laatse Nieuws newspaper earlier this month.

Increase in assisted suicide

After Van Den Bleeken became the first Belgian to be granted the right to euthanasia earlier this month, 15 further long-time inmates the country asked to seek assisted suicide.

Belgium has allowed assisted suicide since 2002 for the terminally-ill. Across the country last year, 1,807 people opted for assisted suicide, 27 percent more than in 2012.

In February, Belgium became the first country in the world to allow assisted suicide without an age limit. Thus, terminally ill children can choose to take their own lives in certain circumstances.

Among European countries, assisted suicide is also legal in the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

dr/bw (KNA, dpa, AP, Reuters, AFP)

Related Articles:

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

Nearly 5,000 people died via euthanasia in the Netherlands in 2013

Malaysian transgenders 'live in fear' of arrest and abuse

Yahoo – AFP, Julia Zappei, 29 Sep 2014

Transgender people in Malaysia said they were often the subject of social 

ostracism, discrimination, harassment, sexual abuse and arrest by authorities 

(AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

Seremban (Malaysia) (AFP) - Aryana had just returned to her home one night in June when Malaysian Islamic-purity enforcers burst in, ransacking her apartment and arresting her for cross-dressing.

Using a pseudonym to protect her identity, Aryana is transgender -- born a man but identifying as a woman -- and part of a substantial community that complains of rising persecution in the Muslim-majority Southeast Asian country.

The 30 year-old was detained for several hours, during which she was roughly handled, pressured to confess and charged a fine.

Homosexuality is effectively banned in

Malaysia. Gay sex -- considered "against the

order of nature" -- brings up to 20 years in jail 

under federal law (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

"It's difficult. When I wore men's clothing, it felt like a lie," said Aryana, a sex worker with long hair dyed reddish-brown and a heavily-powdered face.

Transgender people are common in Malaysia, typically men whose gender identity is female, but also vice versa. Some undergo sex-change surgery.

But their lives are far different from the famously tolerant stance in Buddhist neighbouring Thailand.

Human Rights Watch said Malaysia is one of the world's worst countries for transgender people, as it released a report last week detailing social ostracism, discrimination, and harassment, sexual abuse and arrest by authorities.

Homosexuality is effectively banned in Malaysia. Gay sex -- considered "against the order of nature" -- brings up to 20 years in jail under federal law.

State-level laws on Islamic purity also criminalise dressing as the opposite sex, activists say. Violations can bring three years in prison and a fine.

Court challenge

Three transgender women who were arrested four years ago are now boldly fighting that in court via a lawsuit in the southern state of Negeri Sembilan that calls such rules discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Its chances are uncertain, but activists hope success will prompt scrutiny of laws in other states. A ruling is expected November 7.

"I hope for success. I have been waiting so long already," said one of the parties to the suit, a slim 28-year-old dressed in tight jeans, sunglasses holding back reddish dyed hair, who asked to be unidentified.

"I'm not a man acting like a woman. I am a woman."

Activists and transgender people say past attitudes were fairly tolerant in the historically moderate Muslim country.

But conservative Islam is growing due to a complex mix of factors.

In 1982, the National Fatwa Council, Malaysia's highest Muslim authority, banned sex-reassignment surgery as un-Islamic.

Authorities have since taken a steadily harder line against transgenders and homosexuality, critics say. A gay rights festival was banned in 2011.

Activists said many transgender people can

 become depressed, suicidal, and turn to drugs

 and alcohol (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

Prime Minister Najib Razak, who portrays himself as a Muslim moderate, has repeatedly said in recent years that gay and transgender rights initiatives were deviant.

Officials in Najib’s office, Malaysia’s attorney-general, and a government agency that polices Islamic conduct did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

The report by Human Rights Watch urged the repeal of all discriminatory regulations, saying transgender people are at constant risk of mistreatment by authorities.

In June, 16 transgender women were arrested in a raid on a wedding party in a private home in southern Malaysia. They were sentenced to a week in prison and fined.

Some transgender people are sent for "counselling" sessions on "moral values".

Nisha Ayub, now a Muslim transgender activist, said after she was arrested in 2000 that a jailer took her from cell to cell to show male inmates her breasts. She was later molested by prisoners.

"We are not asking for special rights. We are just asking for equal rights," Nisha said.

Those who opt for sex-change surgery encounter a bureaucratic nightmare, unable to legally change their names and genders, complicating access to public services.

Others complain of discrimination in employment and other spheres.

Transgender women are commonly seen, especially in the capital Kuala Lumpur, working in restaurants and retail outlets.

But the price of acceptance is self-denial -- they typically wear gender-neutral clothes, such as pants and shirts, with long hair tied back conservatively.

'It was hell'

Deprived of jobs, many are pushed into sex work, risking sexually-transmitted disease.

Conservative Islam has grown in Malaysia

 since 1982 when the country's highest Muslim 

authority banned sex-reassignment surgery 

as un-Islamic (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

Abinaya Jayaraman worked at a bank but left when her employer demanded she dress as a man and use the men's toilet.

A Hindu ethnic Indian with long hair and dressed in a bright yellow Indian sari, Abinaya said she turned to sex work for 30 ringgit ($10) per encounter to survive.

"It was hell," she said.

Abinaya had sex-change surgery in 2011 and has found stability working with a local NGO that helps the transgendered.

But her pain lingers. She was sexually abused as a child by a relative, and is now estranged from her family over her lifestyle.

Activists said many transgender people can become depressed, suicidal, and turn to drugs and alcohol.

"Here we live in fear. We are treated as criminals. We are not treated as humans," Abinaya said.

Related Article:

"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. …”

Nearly 5,000 people died via euthanasia in the Netherlands in 2013

DutchNews.nl, Monday 29 September 2014

(NOS)

There were 4,829 official cases of euthanasia in the Netherlands last year, an increase of 15% on 2012, according to the annual report of the regional monitoring committees.

Almost 3,600 people were helped to die because they had cancer, the report said.

In total, there were 42 reports of people who underwent euthanasia because they suffered severe psychiatric problems, compared with 14 in 2012 and 13 in 2011.

Dementia was the reason behind 97 cases, mainly early stage dementia in which patients were able to properly communicate their wish to die.

Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands under strict conditions. For example, the patient must be suffering unbearable pain and the doctor must be convinced the patient is making an informed choice. The opinion of a second doctor is also required.

Related Articles:

Euthanasia declaration should be renewed regularly

Belgian court upholds rapist Van Den Bleeken's right to die


"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)

France to introduce plain cigarette packaging

BBC News, 25 September 2014

The new law would require packaging to be "the same shape, same size,
 same colour, same typeset"

Related Stories

• Do smoking bans work?
• Does cigarette packaging make a difference?
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The French government has unveiled controversial new measures to cut the number of its smokers, including introducing plain cigarette packaging.

The proposals are specifically aimed at reducing the high rates of teenage smokers in France.

Health Minister Marisol Touraine plans to follow Australia's example, which introduced similar measures in 2012.

Experts say removing branding on packets and adding large health warnings reduced smoking in Australia.

However, some tobacco companies dispute the evidence for this and say France's plans are incomprehensible.

Smoking is the main cause of death in France, with more than 70,000 people dying each year of tobacco-related illnesses.

The new measures, which will come into effect once the law goes through the National Assembly, also includes a ban on smoking in children's play areas in public parks and in cars carrying children under 12.

In addition, advertising of e-cigarettes will be restricted before being banned in May 2016, except at the point of sale and in trade publications.

Ms Touraine says there are 13 million smokers in France - which has a population of around 66 million - and the "number of smokers is growing, especially among young people."

"We can't accept that tobacco kills 73,000 people every year in our country - the equivalent of a plane crash every day with 200 people on board," she added.

The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says the move goes well beyond what France is required to do under European anti-smoking rules.

'Completely incomprehensible'

EU laws already force tobacco firms to cover 65% of the packaging with health warnings, but Ms Touraine said they would be "the same shape, same size, same colour, same typeset" if the ban came into effect.

Celine Audibert, a spokeswoman for French firm Seita, which is a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco, described the move as "completely incomprehensible".

"It's based on the Australian experience which, more than a failure, was a complete fiasco," added Ms Audibert.

In 2012, Australia forced all cigarettes to be sold in identical brown packets, largely covered with graphic health warnings.

Tobacco clearances, an indicator of tobacco volumes in the Australian market, fell 3.4% in 2013 compared with 2012.

But Australia also raised cigarette taxes that led to consumer prices increasing, creating doubt over which move made the most difference.

Beijing considers smoking ban in individual offices

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-09-27

A non-smoking sign in a public square in Shenzhen. (Photo/CNS)

Lawmakers in Beijing have reviewed a draft law on smoking, this time including a ban on smoking in offices occupied by a single person, for the second time on Thursday.

In the previous draft, smoking was prohibited in public areas, public transport and shared working places. The draft now includes single occupancy offices after controversy over company bosses often being exempt from smoking controls because they have their own office.

Angela Pratta, who is leading the Tobacco Free Initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in China, said, "if single occupancy offices are allowed to be exempt from smoke-free laws, then co-workers, cleaning staff and others who have to enter these offices, or who work nearby, would be exposed to second-hand smoke."

"As a result, we removed the word 'shared'," said Wang Qingbin, an associate law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law.

"This move showed how public opinion pushed forward anti-smoking legislation," he said.

China is home to over 300 million smokers, with more than one million people dying as a result of tobacco-related illness each year, according to the WHO.

The country signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003 and it became effective in 2006. According to the FCTC, China should have banned smoking in indoor public areas completely by 2011. However, it is not unusual to see smokers puff away in restaurants, bars and hair salons.

Beijing banned smoking in public places such as schools, hospitals, banks and public transport in March 2008, before the Olympics. It also stipulated that in places such as restaurants and parks, there should be specific smoking areas.

However, this rule was poorly implemented. As a result, people expected the new law to be more feasible.

The new regulation underlined that "relevant work units be responsible for tobacco control".

"This is a step forward," said Wang Delin, vice chairperson of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress. "This means that in case of poor implementation, someone will be punished."

After the first review of the rule in July, amendments were made also to make it appear more practical.

For instance, in the first draft, hotels and airports were listed as places where smoking was strictly prohibited. But in the second draft, the areas were changed to "hotels without ventilation system, and airports, apart from the smoking rooms."

If the law is too strict to enforce, what's the point of having it, some experts said.

Other experts, including Wang Qingbin, expressed disappointment over the new rule.

"I doubt whether the ventilation systems for 'smoking rooms' will be effective," he said. "Another problem is, what if there is no non-smoking room left in a hotel? Will the customer be forced to use a smoking room, and endure the second-hand smoke left there?"

"The WHO is extremely dismayed to see these loopholes appear in the draft Beijing law," said Pratta. "Exemptions to 100% smoke-free laws create enforcement difficulties." Smoke will drift out of those rooms where smoking would be allowed, making it difficult to tell if someone has broken the law, she said.

"These loopholes would make Beijing's law incompatible with China's obligations under the FCTC," Pratta continued. "Loopholes and exemptions make smoke-free laws harder to enforce, not easier."

Other experts saw hope from the draft and the reviews. "This is a very good beginning," said Wu Yiqun, deputy director with ThinkTank Research Center for Health Development, a Beijing-based non-governmental organization.

"Only after we have a strong law will people pay attention to the problem," she said.

A vote for the law will be carried out next January. It is not known whether the draft will be reviewed again.

Related Article:

Asia's rising tobacco epidemic

Greek grave dug up after ‘cries for help’

Officials order tests on body of 49-year-old woman who relatives believe came out of a coma after being buried

The Guardian, Helena Smith in Athens, Friday 26 September 2014

Flowers on a grave. Photograph: Alamy

Greek authorities have ordered tests on the body of a woman who is reported to have woken in her grave and cried for help, only to die before she could be disinterred.

Three people laying flowers at an adjacent grave reported hearing banging and muffled shouts late on Thursday.

Alerted, gravediggers at the cemetery in the northern town of Perraia frantically began extracting the coffin but by the time the body had been removed doctors who had rushed to the scene pronounced the woman dead.

“When the ambulance arrived, gravediggers were still throwing dirt off the grave. As soon as the body was exhumed a cardiogram was conducted that confirmed the woman was dead,” Chrissi Matsikoudi, the emergency services doctor who examined the corpse, was quoted as saying.

“The body was in a state of rigor mortis … it is impossible that only a short time before the deceased had been crying for help when we found her in [that] state,” she said. “Her eyes, it is true, were open but the coroner can give an explanation for that. As far as her mouth is concerned, I cannot say it was open, it was relaxed.”

Witnesses reported seeing the body of the unidentified woman with her arms raised, and told the Greek media they believed she had died of asphyxiation.

The 49-year-old mother-of-two had been buried in a funeral attended by family members barely an hour before. She had been declared dead earlier in the day by doctors at a private clinic in nearby Thessaloniki, northern Greece’s capital. “A cardiogram has rendered it certain that the patient above is no longer alive,” concluded a medical announcement released to the press.

But Nikos Dialynas, a lawyer representing the woman’s family, said his clients believed she had come out of a coma after being buried. The relatives were now considering filing a complaint against the physicians who had treated her.

“We have the testimonies of three people, who are not related to the deceased and which are serious and very concrete [in detail],” he said. “They include an employee who worked at the cemetery. They hadn’t escaped from some psychiatric hospital nor were they [suffering], optically or acoustically, from delusions. What they say is very plain, very clear.”

Police contacted by the Guardian said the forensic pathologist, Fotis Hadzinicolaou, would conduct an autopsy to determine the exact time of the woman’s death. “A second coroner will also be present for reasons of impartiality,” said a police officer in Thessaloniki. “This is the first time in living memory that a body has been exhumed because, rightfully or wrongfully, the person is believed not to have died. It is a very particular case and we have launched an investigation.”

Singapore Population Growth Hits 10-Year Low

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Sep 25, 2014

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaks during the Singapore Summit at
 the Singapore Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on Sept. 20, 2014. Foreigners account
 for nearly 40 percent of Singapore’s total population, but the government has been urging
young Singaporean couples to start families. (AFP Photo/Mohd Fyrol)

Singapore. Singapore’s population grew at its slowest pace in a decade in the 12 months to June as the government tightened the inflow of foreign workers, official figures showed on Thursday.

The statistics department said the city-state had a total population of 5.47 million people as of the end of June, up 1.3 percent from the year before.

“This was the slowest growth in the last decade, driven by slower growth in non-resident population,” it said.

The number of citizens stood at 3.34 million, up a slight 0.9 percent from the year before, while those with permanent residency fell 0.7 percent to 527,700, the department said in its latest population trends report.

According to the statistics, over 29 percent of Singapore’s population comprises “non-residents” — those working, studying or living in the country but not granted permanent residency.

Including permanent residents, the statistics show that foreigners account for nearly 40 percent of Singapore’s total population.

Complaints from citizens about overcrowding, foreign workers competing with locals for jobs and resentment over the bad habits of foreigners has made immigration a hot-button issue on the affluent but space-constricted island.

With the complaints becoming more strident especially on social media, the government has taken steps to slow down foreign hiring and the granting of permanent residency status.

The discontent spilled into the 2011 general elections when the ruling party garnered its lowest-ever vote count after more than 50 years in power, and analysts say it remains a key issue for the next election, which must be held before January 2017.

Singapore’s fertility rate also fell to 1.19 babies per woman in 2013 from 1.29 in 2012, well below the 2.1 babies needed to naturally replenish the native-born population, the report said.

In January, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged young Singaporean couples to get off to a “galloping start” in the Lunar Year of the Horse by having more babies to boost the flagging birth rate.

Agence France-Presse

Related Articles:

German birth rate hits new low

Dutch Birth rate drops again, economic crisis gets the blame
Seven billion people and climbing, but not everywhere


"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

US beverage giants vow to cut calories to fight obesity

Yahoo – AFP, John Biers, 24 Sep 2014

A woman shops at a supermarket in Rosemead, California on June 18,

2014 (AFP Photo/Frederic J. Brown)

New York (AFP) - US soft-drinks giants Tuesday promised to work to reduce the country's beverage calorie consumption by 20 percent by 2025 in a campaign to counter obesity trends.

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Dr. Pepper Snapple pledged to provide smaller-sized bottles, and more water and other low- or no-calorie beverages, to the market to help bring down per-person consumption of their high-sugar drinks.

They also agreed to better publicize calorie counts on vending machines, retail coolers and all drink-vending equipment controlled by the companies.

American soda giants promised to work

 to reduce US beverage calorie consumption

 by 20 percent by 2025 in a campaign to counter

 obesity trends (AFP Photo/Spencer Platt)

Appearing at an event organized by the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, representatives from each signed a voluntary initiative to employ marketing and consumer outreach to prod consumers to drink fewer sugary drinks and promote calorie awareness.

The goal is to cut calories from drinks by 20 percent per person within a decade.

The initiative comes as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and others struggle with flagging sales in their home market. Coca-Cola reported flat sales in North America in the most recent quarter.

Regulators in New York City, California and other venues have proposed measures to cut drink size or enhance labeling requirements.

The companies also said they would intensify awareness campaigns and promotion of healthier beverages in communities where there have been fewer options to often sugar-laden soft drinks.

They will retain an independent evaluator to track progress, in conjunction with an advocacy group set up by the Clinton Foundation, founded by former president Bill Clinton, and the American Heart Association.

Public health advocates said the measures did not go far enough.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a public-interest advocacy group in Washington, said the initiative was "welcome news," but called on the companies to drop their opposition to taxes and warning labels on sugary drinks.

"We applaud President Clinton for his efforts," the group said in a statement. "But we need much bigger and faster reductions to adequately protect the public's health."

Measures to tax sugary drinks "could further reduce calories in America's beverage mix even more quickly, and would raise needed revenue for the prevention and treatment of soda-related diseases," the group said in a statement.

Marion Nestle, a nutrition and public health professor at New York University, said the companies would have no problem reaching the 20 percent target in light of consumption trends that are already happening.

"If they really want to promote public health, they should stop fighting soda taxes and lobbying against this and other public health measures," she said in an email message. "This is pure public relations."

Related Article:

American waistlines get bigger and bigger

Spanish minister resigns over scrapped abortion bill

Spain's conservative government has abandoned plans for more restrictive laws on abortion. The proposal's champion, Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, has resigned in protest.

Deutsche Welle, 23 Sep 2014

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said that his government would scrap plans to restrict abortions, following months of protests from women's groups and the opposition. He said that the government was not able to reach a consensus on the issue.

"A withdrawal is the most sensible solution," Rajoy said. "We do not want to pass a law that will only be changed again after a government transition."

Ruiz-Gallardon (right) quit the
government of Rajoy (left) in protest

Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, who had spearheaded the proposal, resigned from Rajoy's conservative Popular Party (PP) as a result, saying he was quitting politics after 30 years.

Spain, like the majority of countries in Europe, currently allows abortions without restrictions within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The bill proposed making abortion permissible only in the case of rape or if a serious health risk to the mother was apparent. The contentious plan had prompted rallies both opposing and supporting the idea in the predominantly Catholic country. Opposition parties welcomed Tuesday's decision to drop the bill.

"We are celebrating this withdrawal," Carmen Monton of the opposition Socialists said. "It was about time Rajoy realized he cannot meddle with women's freedom."

Friction even within ruling PP

The prime minister said his government would instead seek to modify Spain's existing laws, passed by the previous Socialist government in 2010, so that young women aged 16 and 17 could not terminate a pregnancy without their parents' consent.

Women's rights group 'Femen' protested
in Spain's parliament over the issue

Abortion reform was a part of Rajoy's general election campaign in 2011, although economic policy dominated the campaign trail as Spain battled high public debt and rising unemployment. The PP has an absolute majority in Madrid, but the abortion proposals had also caused frictions within the ruling party's ranks.

Abortion was first decriminalized in Spain in 1985 for cases of malformed fetuses, rape or potential physical or psychological damage for the mother. The 2010 reforms allowed abortions in all cases within 14 weeks of conception, and after up to 22 weeks in cases of severe abnormalities, putting Spain broadly into line with European norms.

msh/mkg (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

AstraZeneca shares fall as Obama thwarts tax inversion deals

Pfizer pursuit of UK pharmaceutical less likely after president closes loophole allowing takeovers in lower tax regimes

The Guardian, Sean Farrell, Tuesday 23 September 2014

Pfizer’s failed bid to buy AstraZeneca was seen as a classic tax inversion
deal. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Shares in AstraZeneca and other potential takeover targets for US companies fell after the Obama administration announced measures to thwart tax-driven acquisitions of foreign companies.

AstraZeneca was the subject of an acrimonious takeover approach by Pfizer earlier this year. The US company targeted AstraZeneca partly to move its headquarters to Britain and exploit the UK’s lower corporation tax rate. AstraZeneca rejected Pfizer’s overtures but the US firm kept its options open to make a second approach.

Moving headquarters for tax reasons, known as a “tax inversion”, has proved politically contentious in the US as companies have lined up to find takeovers in lower tax regimes, particularly the UK and Ireland. The US rate of corporate tax is 35% whereas the UK, under reductions ordered by the chancellor, charges 21%, falling to 20% next year.

Pfizer’s approach for AstraZeneca raised the political heat in the US over inversions, which are seen as largely artificial manoeuvres that leave day-to-day operations unchanged. The tactic became a test of White House resolve after Burger King agreed to buy smaller Canadian fast-food chain Tim Hortons last month to shift its headquarters to Canada. 

 

After failing to agree legislation with Congress, the Obama administration said on Monday that companies would no longer escape tax on US earnings by using internal loans, dividends and share swaps to restructure under foreign ownership. The changes will not apply to completed deals but are intended to deter further attempts to use what Jack Lew, the Treasury secretary, called an “unfair loophole”.

AstraZeneca shares fell more than 5% as investors decided the White House’s move had made a further Pfizer bid less likely. Shares in Shire Pharmaceutical, which has agreed to be bought by AbbVie of the US, fell more than 6%. Smith & Nephew, also the subject of US bid speculation, fell 3%. Intercontinental Hotels, which has faced pressure from a hedge fund to agree to a tax inversion deal, dropped 1.7%.

The Obama administration also hopes its measures will make it more difficult for US multinationals to avoid tax by parking earnings abroad without relocating their headquarters. Apple and Amazon have faced criticism for booking billions of dollars of revenues in overseas jurisdictions.