'Living drug' kills leukemia in 88 percent of patients

Google – AFP, Kerry Sheridan (AFP), 20 February 2014

File picture shows a leukemia patient at a hospital in the eastern Ukrainian

city of Donetsk (AFP/File, Alexander Khudoteply)

Washington — A new approach to killing cancer cells that uses a patient's own immune system has beaten back leukemia in 88 percent of adults, US researchers said.

The report by scientists in New York offers more good news for the burgeoning field of cancer immunotherapy, which uses what some describe as a "living drug" that was hailed by Science magazine as the breakthrough of 2013.

The latest trial, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, involved 16 people with a kind of blood cancer known as adult B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

File picture shows a group of Chinese

children suffering from leukemia attending

a fund-raising event to help their families

pay for their treatment, in Hefei, east

China's Anhui province (AFP/File)

Some 1,400 people die of ALL in the United States each year, and while it is among the most treatable cancers, patients often become resistant to chemotherapy and eventually relapse.

For this study, 14 of 16 adult patients achieved complete remission after their T cells were genetically engineered so that they could focus on eradicating cancer.

The patients' median age was 50, and they were all on the brink of death when they entered the trial, having relapsed or discovered that chemotherapy was no longer working.

The longest remission among them so far is about two years, and that patient is still going strong, said lead author Renier Brentjens, director of cellular therapeutics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Without this therapy, just 30 percent of relapsed patients would be expected to respond to salvage chemotherapy.

- 'Re-educating' T cells -

The process involves removing some of the patient's T-cells and altering them with a gene to make them recognize a protein, known as CD19, on the cancer cells, so that they can attack them.

Left to their own devices, T cells can attack other harmful invaders in the body but will allow cancer to grow uninterrupted.

"Basically, what we do is re-educate the T cell in the laboratory with gene therapy to recognize and now kill tumor cells," Brentjens said.

Graphic outlining the trial process of genetically modifying the immune

system to fight against leukemia (AFP graphic, John Saeki/Adrian Leung)

After 15 years of work on the technology, known as tumor-targeted chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells, "it seems to really work in patients with this particular type of cancer," Brentjens told AFP.

Last year, his team reported the first promising results in five adult patients who achieved remission after the therapy.

He estimated that between 60 and 80 people in the United States have since entered experimental trials of the new treatment, which is also being studied in Europe.

- 'Not a fluke' -

In December 2013, experts from multiple US centers where trials are ongoing presented their findings at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, including the University of Pennsylvania, which is also studying the approach in adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is enrolling pediatric patients in trials of T-cell therapy.

Brentjens said other US centers have shown similar remission rates in their studies so far, "demonstrating that this isn't a fluke."

"This is a real phenomenon," he told AFP. "This could be a paradigm shift in the way we approach cancer therapy."

File picture shows a young leukemia

 patient being treated in a hospital in

 the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk

(AFP/File, Alexander Khudoteply)

Kanti Rai, chief of the CLL Research and Treatment Program at North Shore-LIJ Health System in New York, described the latest study as "a major service to all of us."

Rai, who was not involved in the research, noted that it has been a few years since scientists first reported on their initial success against CLL.

"In the present report, we are told that equally dramatic and excellent results were obtained when a more frightening and fatal disease, such as adult ALL was the enemy," said Rai.

Researchers are still trying to figure out why it does not work in all patients.

Efforts are also ongoing to identify cancer-specific receptor cells that could allow the technique to tackle other types of tumors.

"The expansion to other kinds of cancers is next on the to-do list," said Brentjens.

In the meantime, the therapy remains expensive, costing around $100,000 per patient, a price tag experts believe will come down once pharmaceutical companies get more involved and the technique becomes more widespread.

Loneliness twice as unhealthy as obesity for older people, study finds

Scientists found that the loneliest were nearly twice as likely to die during their six-year study than the least lonely

theguardian.com, Ian Sample in Chicago, Sunday 16 February 2014

The findings point to a pending crisis in the UK as the population ages and
 people increasingly live alone or far from their families. Photograph:
Paul Doyle/Alamy

Loneliness can be twice as unhealthy as obesity, according to researchers who found that feelings of isolation can have a devastating impact on older people.

The scientists tracked more than 2,000 people aged 50 and over and found that the loneliest were nearly twice as likely to die during the six-year study than the least lonely.

Compared with the average person in the study, those who reported being lonely had a 14% greater risk of dying. The figure means that loneliness has around twice the impact on an early death as obesity. Poverty increased the risk of an early death by 19%.

The findings point to a coming crisis as the population ages and people increasingly live alone or far from their families. A study of loneliness in older Britons in 2012 found that more than a fifth felt lonely all the time, and a quarter became more lonely over five years. Half of those who took part in the survey said their loneliness was worse at weekends, and three-quarters suffered more at night.

Previous studies have linked loneliness to a range of health problems, from high blood pressure and a weakened immune system to a greater risk of depression, heart attack and strokes. In his recent book, Loneliness, John Cacioppo, a psychologist at the University of Chicago, says that the pain of loneliness is akin to physical pain.

Cacioppo said the world was experiencing a "silver tsunami" as baby boomers reached retirement age. "People have to think about how to protect themselves from depression, low subjective well-being and early mortality," he said.

In light of the damaging health effects of loneliness, Cacioppo said people approaching retirement age might want to think twice about pulling up their roots and heading to fresh pastures to live out their retirement. He described results from the study at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago.

"We have mythic notions of retirement. We think that retirement means leaving friends and family and buying a place down in Florida where it is warm and living happily ever after. But that's probably not the best idea," he said.

"We find people who continue to interact with co-workers after retirement and have friends close by are less lonely. Take time to enjoy yourself and share good times with family and friends. Non-lonely people enjoy themselves with other people."

The researchers found that some people were happy living a life of solitude. Others still felt lonely, and suffered the health impacts of loneliness, even with family and friends close by. The findings suggest that people needed to feel involved and valued by those near to them, and that company alone was not enough.

Caroline Abrahams at Age UK said the study added to a growing body of research showing that being lonely not only made life miserable for older people, but also made them more vulnerable to illness and disease.

"It's time we took loneliness seriously as a threat to a happy and healthy later life. We need to do more to support older people to stay socially connected. This is a big part of our job at Age UK and everyone can help by being a good friend or neighbour to the older people they know," she said.

Local branches of Age UK help older people through befriending schemes and other services that include home visits and phone calls for people who are feeling lonely or isolated, she added.

'Cholestrol-lowering margarine should be sold by pharmacies'

DutchNews.nl, Friday 14 February 2014

(NOS/ANP)

Consumer organisation Foodwatch is running a campaign to have the sale of margarine which lowers cholestrol levels restricted to pharmacies because, the organisation claims, it is a medicine.

The email action follows the introduction of a European Commission rule stating cholestrol-lowering margarines - such as Unilever's Becel Pro-activ - must display a warning on their packaging that they can be dangerous.

Foodwatch is not satisfied with the new ruling because it does not force manufacturers to put the warning in large letters, according to Nos television.

The organisation is warning people, and particularly children, whose cholestrol is not high not to eat products such as Becel Pro-activ. Eating this product can even cause heart problems, Foodwatch says.

Male sexual orientation influenced by genes, study shows

The genes are not sufficient or necessary to make men gay but do play some role in sexuality, according to US research

The Guardian, Ian Sample, science correspondent, Friday 14 February 2014

Boy Scouts at a gay pride parade in Seattle. Photograph: Elaine Thompson/AP

A study of gay men in the US has found fresh evidence that male sexual orientation is influenced by genes. Scientists tested the DNA of 400 gay men and found that genes on at least two chromosomes affected whether a man was gay or straight.

A region of the X chromosome called Xq28 had some impact on men's sexual behaviour – though scientists have no idea which of the many genes in the region are involved, nor how many lie elsewhere in the genome.

Another stretch of DNA on chromosome 8 also played a role in male sexual orientation – though again the precise mechanism is unclear.

Researchers have speculated in the past that genes linked to homosexuality in men may have survived evolution because they happened to make women who carried them more fertile. This may be the case for genes in the Xq28 region, as the X chromosome is passed down to men exclusively from their mothers.

Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern University in Illinois, set out the findings to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago on Thursday. "The study shows that there are genes involved in male sexual orientation," he said. The work has yet to be published, but confirms the findings of a smaller study that sparked widespread controversy in 1993, when Dean Hamer, a scientist at the US National Cancer Institute, investigated the family histories of more than 100 gay men and found homosexuality tended to be inherited. More than 10% of brothers of gay men were gay themselves, compared to around 3% of the general population. Uncles and male cousins on the mother's side had a greater than average chance of being gay, too.

The link with the mother's side of the family led Hamer to look more closely at the X chromosome. In follow-up work, he found that 33 out of 40 gay brothers inherited similar genetic markers on the Xq28 region of the X chromosome, suggesting key genes resided there.

Hamer faced a firestorm when his study was published. The fuss centred on the influences of nature and nurture on sexual orientation. But the work also raised the more dubious prospect of a prenatal test for sexual orientation. The Daily Mail headlined the story "Abortion hope after 'gay genes findings' ". Hamer warned that any attempt to develop a test for homosexuality would be "wrong, unethical and a terrible abuse of research".

The gene or genes in the Xq28 region that influence sexual orientation have a limited and variable impact. Not all of the gay men in Bailey's study inherited the same Xq28 region. The genes were neither sufficient, nor necessary, to make any of the men gay.

The flawed thinking behind a genetic test for sexual orientation is clear from studies of twins, which show that the identical twin of a gay man, who carries an exact replica of his brother's DNA, is more likely to be straight than gay. That means even a perfect genetic test that picked up every gene linked to sexual orientation would still be less effective than flipping a coin.

While genes do contribute to sexual orientation, other multiple factors play a greater role, perhaps including the levels of hormones a baby is exposed to in the womb. "Sexual orientation has nothing to do with choice," said Bailey. "We found evidence for two sets [of genes] that affect whether a man is gay or straight. But it is not completely determinative; there are certainly other environmental factors involved."

Last year, before the latest results were made public, one of Bailey's colleagues, Alan Sanders, said the findings could not and should not be used to develop a test for sexual orientation.

"When people say there's a gay gene, it's an oversimplification," Sanders said. "There's more than one gene, and genetics is not the whole story. Whatever gene contributes to sexual orientation, you can think of it as much as contributing to heterosexuality as much as you can think of it contributing to homosexuality. It contributes to a variation in the trait."

Qazi Rahman, a psychologist at King's College London, said the results were valuable for further understanding the biology of sexual orientation. "This is not controversial or surprising and is nothing people should worry about. All human psychological traits are heritable, that is, they have a genetic component," he said. "Genetic factors explain 30 to 40% of the variation between people's sexual orientation. However, we don't know where these genetic factors are located in the genome. So we need to do 'gene finding' studies, like this one by Sanders, Bailey and others, to have a better idea where potential genes for sexual orientation may lie."

Rahman rejected the idea that genetics research could be used to discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation. "I don't see how genetics would contribute more to the persecution, discrimination and stigmatisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people any more than social, cultural or learning explanations. Historically, the persecution and awful treatment of LGBT groups has been because politicians, religious leaders and societies have viewed sexual orientation as 'choice' or due to poor upbringing."

Steven Rose, of the Open University, said: "What worries me is not the extent, if at all, to which our genetic, epigenetic or neural constitution and development affect our sexual preferences, but the huge moral panic and religious and political agenda which surrounds the question."

Related Article:

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: Regarding homosexuality or transsexuals. WHY are they the way they are and WHY are they not accepted in mainstream society?

Answer: [From the Kryon Office]

There is often a tremendous amount of information on subjects that are not necessarily part of the on-line magazine Q&A database. Kryon has been channelling for fourteen years, with 9 books covering many, many topics. Homosexuality was one of them from the very beginning. Please see our "Books index page" for subjects contained in the Kryon books: [http://www.kryon.com/direct.html]

An excerpt from Kryon Book 6, page 306

Question from the book: Dear Kryon, I am gay, and an enlightened man. I live in an American society that barely tolerates me, and actually has some laws against my way of life. The church I used to belong to cast me out as being evil and anti-God. I don't feel that I am violating some Human ethic. My love is as true as any heterosexual, and I am a light worker. Tell me what I should know.

Answer from the book: Dear one, less than two generations from now, there will be those who find this book and laugh at the quaintness of this very question. Before I answer, let me ask you and those reading this to examine a phenomenon about Human society and "God."

Thirty years ago, interracial marriage was considered to be wrong by the laws of God. Now your society finds it common. The spiritual objections around it were either dropped or "rewritten" by those divinely inspired and authorized to do so. Therefore, your actual interpretations of the instructions from God changed with your society's tolerance level--an interesting thing, indeed, how the interpretations of God seem to change regularly to match a changing culture!

The truth, of course, is that you find yourself in a situation that is known to create a test for you. Right now, in this time, you have agreed to come into your culture with an attribute that may alienate you from friends and religious followers. You have faced fear of rejection and have had to "swim upstream," so to speak, just as an everyday life occurrence. Your contract, therefore, has been set up well, and you are in the middle of it. Additionally, like so many like you, you have a divine interest in yourselves! You feel part of the spiritual family. What a dichotomy indeed, to be judged as evil by those who are the high spiritual leaders--interpreting God for today's culture.

Now I say this: What is your intent? Is it to walk with love for all those around you and become an enlightened Human Being in this New Age? Is it to forgive those who see you as a spiritual blight on society? Can you have the kind of tolerance for them that they seem not to have for you? Can you overlook the fact that they freely quote their scriptures in order to condemn you, yet they don't seem to have the love tolerance that is the cornerstone of their own message?

If the answer is yes, then there is nothing else you must do. Your INTENT is everything, and your life will be honored with peace over those who would cause unrest, and tolerance for the intolerable. Your sexual attributes are simply chemistry and setups within your DNA. They are given by agreement as gifts for you to experience in this life. Look on them in this fashion, and be comfortable with that fact that you are a perfect spiritual creation under God--loved beyond measure--just like all humans. But then you know that, don't you?

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

After debate splitting professions, parliament due to pass law allowing euthanasia for terminally ill minors 'suffering unbearably'

The Guardian, Ian Traynor in Brussels, Wednesday 12 February 2014

Belgium senate members voting last November on expanding the euthanasia
law to minors. Photograph: Kristof Van Accom/AFP/Getty Images

Belgium is expected on Thursday to become the first country in the world to abolish all age restrictions on the right to die, extending permitted euthanasia to terminally ill children.

Following months of painful and divisive debate the Belgian parliament is expected to pass a law extending euthanasia – which has been possible in the country for the past 12 years – to minors.

Belgium is one of only three countries to have legalised euthanasia, the others being Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The Dutch also allow minors the right to die from the age of 12. Belgium will be the first to drop all age restrictions.

The contested legislation has already gone through the upper house of senate by a 3-1 majority and also passed parliament's justice committee.

The centre-left, liberals and Greens are expected to support the extension, while parts of the centre-right, allied with the Catholic church, which opposes euthanasia, will vote against.

"It is not about deciding whether a child is or is not to die," said Daniel Baquelaine, an MP who backs the new law and who is also a doctor. "Death is coming quickly. It is therefore necessary to allow the child to express what he thinks of the end of life, about how to die."

The extension of the right to die to minors is hedged with tight conditions. The bill states that the child must "be in a hopeless medical situation of constant and unbearable suffering that cannot be eased and which will cause death in the short-term".

Parental approval is needed, although it is not quite clear what happens if two parents of a child disagree. Psychiatric and medical advice is also required.

Although no age limits are set, the bill says that the child must display "a capacity of discernment and be conscious at the moment of the request".

It is not clear whether this rules out euthanasia for the very young. And the notion is contested by opponents.

A group of 160 paediatricians, opposed to giving children the right to die, said: "In practice, there is no objective method for determining whether a child is gifted with the ability of discernment and judgment. This is actually a largely subjective assessment and subject to influences."

The heated debate has split the medical, legal, and political professions, with the Catholic church staging prayer vigils in protest, and hospice and palliative care specialists stating themselves generally opposed.

Opinion polls show public majority support for the radical move. The paediatricians have called for a delay and further debate on the matter.

While supporters in the medical profession say such euthanasia is likely to be applied only in a few cases a year, the paediatricians claimed it was not necessary. They said they had never faced such demands; palliative care was now so sophisticated they could "fully control the physical pain, choking, or anxiety as they approach death".

They added that allowing euthanasia for children would create unbearable stress for carers and relatives.

"The care of seriously ill children is already complex enough. In such circumstances, it is even more difficult for medical staff and the family to be further faced with a particularly difficult ethical choice. The extension of the law to children will only increase their distress and stress."

Supporters said the bill would help bring ethical clarity and close loopholes – such as where doctors were quietly acceding to child euthanasia in excruciating circumstances but then facing prosecution for breaking the law.

There were 1,432 cases of euthanasia in 2012 in Belgium, according to official figures.

"The existence of a law is the best means of guarding against possible malpractice," said Le Soir, the main French language newspaper in Belgium.

Related Articles:

Belgium extends euthanasia law to give ill children of any age right to die

Europe split on right-to-die regulations

French panel recommends legalising assisted suicide

Euthanasia declaration should be renewed regularly
Nine myths about euthanasia in the Netherlands

Kryon Q&A

Question: I've been wondering about this for a while now. Do we decide how and when we're going to die before we come into the world? Is that why some people live a long and healthy life, while others die from an illness or accident at an early age? Does it have anything to do with our past lives?

Answer: Human death is not seen on this side of the veil as anything but a transition of energy and a freshening of expression. This is difficult for you to understand, for to you, death is pain, suffering, and grief. Can you even begin to understand why this is the setup? We see it as part of the "play of Earth." In any play, even the Human with the knife in his chest gets up after the curtain comes down and has a party with the cast. The cast members all know that the adventure in the play is not real. But in the play of Earth, your reality says that life is everything there is. Therefore, it's played "for keeps." It has to be this way, to make the challenge and the test... fair.

Yes, you all have a beginning setup contract where your shift (death) is planned. Sometimes it's to facilitate another person (such as the profound energy created through the death of a child or suicide). So it can be part of an agreement with great energy around it, or a simple potential to leave when it's time. Each case is different, and yes, it is often tempered with a balance from past-life experience. It's also entirely temporary and waiting to be rewritten!

All this is changing greatly. With the new energy brings a change in the system of life and death on Earth. Indigo Children are coming into the planet without past-life karmic attributes. They're "clean" of this karma, and also have a very different setup. They still have a potential life line, and they carry information about past-life experience and the wisdom of what they learned, but they're also aware that they can create a change in that beginning contract. This is the biggest difference between the old- and new-energy Human. The old-energy Human somehow feels that the contract is absolute, that nothing can change it. He actually tries to follow this beginning temporary setup to its destination! This is information that has to be unlearned for most of you. The child? He knows better. He can do anything! Did you notice his attitude? He comes in ready to create and manifest. He's frustrated that you don't see the potentials, or that you wallow in some linear system, or that you try to follow an old setup. Did you notice? This is all part of the new Human-life scenario.

Whereas the plan of old created life and death as a cycle in a karmic engine of lesson - creating energy to help the earth - that is now void. The new system is one that encourages a contract rewrite, including death time, age, and even life lesson. It's a startling change, and brings new meaning to death in the new energy.

Also, there's this fact: We told you in 1989 that a great number of Humans might have to pass quickly in these times for the new energy to manifest. You're seeing it now. With war and disease, the numbers are quickly being fulfilled. What does this mean? It means that many actually had the agreement to pass at this time if the earth had accomplished a vibratory rate shift. It did, and the process began.

What is the reason for this? Although you might fee that it's too sorrowful to think about, we give you the truth: The new Indigo color of Human Being will do far better on the planet than one with a very old energy. Therefore, many are leaving early to immediately come back as Humans with the Indigo color. This will facilitate peace on Earth faster than anything else.

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

"... The Ethics of Life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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. ...."

"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)

UFO Cult Backs Africa’s First Clitoris Restoration Hospital

Jakarta Globe – AFP, February 11, 2014

A Raelian gathering in South Korea in 2007. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Raelian sect believes that humans were created by extraterrestrials to experience joy. It promotes world peace, democracy and sexual satisfaction.

This mission has led them to actively campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM), and to back a clinic in San Francisco offering a controversial reconstructive surgery for victims.

Its surgeons claim they can restore sexual feeling and orgasms to victims, although the results remain contested by some doctors.

Now the movement is bringing their work to Burkina Faso, with a new center in the southern town of Bobo-Dioulasso due to open on March 7.

The centre is called the Kamkazo, or “the house for women,” but is nicknamed “the Pleasure Hospital.”

It has been built by Clitoraid, an NGO set up by Raelians to campaign for an end to FGM. It says it has financed the hospital with donations from private individuals. The total cost has not been revealed.

“The idea comes from the Raelian movement, but they are not the financiers. Clitoraid is a non-profit association in which both Raelians and non-Raelians work,” Abibata Sanon, who is part of the project team, told AFP.

Nadine Gary, communications director at Clitoraid, as well as being a Raelian and a surgeon at the San Francisco clinic, said the operations “will restore their dignity as women as well as their ability to experience physical pleasure, which was taken from them against their will.”

The operations, which last about 45 minutes, will be free of charge.

There are already 300 women on the waiting list, coming from Kenya, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast — “everywhere that female genital mutilation is practised,” Sanon said.

The Raelian movement was founded in the 1970s by Claude Vorilhon following what he said was an encounter with extraterrestrials.

The movement found a number of followers in Canada, and made headlines in 2002 when it claimed to have cloned a human being.

The World Health Organization estimates that between 100 million and 140 million women have been victims of genital mutilation worldwide.

It is most prevalent in northeast and west Africa, particularly “excision,” in which the clitoris and labia are removed.

The number of victims has fallen in Burkina Faso since genital mutilation was banned in 1996, but a study in 2010 found that 58 percent are girls have suffered from the practice.

China to unify urban and rural pension systems

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-02-08

Elderly residents of a retirement home prepare for outdoor activities in the Handian
township in Zouping county, Shandong province, Nov. 3, 2013. (Photo/Xinhua)

China will reform its pension scheme by unifying the two separate systems for urban and rural residents to allow people better access to social benefits, according to an executive meeting of the State Council on Friday.

The move, part of the efforts to address pension payment gaps between urban and rural areas, was announced in a statement issued after the meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

The unified system will build stable expectations for improving livelihood and facilitate population movement, said the meeting statement, adding that it will also boost consumption and encourage more business start-ups.

The statement said pension funds will be pooled from individuals, employers and governments at various levels. The central government will provide more subsidies to people in less-developed central and western regions.

The pension system will serve as a safety net for millions of seniors, according to the statement.

China has the largest senior population in the world, with 194 million people at or above the age of 60 as of the end of 2012, according to the China National Committee on Aging.

The age group is expected to grow to 243 million by 2020, and one-third of the population will be over the age of 60 by 2050.

Annual sessions will open soon for the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, and the National People's Congress, China's parliament, according to the meeting statement.

The "two sessions" serve as an important channel for ministries and departments under the State Council to hear what the public has to say about government work, the statement said.

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UK hospitals required to report female genital mutilation

Google – AFP, 6 February 2014

This picture taken on February 4, 2013 shows a general view of Stafford

Hospital in Stafford, England (AFP/File, Paul Ellis)

London — British hospitals will be required for the first time to record patients who have been subjected to female genital mutilation, the government announced on Thursday.

The Department of Health estimates that 66,000 women in England and Wales are living with the consequences of FGM, and a further 23,000 girls under the age of 15 are at risk every year.

But the most recent figures are from 2007, indicating a lack of clear information on the problem that the new centralised reporting system is intended to address.

From April, state-run National Health Service (NHS) hospitals will be required to report to the health ministry if a patient has had FGM, if there is a family history of mutilation or if an FGM-related procedure has been carried out.

"Female genital mutilation is an abhorrent practice that has no place in this -? or any other -? society," said public health minister Jane Ellison.

The procedure, which ranges from removal of the clitoris to more widespread mutilation, can lead to infection and long-term severe pain.

It is practised across the world and in particular in Africa, but also takes place among immigrant communities in Western countries.

In a statement timed to coincide with a worldwide day for action against FGM, crime prevention minister Norman Baker said the government was determined to prosecute those who carried out such procedures in Britain.

Female genital mutilation has been a crime in Britain since 1985, but no-one has ever been prosecuted. The Times reported that the first prosecution would finally go ahead in the coming weeks.

"It is child abuse and it is illegal. I am determined we do all we can to bring perpetrators to justice," Baker said.

"The law in this country applies to absolutely everyone and political or cultural sensitivities must not get in the way of preventing, uncovering and prosecuting those who instigate and carry out FGM."

Related Article:

British girl leads Guardian campaign to end female genital mutilation

Rouhanicare: Iran's president promises healthcare for all by 2018

Five million vulnerable Iranians the first to be protected under plan apparently inspired by Obamacare

theguardian.com, Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Thursday 6 February 2014

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani (left) gives a live interview on state television
during which he announced his healthcare initiative. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, has promised healthcare for all Iranians in the next four years in a move reminiscent of Barack Obama's patient protection and affordable care act, dubbed Obamacare.

In an interview broadcast live on national television on Wednesday, Rouhani said he wanted all Iranians to be protected under a nationwide health insurance programme. He said at least five million citizens who are the most vulnerable will be the first people to benefit from the initiative.

Rouhani's official English-language Twitter account was the first to make a link between the Iranian president's plan and that initiated by his US counterpart. The government "will extend medical insurance to all Iranians. First step will be to cover 5mn uninsured Iranians by the social safety net #RouhaniCare," read the president's tweet.

"Our people face a number of difficulties in their health protection and when they enter a state-run hospital they usually have to obtain their medicine, tests and medical equipment from other places," Rouhani said in the interview. "We have to make sure our hospitals can give people all the services they need so that they are not left confused."

The Iranian president said his healthcare plan would be partly funded by cuts to government subsidies.

Other Obama-related gestures have also inspired the Iranian president and his supporters. A music clip released on the internet in November and endorsed by Rouhani reminded many of Obama's 2008 campaign video Yes We Can.

Rouhani's interview, initially scheduled right after the 9pm news bulletin, was broadcast with an hour's delay after an apparent row between the broadcaster and the president's office over who could interview him.

The head of Iran's national broadcaster, IRIB, implied later that Rouhani had handpicked the two interviewers who questioned him.

When the president failed to address the nation on schedule a news ticker announced delays due to technical problems.

Rouhani's Twitter account reacted immediately by blaming IRIB's head, Ezatollah Zarghami, saying he had prevented the live broadcast. "Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Zarghami, prevented live discussion w/ people on #IRIB1 which was scheduled for an hour ago", read a tweet.

The government's official news agency, IRNA, also blamed Zarghami, saying he had prevented the broadcast for unknown reasons.

When Rouhani finally appeared in front of cameras, he apologised for the delay but refused to clarify what had happened backstage.

In a letter to the IRIB's watchdog, Zarghami asked whether the head of the government could select his own interviewers, implying that was what had stirred the row. The dispute dominated Thursday's front pages in Tehran.

In his late-night interview, Rouhani apologised to Iranians for his government's failure in distributing food rations, known as commodity baskets, to people.

IRIB is independent of the Iranian government and its head is appointed directly by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is the only legal TV and radio broadcaster inside the country but millions of Iranians watch foreign-based channels via illegal satellite dishes on rooftops.

IRIB is close to the country's conservative political faction, especially the elite revolutionary guards. Questions posed to the president on the national TV are usually not controversial and rarely challenge him.

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