Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Home Blog Page 15

World Arts West Celebrates 45th Anniversary with Festival of Dance, Music and Cultural Activism

by Zurellys Villegas

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the annual dance festival organized by World Arts West, and for the third consecutive year, the event will be held at the Presidio. One of the most anticipated festivals in the Bay Area, this festival promises an enriching experience that combines dance, music and cultural activism.

Festivities include artist dialogues and dance workshops at the Dance Mission Theater on August 25 and September 1. These activities offer a unique opportunity for attendees to interact directly with the artists, learning from their experiences and techniques. The climax of the festival will be a day of free performances at the Presidio Tunnel Tops on Sunday, September 8, from 1 to 4 p.m., where culture, wisdom and beauty will be celebrated through dance and music from around the world.

Groups, primarily from the Bay Area, will showcase their cultural heritage with vibrant rhythms, colorful costumes, and dances that range from traditional to contemporary. This free event is a chance to travel the world without leaving the Presidio, in a joyful and festive celebration.

World Arts West has expanded this year’s performances to reflect both traditional and contemporary styles prevalent in the cultural dance community.

With the theme “Dance as Activism,” this year’s festival highlights the transformative power of dance as a tool to challenge social norms, preserve heritage, and promote social change.

World Arts West Festival Artist Lineup, September 8, 2024

Chinyakare Ensemble: This group presents traditional dance, music, and culture from Zimbabwe and Southern Africa, weaving together stories that depict scenes of everyday life and teach lessons such as perseverance and gratitude.

Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company: An ensemble of teens who collaborate with professional artists to create dynamic productions that blend hip hop, modern and aerial dance, theater, song, and rap, expressing their commitment to inclusion, equity, and justice.

Destiny Muhammad (harpist): Recording and performing artist, bandleader, composer, and producer whose style ranges from Celtic to Coltrane, with a touch of jazz and storytelling to round out the sonic experience.

Fua Dia Congo: This nonprofit organization is dedicated to preserving and promoting Congolese cultural legacies.

International Performing Arts of America: This nonprofit dance group celebrates East Asian culture through movement and choreography.

Ishami Dance Company: South Asian contemporary dance company that explores and amplifies the diverse voices and stories of the South Asian diaspora, combining Western and South Asian dance forms.

Ishami Dance Company

Ishita Mili: Bengali-American director, choreographer, and educator who founded the IMGE dance company, a group that bridges global stories through cultural narratives.

Kitka: A female vocal arts ensemble that draws inspiration from traditional songs and vocal techniques.

The Mix: A rhythmic ensemble of women of color that explores historical narratives and social justice.

Noorani Dance Company: This company exemplifies the unique artistic expression of its founder Farah Yasmeen Shaikh along with the classical and innovative influence of its guru, the late Pandit Chitresh Das.

Parangal: Their mission is to honor Filipino heritage by preserving and promoting Filipino ethnic dress, music, and dance through research.

Suhaila Salimpour Dance Collective: A first-generation belly dancer from the Middle East, Suhaila Salimpour is known for her belly dance certification program and the global influence of her teaching format.

The 45th Annual World Arts West Dance Festival promises to be an unforgettable event celebrating cultural diversity and the transformative power of dance as a tool for social change and activism.

spot_img

Criticism of a plan to restructure U.S. mail service is mounting

by Eric Tegethoff, Producer

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year plan, called Delivering for America, was announced in 2021 but has kicked into high gear this year. Intended to make the U.S. Postal Service more efficient and cut spending, the plan has involved moving mail through larger processing centers rather than smaller, local ones.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said it has led to a slowdown in mail delivery.

“He has had a plan for getting rid of our regional sorting centers or downgrading them,” Merkley explained. “Which means that the mail from Bend and Medford and Eugene — basically all over the state — has to go just to Portland and be sorted there and then returned.”

DeJoy has paused his consolidation of centers through the end of the year, but said he will continue pursuing his Delivering for America plan. He was appointed to the position of postmaster general in 2020 during the Trump presidency by the Board of Governors of the Postal Service.

Merkley pointed out he has heard from constituents as delays in mail delivery increase. For instance, people are getting late fees for sending checks for bills or rent through the mail. He also noted medications are not making it to people in a timely manner.

“In some cases, they can’t apply until they’ve run out of their medicine or nearly out, which means they have to apply at the last minute and by the time the slow mail operates, they have a space,” Merkley observed. “They either miss their meds or they have to buy them locally at a much higher price.”

Merkley added the Delivering for America plan is not realistic and should be reversed.

“Every other government service we provide we subsidize,” Merkley stressed. “We don’t expect it all to pay for itself 100 percent. Mail is so important to people, so important to our communities, so important to our small business, so important to our communication, so important to our sense of community that we should be sustaining it as a high-quality service.”

spot_img

Peso sees sharp drop following release of weak US employment report

El peso se depreció a 19,16 por dólar el viernes por la mañana, su peor posición desde mediados de junio. -- The peso depreciated to 19.16 to the dollar early on Friday, its worst position since mid-June. (Cuartoscuro)

by the El Reportero‘s wire services

The Mexican peso depreciated to well above 19 to the US dollar on Friday morning after official data showed that hiring in the United States slowed significantly in July.

The peso declined to as low as 19.16 to the greenback early Friday, according to Bloomberg data.

At 10 a.m. Mexico City time, the peso was trading at 19.00 to the US dollar.

Compared to its closing position of 18.86 to the dollar on Thursday, the peso depreciated around 1.6 percent to reach 19.16. That position represents a depreciation of 14.9% compared to the peso’s strongest level this year — 16.30 to the dollar in April.

The currency’s depreciation on Friday came after the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that “non-farm payroll employment edged up by 114,000” in the U.S. in July and unemployment increased from 4.1 percent to 4.3 percent, the highest level since October 2021.

Job creation declined 36.3% compared to June. The consensus forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was that 175,000 jobs were added in the United States in July.

The weaker-than-expected data increased bets that the United States Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September.

“Traders are now pricing in a 71 percent probability that the Fed will cut rates by 50 basis points in September, up from 31 percent before the data was released,” Reuters reported.

On the X social media site, Janneth Quiroz, the Monex financial group’s director of economic analysis, noted that the peso was affected by a “weak employment report” in the United States.

The July employment numbers and separate data showing that manufacturing activity in the United States dropped to its lowest level since November last month are generating fear that an economic slowdown in the U.S. could become more pronounced, Quiroz said.

A slowdown in the U.S. could negatively affect Mexico’s economy and reduce the inflow of dollars to Mexico due to “lower exports, remittances and foreign direct investment,” the analyst wrote.

As the Mexican peso depreciated against the US dollar on Friday morning, the greenback lost ground against other major currencies. The DXY index, which measures the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, was down more than 1 percent shortly after 10 a.m.

CI Banco analysts said in a note that investor sentiment has significantly deteriorated due to fears of a recession in the United States.

Peso now weaker than in the election aftermath 

Other factors have recently weighed on the peso, most notably the comprehensive victory of Claudia Sheinbaum and the ruling Morena party in the June 2 elections in Mexico.

The peso depreciated to as low as 18.99 to the dollar 10 days after the elections on concerns that a coalition led by Morena will approve a range of constitutional reform proposals — including a controversial judicial reform proposal — once recently-elected lawmakers assume their positions on Sept. 1.

Morena, the Labor Party and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico will have a supermajority in the lower house of Congress, allowing it to approve constitutional reform proposals without the need to court opposition support. However, it will need a few additional votes to get such proposals through the Senate.

Sheinbaum will be sworn in as Mexico’s first female president on Oct. 1.

spot_img

Are Americans a totally conquered people?

Paul Craig Roberts

by Paul Craig Roberts

The various “investigations” of the Secret Service’s failure to protect Trump are focused on operational and communication failures. The fact that the Secret Service did hardly anything normal procedures required has not yet raised the question whether elements of the Secret Service were involved. The failure is too large to be dismissed without investigation as nothing but a result of a collection of mistakes. The investigation that is needed is one that investigates whether elements in the Secret Service were involved in an assassination attempt on Trump, who is considered to be an existential threat to the ruling establishment.

The investigation cannot be conducted by the Secret Service, Homeland Security, and the FBI, because if the assassination attempt was a deep state plot, all else against Trump having failed, these three agencies are the likely ones involved in the plot.

A real investigation would have to answer these questions:

  1. Was the acoustic evidence examined?
  2. Were the fired bullets collected? Did they all come from the same rifle and was it the rifle found 7 feet away from Crooks dead body? Why was the rifle 7 feet away from the person alleged to have shot at Trump?
  3. Why was Trump allowed to go on stage when the Secret Service knew Crooks was positioned on the building?
  4. Why was the urgent information sent by the Pennsylvania police on the scene to the Secret Service not acted on and shared with Trump’s security detail?
  5. Do such unprecedented operational and communicative failures of this magnitude suggest Secret Service complicity in an attempt on Trump’s life?
  6. Was Crooks just a patsy whose presence was ignored because the plotters needed a patsy in place?

It is unclear that the investigation can be conducted by a Congressional committee as members are dependent on ruling elites for campaign contributions and are vulnerable to threats from executive branch agencies. The Founding Fathers made Congress weak because they feared “mob democracy.” But the consequence was to leave Congress too weak to hold the executive branch accountable.

A real investigation would have to be conducted by credentialed independent experts, but even here independence can be hard to find. So many people rely on government contracts that it is difficult for many to speak freely. The fact that physics departments and universities are dependent on federal money explains why academic physicists avoided taking issue with the 9/11 narrative.

Money speaks, and in the corrupt America of the 21st century, money is all that speaks.

To understand the difficulty of private expert examination, consider the fate of the experts who proved beyond all doubt that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. That the election was stolen is as clear as day, but those who brought forward the evidence have been ridiculed as “conspiracy theorists,” sued, prosecuted or threatened with prosecution, and some sentenced, if memory serves, to prison for “interfering with an election.” Even those who merely protested the stolen election were arrested, indicted, and imprisoned as “insurrectionists.” Any who survived the vendetta were bankrupted by their legal bills.

Some of Trump’s lawyers were indicted along with him in a RICO indictment by a corrupt black female Atlanta prosecutor, apparently put in office with George Soros’ money and currently under investigation herself for going on vacations with money she paid her lover who she paid $700,000 to prosecute Trump.

When people see that there is no limit on the power of corrupt prosecutors, they fear to go against the system.

Even if somehow an objective investigation could be conducted, if the conclusion was unacceptable to the ruling elite, the media would discredit it. The proven charges would lead nowhere. Look how long the US Department of Justice has been able to protect Hunter Biden from the perfectly clear evidence he provided on his laptop.

In America today the main result achieved by the enormous sums poured into universities and public schools by taxpayers, corporations, philanthropic foundations such as the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, and by ego-driven businessmen, who want their name to live on forever on a university building, is to teach guilt to white students and to teach hatred of “white racist scum,” one of the most common terms used in American university classes.

The position of white people in American Society today is such that whatever they say, even if fact-based, is dismissed as “white supremacy speaking.” In other words, as white people are “aversive racists,” nothing they say, despite the evidence, can be believed.

So, the conclusion in front of our face is that the ruling elite can do whatever it wants, because any challenge to it is impotent and results in the destruction of the challenger by the media, rejection by his family and friends, and if he is a business person the withdrawal of his financing, or his financial destruction by a Democrat prosecutor bankrupting him with the cost of endless producing of documents, as the corrupt NY prosecutor did to the website Vdare.

It seems that what we are confronted with is the American people are whatever the ruling elite want them to be, which is insouciant sheep, totally incapable of protecting their freedom and independence.

In effect, a totally conquered people.

spot_img

Finance minister says reducing Chinese imports would boost North American economies

El secretario de Hacienda, Ramírez de la O, dijo el miércoles que si América del Norte pudiera sustituir las importaciones de China, el impulso al PIB y al crecimiento del empleo sería sustancial. -- Finance Minister Ramírez de la O said on Wednesday that if North America could replace imports from China, the boon to GDP and job growth would be substantial. (anam.gob.mx)

by Mexico News Daily

Replacing just one-tenth of Chinese imports with products made in North America would significantly boost economic growth in Mexico and the United States, Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O said Wednesday.

Ramírez, who will continue as finance minister after President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum takes office on Oct. 1, also said that more than half a million new jobs would be created in Mexico if North America replaced 10 percent of Chinese imports with local production.

He told President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning press conference that GDP growth in Mexico would increase by 1.4 percentage points over current or recent levels if North American production ramped up to a point where 10 percent of Chinese imports were able to be replaced.

Economic growth in the United States and Canada would increase by 0.8 percentage points and 0.2 percentage points, respectively, Ramírez said.

There would be “very significant impacts for the three countries,” he said, noting that both the manufacture of additional products in North America and their sale to local consumers would spur growth.

The finance minister also said that increased local production would create 560,000 jobs in Mexico, 600,000 in the United States and 150,000 in Canada.

The GDP growth and job creation figures he cited presumably came from government modeling. Ramírez didn’t say how soon he believed North American production could replace 10% of Chinese imports.

In which sectors will Mexico seek to boost production? 

López Obrador told reporters that the federal government “already has a list of what we import the most from China and what can be produced in Mexico and North America.”

Ramírez said that “the products we’ve looked at are all in the manufacturing chain.”

Among them, he said, are medical devices, pharmaceutical products, electronics, metal products, auto parts and electrical and non-electrical machinery.

López Obrador said that the government’s plan to increase production in Mexico and North America had been presented to United States authorities. He claimed that the U.S. government “pirated” the plan and “began to call it … nearshoring.”

“But that [plan] emerged here, from our country,” he said.

Paradoxically, the establishment in Mexico of manufacturing plants operated by Chinese companies could help Mexico, and North America, reduce its reliance on Chinese imports.

Chinese companies already operate in various sectors in Mexico, and many others, including Lingong Machinery Group and electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, have announced plans to open plants here.

AMLO highlights importance of North American self-sufficiency 

Before Ramírez outlined the benefits that increased production capacity would generate for the Mexican economy, López Obrador declared that during his six-year term in office, the United States government and the U.S. business sector came to understand “the importance of being self-sufficient in North America” and “not depending on other continents, other regions of the world.”

“[We need to] produce in North America what we consume, … strengthen America as a continent, starting with what has already begun — the consolidation of North American economic integration. That is going very well,” he said.

The fact that Mexico has become the United States top trade partner — and the largest exporter to the U.S. after dethroning China in 2023 — shows just how much the country has advanced, López Obrador said.

“However — and this is what Rogelio is setting out — we’re still depending a lot on imports from China, that can be reduced. We’re not talking about eliminating them completely because that wouldn’t be viable, not even in the medium term,” he said.

Ramírez said July 20 that Mexico needs to review its trade relationship with China because it isn’t “reciprocal” given that that Mexico’s imports from China — including significant quantities of consumer goods — far exceed its exports to the East Asian nation.

“We buy US $119 billion [worth of products] per year from China and we sell $11 billion [worth of goods] to China. China sells to us but doesn’t buy from us and that’s not reciprocal trade,” he said during a speech at an event in San Luis Potosí.

Mexico recently implemented new tariffs on a broad range of Chinese products, but a former Mexican ambassador to China told Mexico News Daily that he didn’t believe they would be a sufficient deterrent.

The incoming government needs to do more to “help Mexican industry withstand this tsunami of Chinese imports,” Jorge Guajardo said.

In his address in San Luis Potosí, Ramírez suggested that stronger measures against Chinese imports may be coming.

The finance minister also said that Mexico has “great opportunities to produce more” and by doing so will “maintain our industry, our jobs and our salaries.”

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)

spot_img

With escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric, California farmworkers fear the future

As the ’24 elections get into full swing, anti-immigrant rhetoric is growing increasingly ugly, with real world consequences for migrant communities

by Selen Ozturk

Ethinic Media Services

As this year’s polarized election cycle continues, anti-immigrant rhetoric grows ever uglier, with life-altering consequences for farmworkers in California.

Between half and one-third of all farmworkers in the U.S. live in California alone. That’s between 500,000 and 800,000 farmworkers. These immigrants working to put food on the nation’s table face a paradox of great demand for cheap labor on the one hand, and politically fueled hate speech rejecting immigrants on the other.

“Ninety nine percent of the communities we’ve reached out to are farmworkers and all have expressed anxiety and fear. All feel their future is deeply impacted by this,” said Gustavo Gasca Gómez, immigration outreach specialist and Stop the Hate coordinator at the Fresno-based Education and Leadership Foundation.

“They’re most concerned about public charge, about being deported if they access benefits like health care that they or their children — who are often U.S. citizens — qualify for,” he explained at a Friday, August 2 Ethnic Media Services briefing about the impact of hate speech on migrant farmworkers.

Nationwide, 70 percent of farmworkers are foreign-born with 78 percent identifying as Hispanic. In California, 75 percent of farmworkers are undocumented, with 96 percent identifying as Hispanic.

“I’m undocumented with a sliver of privilege … I’m still in a precarious position, but millions of people would love to be in my shoes,” Gómez continued. “I can work, and I have social security. But I can’t vote or leave the country and return without express permission. And before I was a DACA recipient in 2012 I was a farmworker right out of high school … The work is difficult. It’s hot, dirty and tedious. It makes your mind numb in many ways. But it’s a job that the entire country depends on.”

“I speak to clients who say, ‘How can it not faze me when there are hundreds if not thousands of people holding up ‘Mass Deportation Now’ signs on national news?’” he said. “I am still human, and I am still committed to this country. We didn’t come here to cause harm.”

“Power in politics needs to invent a physically and morally repugnant enemy who wants to take what’s yours because the feeling of emergency creates unity and the need of a savior,” said Manuel Ortiz Escámez, sociologist, audiovisual journalist and co-founder of Redwood City-based press Peninsula 360.

“That’s why migrants have always been the ideal enemy of some U.S. political campaigns … and the data shows that it works,” he continued, adding that in the mid-19th century, for instance, manufacturing industries encouraged Irish immigrants to work in the U.S. while the nativist Know-Nothing Party characterized them as job-stealers. The country saw similar pushes for Chinese immigrants to work on railroads and in gold mines until the Chinese Exclusion Act passed by Congress in 1882.

Far more recently, Brookings data analysis shows that support for Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign was primarily driven by anti-migrant and racist rhetoric, alongside sexist sentiment.

However, racist anti-immigrant sentiment is now evolving from what it has been for decades, since the civil rights advances of the 1950s and 1960s, said Escámez. “We had this phrase, ‘No human being is illegal.’ But we’re entering an era now where we’re breaking what we’ve built, this idea that it’s not okay to be directly racist … With a second Trump term, migrants will be the first to suffer, but they won’t be the only enemy. They’ll target anyone who questions this.”

“During community discussions I had in Tulelake, a remote town in Siskiyou County, everyone agreed that migrants are experiencing anxiety and fear due to the elections,” he continued. “Some were not getting Medi-Cal because they were afraid of public charge.”

“Many kids were bullied at school who said, ‘Once Donald Trump is here, your family will be deported’ … but some who were bullied now support Trump,” he added. “I asked why, and they said it was to belong in a society that is turning more racist for young people. They have to be quiet now or show support for the bullies.”

“The consequence is that people are very afraid to talk at all. I hold interviews with people who later call and say, ‘Please do not publish anything, because I’m afraid of what could happen,’” Escámez said. “We’re breaking the social fabric in these communities. Until now, many of these farmworkers had built good relationships, including with the white population … Now, they tell me they’re more isolated. That they just go to church, to work, to the store, then stay home, because they don’t know what could happen.”

“What worries us most is that this rhetoric in power, on TV, that undocumented people are criminals and not welcome here, is reinforcing these actions of hate,” said Arcenio Lopez, executive director of Ventura-based Mixtec Indigenous Community Organizing Project. “We saw, when Trump was running the country, the increase in racism-motivated crime.”

Hate crimes under Trump spiked nearly 20 percent under the Trump administration — from 6,121 reported incidents in 2016 to 7,314 reported in 2019, according to annual FBI hate crime statistics reports. Of these hate crimes in 2019, 57.6 percent were motivated by race.

Hate-motivated murders in particular totalled 51 in 2019 — the highest count in nearly three decades.

“We talk about the politics, but the indigenous Mexican migrant communities we work with experience this hate daily,” explained Lopez. “We’re called ‘Oaxaquitas’ (‘little Oaxacan’) and ‘indito’ (‘little Indian’). We’re told what we speak is a dialect, not a language. We hear ‘You’re brown,’ ‘You’re short,’ ‘You’re ugly’ … When this language takes the mic, it gives the green light for these actions.”

Around 84 percent of California farmworkers are Mexico-born, while 9 percent identify as indigenous.

“When we talk about this, we should also mention why people leave their lands to come here. Many don’t want to,” he added. “If you go to Oaxaca, you’ll see so many companies from the U.S., Canada and Europe extracting natural resources. How does that impact indigenous communities who can’t compete, who don’t have trees or clean water? What are the decisions that this government is making with those? Who is in power?”

 

spot_img

Nicaraguan Lady Melba Núñez-López dies in San Francisco

by Madeline Mendieta

On July 27, 2024, at the age of 89, Mrs. Melba Núñez-López gave her soul to the Lord in the city of San Francisco, CA.

Mrs.  was born on March 4, 1935 in Managua, Nicaragua, daughter of Graciela and Eduardo Núñez. She was the oldest of three siblings. In 1956, at the age of 21, she emigrated to San Francisco under the sponsorship of her Aunt Lola, her mother’s sister. With the support of her uncles Lola and Rodolfo and her cousins ​​Rolando, Elda and José, she began her life in the United States. After working for several months, she was able to save enough money to help her daughters and mother emigrate.

At the age of 16, she met Mr. Berman Zúniga in Nicaragua, and they married, having two daughters Elizabeth and Esther. Elizabeth Zúniga, the eldest daughter, was the wife of the famous Santana band member, Jose ‘Chepito’ Aréas, and with whom she had four children, one of them being the now renowned Latin jazz percussionist, Adrián Aréas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8e58DrRo5Q

In 1962 she married for the second time, in the city of San Francisco, to Mr. Jose Noel López, also Nicaraguan. Together with her husband, she raised five children: Elizabeth, Esther, Noel, Roberto and Yvette in a happy and loving home with principles and Catholic education. Mrs. Núñez-López was married for 62 years to her soul mate, José Noel. For many years she was a parishioner of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.

Mrs. Núñez-López spent most of her working years at Bank of America until her retirement. Once retired, she stayed active by going to the gym, volunteering in Lincoln Park at the food distribution and at the Mission Dolores gift shop where she did such an excellent job that she was eventually offered a permanent job. She worked there for many years until 2020. She enjoyed traveling mainly on cruises with her husband. They visited different countries China, Europe, Mexico and Jerusalem which was her favorite.

As a grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother to several, she was kind, generous and known as “Mama Melba” she was the heart and soul of the family, according to one of her relatives.

Mama Melba was known for her strong character and her sense of classic style. Her home was well organized and orderly. She loved music and dancing. She excelled at growing all kinds of plants in her home. She enjoyed spending hours in her garden.

Her Daly City home was the place where five generations gathered and celebrations took place. A lifetime of memories and difficult moments happened there that will always be cherished. For her family, that home will never be the same without her. She will be missed by her family, extended family and lifelong friends.

She is survived by five children, Elizabeth, Esther, Noel, Roberto and Yvette; 16 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren; and her brother Eduardo Núñez. The family invites you to join us on Thursday, Aug. 8, from 4 – 8 p.m. for a rosary at St. Francis Chapel, Duggans, 500 Westlake Ave., Daly City. Mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 9, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 60 Wellington Ave., Daly City.

The staff of El Reportero and its editor, Marvin Ramírez, extend sincere condolences to the grieving family.

spot_img

Study: Compound in orange peels can protect against atherosclerosis

by Evangelyn Rodriguez

07/18/2024 / According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death among men, women and people of most racial and ethnic groups in America. In fact, data suggests that a person dies of heart disease every 33 seconds. The most common type of heart disease is coronary heart disease (CHD) which is said to kill an estimated 375,476 people every year.

CHD is caused by atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque inside the lining of the large coronary arteries that supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart. Partial or complete blockage of the coronary arteries deprives the heart of much-needed oxygen, which can lead to a heart attack. Also known as myocardial infarction, a heart attack can destroy part of the heart muscle and, depending on the damage, can be fatal. (Related: A protein in raw milk can help prevent atherosclerosis, reports study.)

Several factors can increase your risk of CHD. While some factors, such as age and genetics, are unavoidable, other risk factors of CHD, such as high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure, are certainly preventable. With healthy lifestyle changes, you can prevent plaque buildup in your arteries that leads to CHD. Here are some lifestyle changes that can help keep your heart and blood vessels healthy:

  • Exercise regularly and be physically active
  • Get enough good-quality sleep
  • Quit smoking and avoid exposure to second-hand smoke
  • Manage your stress levels
  • Eat a well-balanced diet and avoid highly processed foods

Research shows that being physically active strengthens your heart muscle, improving your heart’s ability to pump blood throughout your body. Meanwhile, lack of sleep promotes inflammation — a risk factor of cardiovascular disease — which can damage your blood vessels, causing them to thicken and restrict blood flow. People who don’t get enough sleep are also more prone to develop high blood pressure.

Similarly, studies show that smoking or inhaling second-hand smoke can cause an instant and long-term rise in blood pressure. Smoking has also been found to damage healthy blood vessels, increase your risk of blood clots and double your risk of stroke (decreased blood flow to the brain). Meanwhile, high levels of the stress hormone cortisol can increase blood pressure, blood cholesterol and triglycerides, blood sugar and blood pressure, all of which are risk factors for heart disease.

An unhealthy diet, especially one that is high in refined carbohydrates and saturated and trans fats, has been linked to atherosclerosis and consequently a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. To maintain a healthy heart and cardiovascular system, experts recommend avoiding fatty and sugary processed foods and eating more fruits, vegetables, healthy protein sources (e.g., lean meats, poultry, nuts, seafood and legumes) and whole grains.

Compound in orange peel found to reduce atherosclerosis risk

Earlier studies have found a connection between heart disease and the commensal bacteria residing in the human gut. One such study published in Frontiers in Endocrinology reported that gut bacteria metabolize dietary choline and carnitine — nutrients present in animal products — into trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), a compound that inhibits cholesterol metabolism, induces platelet aggregation and blood clotting, and promotes atherosclerosis.

In an effort to find a solution to this, researchers from the University of Florida and the U.S. Department of Agriculture turned to orange peels, which are known for their wealth of bioactive components. They hypothesized that orange peel extracts contain natural chemicals that could prevent the production of TMAO and its precursor, trimethylamine (TMA). (Related: Oranges are waste-free: Every part has unique health benefits.)

To test their hypothesis, the researchers obtained polar and non-polar fractions from orange peels and looked at how they affected TMA and TMAO production in mice and in cell cultures. They also performed chemical analysis of both fractions to identify relevant bioactive components. (Related: Scientists regard sorghum as a potential therapeutic agent against atherosclerosis.)

The researchers found that the polar fraction from orange peels effectively regulated atherosclerosis-related markers and reduced TMA and TMAO in mice plasma and urine. The inhibitory effect of the polar fraction on TMA and TMAO formation was independent of changes in gut microbial composition. While the nonpolar fraction also displayed inhibitory effects, the polar fraction proved to be more effective at suppressing the formation of TMA and TMAO.

The researchers attributed the polar fraction’s stronger activity to the presence of a compound called feruloylputrescine. Feruloylputrescine exhibited the highest inhibitory activity against the cntA/B enzyme, which is responsible for producing TMA. In cell cultures, treatment with the polar fraction from orange peels also reduced the expression of flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3), the enzyme that converts TMA into TMAO.

These findings show the considerable potential of orange peels in helping prevent heart disease. Yu Wang, one of the study authors, noted that their study highlights the unrecognized potential of feruloylputrescine and suggests that “orange peels, often discarded as waste in the citrus industry, can be repurposed into valuable health-promoting ingredients, such as diet supplements or food ingredients.”

How to incorporate orange peels into your diet

Orange peels are an incredibly versatile ingredient that you can easily add to a variety of recipes. In addition to health-supporting phytonutrients, orange peels are a good source of provitamin A (precursors of vitamin A), vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), vitamin B9 (folate), vitamin C, calcium and dietary fiber.

Orange peels can be eaten on their own (candied), added to drinks and desserts or used to flavor dishes. Here are some other ways you can use orange peels in the kitchen:

  • Use orange zest for baking cookies or cakes
  • Sprinkle orange zest onto salads, oatmeal, etc.
  • Mix orange zest with coarse sea salt to make orange salt (you can use this to season vegetables, rice, soups, etc.)
  • Mince and dry orange peels and combine with tea leaves and spices
  • Add orange peels to roasted dishes or use them to stuff chicken
  • Use orange peels to make marmalade
  • Steep orange peels in vodka for several days to make orange-cello

The flesh of oranges is not the only useful part of this citrus fruit. Orange peels are also nutritious and offer incredible health benefits, especially for the heart.

spot_img

Gnatalie, the only green-boned dinosaur, will be displayed in Los Angeles County

Screenshot

by Zurellys Villegas

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles (NHM) is preparing the fascinating exhibition of Gnatalie, the only green-boned dinosaur fossil on the planet.

Gnatalie was discovered in 2007 in the Utah Badlands by a team of researchers from the NHMLAC Dinosaur Institute, led by Dr. Luis Chiappe, NHMLAC Senior Vice President of Research and Collections and Gretchen Augustyn, Director of the Dinosaur Institute.

Dr. Chiappe states that “dinosaurs are a great vehicle to teach our visitors about the nature of science,” and at the same time highlights the importance of the exhibition for visitors by stating “what better than a green dinosaur almost 80 feet long to engage them in the process of scientific discovery and make them reflect on the wonders of the world we live in.”

Gnatalie, as it was recently named by the Angelenos, is a collection of several specimens, all belonging to a species of long-necked dinosaur (sauropod) similar to the diplodocus.

The NHM website explains that the long-necked, long-tailed herbivorous dinosaur fossils got their unique coloration, a mottled dark olive green, from the mineral celadonite during the fossilization process, unlike the fossils that are usually brown from silica or black from iron minerals.

Matt Wedel, an anatomist and paleontologist at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, near Los Angeles, referred to the unusual find, saying that he heard “rumors about a green dinosaur when I was in graduate school.”

He went on to say that he saw Gnatalie’s bones while they were still being cleaned and revealed that they were “like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

For Professor John Whitlock, a sauropod expert at Mount Aloysius College, the discovery of the nearly complete skeleton of Gnatalie represents a milestone in paleontology, as it will allow for more accurate comparative studies and expand our knowledge of this dinosaur species.

“It’s tremendously huge, it really increases our ability to understand both the taxonomic and anatomical diversity,” said the sauropod expert.

Angelenos choose ‘Gnatalie’ as the dinosaur’s official name

Last June, residents of Los Angeles voted to choose Gnatalie (pronounced “nat-ah-lee”) as the official name of this specimen discovered in Utah in 2007. Gnatalie was the winning choice among five names included in the ballot proposed by the museum.

Verdi, a derivative of the Latin word for green; Olive, for the small green fruit that symbolizes peace, joy and strength in many cultures; Esme, short for Esmeralda, which means emerald in Spanish; and Sage, an iconic green plant from Los Angeles were the other options for the official name of the dinosaur that the NHM had.

Gnatalie fossils are at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

Gnatalie is a set composed of several specimens, all belonging to a species of long-necked dinosaur (sauropod) similar to the diplodocus, explains the museum.

Approximately 150 million years ago, during the late Jurassic, the fossil remains of this dinosaur were buried in the bed of a river, sharing this resting place with others of its same species. “The preservation of bones for more than 100 million years is incredibly rare, but Gnatalie is more extraordinary than most,” adds the gallery.

The largest specimen on display at the Museum, measuring more than 23 meters, can also be seen for free, with or without admission. Gnatalie will be the first green dinosaur skeleton to go on display anywhere in the world.

Los Angeles County residents will have the chance to see this rare specimen on display Monday through Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. this fall at the Natural History Museum at 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007.

With Reporting by AP and NHM

spot_img

Are US military strikes against Mexican cartels on the table? Trump says ‘absolutely’

El expresidente estadounidense Donald J. Trump y el candidato republicano a vicepresidente J.D. Vance. - Former US President Donald J. Trump and Republican Vice President candidate nominee J.D. Vance.

by El Reportero‘s wire services

Former United States President Donald Trump has said he could use the U.S. military against Mexican cartels if he is re-elected as president on Nov. 5.

In an interview with Fox News, the Republican Party’s presidential candidate was asked whether “strikes” against Mexican cartels — which ship large quantities of narcotics including fentanyl to the U.S — were “still on the table.”

A clip from the interview of Republican Party nominee Donald Trump and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance with Jesse Watters.

“Absolutely,” Trump responded.

Fox News host Jesse Watters, who interviewed the 45th president of the United States and his 2024 running mate J.D. Vance, rephrased his question, asking Trump whether he was prepared to use military force against “our biggest trading partner.”

“Absolutely. Mexico’s going to have to straighten it out really fast or the answer is absolutely,” Trump said.

“They’re killing 300,000 people a year with fentanyl coming in,” he said, offering a figure that is almost triple the number of estimated drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2023.

Trump said that “Mexico is going to be given a very short period of time to police their border” and if they don’t do the job effectively, his government will take action.

“I’m sure they’re going to do not well and then you’re going to see the action start,” he said.

Trump asserted that “Mexico is petrified of the cartels because they’ll take out a president in two minutes.”

“They’re petrified of the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico,” he said.

The New York Times reported in late 2023 that Trump, while president, “talked privately about shooting missiles into Mexico to take out drug labs.”

The Times also said that “Republican lawmakers have drafted a broad authorization for the use of military force against cartels” and “pushed for designating Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.”

“… If Mr. Trump returns to the White House in 2025, he has vowed to push for the designations and to deploy Special Operations troops and naval forces to, as he put it, declare war on the cartels,” The Times said in October 2023.

Rolling Stone reported in May that “if he wins a second term in November, Donald Trump wants to covertly deploy American assassination squads into Mexico soon after he’s sworn into office again, according to three people who’ve discussed the matter with the former U.S. president.”

President López Obrador has categorically rejected the idea that the United States military could be used in Mexico. In 2019, he declined an offer from Trump to help Mexico combat organized crime after an attack on members of an extended Mormon family in northern Mexico that killed three women and six children.

Vance: Mexico in danger of becoming a “narco-state”

Senator Vance, unveiled as Trump’s vice president pick last week, defended the plan for United States forces to target Mexican cartels given the damage they inflict on the U.S.

“It’s funny that people accuse us of being bombastic for saying the cartels — we need to go after them. What about American citizens who are losing their lives by the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, because we won’t do something serious about the cartels? That is what’s reckless,” he told Fox News.

“… I actually believe that the Mexican government, even though they couldn’t say that, want President Trump to be serious about the cartels because that poison [fentanyl] is destabilizing their country too. Fourteen billion dollars coming into the cartels, and that was a couple of years ago, it’s probably more today,” Vance said.

“They’re not going to be a real country anymore, they’re going to become a narco-state unless we get some control over this,” he asserted.

spot_img
1...141516...609Page 15 of 609

SELECTIONS

POPULAR TICKETS

POPULAR CATEGORY

ABOUT US

Welcome to our Marvin J. Ramirez website! We are an innovative newspaper located in the heart of San Francisco. With a relentless passion for telling powerful stories, we inform our community with truthful news, insightful analysis, and compelling reporting.

Contacto: lreportero@aol.com

FOLLOW US

© Copyright 2023. AMAYCOM.NET. All rights reserved.