Even praying doesn't save one pig's bacon

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-02-28

The pig is seen bowing in front of the Buddhist temple in Wenzhou,
Feb. 22. (Internet photo)

A run-away pig in Wenzhou reportedly bowed in front of a local Buddhist temple. The "act of piety," however, did not save it from its fate, as it was killed later the same day, reports our Chinese language sister paper Want Daily.

A video showing the pig bowing in front of the temple has gone viral online and received more than ten million hits.

The pig, which reportedly ran away from its owner's pigpen on Feb. 22, was seen in front of a Buddhist temple with both its front legs on the floor and its head bowed.

It was the day that the temple held the religious assembly called 3,000 Buddhas Repentance. Several visitors to the temple were so shocked by the scene, which they believed to be a miracle, asked the monks of the temple to recite Buddhist chants for the creature. The monk later proclaimed it a Buddhist disciple.

The owner of the animal, surnamed Huang, was not informed of any of this. He found the pig, took it home and slaughtered it later the same day.

After learning about the bowing act from the video posted online, Huang said he regreted killing it.

While many believe that the pig had some spiritual inspiration that drove it to pay respect to the deity in the temple, experts think something else was at play here.

A local policeman said the pig might have suffered from a syndrome associated with vitamin E insufficiency that made its limbs weak, making it difficult to stand straight. Wang Boqiang, a local veterinarian official said the pig's bowing was largely coincidental. Such behavior is common among the livestock.

A local villager who keeps pigs said he often sees his own do similar pose.

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"Soul Communication" - Feb 22-23, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version Part I)

“… Animals. You love them, don't you? What do you know about animals, especially the ones you care for and love, the ones you call pets? They have personalities, don't they? They can talk to you! When they communicate, what does that sound like, dear one? What do their voices sound like? "Well, Kryon, you already know they don't have an actual voice." Oh really? Then how do they "talk" to you? Now it gets good, doesn't it? They communicate through concepts. Their conceptual thought groups are available for you to pick up. So guess where you pick up these thoughts? It's through your pineal, which is the interpreter of multidimensional things in your body. It's not your brain, which is picking up their animal broadcasts, dear ones.

Now, some of you are good at this kind of communication. There are ones who are listening to this right now called animal whisperers, and they know exactly what I'm talking about. Why do they call it whispering? I give you my interpretation. It's because the communications are not linear, and they whisper to you through the pineal and not through brain synapse. It comes in thought groups, very softly and all at once, like the smudge. When you pick it up, you know what the dog or cat or horse or hamster or rabbit is trying to communicate. You know the requests they have, perhaps the distress they have, perhaps the celebration or the love they have.

Now, this kind of communication with animals is easy for you, because you all have felt this. I believe you know what I'm speaking about. So apply this lesson, for what I'm teaching today is no different and uses the same process you're going to use in real life and in meditation when you listen to God.

"Kryon, is it true that communicating with animals is soul communication?" Yes, it is theirs to yours, and if you're good at the interpretation of their thoughts, then why doubt yourself about the next step? Practice doing this communication with your own Higher-Self. Your Higher-Self is that part of yourself that vibrates higher than your cellular dimensionality, and it's part of your "soul group". This "soul group" is part of the nine attributes of the Human Being and is the core of you. It is the part that gives you information from the other side of the veil from that which you call God. …”


Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.

Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.

(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."

(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.

(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.

Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.

Dutch health service pension fund calls for ARCP board to quit

DutchNews.nl, February 27, 2015

Dutch health service pension fund manager PGGM has called on property investment firm American Realty Capital Properties to remove its entire board in an effort to regain investor confidence in the company. 

PGGM, the second biggest Dutch pension manager with over $200bn in assets, says it has been monitoring the investment firm closely since it deliberately issued inaccurate financial statements in October 2014. The scandal led to the resignation of the firm’s founder Nicholas Schorsch in December.

‘It is essential that the board demonstrate its commitment to the highest standards of corporate governance, in light of the fiduciary duty it owes to all shareholders,’ the PGGM letter said. 

ARCP needs a truly independent board to choose a new management team, PGGM said. ‘This selection process will be of crucial importance in ensuring that all successful candidates are free from any real or perceived conflicts of interest.’ 

PGGM, which has over 11.6 million shares in ARCP, or a 1.3% stake, said it is urging fellow shareholders to ‘contribute to a meaningful and lasting change’.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy,Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) -(Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Asian herb derivative could work against Ebola

Yahoo – AFP, 26 Feb 2015

A health worker wearing protective equipment assists an Ebola patient at the

 Kenama treatment center in Sierra Leone, on November 15, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Francisco Leong)

Miami (AFP) - A small molecule derived from an Asian herb may help stop Ebola infection by preventing the virus from entering the cells of the body, researchers said Thursday.

So far the research using the calcium channel blocker Tetrandrine, found in some Chinese and Japanese herbs, against Ebola has only been done in lab animals and in petri dishes.

However, the findings so far warrant tests in primates before possibly being tried in people, said the authors of the study in the journal Science.

Researchers studied several existing drugs currently used to treat high blood pressure in order to find out which small molecules were best at blocking the Ebola virus from moving any further through the cell.

Tetrandrine protected mice from disease without obvious side effects, and appeared to be the most potent of the compounds tested.

"When we tested in mice, the drugs stopped virus replication and saved most of them from disease," said Robert Davey, scientist and Ewing Halsell Scholar in the Department of Immunology and Virology at Texas Biomedical Research Institute.

"We are very excited about the progress made in this study and the momentum it provides as scientists across the world vigorously search for effective vaccines and treatments against Ebola virus," Davey said.

There is no drug on the market to treat Ebola, which has killed more than 9,000 people, mainly in West Africa, since 2013 in the world's largest outbreak to date.

"We are cautiously optimistic. The next step in the process is to test both safety and effectiveness of the interaction of the drug with Ebola virus in non-human primates," said Davey.

Co-authors on the research came from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; the Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM) at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat München in Munich, Germany; and the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.

Lab at Chinese university finds new non-coding RNA molecule

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-02-25

The abstract of the paper posted on the university website.
 (Internet photo)

The laboratory of Dan Ge, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, has recently discovered a new circular form of non-coding RNA (Ribonucleic acid), molecule, dubbed the "dark matter" of the biology field, according to news web portal China.com.

The laboratory also revealed the function and the mechanism of the non-coding RNA molecule in international peer reviewed journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

The research suggests that an imbalance in non-coding RNA molecules correlates with the occurence of certain major illnesses.

Dan Ge's laboratory discovered a new circular form of non-coding RNA, which regulates gene expression in the nucleus, hence the name Exon-intron circular RNA (EIciRNA). The research suggests that EIciRNA is involved in the recruitment of U1 snRNP to the transcription site, which accelerates transcription.

Circular RNA has become a focus for research in recent years, as previously researchers were more interested in chain shaped RNA molecules. EIciRNA, however, is almost completely located within the nucleus, which makes it different from those discovered previously.

The primary authors of the report were deputy professor Li Zhaoyong and doctorate students Huang Chuan and Chun Bao.

Doctors launch online personal health check

DutchNews.nl, February 24, 2015

A number of healthcare organisations on Tuesday launched an online personal health check (PGC) aimed at prevention and an improvement in lifestyle. 

The organisations, which include doctors’ associations NHG and LHV, council health service GGD and the diabetes, lung, kidney and heart foundations, say the personal health check is a scientific answer to the many health checks already available, which they consider to be unreliable. 

The existing commercially run health checks, such as total body scans, often lead to unnecessary follow-up checks, the organisations say. 

Rob Dijkstra of family doctors’ association NHG says body scans are nothing more than a snapshot. ‘Around one-third of the CT scans come up with false positives,’ he told broadcaster Nos. ‘People appear to be healthy and do not get the treatment they need, or they are given unnecessary treatment.’ 

Prevention

 The new PGC is aimed at prevention. The organisations behind the check think people should be responsible for their own health and only make use of professional help when it is necessary. 

A pilot PGC in the Utrecht neighbourhood of Leidsche Rijn was a success, local family doctor Karolien van den Brekel said. People who did the check became aware of the influence of their lifestyle on their health, she told the Nos. 

The PGC, which is free, is at www.persoonlijkegezondheidscheck.nl, and provides a personalised report with lifestyle advice. Where necessary, the advice may be to make a doctor’s appointment.

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Investigation Into Deadly Drug Mix-Up Continues

Bad Medicine: Kalbe Farma and Siloam Hospitals both face investigations by the Health Ministry to determine if their procedures were adequate

Jakarta Globe, Feb 24, 2015

Puan Maharani, coordinating minister for human resources and culture
development. (Reuters Photo/Darren Whiteside)

Jakarta. The government says it has instructed Indonesia’s largest pharmaceutical firm, Kalbe Farma, to halt production of its anesthetic and anti-bleeding products at the center of investigations into the death of two women, while they were undergoing surgeries at Siloam Hospital in Tangerang earlier this month.

Coordinating for Human Resources and Culture Development Minister Puan Maharani on Monday said Kalbe Farma had been ordered to cease production of Buvanest, an anesthetic, and generic tranexamic acid, commonly used to treat or prevent excessive blood loss during surgery.

As initial indications pointed to Kalbe Farma’s fault, the minister has also ordered the withdrawal of the two products to protect the public, while promising the investigation can be concluded quickly.

Preliminary findings of the ongoing investigation suggest Kalbe Farma incorrectly packaged the two drugs, resulting in the death of one woman in surgery on Feb. 12 and another on Feb. 13.

The two women were undergoing a relatively routine Caesarian section and a cystoscopy, respectively (the latter is a urology procedure), before their deaths.

Investigators at Siloam believe the patients, who were prescribed 4 milliliter spinal injections of Buvanest, were administered tranexamic acid instead from ampules that had been mislabeled by the manufacturer as Buvanest.

Both drugs are produced by Kalbe Farma. Buvanest comes in 4ml vials; tranexamic acid in 5ml vials.

Minister Puan said Kalbe Farma had been ordered to halt its production of the two medicines pending investigations into the cases by the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drug monitoring Agency (BPOM).

“The instruction for Kalbe Farma [to halt the production] will stay in effect until investigation’s results come out,” Puan said in Jakarta on Monday.

She added that scrutiny was also extended to other pharmaceutical manufacturers in Indonesia.

“We’ve sent [Kalbe] a warning that there must be no repeat of this incidence. And we need thorough examinations of all drug manufacturers because this incidence has taken lives,” Puan said.

She added that the government would sanction Kalbe Farma if it was proven to have incorrectly packaged the drugs.

The Ministry of Health also has dispatched a team to investigate the Siloam hospital in Karawaci. The probe will look at the hospital’s operating permit, as well as interview anesthesiologists, obstetricians, gynecologists and nurses involved.

The ministry has said preliminary investigation results show Siloam Hospitals had followed standard operating procedures, including those for medicine storage.

The House of Representatives’ health commission has also formed a special investigative team, which has visited Kalbe Farma’s factory in the outskirts of Jakarta, according to a deputy head of the commission, Pius Lustrilanang.

He added that the team found that Kalbe Farma’s ampules labeled as Buvanest Spinal and tranexamic acid looked exactly the same.

“Only the labels are different,” Pius said.

Siloam Hospitals says the deceased patients surgeries’ were supervised by experienced senior physicians and anestheticians at Siloam Lippo Village.

Siloam Hospitals says it conducted an immediate and instant audit once the patients had their adverse reactions, while at the same time intervening in an attempt to save the patients’ lives.

An internal audit showed that Siloam Hospitals did everything right and followed procedures that it believes are correct, the hospital operator says, adding that it provides excellent medical care.

For Kalbe Farma’s part, the manufacturer was notified and invited to immediately look in to the matter, when it set up its own investigation.

Siloam said in a statement that it is only because of Siloam’s robust counter-check system on all adverse drug reaction outcomes, as a part of it overall and strict clinical governance system, that it was able to detect this incident in a such timely manner, following the death of its second patient from the same error.

After establishing the cause, it reported the incident to the authorities for further action, thereby preventing any future potential adverse outcomes across the country.

In a statement, Siloam Hospitals reiterated its pride in patient and staff safety systems and said that by being the first to bring to light this incident.

By doing so openly and clearly, Siloam said it showed its leadership mandate to uphold clinical excellence and provide international standards of health care.

Siloam Hospitals is Indonesia’s largest health-care provider and is listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange.

Its 20 national hospitals and nine medical centers treats more than two million patients per year.

In 2014 Siloam Hospitals added four hospitals to its network and expects to add 10 additional hospitals to its national network throughout 2015.

Siloam Hospitals says its vision is to empower Indonesia’s physicians and health care specialists and workers to be able to serve patients excellently and with compassion.

It strives to be at the forefront of clinical excellence and its flagship hospital is the first in Indonesia to be accredited by the prestigious Joint Commission International.

Siloam Hospitals is supported by 2,000 physicians and over 5,000 nursing professionals, as well as other health care professionals and staff.

The Jakarta Globe and Siloam Hospitals are both affiliated with Lippo Group.

1953 flood victim identified using dna

DutchNews.nl, February 23, 2015

More than 60 years after massive floods tore through southern Dutch coastal areas, one of the last un-named victims has been formally identified. 

The woman was buried in a grave in Yerseke but has now been given a name after dna sampling, police said on Monday. The dna was matched to that of a 77-year-old man who was her son. 

Police re-opened their investigation into 31 unidentified flood victims in 2013 by exhuming their graves and taking dna samples using modern techniques. Around 100 people are still listed as missing after the floods, which killed 1,836 people in the Netherlands. 

Police spokesman Ed Kraszewski said he hoped this success would encourage other people who lost family in the floods to come forward. Around 50 people have so far done so, he said.

Related Article:

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More Taiwanese high schoolers get cosmetic surgey to boost college chances

Want China Times, Chen Hsuan-yu, Hong Hsin-tzu and Staff Reporter 2015-02-22

Students sit in a classroom to practice for college interviews on Feb. 15,
2015, in Taipei. (Photo courtesy of Soochow University)

An increasingly large number of Taiwanese senior high school students are visiting cosmetic surgery clinics to improve their appearance so that they might have a better chance to be admitted in colleges via their interviews, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper China Times.

The most common problems these young students show up wanting to get rid of are pimples and wrinkles, said one doctor who works at a cosmetic surgery clinic when interviewed by China Times.

Lu Ching-yi, a dermatologist at I Skin Laser & Skin Care Center, said that most female high school students would come to her clinic with their mothers. She once gave treatment to a 17 years old female to cure the scars caused by pimples when she was younger. The scars, according to Lu, could not be hidden by creams or powders.

Chao Chao-ming, another dermatologist, said that some of the young students visited his clinic to find a solution for the wrinkles caused by their frowning, since they give them an angry look, creating an obstacle for their interpersonal relationships. Most of these students would receive botulinus injections to get rid of the wrinkles.

Besides facial issues, students visit cosmetic surgery clinics to find solutions for baldness problems. Most doctors advise them to apply a hair-growing cream, instead of receiving hair transplants. In case patients do not have time to wait for their hair grows back, doctors suggest they wear a wig.

Professors said that there is no need for students to visit such clinics to fix their appearance because the most important thing is to be polite, and show how capable they are. One National Taiwan University professor said that students need even wear makeup.

Henan woman's kidney stolen during surgery

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-02-22

A cartoon depicting a patient's kidney being stolen during
a surgery at a hospital in Henan. (Photo/CFP)

A woman in China's Henan province claims that one of her kidneys was stolen during one of her past surgeries, but the case remains unsolved despite the lawsuit she filed against the hospitals in 2011, Hong Kong-based Hua Shang Daily reports.

Xu Xiuying, a fruit vendor in Henan's Xiangcheng, first found out about her missing right kidney during an ultrasound checkup in 2008, which was two years after she underwent surgery to remove a benign tumor on her colon, the newspaper said.

Xu, who is married to a teacher and has a son, underwent the surgery in the city's First People's Hospital on Nov. 14, 2006. She began feeling pain around her waist and back following the six-hour operation.

She had another surgery to remove a uterine fibroid at another hospital in Xiangcheng on Oct. 19, 2007, the newspaper added.

Some local media reports said that Xu initially thought she was born with just one kidney and did not become suspicious until 2011, when she learned about a doctor being sentenced in another case for illegally selling human kidneys.

Several checkups later confirmed that her right kidney had been removed. This discovery led Xu to file a civil lawsuit against the two hospitals in 2011, seeking damages on the grounds of a medical dispute.

The criminal nature of the case required Xu to undergo a medical examination. However, the report published by the examiners on June 2013 failed to conclusively determine what happened to Xu and merely concluded that her kidney was more likely to have been removed during her 2006 surgery.

An expert also said the questionable circumstances of Xu's 2006 surgery, which included the unusually long time it took to complete the operation, the extended length of the incision and the prolonged period allotted for the blood tests beforehand.

In addition, the newspaper said that an ultrasound check was conducted on Xu's kidneys before the 2006 surgery.

Conflicting claims have arisen between the hospital and local authorities on whether an investigation has already been initiated to resolve Xu's plight, even though the medical report was submitted to authorities to pursue a criminal case in 2013, according to the newspaper.

Obama adviser John Podesta's biggest regret: Keeping America in dark about UFOs

Yahoo News, Caitlin Dickson, February 13, 2015

In this Nov. 19, 2014 file photo, Counselor to the President John Podesta speaks in

 Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014. In the year that will pass before the 2016 

campaign for president formally kicks off with the votes in the Iowa Caucus, any

 number of candidates, donors, political operatives — and people who have nothing

 to do with American politics — will shape the race for the White House. (AP Photo/

Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Outgoing senior Obama adviser John Podesta reflected on his latest White House stint Friday, listing his favorite moments and biggest regrets from the past year. Chief among them: depriving the American people of the truth about UFOs.

1. Finally, my biggest failure of 2014: Once again not securing the #disclosure of the UFO files. #thetruthisstilloutthere cc: @NYTimesDowd
— John Podesta (@Podesta44) February 13, 2015

Podesta’s longtime fascination with UFOs is well-documented, as his brief political hiatus following four years as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff freed him up to pursue his otherworldly passion.

At a 2002 press conference organized by the Coalition for Freedom of Information, Podesta spoke on the importance of disclosing government UFO investigations to the public.

“It’s time to find out what the truth really is that’s out there,”  he said. “We ought to do it, really, because it’s right. We ought to do it, quite frankly, because the American people can handle the truth. And we ought to do it because it’s the law.”

Following Podesta’s tweet, Friday, the Washington Post recalled an exchange one of its reporters had with Podesta in 2007. Karen Tumulty had asked Podesta about reports that the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, had been bombarded with Freedom of Information Act Requests specifically seeking email correspondence to and from the former chief of staff including terms like “X-Files” and “Area 51.” Podesta’s response, through a spokesperson, was “The truth is out there,” the tagline for the TV show “The X-Files” of which Podesta was known to be a fan.

A 2010 editorial in Missouri’s Columbia Tribune disparaged reports that Podesta had asked an outspoken UFO photographer to stop discussing his knowledge of extraterrestrial activities in public.

“One wonders why Podesta would do such a radical reversal, given his former plea for UFO disclosure,” the editorial implored.

But contrary to the Columbia Tribune’s concerns, Podesta had clearly not abandoned the cause. He wrote an introduction to the 2010 book “UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record.”

Unfortunately, Podesta will likely have little time to fill out FOIA requests in his new job at Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Perhaps, as his tweet suggests, he’s passing the torch to New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd.

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"The Big Picture - You Are Not Alone" -  Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"Common Questions from Non-Lightworkers" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"... Question Three: Is there life on other planets?

Are you kidding? There's life everywhere. Everywhere! Right now, your scientists are searching for microbial life on all the planets and their moons in your solar system, and they will eventually find it. They expect to find it. They will eventually understand that the seeds of life are everywhere.

How much life might there be? How long has it been "out there"? When science starts to realize the scope of how long life has been in your galaxy, they will begin to see something counterintuitive to evolution - their own Human history. How old is your Universe? Ask your scientists and they will say about 13 billion years. That's OK. Let's use their numbers. How old is your own planet - 4 or 5 billion, perhaps? Correct. But how old is humanity? Why weren't you here with the dinosaurs? You think the earth wasn't ready? Do you think that perhaps that which controls evolution was a little too stupid to make a Human sooner, but the process could make a dinosaur? Have you ever thought about these things?

If you put the earth's entire history into a 24-hour clock, life itself only started in the last hour and humanity, all of civilization, happened the last few seconds. Isn't that odd to you? Therefore, in a Universe that may be 13 billion years old, you arrived in the last few seconds. Did you ever think maybe you're the newest ones on the block? Well, you'd be right.

If the Universe is really that old, do you think perhaps there are civilizations in your galaxy that might be a billion or more years older than you? If that's the case, do you think perhaps they have gone through anything you're going through? Do you think any of them might have had your DNA attributes? Perhaps they also went through what you are going through spiritually? Perhaps they even went into a quantum ascension status? The answer is dozens of them.

You already know them and you've listed them in your publications. The ones who directly seeded you are called Pleiadians. The ones who seeded them might be Octurian and the ones who seeded them may be even Orion. They're everywhere, and they're all here as well. They're looking at you, for you are the ones who are next, and you are passing this marker of the shift

Oh, dear ones, it's going to be a long time before you really know any of these things to be your reality. The first step is peace on Earth. The next is a new kind of Human evolution that is going to increase your DNA efficiency to 100% and you're going to live a long time. Every time I say that, there are Humans in their intellectual mind saying, "Well, there is a geometric birth rate going on. We're not going to make it. It's going to over-crowd and we are going to run out of food. So what you're saying, Kryon, can't be a good thing. We're all going to be suffering and killing each other for food."

Let me address this, for if that is your thought, Human, you are assuming Humans are stupid and haven't figured out what's going on and why there's so much birth. You assume they can't control it because they haven't figured it out? I want to tell you, you're going to see something you didn't expect. You're going to see a decline in birth rate because Humans are smart and they're getting smarter. They're going to see that quality of life is linked to the number of children they have, and they're going to figure out the solution. It won't be how many children their church says they should have. They are going to do it intuitively. You're going to see it sooner than not.

You are going to see wisdom on the planet in many areas that no sociologist would ever have predicted. You will surprise them all, and it's going to happen without a government program. It's going to happen because you decide you want it. It's going to happen collectively, and you may even see it soon. Look for negative birth rates in first-world countries. Where Humans are able to see a larger picture and have freedom of information, the situation will not be what you have predicted.

Is there life on other planets? The scientists are saying, "It's going to be a long time before we get to the stars, you know? We have to get in this little metal can and put air in it, and then travel in it for years and years before we ever get to the next star." Meanwhile, a Pleiadian can do it in the blink of an eye! What do you think is going on there? Do you even believe me?

Not long ago, if you wanted to communicate to someone far away, you sent a letter. It was carried by a horse. It took a month to get a response. Now you communicate instantly!  Why is this so unbelievable to you about travel?

I will tell you, as long as you stay in 3D, you'll still be getting in little metal cans and air suits and going to planets. As soon as you begin the quantum age, however, you will simply wish yourself there, because you will be entangled with everything and can go with intent. If you don't believe this now, you will later, for what I give you is true. It may be lifetimes and lifetimes from now, but the group that is before me is the group that is going to come back over and over and over. The difference is that you're done coming back in an old energy. This is a new energy. ..”

Retail giant Walmart to raise wages for US staff

Yahoo – AFP, John Biers, 19 Feb 2015

The biggest retailer globally, Walmart said the wage and education initiatives would

 affect 500,000 US full- and part-time staff. Salaries will be raised this year, with

another hike coming in 2016 (AFP Photo/Scott Olson)

New York (AFP) - Global retail giant Walmart, which has faced criticism over low salaries and skimpy benefits for years, announced Thursday it would raise wages for 500,000 workers in the US.

The largest private single employer in the United States said salaries for about 40 percent of its US staff would be lifted to at least $9 per hour in April, $1.75 above the federal minimum wage. By February 1, 2016, US staff will be paid at least $10 an hour.

The move follows mounting criticism by labor unions and other groups that the company's low wages have locked workers into poverty and pressured some of them to seek public assistance to make ends meet.

President Barack Obama has also made the issue of low pay and a growing income gap across the country a key focus of his economic policy.

In a video address to employees,

Wal-Mart Stores chief executive

Doug McMillon acknowledged

that "sometimes we don't get it

all right"  (AFP Photo/Alex Wong)

On Thursday, the White House amplified its call for the federal minimum wage, a base level for the whole country, to be raised to $10.10 per hour. The minimum was last raised in 2009.

"Good to see Walmart raising wages for about 500,000 employees. Now it's time for Congress to #RaiseTheWage," the White House tweeted.

In a video address to employees, Wal-Mart Stores chief executive Doug McMillon acknowledged that "sometimes we don't get it all right."

"As a team, we really wanted to demonstrate this year that we really care about you as associates and appreciate the work you do every day," said McMillon.

Last year a coalition of progressive and pro-labor groups, Americans for Tax Fairness, issued a report claiming that the government provides $6.2 billion a year in poverty-based assistance to Walmart workers because of their low wages.

The group also attacked the tax benefits earned by the family which controls Walmart, the Waltons, called the world's wealthiest family by Forbes with a $152 billion fortune.

States enacting wage hikes

The move came as a number of states have increased their minimum wages in recent years to address what economists say is a growing gap between what the average and wealthiest American households earn.

As of January, 29 states plus the District of Columbia have minimum wages above the federal standard, according to the National Conference of State Legislature.

Emily Wells, a member of OUR Walmart, an labor union-backed employee group that seeks higher wages, said she was "proud" their campaign had yielded a raise, but that more is needed.

"Especially without a guarantee of getting regular hours, this announcement still falls short of what American workers need to support our families," said Wells, who works in Florida.

"With $16 billion in profits and $150 billion in wealth for the owners, Walmart can afford to provide the good jobs that Americans need -– and that means $15 an hour, full-time, consistent hours and respect for our hard work."

But the National Retail Federation, a leading trade group, said Walmart's decision reflected the power of the marketplace as it took a swipe at policies such as government mandates to hike wages.

"Like many other retailers, Walmart made its decision based upon what is best for their employees, their customers, their shareholders and the communities in which they operate," it said..

"Government mandates that arbitrarily require businesses to implement politically driven policy are unnecessary and, in fact, create hurdles to job creation, curtail capital investment and pose as barriers to a sustained economic recovery."

McMillon told the network CNBC that Walmart would stay out of the political debate on the minimum wage.

Walmart said increased spending on wages and on a new program to promote employee education would weigh on future profits. The new program will shave 20 cents per share from earnings in fiscal 2016.

Walmart projected fiscal 2015 earnings of $4.70-$5.05 a share compared with the $5.19 expected by analysts.

Morgan Stanley said the company's outlook was disappointing, but that the wage announcement was positive "for how it should enhance morale, attract and retain labor, and lead to better customer engagement."

The wage hike could also prompt competitors to follow suit, which could give lower-income Americans more spending power, eventually feeding back into Walmart results, Morgan Stanley added.

In afternoon Thursday Walmart shares fell 2.9 percent to $83.77.

Alec has urged conservatives to launch populist campaigns against wage increases

 by adopting the mantra that higher pay hurts ordinary Americans. Photograph: 

Seth Perlman/AP

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