Cremation by water is environmentally safe, new research shows

DutchNews, June 29, 2018

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Resomation, or water cremation, an alternative to traditional burials or cremation by fire, is a safe alternative and there are no environmental reasons to reject it, according to research by the TNO scientific institute. 

The research was commissioned by Dutch funeral group Yarden, which wants the government to change the law to make resomation legal. 

Resomation is based on alkaline hydrolysis: the body is placed in a pressurised vessel that is then filled with a mixture of water and lye, and heated to around 160 degrees. The elevated pressure prevents the body boiling. Instead, the body is broken down into its chemical components, which takes upwards of three hours.

The process was patented in the US in 1888 and is legal in some US states and other countries but not in the Netherlands. 

The new TNO research states that the process can meet environmental demands, Yarden said on its website, adding that earlier TNO research showed resomation is less taxing on the environment than other forms of burial or cremation. 

A survey by Yarden showed that 23% of people would consider resomation as an alternative to traditional cremations. 

‘In some cultures and religions, cremation is not an option,’ said Yarden’s director of funeral arangments Sabrina Franken. ‘We see resomation as a mature, respectful and durable alternative. Water becomes the most important element, rather than fire or earth.’ 

10 things about death in the Netherlands 

Death and the Dutch, a museum devoted to funerals.

Neurodiversity – the key that unlocked my world | Elisabeth Wiklander | TEDxGöteborg

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"THE NEXT 18 YEARS"–  Dec 2, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll)

(Subjects: You are looking  at a Quantum event, clearing a filter - Portal pineal , Higher self to step forward and communicate to You, Still remains in 3D but exposure to multi dimensions, Evolution of humanity, Intent, Mayan Calendar, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, 26.000 Years, Milky Way, Nostradamus, 1987, Beginning to a New Time, Channellers/Teachers, Center of Galaxy – Black hole, Bridge of Swords, Pleiadians, Children, Inventions – The discoveries (e.g. : Airplanes - Medicines – Radio .. ): These new Discoveries were given all over the planet when Human consciousness was ready for it. New Inventions are coming, the timing depends on how the middle East problems are solved, Biology reaction of quantum energy; new radio of the future, seeing quantum energy, when it is revealed all science books will have to be rewritten, This will be an AHA moment – be possible to communicate with the rest of Galaxy, NASA, Church/Religion will be effected the most by these discoveries, The quantum discovery will see the grid, life, gardens and will redefine life, DNA (3 billion pieces) evolving piece DNA are chancing, Gaia/Humanity are linked, new instruments will start to reveal the DNA variance, Evolution revealed: Autistic children have born with the removal of their 3D structure in the brain, Gaia/Spirit are testing these quantum beings  (Evolved DNA), Universe central clock = Rifs,  Globally there will be only 5 currencies, Wars on earth will be declared barbaric, Middle East, Global Unity, .. etc.)

Human Evolution –  27 Sep 2008 (a message from Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

“.. What do you think the Human brain can really do? What do you think it's built to do? Let me give you an example of what your society has come to accept as an "unbalanced person." Some of you think it's a "sick person." Let me talk about the autistic one. Let us talk about autism in what you call the most severe case.

Blessed is the autistic one who has come to this earth to show you what future Human evolvement looks like! They spend a lifetime trying to figure out linearity and it frustrates them. Blessed is the savant who the earth looks at and calls unbalanced. For the Humans who do this cannot see what they don't understand. The autistic one is able to get up off the paper and be in color! Many of the autistic ones can do what your calculators can do on your desks, did you know that? And they don't need a calculator! Give them a problem - two digits multiplied by three digits. Now watch how fast they give you the answer. Because they're not linear! Ask them what weekday the 13th of August will be in 2012, and they'll tell you, and they don't need a calendar. You might say, "What kind of a mind can do that?" I'll tell you - a nonlinear one without the walls in the brain that you have.

Have you ever thought about that? The autistic have a nonlinear mind. The barriers are dropped. Can you imagine the frustration of this Human? Here he is in a world of black and white while he is in color. Not only that, you want him to go in a straight line when he is used to all directions at once. This also explains why the only energies that will work to calm him are interdimensional ones - music, art, and love. Does this start to make sense to you? (see below)

What is taking place, dear ones, for all to know and see and understand, is that very, very slowly you have the linearity of the Human brain starting to be reduced. Unlike the autistic, it will be in ways that will still be balanced and make sense. In other words, you will be able to move in and out of quantum thought any time you wish in order to live in a linear, 3D existence, but have quantum consciousness. It will be a return to a form of consciousness that Lemurians had, but with the wisdom of the ages that you have collected. This will not be fast, but the forerunners of that are already here.

I'm going to give you some attributes of Human evolution in a moment, but let's return to the autistic ones. Many reading this are very concerned about autism. You wish to know why there are so many autistics being born. You say it's beyond coincidence that there are suddenly so many! There's more autistic children being born today than there ever have been on this planet. Humans are scurrying around wanting to know what's wrong. Is it the chemistry of the food? Perhaps it must be vaccinations! Some are saying, without any proof, "Yes, that's it - vaccinations must be it." You are grasping at almost anything to solve the puzzle of why so many autistics are arriving.

Yet very few Humans, if any, have looked at the puzzle and said, "Perhaps we're evolving, and this is the first wave of what we're going to see?" Not mentally unbalanced, but nonlinear thinking! This is, indeed, the case. You are seeing a form of evolution and you are calling it odd and unusual. It's simply those who are coming in early with activated quantum DNA. This early forerunner has DNA activated in an uncontrolled way, and so learning is needed to know how to make sense of it all. This is what they are doing, and each generation of savant will have a better time of it, figuring out what is linear and what is not.

Watch the autistic child go through what they must do (autism in its most severe form). They are so nonlinear that there is incredible frustration in trying to linearize even the Human voice as you speak to them. They will do the same actions over and over and over, trying to linearize the nonlinear. The linear walls are gone in their brain, and they have to learn to build the ones that they need. Humans then see them as a problem, and it's not a problem. It's a form of gifted children who are helping this planet to grow. Blessed are those who come into Earth as the new wave of consciousness to show you where it's going. They are setting the stage for a new kind of Human. For this quantumness will develop in a balanced way where many will have the autistic talents where they want them, and the linear when they want that. That's what the Human mind is capable of - being quantum when they wish to be. That's a return to the way it was given to you.  ‘’

You are Multidimensional - Celebrate Your Life! -  6 April 2008 (a message from Goddess of Creation channeled by Shelly Dressel)

Question: Why are so many new humans developing autism at this time?  Is there a purpose? Is there something we can do to assist them?  And then in addition to that, is there a correlation between autism and Alzheimer's?

Goddess: Autism is very much on people's mind at this time upon the earth.  It is a term that has been given to many children.  It is a definition that people give to a child as a means of trying to understand their behavior or how they think or how they are within their life.  Autism as you know it right now is but a fraction of what it truly is going to indicate in the future.  Many of the individuals that are being termed autistic are not necessarily autistic.  Autism in and of itself is a disconnection within.  Or you could say it's that these people have a different way of being able to communicate from others around them.  So when we say disconnect, it's not that they have fully disconnected with the other individuals; it's just that they are vibrating and living and experiencing life on a different level or a different plane.

Many have said that those who are autistic have their feet in two different dimensions or in multiple dimensions; yes, that is true.  Many have said that those children who are autistic have a short in their wiring as if there are aspects that are not working in this individual and this I would like to disagree with.  What's happening is, you are getting children especially who are of very high vibrations that are incorporating more of the crystalline vibration and less of the dense energies that have been upon the earth for the last several thousand years.

Therefore the electrical impulses that move through a crystal as opposed to the electrical impulses that move through a regular individual we shall just say or someone with regular wiring, there's going to be much less resistance, therefore their whole metabolism, everything about them is functioning on a completely different basis.

This journey tonight was to assist each one of you in recognizing just how much you are moving between dimensions.  These children that come in with these special gifts are used to moving (between dimensions) and they do it unconsciously.  To them, their sense of awareness, their sense of reality is very different from your own.  They may live in other realities while their physical body is here upon the earth.  Provide them with the structure that they may need to be able to function in society but also recognize that these are highly evolved individuals and respect that about them.

There may be crystals, there may be colors, there may be vibrations, things that emanate a vibration that assist the children in feeling more comfortable in their skin, in their reality.  If you are one of the individuals that would like to work with them or you find yourself perhaps having a child with these symptoms, go and open your senses and communicate from that of an expanded consciousness from the fifth, sixth or even seventh dimension.  Communicate from your heart, communicate without words, communicate through feelings and energies and you will find there's a great deal of information they are sharing with you.  These children are extremely sensitive so be aware of that and what is in their environment.

When it comes to Alzheimer's, there are some parallel pathways that one could point out.  Alzheimer's is a means of an individual beginning to cross over, beginning that journey back to this side of the veil but they have not yet fully chosen to return so they move at their own pace, experiencing whatever it is that they seek to experience.  And that is one reason why Alzheimer's seems to affect people for years at a time.  So while there are some similarities, that's as far as that goes.  Alzheimer's is a time to love and nurture an individual and again accept that this is their choice and this is their path.

Towards the end they are spending more and more of their reality in this other dimension.  For some it's a means of allowing them to feel comfortable with where they are going before they transition.  What you can do with them is also communicate from the heart, communicate without words. Assist them in being comfortable in other vibrations and assist them in being comfortable with the light and they will transition when the time is right for them.

I knew that this was something that was affecting many, many people and that is why I chose to give it a little bit more time and connection, and I thank you all for your patience. 

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

Abortion rights around the world

Yahoo – AFP, Janet MCEVOY, June 14, 2018

Activists calling for the approval of a bill that would legalize abortion demonstrate
in front of the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires (AFP Photo/Eitan ABRAMOVICH)

Paris (AFP) - Abortion, which Argentine lawmakers on Thursday voted to legalise, is banned in some 20 countries worldwide, while others have highly restrictive laws in place.

Here is a snapshot of the global situation:

Total ban

Predominantly Catholic Malta is the only European Union country to totally ban abortion, imposing jail terms of between 18 months and three years if the law is broken.

Abortion is also banned in Andorra, the Vatican and San Marino, which are in Europe but not the EU.

Globally there are total bans in Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Laos, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Philippines, Palau, Senegal and Suriname.

In El Salvador the internationally criticised criminalisation of those found to have terminated pregnancies has led to women being sentenced to jail terms of up to 30 years.

Restricted

Many countries allow abortions in cases where the mother's life is deemed to be in danger.

A partial list includes: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Myanmar, Paraguay, South Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Venezuela, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen.

In Argentina abortion is currently illegal except in cases of rape or when the life or health of the woman is at risk.

Legislation that will decriminalize it during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and beyond that in cases where the foetus suffers from conditions not compatible with life outside the womb, will now go before the Senate.

In Brazil the law only allows terminations in cases of rape, risk to the life of the mother or if the foetus is missing part or all of the brain.

Last September Chile lifted a strict ban, which had been in force for decades, when then president Michelle Bachelet signed into law legislation to decriminalise abortion in certain cases, including on health issues.

On May 22 a decades-old abortion ban went to South Korea's supreme court.

Pressure for change

Women from Europe and North America benefit from the most liberal legislation, with some notable exceptions.

Unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, abortion is also illegal in the province of Northern Ireland except when the mother's life is in danger.

On June 7 Britain's Supreme Court said it would have declared Northern Ireland's abortion laws incompatible with human rights legislation if not for a procedural technicality in what pro-choice campaigners hailed as a victory.

In late May, more than 66 percent of voters in traditionally Catholic Ireland voted by a landslide to ditch its strict abortion laws, where abortion is only allowed if a mother's life in at risk, in a referendum. New legislation is now being drawn up.

In EU member Poland, which has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the bloc, a new bill submitted my ultra-conservatives would restrict abortion even further. The bill unleashed mass demonstrations across the country.

In the United States abortion was legalised nationwide in 1973, but this has been under pressure since Donald Trump became president, with some Republicans seeking restrictions.

The US state of Iowa in early May signed into law a ban on abortions once a foetal heartbeat is detected, which occurs as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The Midwestern state now has the strictest legislation on abortion in the US.

(Sources: Guttmacher Institute, World Health Organization, Center for Reproductive Rights, AFP)

Tar, nicotine in cigarettes far exceed official test results: Dutch health body

DutchNews, Robin Pascoe, June 13, 2018, 

Cigarettes contain up to 26 times more tar and nicotine than indicated on their packaging, according to new research by the Dutch public health council RIVM. 

It tested 100 different brands of cigarettes available on the Dutch market for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide content using the Canadian Intense method. This, the RIVM says, gives a more accurate picture of what smokers are actually inhaling than the current ISO European system.   

The worst offender was Marlboro Prime, with 26 times the tar and 17 times the nicotine on the label. Kent HD White was next on the list, followed by 
Peter Stuyvesant Silver. ‘With the exception of one cigarette, all measured TNCO levels exceed the legal limits,’ the RIVM said. 

Cigarette smoke is tested in laboratories for tar and nicotine, but the results are distorted by the use of tiny holes in the filters. These are closed up by the mouth and fingers when people smoke, but left open during the testing process. 

The Canadian method involves taping up these holes, giving a more accurate picture of what smokers ingest. The new research confirms that the holes in the filters distort the results, the RIVM said. 

Confirmation 

‘The results of this research support the conclusion that the prescribed ISO method underestimates the amounts of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide that a smoker ingests,’ the RIVM said. 

‘The committee that drew up this method is largely influenced by the tobacco industry. RIVM therefore recommends that an independent measurement method… be included in the law, instead of the ISO method.’ 

Minister 

‘We assumed the results would be bad, but to be honest I am really shocked by these results,’ health minister Paul Blokhuis said following the publication of the report. His predecessor had commissioned the results following the controversy over testing methods. 

‘It is extremely worrying that smokers are taking in much more poison than they had been told – between twice and 26 times as much,’ the minister said. 

Blokhuis is campaigning for the EU to adopt a different way of measuring the contents of cigarettes and says the current method was devised by a commission heavily influenced by the tobacco lobby. 

Court case 

Earlier this year, the Dutch public prosecution department said it would not proceed with a criminal case against the big tobacco companies based in the Netherlands in which the firms are accused of deliberately damaging public health and forgery – because of the way tar and nicotine are measured. 

The case was launched in 2016 by lung cancer patient Anne Marie van Veen and lawyer Bénédicte Ficq. 

They say tobacco firms have lied to smokers about the damaging side effects of their addiction, particularly by using cigarettes that give false readings in test results through the use of the tiny ventilation holes in filters. 

Ficq is appealing against the decision not to prosecute.

US farm belt tries to head off another surge in suicides

Yahoo – AFP, Juliette MICHEL,  10 June 2018

Ranch hands drive cattle to a new pasture against the backdrop of hills covered
in wildflowers in April 2017 in Taft, California; the farming industry is bolstering
outreach efforts amid a surge in suicides across the US

Responding to signs of rising despair in rural America over a farming downturn exacerbated by the current trade war fears, agricultural leaders are mobilizing to try to prevent another suicide crisis.

Two high profile deaths in the past week, of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and fashion designer Kate Spade, have shined a spotlight on the issue of depression and suicide in the United States, where the latest data show rates are rising, especially in rural states.

Farm industry officials are bolstering outreach and counseling programs throughout the American farm belt and calling for more action from Washington.

"Things are tough in the countryside," said John Sorbello, a vegetable and nursery farmer in upstate New York and a director of the state's farm bureau, an affiliate of the nation's biggest farm group.

Dairy farmers are facing especially tough times, he said.

"There's nothing to do over the pricing of milk, they are worried about NAFTA, about the surplus in dairy products all over the world," Sorbello said.

"It seems you have no control over it and it's stressful."

Earlier this year, one of the large dairy cooperatives took the drastic step of including suicide prevention information with the monthly check.

"Some people thought it was too extreme," Sorbello said. "But it got everybody's attention."

The outreach push comes amid a big surge in suicides throughout the United States. The suicide rate rose nearly 30 percent between 1999 and 2016 -- and in many states by more than that -- according to a report this week from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report did not break out individual industries, but 2016 CDC data showed US farmers have five times the rate of suicide as the broader population.

The US farm belt also has bad memories of the 1980s when a bruising industry downturn saw an explosion of agricultural workers taking their own lives.

Crisis

"Farmers and ranchers already have the highest suicide rates of any occupation," said Matt Perdue, of the National Farmers Union.

Those who work in rural areas point to myriad factors, including commodity price volatility, more extreme weather and worsening isolation as more young people leave for the cities.

And making matters worse, "About 60% of rural residents live in areas that suffer from a mental health professional shortage," Perdue said.

The CDC study also pointed to research that suggests chronic exposure to pesticides "might affect the neurologic system and contribute to depressive symptoms."

Financial stress is one factor that can lead to suicide and farm incomes have fallen around 50 percent since 2013 and revenues are expected in 2018 to come in at the lowest level since 2006.

The National Farmers Union, at the urging of members who see growing numbers of growers fearful of losing the family farm, urged the US Department of Agriculture to "proactively address the farm suicide crisis."

Lawmakers voted in 2008 to bolster mental health services in agricultural communities as part of an omnibus farm bill, but no funds have been allocated to the effort.

There is a chance Congress could provide support in a bill now being considered, but "it's too early to make a prediction one way or the other," Perdue said.

The troubles facing farmers extend well beyond the United States.

France in early 2018 boosted its funding for anti-suicide programs following a rise in the number of calls for help.

And India has also suffered a wave of farm suicides after many in the sector became mired in debt.

'Not an occupation'

NY FarmNet at Cornell University, which was founded in 1986 amid a rash of suicides, provides free aide to farmers in need.

"We send one financial consultant and one farm family consultant to each case, as we have found that even if the case presents itself as purely a financial matter, there are almost always underlying personal or communication issues that need attention," said Hal McCabe, outreach director at NY FarmNet.

Hearing of rising concern in rural communities, the group has conducted suicide prevention workshops aimed mainly at agricultural services workers, such as bankers, suppliers or farm maintenance staff.

"While we cannot speak to suicides, as that data is very hard to ever come by, the types of calls we are getting are far more dire than in the past five-10 years," McCabe said.

Basic health policy to include more options to promote a healthy lifestyle

DutchNews, June 1, 2018

Junk food has gone up less in price than fruit and veg. Photo: Depositphotos.com

The basic health insurance policy is to be expanded to cover expert advice to help people develop a healthy lifestyle, health minister Bruno Bruins said on Friday.

‘The idea is that we can help someone who has diabetes, not by giving them insulin but by encouraging them to live more healthily,’ the minister said. 

Practitioners who specialise in ‘combined lifestyle interventions’ or GLI – as the health ministry puts it – will be able to bill health insurers for their work from next January. GLI involves combating obesity by encouraging patients to eat less and take more exercise along with psychological help. 

Some options will also be removed from the basic package, such as strong paracetamol pills of 1,000 milligrams, which are only available on prescription. Over the counter vitamin and mineral preparations will also no longer be paid for. 

The government is responsible for deciding what the basic health insurance package should include and insurance companies are supposed to compete on price. They are also free to decide what to include in supplementary policies.

US doctors prescribing fewer opioid painkillers: report

Yahoo – AFP, May 31, 2018

US doctors issued nearly 200 million prescriptions for OxyContin, pictured, and other
 opioid painkiller last year, the American Medical Association said (AFP Photo/Handout)

Chicago (AFP) - US doctors reduced the number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers last year, continuing a five-year trend, in an effort to reverse a deadly drug abuse epidemic, a report released Thursday said.

The American Medical Association (AMA) found prescriptions for drugs including OxyContin and Vicodin declined nine percent in 2017, or about 19 million fewer prescriptions compared to a year earlier.

Opioid prescriptions are down by 55 million since 2013, a 22 percent reduction nationwide and a sign that "physicians and other health care professionals are increasingly judicious when prescribing opioids," Patrice Harris, chairwoman of the AMA's Opioid Task Force, said in a written statement.

There were still nearly 200 million opioid painkiller prescriptions in the US last year, the AMA report said.

In October, President Donald Trump described the opioid crisis as a national public health emergency.

Overdoses from prescription painkillers and heroin -- a last-resort drug for opioid addicts -- exploded over the last 20 years and kill 115 Americans a day, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a federal agency.

Deaths continue to mount, and significant spikes in opioid fatalities were seen in many states between 2015 and 2016, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Opioids were a factor in more than 42,000 deaths in 2016, and opioid overdose deaths were five times higher in 2016 than 1999, said the CDC.

The Chicago-based AMA, which represents the nation's doctors, also found a 42 percent jump in the number of physicians certified to treat opioid addiction with the drug buprenorphine. There are now more than 50,000 US doctors with the capability.

"What is needed now is a concerted effort to greatly expand access to high quality care for pain and for substance use disorders. Unless and until we do that, this epidemic will not end," Harris said.

US doctors have faced pressure as the overprescribing of opioid drugs mushroomed into a drug abuse epidemic. After patients are hooked on the painkillers, they often turn to the illicit drug market for more pills, the synthetic opioid fentanyl, or the street drug heroin.

Pop icon Prince and rocker Tom Petty are among the most high profile victims of the epidemic.

States and municipalities throughout the US have sued drug makers and distributors, among them Purdue Pharma, which in February announced it was discouraging its salespeople from touting OxyContin.