27 Dutch women may have died from Diane-35 contraceptive pill

DutchNews.nl, Thursday 24 October 2013

Up to 27 Dutch women may have died from the side effects of contraceptive pill Diane-35, which is far more than thought earlier, according to television current affairs show Zembla.

The programme, to be screened on Thursday night, claims most of the women died of a pulmonary lung embolism. Most were also under the age of 30.

Diane-35 has been available in the Netherlands since 1987. Some 160,000 women are thought to use Diane-35, which is mainly prescribed to treat acne and excessive facial hair but is also used widely as a contraceptive.

Side-effects

When problems first surfaced with the drug in France earlier this year, hundreds of reports of problems in the Netherlands were made to the Lareb laboratory, which specialises in studying the side-effects of drugs.

Earlier this year, Lareb said there is evidence 18 women died because of the drug. The total, according to Zembla, has now gone up as more reports have been investigated.

Many of the complaints date back several years, a fact which the organisation says is worrying. Healthcare officials are supposed to report serious side-effects as they happen.

Tuberculosis killed 1.3 million last year: WHO

Google – AFP, 23 October 2013

A tuberculosis (TB) patient (2nd right) receives medication at a clinic in Alexandra
township, north of Johannesburg on October 13, 2010 (AFP/File,Stephane de Sakutin)

Geneva — Tuberculosis claimed 1.3 million lives last year with drug-resistant forms of the infectious disease -- the deadliest after AIDS -- a huge global concern, the WHO warned Wedesday.

Worldwide efforts to rein in the killer airborne disease helped drive the toll down 100,000 from the previous year, the World Health Organization said in its annual report on the fight against TB.

But the toll remains the world's second-highest for an infectious disease, after HIV/AIDS.

An estimated 8.6 million people caught tuberculosis in 2012, with India alone accounting for 26 percent of cases, and China, 12 percent.

According to the WHO, close to one-third of TB cases were in Southeast Asia, just over a quarter in Africa and around one-fifth on the Western Pacific region.

Looking at the longer-term picture, the number of infections fell by nearly half from 1990 to 2012.

But experts reckon only two-thirds of last year's 8.6 million new cases were actually diagnosed, leaving an estimated three million people unaware they had the disease.

Those most at risk are typically among the worst-off groups of the population, the report said.

"To find the three million TB cases means we need to reach beyond the current health services, we need to look at where these cases are," WHO expert Karin Meyer told reporters.

"These are often vulnerable populations, displaced populations, migrant population, quite difficult to reach," she added.

Global health experts also warned of the growing threat posed by a strain of TB that resists drugs used to fight the classic form.

Multidrug-resistant TB, or MDR-TB, which emerged due to erratic treatment of the regular strain or excessive use of anti-TB medication, claimed 170,000 lives last year, the WHO said.

Some 94,000 people were diagnosed with MDR-TB last year, twice the figure in 2011.

But the true number of cases is thought to be around five times higher, the WHO added.

'A real public health crisis'

The highest density of MDR-TB cases is found in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Those are places where TB programmes have long been in place, but where failings in health services have allowed drug-resistance to build up, officials said.

In contrast, Africa has seen lower levels of MDR-TB, in part because of weaker access to standard TB treatment in the past.

Other countries hit hard by MDR-TB include China and India.

"The unmet demand for a full-scale and quality response to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is a real public health crisis," said Mario Raviglione, head of the WHO's TB programme.

The standard drugs used to treat TB are isoniazid and rifampicin. Vaccines are in development, but are not expected to hit the market before 2025, the WHO said.

MDR-TB is able to ward off both isoniazid and rifampicin.

It can be treated with bedaquilin, which came onto the market at the end of last year and is the first new TB drug in four decades.

But bedaquilin is costly, the WHO stressed, with a $30,000 (22,000-euro) price tag for a six-month course of treatment in developed countries, and some $1,000 in the developing world.

Since the WHO launched a major anti-TB drive in 1995, a total of 56 million people have been treated and 22 million lives saved, the agency said.

"Quality TB care for millions worldwide has driven down TB deaths," said Raviglione.

"But far too many people are still missing out on such care and are suffering as a result. They are not diagnosed, or not treated, or information on the quality of care they receive is unknown," he added.

The agency also warned funding for its anti-TB campaign was falling short of its target.

A conventional two-year course of TB treatment costs between $4,000 and $10,000 in developing countries.

The WHO said it needed to bridge a $2 billion annual gap in order to meet its overall requirement of up to $8 billion a year to fight the disease in low and middle-income countries.

Majority in US favor marijuana legalization, new poll affirms

Google – AFP, 23 October 2013

A bud of Maui Afghooey medical marijuana is displayed at the PureLife Alternative

Wellness Center on July 27, 2012 in Los Angeles, California (AFP/File, Frederic J. Brown)

Washington — For the second time this year, a public opinion poll has indicated that a majority of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana.

Fifty-eight percent replied yes when asked if they thought the use of marijuana should be made legal -- compared to 50 percent two years ago and just 12 percent in 1969, the Gallup polling institute said Tuesday.

Thirty-nine percent said no, and three percent held no opinion.

Support for legalization was predictably stronger among Americans aged 18 through 49, and among Democrats and those who described themselves as independents on the political spectrum, Gallup said.

Its findings mirrored a Pew Research Center poll, released in April, in which 52 percent of Americans said the use of marijuana should be made legal, a rise of 11 percentage points since 2010.

Gallup's findings follow the legalization of marijuana in the western states of Colorado and Washington -- even though possession remains a crime under federal statutes which rank marijuana on a par with heroin.

Other factors behind the trend, Gallup said, include the growing medicinal use of marijuana and a pledge from President Barack Obama's administration not to challenge the sale of marijuana in states that have made it legal.

"Whatever the reasons for Americans' greater acceptance of marijuana, it is likely that this momentum will spur further legalization efforts across the United States," Gallup said.

Supporters of legalization cheered the results, which Gallup said were based on a random sample of 1,028 adults interviewed by telephone on October 3-6, giving a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

"The news of such widespread support for ending marijuana prohibition bodes well for efforts under way to change state laws around the nation," said Rob Kampia of the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group.

"Now, it's time for Congress (in Washington) to act on this clear public mandate by taking action to end the failed experiment of federal marijuana prohibition," added Aaron Smith of the National Cannabis Industry Association.

But Carla Lowe of the California-based Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana, quoted by NBC News, said she was concerned that poll respondents who favor legalization "are really not aware or knowledgeable about the marijuana that?s out there today."

Related Article:

Uruguay to start selling marijuana next year

Man guilty of helping mother to die acted out of love, says court

DutchNews.nl, Tuesday 22 October 2013

Albert Heringa and his lawyer

Wim Anker in court (ANP)

A man who helped his 99-year-old mother to die because the family doctor was unwilling to help has been found guilty of committing a crime but will not face punishment.

The public prosecution department said Albert Heringa should be given a three-month suspended sentence but judges in Gelderland said he should not be sentenced because he acted out of love.

Heringa helped his mother end her life by buying her pills and then filmed the process. It is a criminal offence to help someone commit suicide in the Netherlands unless the strict guidelines for euthanasia are adhered to.

Documentary

Heringa had hoped to stimulate public debate by recording the process. Television programme Network broadcast the documentary ‘Moek’s last wish’ in 2010. The public prosecutor decided last year to take legal action against Heringa.

The court said Heringa should have made more of an effort to find a doctor who would help the woman. In addition, he took a serious risk by leaving the house before his stepmother had died.

However, the court ruled it would not punish Heringa for his actions because of the time the public prosecution department had taken to bring the case to trial. In addition, he acted out of love, the court said.

Related Articles:

Reported Dutch Euthanasia Cases Rise

Nine myths about euthanasia in the Netherlands

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: Can you please tell me what Kryon says about suicide?

What if the person truly believed they were finished with this physical life and truly wanted to move out of it, with a sense of joy at the prospect of leaving this Earth plane and going back home? Do they end up in hell?

Answer: We have spoken about this many times. The answer is no. That beautiful soul who agreed to give the potential of this energy to the family is greeted on the other side of the veil, just as the one who went all the way to a natural death. Read the parable of the prodigal son in your scripture. It is about this exact thing.


Question: Dear Kryon, I have read several accounts of people who had "died" and then returned to their bodies. In some of the accounts, they describe a very dismal place for those who committed suicide. Usually, they say that those who committed suicide are "stuck" there. Are these accounts true, or is this colored by the person's personal belief? What about those who don't commit suicide because they are depressed and can't continue on, but who "die in their cause", such as the terrorists who blew up the Twin towers or the suicide bombers in Israel? Or those who chose to take their lives because they have cancer and the pain becomes too much for them?

Answer: Dear one, as we have mentioned before, the energy of suicide is a test for those who remain, not for the one who committed the act. Indeed, the Human Being has very strong survival instincts to keep him from doing this, but for those who do, there is no stigma of dishonor or punishment. They are not stuck, either. Most of the time this was a potential contract all along, and it prods those around them to make decisions that they would never have had to do otherwise.

Remember, this is a test for all of you. When it's over, don't be shocked to return to this side of the veil and find that there is no punishment or reward… only a family who is appreciative of your journey, and of the energy it took to love the earth and the Universe so much, that you went through it.

(from Lee) Kryon has explained near death experiences. You can read it at: [http://www.kryon.com/k_chanelphilly.html] Also, Kryon has mentioned death many times, and about how it relates to us. Check out the master index to find out what Kryon books these things are mentioned in: [http://www.kryon.com/direct.html]

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

"... The Ethics of Life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"... Question Two: What happens when you die?

This is so complicated, but I'm going to divide it into two parts, both spiritual. The death of a Human, which all of you in the room have experienced, is not the end. This is intuitive within you, because you've gone through it before. But the truth of it hides just under the surface. You're not really quite sure what will happen to you, but your intuition tells you it's not the end.

There is no sting in death. Not for you. But for the ones around you, there is. So the first thing I want to tell you about death is that those around you often suffer. Sometimes that is appropriate, for it brings them to their knees, especially when you leave too soon. Sometimes, because of that, they will discover what is inside of them, incredible spiritual solace, and then realize that your death was the catalyst for their enlightenment. Do you understand that process? Sometimes you are partners in this, with agreements in advance for potentials to help each other even through Human death. So it's not something to mourn at all. Often, it's the completion of a beautiful arrangement.

What happens when you die physically? That's easy - you return to the dust of the planet. What more do you want to know? Corporeal? Easy. That's just part of the Gaia process. But let me tell you about the moment of transition. You lose three ounces of something that no one knows about. The three ounces is quantum information. It's the quantum part of your spiritual core, everything that ever was of you, and it doesn't go up, it goes down. It goes back to the Cave of Creation and beyond.

We've told you this before. Part of it also goes to the Crystalline Grid. Some of it even goes to the cetaceans of the earth. There is a system here that allows Gaia to remember your life, and it's stored in the planet. Your spirit comes home, but not your Akashic Record. It stays on the planet because the planet owns it. You have changed the planet by what you've done, but you don't bring it home with you. When you come home, however, we have a party. I've told you that before. Oh, dear one, there's no sting in death. Not your own. You will know it right away, within three days. By then, you are "fully aware" that you're a piece of God. You remember. You hear the music again.

Then soon, you come back here (Earth), and when you do, it's sometimes faster than you've been told, for things are speeding up. Sometimes you come back born into your own family as grandchildren within your same karmic group. That's a process of the Lightworker so that your grandparents can teach you things that only they can teach you.

And when you take your first breath, you pick up something. You pick up all of the soul energy from the Cave of Creation and the Crystalline Grid that you stored there when you left. That is called Akashic inheritance. Artists become artists. Policemen become policemen. It's in your genes. It's in your DNA, who you used to be. Even the proclivities for the things you like and don't like - like food, choices - come in with you from the past Akashic inheritance.

Sometimes the question is asked, "Should I be a vegetarian? What is correct for my body spiritually?" I will tell you what is correct for your body spiritually - the thing that makes sense to you! If you've spent lifetimes in Tibet or India, you're probably craving different foods than that which is in the United States. That's how it works, dear ones. Your body reacts to what it remembers, and if that serves you by not eating meat, then that is what you should do for your health. Do not project it onto your friends, for they have their own Akashic health remembrance. They have their own system that works for them.

Humans love to compartmentalize everything and, therefore, when someone finds something good for them, they wish everybody to do it. Do not criticize others because they don't have your unique remembrance. This also applies to the belief systems of others. The ones who have found God or have found joy in a system that works for them is because they are tuned to it. Perhaps they were the very disciples of the masters! They're tuned to it and they want for everyone what works for them. Much of it has integrity, but it may not be for you.

What happens at death? It's a system - beauty, honor, and you become the piece of God that you know you are. When Elijah ascended, you got to see it through the eyes of Elisha. Elijah turned into a light so bright that Elisha couldn't even look at it. Then it split into parts. Elisha saw the Merkabah, the field around the Human, the chariot that Elijah rode in. He saw it and reported it. What do you think it was? The Human got to see ascension. That's death. ...."

Near-death experiences occur when the soul leaves the nervous system and enters the universe, claim two quantum physics experts

"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)

Woman with Down's syndrome to be paid compensation for illegal detention

UK government told to pay £3,730 by European court of human rights for distress caused by hospital holding her for several months

theguardian.com, Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent, Tuesday 22 October 2013

The ECHR in Strasbourg ruled MH was detained illegally – against the
wishes of her family. Photograph: Johanna Leguerre/AFP

The government has been ordered by the European court of human rights to pay compensation to a severely disabled patient with Down's syndrome for detaining her illegally.

The woman, named only as MH, lived in Shropshire, where she was taken into hospital on mental health grounds in January 2003, initially for assessment.

Her mother tried to have her discharged but the hospital blocked the request on the grounds that the woman would have been a danger to herself and others.

Social workers then applied to the local county court to "displace" the mother as her nearest relative. That application had the effect of extending MH's detention indefinitely.

She was eventually released in July 2003 but judicial review proceedings were begun against the health secretary.

MH complained that her right to challenge the lawfulness of her detention had been violated because there was no provision under UK law for the automatic review of the detention of persons without legal capacity.

Her lawyers also argued that there had been no provision for a patient, whether incapacitated or not, to take proceedings before a court or tribunal when the detention had been extended indefinitely.

In a unanimous judgment, the court in Strasbourg held that the UK had violated the woman's right to liberty during the first 27 days of her detention.

It ordered the UK government to pay the woman, who is now in her 40s, compensation of €4,400 (£3,730). She also received a similar sum for her legal costs.

The judges said: "It is clear that special safeguards are called for in the case of detained mental patients who lack legal capacity to institute proceedings before judicial bodies. However, it is not for this court to dictate what form those special safeguards should take."

Indonesia Under Fire for Refusal to Sign Tobacco Control Treaty

Jakarta Globe, Dessy Sagita, October 22, 2013

Indonesia’s reluctance to impose stricter smoking regulations and accede to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has made it a global laughing stock, activists say.

“Every single civilized country has taken action by ratifying the FCTC, but in spite of being one of the biggest democratic countries, Indonesia is still acting very much uncivilized,” Sudibyo Markus, the vice chairman of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second-largest Muslim organization, and an advisor to the Indonesia Institute Social for Development told the Jakarta Globe.

The FCTC is a treaty adopted by the UN World Health Assembly in 2003. It has been ratified by 168 of 192 countries and it is legally binding in 177 countries, accounting for more than 85 percent of the world’s population.

The treaty requires signatories to adopt tax and price measures to reduce tobacco consumption by banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, creating smoke-free work and public spaces, putting prominent health warnings on tobacco packages and combating the illicit trade in tobacco products.

Indonesia is the only country within the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations that has not ratified the convention.

“Can you imagine, even East Timor — a country much younger — has ratified the convention? This is beyond embarrassing,” Sudibyo said.

Within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which consists of 57 member states, only Indonesia and Somalia have not ratified or acceded to the FCTC.

Sudibyo said the Ministry of Health’s efforts to accelerate the accession have been challenged by the tobacco industry and even some state institutions.

“Indonesia is the only country that stands outside this most important global public-health treaty in Asia, the Pacific and the G-20,” Tara Singh Bam, an adviser at the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, said.

Last month, the Indonesian government received heavy criticism after it challenged Australia’s decision to implement unbranded cigarette packaging, calling it a blatant act to protect the tobacco industry.

The World Trade Organization said Indonesia had made a formal request for consultations with Australia on the issue, which under its rules is the first step in a trade dispute.

Indonesia is the fifth country to challenge Australia at the WTO over its pioneering legislation passed in 2011 and implemented last December. The measures require tobacco products to be sold in drab green boxes with neutral typeface and graphic images of diseased smokers.

“As a part of the United Nations, we have been thoroughly embarrassed in various international forums, and we all know tobacco lobbyists are behind this,” Sudibyo said.

The WHO’s most recent FCTC meeting held in New Delhi last July singled out Indonesia’s reluctance to accede to the convention.

Smoking reportedly kills at least 235,000 Indonesians annually.

(JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)

Related Articles:

Jakarta to Instate New Cigarette Tax

Tobacco Control Stumps Indonesia’s Health Minister

Reluctance on Tobacco Rules Puts Lives at Risk

'Casualty catastrophe': cell phones and child brains (E26)

RT.com, Daniel Bushell, October 20, 2013

Insurers stop covering for cell phone use, called the next 'casualty catastrophe' after tobacco and asbestos; phone manufacturers hit with a class action and personal lawsuits; and the warning deep inside your mobile.

Seek truth from facts with Ellie Marks, whose husband Alan is suing the industry for his brain tumor, 'cell phone survivor' Bret Bocook, leading radiation biologist Prof. Dariusz Leszczynski, Microwave News editor Dr. Louis Slesin, Storyleak editor Anthony Gucciardi, and former senior White House adviser Dr. Devra Davis.

Related Articles:

Student science experiment finds plants won't grow near Wi-Fi router

Photo courtesy of Kim Horsevad, teacher at Hjallerup
Skole in Denmark

"The A in Kundalini" – Oct 23, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) – (Subjects: What is Ascension, Ascended Consciousness, Ascension on cellular level (Biology), Activate/higher Efficiency DNA (90%), Air/Electromagnetic pollution in the air, Children will be born with bigger livers for pollution protection, Children will start to have instinct (like animals), 21-12-2012, Stop Aging, Ascension of Gaia, …etc.)

Kryon Q&A

(9) Question: Dear Kryon: I've read your books (only the ones that are translated in Dutch), and I have a French friend who also reads them. She tells me that it's not healthy to live near electric wires. She says that the cactus (which normally lives in the desert or tropical countries) helps eliminate the negativity of this electricity. Is that so, and is there any particular plant that can help eliminate the negative effects of electricity?

Answer: Indeed, we've admonished you to at least make a measurement (easily done) to see if you live in a magnetic field caused by the proximity to high-voltage lines that are often strung in the air near where you live. Not all these wires are bad. Some carry only communications, and some are lower voltages. The ones that are the most dangerous to you are those that are very large and that carry the power from city to city.

It's also true that certain kinds of plants carry energy that can help shield or void magnetics. This is actually a part of what you call "radionics," which we will leave for another discussion. This is not well known to the people reading this, however, and your friend is correct. Some cacti have water in them, which changes the situation slightly. However, if you're near a very large magnetic source, we still recommend moving instead of growing a lot of cactus. Even though the cactus "knows" what you're trying to do and might help reduce the risk, unfortunately, today's technology presents a far stronger field than can be voided by this plant.

Also know that there is now scientific validation to support the danger of the effects of long-term magnetic-field exposure on both plants and animals. It's not balancing for you to remain in a magnetic field. You should instead be exposed only to the one you were born in... the one that surrounds you and the earth, and which science is now beginning to understand is needed for your health and well-being... the earth's magnetic field. To have another one around you is to stop the flow of the balance that you need and deserve.

Obama defends health law despite chaotic debut

Google – AFP, Stephen Collinson (AFP), 21 October 2013

US President Barack Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act in the Rose

 Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, October 21, 2013 (AFP, Saul Loeb)

Washington — President Barack Obama said Monday there was "no sugarcoating" the problems clouding the online launch of his health care law, but mounted a firm defense of a system that will help define his legacy.

Obama struggled to assert control over a mounting political storm over the rollout of Obamacare websites, which gleeful Republicans are using to argue the system is fatally flawed and will never work.

"There's no sugarcoating it. The website has been too slow, people are getting stuck during the application process," Obama said in a speech in the White House Rose Garden.

"I think it's fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than I am."

Obama spent much of his first-term political capital on a system which is the closest America has ever come to universal health care.

And he was adamant that many people are getting insurance for the first time in years and that Obamacare functions well as a whole.

"Let me remind everybody that the Affordable Care Act is not just a website," Obama said.

"It's much more.

"The point is, the essence of the law, the health insurance that's available to people, is working just fine.

"In some cases, actually, it's exceeding expectations," he said, describing malfunctions and delays on the Healthcare.gov website as "kinks."

Obama promised that his administration was doing everything it could to fix website glitches, and had called on some of the country's best computing experts to fix it in a tech "surge."

"Precisely because the product is good. I want the cash registers to work. I want the checkout lines to be smooth," he said.

The president read out a free phone line number for people to register with the site, and argued that the website had been visited 20 million times already.

The White House however refused to give out figures on the number of people who have completed the registration process and bought health care plans in the newly established insurance market places, designed to increase the risk pool of people seeking insurance.

Republicans have pounced on the problems with Obamacare's rollout, arguing that it is a disastrous sign of what happens when the government gets involved in the private insurance market.

While the White House highlights cases of people who have been able to buy insurance for the first time and popular aspects of the law, Obama's foes offer stories of those who have seen existing plans cancelled in the disruption in the health care market caused by Obamacare.

US Senator Ted Cruz speaks to reporters

 on Capitol Hill October 16, 2013 in

 Washington, DC (AFP/File, Brendan

Smialowski)

"Obamacare is the nation?s biggest job killer and stands in the way of our country?s economic growth and prosperity," said Ted Cruz, the Republican Senator who campaigned to make a raising of the US government's borrowing authority contingent on defunding Obamacare in a political showdown that ended last week.

"It should be defunded and repealed," Cruz said in a statement.

House of Representatives Republican leader Eric Cantor said that Obamacare's problems were larger than a malfunctioning website and would take more than a "tech surge" to fix.

"The website does serve as stark evidence that the federal government is ill-equipped to centrally manage our nation's health care," Cantor said.

The program, which opened for business on October 1, aims to provide access to medical care for millions of Americans who often are priced out of other health care options.

The federal website serves 36 states, with the 14 other US states managing the system locally with their own websites.

But the websites have struggled with overloads, glitches and crashes, in a big embarrassment for the program and for the president.

Related Articles:

Opposition to President Obama and the Transition to Uncorrupted Governments

goldenageofgaia.com, Steve Beckow, An Hour with an Angel, September 30, 2013, with Archangel Michael

... SB: Oh! Very good! Okay.  I think I recall you mentioning Medicare in Canada. Canada has a wonderful system of universal medicare. When will the United States enjoy the same quality of medicare? Or other nations, for that matter.

AAM: You see, this is one of the fundamental rights, and your United Nations has just begun to peek at this.  All of your — yes, all — of your medical systems have been based on false grids that you are eligible for disease. Many, many industries have grown up around this belief system.

Now, we would not dismantle this in a day, because the displacement would be very large, but you have already begun to see the shift to wellness, to healing centers, to alternative methods of energy healing. And with the arrival of your star brothers and sisters this will become even more so.

So not only universal medical care, but universal healthcare and the right to wellness is going to become the simple stand-alone fact over the next year to two years. Oh, and it will happen much more quickly in the United States.

SB: Oh, that’s good to hear. So many people are bankrupted by a sudden illness. And it never should be that way.

AAM: It is an atrocity that one may suffer and die because one does not have adequate money. That is absurd. ....

Food waste: Tesco reveals most bagged salad and half its bread is thrown out

Supermarket giant promises to improve processes and educate customers to cut waste

theguardian.com, Press Association, Monday 21 October 2013

Tesco says most of its salad is wasted. Photograph: Sarah Lee

Tesco is dropping some food promotions after finding that two-thirds of produce grown for bagged salad is wasted.

The supermarket giant has revealed food waste figures for its operations for the first time, revealing that 68% of salad to be sold in bags is thrown out – 35% of it in the home.

As a result of the findings, it is to end multi-buys on large bags of salad and is developing mix-and-match promotions for smaller bags in a bid to help customers reduce the amount they are wasting.

It is also removing "display until" dates from fresh fruit and vegetables, using smaller cases in stores and rearranging 600 in-store bakeries to reduce the amount of bread on display, with the aim of better stock control and less waste.

The retailer found that 40% of apples were wasted, and just under half of bakery items.

A quarter of grapes are wasted between the vine and the fruit bowl and a fifth of all bananas are unused – with customers throwing one in 10 in the bin.

Tesco said it was involved in trials with apple growers to reduce pests and disease and will provide simple tips to customers about storing the fruit after finding that more than a quarter of wastage happens at home.

It will also share tips with customers about how to use leftover bread, and is working with grape and banana suppliers to improve delivery times and conditions.

The supermarket tracked 25 best-selling products and combined information with data from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) to give an overall food waste "footprint" for each item.

The data shows that in the first six months of this year, 28,500 tonnes of food waste were generated in Tesco's stores and distribution centres.

The last figures published by Wrap in 2011 estimated that 15 million tonnes of food waste was generated each year in the UK.

Tesco commercial director of group food Matt Simister said: "We've all got a responsibility to tackle food waste and there is no quick-fix single solution. Little changes can make a big difference, like storing fruit and vegetables in the right way.

"Families are wasting an estimated £700 a year and we want to help them keep that money in their pockets, rather than throwing it in the bin.

"We're playing our part too and making changes to our processes and in store. Ending multi-buy promotions on large packs of bagged salads is one way we can help, but this is just the start and we'll be reviewing what else we can do. We're working with our suppliers to try to cut waste at all stages of the journey from farm to fork."

Wrap director Richard Swannell said: "We welcome Tesco's approach to tackling food waste across their whole supply chain, and by identifying the hot spots they can tackle these areas effectively.

"Food waste is a global issue and collaborative action is essential if we are to successfully reduce food waste and reap the financial and environmental benefits of doing so."

Related Articles:

Half of all food 'thrown away' claims report

One third of world's food is wasted, says UN study

Starbucks Latest Foreign Target for Chinese Media

Jakarta Globe – AFP, October 21, 2013

Beijing. Starbucks has become the latest foreign firm to be roasted by China’s state-run media, following a series of accusations it is overcharging consumers.

State broadcaster CCTV aired a seven-minute-long report criticizing the coffee shop chain’s pricing in China, arguing that a tall latte in Beijing is more expensive than in London, Chicago and Mumbai.

The report on Sunday stated the price of a Beijing latte as 27 yuan ($4.42), compared with 24.25 yuan ($3.97) in London, 19.98 yuan ($3.26) in Chicago and 14.6 yuan ($2.39) in Mumbai.

It came after a stream of print stories attacking the Seattle-based firm, with the state-run Economic Information Daily accusing it of “profiteering”.

The China Daily newspaper last week took aim at the chain in an article headlined: “Starbucks can’t justify high prices in China”.

The allegations come after US tech giant Apple was subjected to a barrage of attacks earlier this year over its warranty policy and customer service, which state media cited as examples of its “unparalleled arrogance” toward Chinese consumers.

The criticism stopped after Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized.

Foreign baby formula and pharmaceutical firms have also recently been targeted by authorities over allegations of price-fixing and corruption.

In a statement, Starbucks said that its pricing in different cities is based on a variety of factors, including infrastructure investment, real estate, currency valuation and labor costs.

“Each Starbucks market is unique and has different operating costs, so it would be inaccurate to draw conclusions about one market based on the prices in a different market,” the company said.

Starbucks opened its doors in China in 1999 and now has more than 1,000 stores in the country and growing, making China likely to overtake Canada as its second-largest market after the US next year.

Agence France-Presse