Doctors reap in billions as Cuba's top export

Google – AFP, Carlos Batista (AFP), 19 June 2013

Cuban doctor Abel Barrios (L) waits for patients in the village of San Mateo,

in Antigua, Guatemala on February 12, 2009 (AFP/File, Eitan Abramovich)

HAVANA — Cuba is out to boost its top export, an ever-more critical pillar of its economy. And it's not sugar: hired-out Cuban doctors earn the Communist government over six billion dollars a year.

Medical services exports "are now the leading source of hard-currency income for the nation, and have great potential to keep growing," Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca said at a recent event.

About 40,000 Cubans doctors are working on contracts in 66 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The next big-ticket client could be Brazil -- the booming South American giant is considering hiring 6,000 Cuban doctors to help cover its health care staff shortage.

It may be somewhat surprising that Cuba -- once known for its exports like sugar, cigars, citrus fruits and rum -- now has four main pillars of its state-controlled economy.

A Cuban doctor (R) checks a group of

 men at a senior home on April 19, 2012

in Havana (AFP/File)

Only one -- nickel -- is a traditional commodity, bringing in $1.1 billion a year as the country's fourth most important import. But in this nation of endless white beaches, nickel is still less than half as significant as tourism, which brings in $2.5 billion a year into government coffers.

Impressively, in a Caribbean country of just 11 million people, remittances -- money sent by relatives abroad -- also end up giving $2.5 billion to the Cuban government. Why? Because their family members here spend it mostly at stores owned by the government.

Each of those big-ticket, hard-currency spinners however pales in comparison to the whopping $6 billion Cuba earns each year in exporting professional services -- sports trainers, teachers and especially doctors -- on overseas contracts.

At home, doctors earn between $25 and $41 dollars each month, and they are not allowed to leave Cuba at will.

If they were to head to the nearby US state of Florida, where Cubans can work legally just after arrival, they could earn a physician's salary of $150,000 per year or more.

Private mechanics, waiters at restaurants catering to tourists, and even hairdressers can earn far more than do highly-trained doctors in Cuba, making overseas medical missions appealing to this country's doctors.

The Cuban government acts as a middleman in the transactions, hiring out their medical staff to foreign countries.

The amounts Havana charges for the services of their workers are not made public, but payment, in hard currency, is for significantly more than what the doctors are paid personally. 

The government keeps the difference between its contracting price and what it pays the Cuban worker monthly.

It's a big business that is getting bigger: Havana has said it wants to increase the number of countries paying to import Cuban doctors. In a nation proud of its public health tradition, it also is charity in some cases: Cuba gives doctors' services to 40 countries that cannot afford to pay for them for free.

President Raul Castro's government recently vowed that medical missions, which started under his brother Fidel Castro back in 1998, would be maintained and even expanded.

Patients are treated in an intensive care unit on December 22, 2010 at

a hospital in Havana (AFP/File)

"We are going to continue assistance in solidarity to countries that cannot pay for these medical services, as in the case of Haiti," said Health Minister Roberto Morales.

At the moment, 26 nations are paying the Cuban government to send them doctors, at a salary level determined by the Cuban government.

Morales said money earned from the medical contracting arrangement with Venezuela, for example, "helps pay for expenses we incur in other countries" and is also used "to improve workers' health care and working conditions."

The politically based economic arrangement with Venezuela harkens back to the Cold War, when Cuba exported its sugar to the East bloc for cut-rate Soviet oil.

Cuba hopes one day to be able to tap yet another source of revenue: the cash-strapped government believes there are vast crude oil assets off the island's north coast.

But as long as it is unable to access them, Cuba remains economically isolated and dependent on Venezuela, which provides the communist island with cut-rate oil and is the single largest importer of Cuba's medical export workers, taking in about 30,000 of them.

US study links pollution to autism risk

Google – AFP, 18 June 2013

The Pudong business district is shrouded by heavy air pollution in

Shanghai on January 16, 2013 (AFP/File, Mark Ralston)

WASHINGTON — Pregnant women who were exposed to high levels of air pollution were twice as likely to have a child with autism as women who lived in low pollution areas, a US study said.

According to experts at Harvard University, the research is the first large national study to examine links between the prevalence of pollution and the development of the developmental disorder.

The findings are published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

"Our findings raise concerns," said lead author Andrea Roberts, a research associate in the Harvard School of Public Health Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

"Depending on the pollutant, 20 percent to 60 percent of the women in our study lived in areas where risk of autism was elevated," she said.

The data came from a large survey of 116,430 nurses that began in 1989.

For the analysis, researchers isolated 325 women who had a child with autism and 22,000 women who had a child without the disorder.

To estimate exposure to pollutants while pregnant, they used air pollution data from the Environmental Protection Agency, and adjusted for factors like income, education, and smoking during pregnancy.

The analysis found that women who lived in locations with the highest levels of diesel particulates or mercury in the air were twice as likely to have a child with autism as those who lived in the areas with the lowest levels.

When the pollutants included lead, manganese, methylene chloride and combined metal exposure, women in areas with the highest levels of these pollutants were about 50 percent more likely to have a child with autism.

Autism is a brain disorder that affects as many as one in 88 in the United States, and about one in 100 in Britain.

Researchers said the findings suggest that metals and other pollutants should be regularly measured in the blood of pregnant women to give a better understanding of whether certain pollutants increase autism risk.

Related Articles:

Boy genius diagnosed with autism has IQ higher than Einstein


"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)

Men 'to blame for the menopause'

BBC News, Caroline Parkinson, Health editor, 14 June 2013

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• Fertility 'predicted by mother'
• Grandmothers link orcas to humans
• Grans 'live longer to be carers'

Younger women 'chosen over older ones'

Hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings - menopause and its side effects can all be blamed on men, experts suggest.

Evolutionary geneticists from Canada's McMaster University say men's tendency to choose younger mates meant fertility became pointless for older women.

In PLOS Computational Biology, they say this eventually led to the menopause.

But a UK expert said that was the "wrong way round" and men chose younger women because older women were less fertile.

'Preferential mating'

Researchers have long been puzzled as to why it appears that human are the only species where females cannot reproduce throughout their lives.

Previous theories had proposed a "grandmother effect". This suggests that women lose their fertility at an age where they might not live to see a child grow, and instead are available to care for younger women's children.

The menopause was therefore seen as the block to older women from continuing to reproduce.

But this latest theory suggests things work the other way around, and that it is the lack of reproduction that has given rise to menopause.

Using computer modelling, the team from McMaster's concluded "preferential mating" was the evolutionary answer - men of all ages choosing younger women as partners.

That meant there was "no purpose" in older women continuing to be fertile.

Prof Rama Singh, an evolutionary geneticist who led the study, said men choosing younger mates were "stacking the odds" against continued fertility.

He told the BBC: "There is evidence in human history; there was always a preference for younger women."

Prof Singh stressed they were looking at human development many thousands of years ago - rather than current social patterns,

'Evolved response'

In the UK, the average age for women to go through the menopause is now 52 even though the average woman goes on to live for another 30 years.

Prof Singh said this extended longevity - plus later childbirth - could potentially alter the timing of the menopause, over a significant period of time.

"The social system is changing. There are women who are starting families later, because of education or a career."

He suggested this trend would mean those women would have a later menopause, and those genes would be passed on to their daughters "with the possibility of menopausal age being delayed".

However Dr Maxwell Burton-Chellew, an evolutionary biologist in the department of zoology at the University of Oxford, challenged the theory.

"The authors argue that the menopause exists in humans because males have a strong preference for younger females.

"However, this is probably the wrong way round - the human male preference for younger females is likely to be because older females are less fertile.

"I think it makes more sense to see the human male preference for younger females largely as an evolved response to the menopause, and to assume that ancestral males would have been wise to mate with any females that could produce offspring."

He added: "Evolutionarily-speaking, older females faced an interesting 'choice': have a child that may not reach adulthood before your own death, or stop reproducing and instead focus on helping your younger relatives reproduce."

Patrons have drinks at the Harry's Bar, October 27, 2002, 

Berlin (AFP/File, Thomas Grabka)

Related Articles:

Study blames men for menopause - New

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Lee/Kryon: In my psychotherapy practice, I am specializing in menopause and other women's life transition issues. I am trying to frame menopause as a step within the spiritual evolutionary process, perhaps even part of the female response to ascension. Can you help me with an explanation of what the process of menses means for my clients? And how is it that females seem to undergo this "reverse puberty" process in a more dramatic way than men do?

Answer: Again we say to you that you must remove the biological from the spiritual. Look at what the body does. It is geared to stop the engine of procreation so that the female will not be harmed. That's why it occurs at all. It is an engine of appropriateness related to age. It's also an old paradigm, however, since we teach that you can extend your life-span, and that also means bearing children longer with safety, if that is part of your life plan.

For a male, the evolutionary process is one where, since he does not give birth, his biology is not one that goes through anything in the birth process. Therefore age is unimportant to his health when it comes to producing the seeds, which he can do almost until death.

So the body is protecting the females from undue stress, and even from premature death - going through childbirth when the chemistry is not up to it. This should be seen as a blessing, and one that is honored.

However, now we tell you something that is more along the lines of your question. In females, sometimes the process isn't stopped for biological reasons at all, but spiritual ones! In males, sometimes the hormones of desire and performance are also seemingly prematurely stopped. Ever wonder why this might happen?

The reason? Sometimes shamans need to have some of the common distractions of earth eliminated so that their concentration can be focused more clearly on spiritual matters. Don't read anything into this. It's different for every Human Being, so there is no generality here. But you should know that this is often part of the process of "relief from the distraction of things that are no longer needed," given for spiritual enlightenment. Not for all, but for many. This is often why you perceive elders to be wiser. They don't have that set of very complex and demanding chemicals surging through their body, either giving them pain with each cycle, or the pain of desire without fulfillment, which has its own attributes of psychological frustration and distraction.

For the females: Think of these things as all related. What is it you need? Do you give permission for it? Is it appropriate in your contract? Then when it comes, talk to your cellular structure and replace the chemistry that needs to be there for your energy, and say good-bye to that which is leaving. Give ceremony around it. You may do all of this naturally, talking to your cells. They will respond, and create what is missing.

This is the new Human Being, taking control of their bodies, and speaking directly to their cells. Creating tissue and chemistry naturally, since the cellular structure of your body is "listening" to what you need, and is far more capable than any scientist has ever told you.

And this is the truth.

Dutch scientists develop light, portable artificial kidney

DutchNews.nl, Friday 14 June 2013

Researchers from the Dutch kidney foundation have developed an artificial kidney the size of an iPad which will allow patients to undergo dialysis where ever they like, RTL news reports on Friday.

At the moment, kidney patients have to undergo dialysis in a hospital which takes hours at a time. The new artificial kidney will undergo human trials from 2015 and should be freely available from 2017, RTL news said.

The foundation hopes it will reduce deaths among kidney patients. ‘If you can choose where and when you undergo dialysis, you can have a better fit with the way your kidneys work,’ the foundation’s director Tom Oostrom told the broadcaster.

One in 250 Dutch people is a kidney patient and 6,500 undergo dialysis every day.

Dutch doctor Willem Kolff developed the world’s first artificial kidney during World War II, using parts of a German bomber and sausage casings.

Related Article:

Human DNA not patentable: US Supreme Court

Drug watchdog urges Johnson & Johnson to boost quality control

Want China Times, Xinhua 2013-06-14

Johnson & Johnson's company logo. (Photo/CFP)

Following repeated product recalls in China, the China Food and Drug Administration on Thursday called for pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson to strengthen quality management.

The administration's figures show that the company has issued 33 recall orders since 2009, with the most recent two recalls made on April 23 and May 3 over the quality of their drug products.

"Frequent recalls over quality concerns reflect possible flaws in the quality management system of Johnson & Johnson, and the company should carefully look into the sources of the issue...eliminate safety risks and ensure the quality of products for the market," said a statement released by the administration on Thursday.

The administration stressed that the company's China-based subsidiaries and their range of products for the Chinese market must strictly abide by the country's law and technological requirements, and any quality issues must be reported to supervision departments in a timely manner.

"The nature and causes of a quality issue as well as ensuing risk control measures to be taken should be disclosed to the public honestly," the statement said, vowing strengthened supervision over the company.

Meanwhile, the administration urged all China-based pharmaceutical enterprises to put product quality as a priority and take immediate action to recall products with quality defects while releasing relevant information to supervision departments as well as the public.

The administration vowed "harsh measures," including banning the manufacture and sale of products in China, for companies responsible for late or secret product recalls.

Human DNA not patentable: US Supreme Court

Google - AFP, 13 June 2013

A tour group of young children walk out of the US Supreme Court, on

June 10, 2013 in Washington, DC (Getty Images/AFP/File, Mark Wilson)

WASHINGTON — Naturally occurring human gene sequences cannot be patented but artificially copied and replicated DNA can be, the US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

"A naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated but DNA is patent eligible because it is not naturally occurring," the court ruled.

The nine justices reviewed a 2012 appeals court decision that allowed a biotechnology company, Myriad Genetics Inc, to patent two genes it found had links to breast and ovarian cancer.

A coalition of associations representing some 150,000 researchers, doctors and patients, asked the nation's top court to overturn the decision, as it stopped them from doing further work and research with the patented genes.

"Today, the court struck down a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation," said Sandra Park, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Nearly 20 percent of identified human genes are currently under patent, some of which are associated with Alzheimer's disease or other cancers.

These patents are sometimes owned by private companies but also by universities and research institutes concerned with keeping them in the public domain to prevent companies from seizing them.

Related Articles:

Angelina Jolie's cancer decision highlights row over genetic technology

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dearest Kryon: I've read the question and answer on people with diseases of the mind - for example, Alzheimers and dementia. But I have more questions. You say that people have chosen this path and that the lessons are for us. As I work with these people, I'm wondering if there is any stage where there could be a reversal of the condition, and if so, with what methods? The people in the hostel are so drugged up, and there's a mind-set with the authorities that no "alternate" therapies work - although they're using colored lights. (Sadly, the diversional therapist told me she doesn't know what color therapy is.)

From a spiritual point of view, what is the best way to work with these people - talk to them as though they were normal, or go along with their imaginings? I've been told that they need to be kept quiet, especially toward evening. However, I've found that with one woman who mostly paces saying very little, the more childlike I am (dancing and singing makes her happy), the more she talks. I could go on and on - could you please enlighten me further?

Answer: I will answer the second part first. Love those who are in this condition. Find out what makes them smile... and then make them smile. The best you can do in a facilitation of this condition is to somehow create joy. Even in their confusion they can laugh at situations and be creative. They'll also remember you better as the one who creates this emotion. Each is very different, but in general, try to find their "happy" button and push it as often as you can. They will remember that.

Right now you're perched upon some important discoveries that will be able to reverse these conditions to a large degree. But just as the paraplegic who regains their nerve connections must than relearn how to walk, suffering much pain, there will be this attribute with a regeneration of the mind. Even if new cells are created, they won't necessarily have the old memories, but they can be trained to be healthy and be ready for new memories.

So someday these will have the ability to halt the progress of the degeneration of cells that are being taken, and instead grow new pathways around them. Some will be able to "reconnect" to certain kinds of memories (like recognition) but will have to relearn what the association of recognition actually means. So history and events might have to be studied and relearned... sometimes even things like reading, also. The pain will be that the individual will regain mental health and will realize exactly what has happened.

Your stem-cell research is very important, and you're reaching a point where you'll be able to use birth cells that aren't embryonic, but every bit as potent for research... thereby sidestepping all moral issues. Look for this in the next few years. 

Drug Users Should Go to Rehab, Not Jail: BNN

Jakarta Globe, Bayu Marhaenjati, June 13, 2013

Indonesian officials with the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) test
 methamphetamine during a press conference in Jakarta on Feb. 7, 2013.
(AFP Photo/ Adek Berry).

In a stark contrast to current judicial trends in Indonesia, the chief of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has advocated for rehabilitation-based treatment for drug users rather than incarceration.

“Abusing drugs is illegal and clearly prohibited, but the proper punishment a judge should hand down [to drug abusers] is not prison, but rehabilitation,” Anang Iskandar, the head of the agency, said on Thursday.

Anang said there were still judges who preferred to punish drug abusers by ordering them to undergo jail time, even though the Supreme Court issued a regulation stipulating that a drug abuser should be rehabilitated.

“A judge may order a drug abuser to check into a rehab as long as they are not a trafficker, but unfortunately, there are still some judges who do not want to do that. It’s a shame, because it could help reduce the number of drug abusers,” he said.

Anang said that the BNN has been trying improve the competence of its staff in order to help more drug users.

“We want our staff to understand that their job is to bring the drug addicts in voluntarily and not by force,” he said.

According to a 2011 survey by the BNN, there are between 3.8 and 4.2 million illicit drug users in Indonesia.

Deputy Justice Minister Denny Indrayana previously said that sending drug addicts to prison hinders their chance of recovering and also crowds prisons and detention centers.

According to the deputy minister, drug offenders make up more than 40 percent of the 150,000 people detained in Indonesian jails.

Measles outbreak hits Dutch Bible belt, 30 cases so far confirmed

DutchNews.nl, Wednesday 12 June 2013

Dutch Bible Belt

At least 30 people from the Dutch Bible belt have so far been diagnosed with measles in the first outbreak of the sometimes fatal disease in 13 years.

The infections are largely based around strict Protestant schools in a broad sweep across the country from the Veluwe area to Zeeland province, the public health institute RIVM said in a statement.

Fundamentalist Protestants in the Netherlands do not believe in having their children vaccinated. The measles vaccine is given to most children in the BMR combination injection at the age of 14 months and again at nine years.

Spread

The total number of cases may be far higher than 30 because not everyone will have visited their doctor, the RIVM said. Measles is spread by coughing and sneezing.

The RIVM said it is monitoring developments closely and expects the spread of the disease to widen among unvaccinated children. Parents can visit their doctor for a catch-up injection, the RIVM said.

The last measles outbreak in the Netherlands was between 1999 and 2000 when there were some 3,300 infections and three children died.

Related Articles:

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon, I have a new grandson. He's going for his first vaccination in the next few weeks. If we're beginning to transmute toxins with reconnections to our endocrine system through our DNA, then what happens to our babies, who by law have to be vaccinated? What are your thoughts on this subject?

Answer: First, know that vaccinations are a God-given science that humanity earned. They're a tried and proven homeopathic method that have been with you for years. You were probably vaccinated yourself, and it worked.

We have three answers: (1) God is not in a vacuum. Even the vaccinated Human Being who's older can modify and rework their DNA. So there's no time limit, and there are no rules that say "Once vaccinated, you're ruined." (2) The Human who is of the age of awareness can say, even as they are vaccinated, "Let nothing inappropriate enter my chemistry." This is a conscious instruction given to your "intelligent cellular structure" (the same one responsible for kinesiology and homeopathic results). This will result in your cells only using what they need and casting away everything else. (3) Finally, about babies: There has been a push by your science lately to vaccinate against many things at the same time. You'd be advised to seek out a doctor who will only vaccinate your child for only the basic diseases that have been known in the last 40 years. Eliminate the vaccinations for the new ones. This leaves you with approximately seven or eight - the very ones that have been used for years. What your science is not appreciating yet is the results of combining all the vaccination substances together. There's a problem that will show itself in time. Stick with the basic ones.

"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience? 

"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)

Pollution crackdown to hit Chinese pharmaceuticals

Want China Times, Liang Shih-huang and Staff Reporter 2013-06-11

Vitamin pills. (Photo/CFP)

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection recently joined forces with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Justice as well as four other central government agencies in launching a nationwide crackdown on pollution which will reportedly affect the country's nearly 7,000 pharmaceutical firms in the next half of this year.

China has emerged as the world's largest producer of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals, with one fifth of the global capacity but the industry has led to a series of environmental issues including the contamination of waterways with industrial waste water and producing massive amounts of industrial waste gas.

According to Ministry of Environmental Protection figures, the domestic pharmaceutical industry accounted for 6% of the total pollutant discharge in 2009, though its output only amounted to less than 3% of the country's GDP.

With the new regulations to come into force, pharmaceutical firms estimate that they will see their costs rise by at least 20% in the next half of this year due to increased outlays to control their pollution. An executive of a pharmaceutical firm said that a medium- to large-scale firm typically emits 5,000-6,000 tonnes of waste water a day, which would then go on to be treated at an expense of 15-20 yuan per tonne (US$2.45-US$3.30), amounting to 35 million yuan (US$5.7 million) a year. He added that the costs to meet the second grade national standard can reach 60 million yuan (US$9.8 million) a year.

Guo Fanli, a research fellow at China Investment Consulting, said that most of the country's pharmaceutical firms have yet to sincerely change their ways and reduce the environmental pollution from the pharmaceutical industry. It is estimated that 80% of the 7,000 domestic pharmaceutical firms are small or medium enterprises and they cannot afford to install the necessary but expensive equipment to curb pollution, Guo said.

US to allow morning-after pill for girls of any age

Google – AFP, 11 June 2013

A package of the Plan B contraceptive

displayed at a Californian pharmacy on

April 5, 2013 (Getty Images/AFP/File,

Justin Sullivan)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will comply with a judge's order to allow women and girls of any age to purchase emergency contraception, ending its efforts to restrict the drug's availability.

The reversal on the politically sensitive issue means that anyone, including young girls, will soon be able to purchase the popular Plan B One-Step morning-after pill over the counter, without a prescription.

President Barack Obama's administration had fought against US District Court Judge Edward Korman's order seeking to make the drug more widely available after a more than decade-long court fight, warning of health and social dangers.

In a letter to US District Judge Edward Korman, US attorneys said the Food and Drug Administration was dropping its appeal.

"To comply with the order, FDA has asked the manufacturer of Plan B One-Step (PBOS) to submit a supplemental application seeking approval of the one-pill product to be made available OTC without any such restrictions," the agency said in a statement.

"Once FDA receives that supplemental application, the FDA intends to approve it promptly."

Levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception contains the same active ingredients as birth control pills but at higher doses, and may prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours after unprotected intercourse.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, which brought the latest lawsuit, hailed the FDA's "significant step forward" but criticized the administration for "unjustifiably" preventing generic, more affordable brands of emergency contraception to be made widely available.

"We are pleased that women should soon be able to buy Plan B One-Step without the arbitrary restrictions that kept it locked behind the pharmacy counter when they needed it most urgently," the center's president and CEO Nancy Northrup said in a statement.

"But we will continue to fight for fair treatment for women who want and need more affordable options."

In April, the FDA approved Plan B One-Step for girls aged 15 and up -- reducing the age restriction by two years.

But the move only applied to one brand of emergency contraception, and required that it be security-tagged to avoid theft and only sold over the counter in stores that have a pharmacy.

It followed an order by Korman for the government to make levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception available without prescription or point of sale restriction.

Korman had slammed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's decision overruling the FDA to require teens under 17 to obtain a prescription as "politically motivated" and "scientifically unjustified."