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Chemicals from everyday items may cause cancer, diabetes, autism

by Isabelle Z.

You probably understand the importance of organic food by now, but dangerous chemicals could still be making their way into your system through some everyday products you might not have even realized you need to worry about. Here is a look at a few of the items you might be using that could be wreaking havoc on your hormones.

Receipts

According a recently published study, nine out of ten receipts contain BPA and BPS. These “gender-bending” chemicals have been associated with early puberty, type 2 diabetes, autism, premature birth, and ADHD. They’re found in the shiny coating on the receipt, and your skin absorbs them quite readily. That’s why France has been pushing for an EU-wide ban on these substances in receipts. In the meantime, you can try to avoid taking receipts with you when you leave the store and keeping your contact with them to a minimum when you do need them.

Tampons and sanitary pads

Tampons and sanitary pads contain synthetic estrogens known as xenoestrogens. They are linked not only to infertility but also immunity problems and endometriosis. Look for sanitary products that are unbleached and uncoated, or consider using a menstrual cup.

Scented candles and perfumes

Many of those candles that keep your home smelling pleasant could be slowly eating away at your good health. Phthalates are considered a top contributor to people’s inability to lose weight. Also found in commercial perfumes, deodorants, body washes, and shampoos, these chemicals are known to cause birth defects in boys, poor egg quality, and early menopause, and they’ve also been linked to type 2 diabetes and breast cancer. Look for products that don’t contain phthalates, and consider ditching scented candles entirely in favor of high-quality essential oils in a diffuser.

Dental fillings

Even dental fillings without mercury could still be pretty dangerous to your health thanks to the BPA found in many composite fillings. According to a study published in the journal Pediatrics in 2012, children who have fillings made with BPA have more behavioral problems than their peers. Ask your dentist for BPA-free composite fillings or opt for porcelain instead. Gold is also a safe bet for fillings in locations that won’t be visible.

Water bottles

The CDC found that 93 percent of Americans have measureable amounts of BPA in their systems, and plastic water bottles are largely to blame for this. This chemical can also be found in the linings of canned foods. These hormone disruptors are believed to be behind the dropping sperm counts seen in recent years, not to mention the aforementioned links to breast cancer and weight gain. Making matters worse is the fact that these xenoestrogens build up in your body over time.

Keep in mind that leaving plastic water bottles in the sun or otherwise heating plastics releases these chemicals, so avoid microwaving food with plastic wrap over it or in plastic containers. Replace plastic water bottles with stainless steel ones, and switch to glass or ceramic food storage vessels.

Tap water and produce

Glyphosate is another xenoestrogen that has been linked to problems like obesity and breast cancer along with several other types of cancer, and it’s all too common in our food supply and tap water thanks to its widespread use as a pesticide. Consider a reverse osmosis filter to remove chemicals from your water, and opt for organic produce wherever possible to limit your exposure.

The best thing you can do for your health is to avoid these products entirely, but what about the exposure you’ve already gotten? There are a few ways you can help limit its impact. For example, flax seeds can help ease hormonal imbalances, while cruciferous vegetables like broccoli can detoxify this fake estrogen from your liver. Balancing your gut’s microflora with a probiotic can also help you eliminate toxins from your body more quickly.

Fighting for breath by a dying sea

IMPERIAL VALLEY, CA - 17AUGUST17 - Ruben Sanchez is a beekeeper, working with hives next to a field near the U.S./Mexico border, south of the Salton Sea. He says that bees are under stress because of increased dust from the expanding shoreline. He has been a beekeeper for 21 years. Copyright David Bacon

by David Bacon

When the dust rises in North Shore, a small farmworker town at the edge of the Salton Sea, Jacqueline Pozar’s nose often starts bleeding. Her teacher at Saul Martinez Elementary School in nearby Mecca calls her mom, Maria, and asks her to come take her home.

Jacqueline is seven years old. “I feel really bad because I can’t do anything for her,” Maria Pozar says. “Even the doctor says he can’t do anything – that she’s suffering from the dust in the air. Most of the children in North Shore have this problem. He just says not to let them play outside.”

The children of North Shore are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, whose sudden illnesses warn of a greater, life-threatening disaster to come. That disaster is the rapidly receding waters of the Salton Sea. As more and more playa – the sea’s mud shoreline – emerges from the water and dries out, fine particles get swept up by the wind and coat everything in its path, including children’s noses.

Airborne particles ranging in size between 10 and 1 p.m., are generated from wind-blown dust. When they lodge in the lungs, they can cause asthma and other illnesses.

This will be the biggest environmental disaster of our time,” charges Luis Olmedo, director of the Comite Civico del Valle, a community organization in the Imperial Valley at the Sea’s south end. “The issue of the Salton Sea trumps everything. We have to get the air contaminant level to zero. There is no safe level for the contaminants we have here. We need an intermediate project to stabilize the shoreline. The sea is receding much faster than any projects moving forward.”

The Salton seabed was created by the Colorado River millions of years ago. As it dug out the Grand Canyon, river sediment filled in a delta at the north end of the Gulf of California, creating what are now the Coachella and Imperial Valleys. Between those valleys lay an ancient geologic depression reaching a depth of 278 feet below sea level. Over the millennia it filled with water and then dried out repeatedly, but by the time of the Spanish colonization it was a dry desert saltpan.

In 1905, as Imperial Valley growers were building canals to bring Colorado River water to irrigate their farms, the levees containing their diversion failed when the river flooded. For two years the Colorado poured into the depression, creating the Salton Sea, whose surface rose over 80 feet above the desert floor.

Evaporation would eventually have dried it out, but in 1928 Congress designated land below -220 feet as a repository for agricultural runoff. Through the 1970s, the lake’s surface hovered at -227 feet, giving it an area of 378 square miles – the largest lake in California. Water from the Colorado, coming through the All-American Canal in the south and the Coachella Canal in the north, irrigated farmers’ fields and then went into the Sea, maintaining its level. Today the sediment lining the shore contains pesticides and fertilizer from decades of runoff.

The Salton Sea became a stopping point for more than 380 bird species migrating on the Pacific Flyway, including egrets, herons, gulls, eared grebes, white pelicans, Yuma clapper rails and gull-billed terns. The sea was stocked with fish species including corvina, sargo and bairdella. Tilapia introduced to control algae in irrigation canals also wound up in the lake.

Over the years the Salton Sea’s salinity increased, however, from 3,500 parts per million to 52,000 ppm – about 50 percent saltier than the ocean. Fish, except the tilapia, died off. Phosphorus and nitrogen from fertilizers, and nutrients stirred up by winds from the sea’s bottom, now create algae blooms that deplete oxygen, kill fish and contribute to diseases that kill birds. In 2012 the terrible stench from one algae bloom smothered Los Angeles for days, demonstrating that wind-borne dust may potentially travel that far as well. It can also blow south – across the border into Mexicali, Baja California’s capital city of more than 650,000 people.

In 2003 California was forced to reduce the water it takes from the Colorado to legal limits. As a result of an agreement hammering out how it would be shared, water began to be transferred from the Imperial Valley to San Diego. California Rural Legal Assistance warned the state plan “fails to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.” At first valley growers agreed to fallow some fields, and the saved water continued to flow into the Sea. But this year fallowing ends, and water transfers to San Diego will rise sharply in December.

The California Natural Resources Agency says, “Inflow to the Salton Sea is expected to shrink significantly after 2017, when water transfers from the Imperial Valley accelerate and mitigation water deliveries stop under agreements reached years ago.” The 2003 agreement said the state would pay to restore the environmental health of the Sea, but for 13 years no money was appropriated. Imperial County, its air pollution district and local growers tried to challenge the agreement in court, but lost.

According to a 2005 Border Asthma and Allergies (BASTA) Study conducted by the California Department of Public Health, 20.2 percent of children in Imperial County are diagnosed with asthma. The national average is 13.7 percent. Imperial County consistently has the highest asthma hospitalization rates among all California counties, and ten valley residents died of it from 2000 to 2004.

Not all asthma is due to dust from the Sea. Even smaller particles, called PM 2.5, come from smoke from burning fields after crops are picked. The Comite Civico has pushed for banning field burning for many years, but “it’s cheaper for farmers to burn,” says Humberto Lugo, a Comite Civico staff member

Hooked on fuel: drug cartels diversify

Petroleum market is bigger, closer; ‘we all consume gasoline’

by Mexico News Daily

Mexico’s notorious cartels are not just hooked on drugs but fuel as well, according to a report published yesterday by the news agency Reuters.

Fuel theft from refineries and pipelines owned and operated by state oil company Pemex is rapidly becoming one of the biggest and most pressing economic and security concerns for Mexico, the report said.

It costs the federal government more than US $1 billion annually in lost revenue and is deterring foreign investment.

It’s a lucrative illicit market, and one that cartels splintered by the capture of narco kingpins and internal power struggles have increasingly sought to tap in their search for alternative revenue sources.

With an increasingly dominant role as fuel thieves, or huachicoleros as they are colloquially known, two of Mexico’s largest and most powerful industries — oil and narcotics —  are now facing off, head to head.

Extortion and violence are commonly used by cartels against Pemex employees to gain access to or information about fuel sources. By directly targeting refineries rather than pipelines, cartels can access huge quantities of the nation’s fuel supply.

Those who comply with cartel demands can make massive personal gains. But for those who refuse to play along, the story can be quite different.

Reuters spoke to one former oil refinery employee from Salamanca, Guanajuato, who fled to Canada because he feared for his life after receiving death threats and being a victim of both kidnapping and violence.

“They said they knew who I was and where I lived,” Alberto Arredondo said, talking about the first time that someone claiming to be from the Familia Michoacána cartel called him in 2015.  “They wanted information.”

After receiving a death threat in a subsequent call, he gave in and offered the information that the cartel sought.

In another incident in 2016, Arredondo was forced into a van and driven to a ranch where, under duress, he again offered the information that cartel operatives wanted. Later, they dumped him at the side of a road.

In yet another incident later the same year, Arredondo was stabbed in a bar. After recovering, he bought a plane ticket for Canada and left Mexico. “I knew that this was never going to end,” he said.

In 2016, Pemex reported revenue of about US $52 billion, meaning that the petroleum industry is one of just a few industries that is more profitable than the massive drug trade, which the Mexican government estimates at over US $21 billion annually.

Therein lies a big part of the attraction.

“The business is more profitable than drug trafficking because it implies less risk,” said Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Deputy Georgina Trujillo.

The potential market is bigger and closer as well.

“You don’t have to risk crossing the border to look for a market. We all consume gasoline. We don’t all consume drugs,” Trujillo explained.
And that large demand is increasingly being met by illicit vendors on the black market.

Between 2011 and 2016, illegal pipeline taps went up almost fivefold, according to a recent Federal Auditor’s Office (ASF) report.
Pipeline repairs surged tenfold in the same period, costing almost 1.8 billion pesos (US $95 million).
When added to poor maintenance of their infrastructure, the problem results in the nation’s refineries losing massive amounts of fuel and money.

Considered collectively, “the refineries have accumulated annual operating losses of about [US] $5 billion in recent years,” Reuters said.
A 2014 energy reform promoted by current President Enrique Peña Nieto opened up the energy market to private and foreign companies but it also pushed fuel prices up because the government started to phase out subsidies to lure outside investment.

But the higher fuel prices also attracted criminals who were able to undercut retailers because their fuel didn’t cost than anything more than their time and effort to get it.

The stolen fuel market was more lucrative than ever and more and more criminal organizations wanted in.

But violence surged as well.

One example is Salamanca, Guanajuato, where a third of all new fuel taps in Mexico were discovered in 2016.

The dead bodies of refinery workers, police and suspected huachicoleros have become increasingly common sights around the city as have narcomantas, or narco signs, on which cartels mark their territory or make threats to rival gangs.

Guanajuato’s homicide rate last year rose by 14 percent on 2016 figures but represented a 71 percent increase on 2013 numbers.

One huachicolero recruited to a gang that now dominates the illegal fuel market in Salamanca told Reuters that he had killed about 30 people belonging to rival gangs that had tried to make incursions into their territory.

The man — known only as Juan — said the intruders included some of Mexico’s most notorious cartels such as the Zetas and the Caballeros Templarios.

Victims were usually buried in mass graves in a region the gang referred to as the “Bermuda Triangle,” Juan said.

The alleged leader of the criminal group known as the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, José Antonio Yepez, is wanted by federal authorities.
The man also known as “El Marro” or “The Mallet,” allegedly built up a payroll that included politicians, municipal, state and federal police as well as state and federal prosecutors.

Yepez also reportedly asked a local band to write corridos, or songs, about him, a common practice among powerful drug lords.
Having powerful people on his payroll ultimately paid off.

After being surrounded by security authorities in 2014, Juan told Reuters that Yepez made a quick phone call before police promptly allowed him and his accomplices to go.
Source: Reuters (en).

Mexico will fight tariffs on washers, solar panes

US announced tariffs of 20 percent and 30 percent on washing machines, solar panels

by Mexico News Daily

Mexico has announced it will take legal action against United States President Donald Trump’s decision to impose steep tariffs on washing machines and solar panels imported into the U.S.

In a prepared statement released yesterday, the Secretariat of Economy (SE) said that the government “regrets the United States’ decision not to exclude Mexico from the measures” and will “use all legal recourses so that the U.S. complies with its international obligations.”

The agency cited an article from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that provides for compensation in the event that economic safeguards are imposed by one member country on another.

Trump announced yesterday that a 20 percent tariff will apply to the first 1.2 million large washing machines imported during the first year of the new protectionist scheme. Imports beyond that number will be subjected to a 50 percent tariff.

The tariffs will decline to 16 percent and 40 percent respectively in the third year after their introduction.

Solar panels will initially face a 30 percent tax before dropping to 15 percent by the fourth year. However, the scheme will allow 2.5 gigawatts of unassembled solar panels to be imported tariff-free.

Trump said that the tariffs will help U.S. manufacturers and positioned the decision as part of his promise to put American companies and jobs first.

The chairman of Whirlpool Corporation, Jeff Fettig, subsequently said that the new tariff on washing machines would create new manufacturing jobs in the U.S. states of Ohio, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee.

But the SE statement questioned the impact of Mexican imports on the competitiveness of U.S. industries.

It pointed to a conclusion reached by the United States International Trade Commission that washing machines exports from Mexico don’t harm the U.S. industry.

It also said that the U.S. washing machine manufacturing industry itself had stated that damage it had suffered due to imports was not related to Mexican-made products.

The SE statement added that the United States’ importation of Mexican solar panels encourages the development of renewable energies, which in turn contribute to a reduction of the use of fossil fuels.

The U.S.-based Solar Energy Industries Association said the new tariff would lead to the delay or cancelation of billions of dollars of investment in the sector and result in 23,000 job losses.

A game of Color: The African-American Experience in Baseball

Compiled by he El Reportero’s staff

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Baseball Reliquary and the Institute for Baseball Studies present A Game of Color: The African-American Experience in Baseball, an exhibition of artifacts, artworks and photographs opening Jan. 13 in the Skylight Gallery at the San Francisco Public Library.

The exhibition covers more than a half century of professional baseball, from the founding of the first Negro League in 1920 through the integration of major league baseball in 1947, and up to a new wave of outspoken African American players in the 1960s and ‘70s who challenged the baseball establishment.

Among the Exhibition Highlights:

Jackie Robinson And Emmett Ashford: Highlighting Jackie Robinson’s pioneering role as the first African American to officially play in the major leagues in the 20th century and his status as the most important professional baseball player in postwar America.  Also featured is Emmett Ashford, the first African American umpire to officiate in the minor leagues in 1951 and in the major leagues in 1966.

An Evening with Richard Bean & Sapo

Back for their annual Valentines Day show, Richard Bean & Sapo return to where they sold out last year. This year Sapo will handle the entire evening which will surely sell out again this year. This years show will also take place the night before Super Bowl 52 so you can get your party started with Richard Bean & Sapo. Only question is who will knock off the Pats! Club Fox sat Feb 3.  

Buy tickets at: http://www.latinrockinc.net/events/2018-02-03-richard-bean-and-sapo.aspx 

Redwood City to Unveil the Sesquicentennial Redwood City Pages Public Art Installation

New Public Art Seeks to Celebrate Redwood City’s Community and History.

The City of Redwood City announced today a public unveiling of the Redwood City Pages Book Project, a larger-than-life-sized public art book created by photographer Brian Taylor. A public unveiling of the Redwood City Pages is planned.

Redwood City Pages is a new public art piece to be displayed at the City’s Downtown Library and created through the help of the Redwood City community. Over this last year, the community participated in paper making and cyanotype workshops and celebrated Redwood City’s history and community through art.

On Feb. 8, 2018.

The Sacred Roots of Latin Jazz

Conceived and produced by John Santos in collaboration with the EastSide Arts Alliance and the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland.
Thank you for spreading the word and your presence and support of community-based live music!

On Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018, at the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway, Oakland. Doors open at 3 p.m. Concert at 4 p.m. Two sets.

Tranquility House Fundraiser Gala

The Tranquility House Alternatives invite you to a night full of Latin Jazz and percussion. 

Be here as Bay Area favorites, MALO Anthology and the Pete Escovedo and Juan Escovedo all star band, take the stage for an incredible fundraising event. 

Opening the evening will be the Dr. Groove Band. VIP Packages which include Meet & Greet with the bands are also available.
 
The fundraiser will take place at the Bal Theatre in San Leandro on Saturday, Feb. 24. At 14808 East 14th Street, San Leandro, 510-878-1675. For more information and ticket prices, please go to: http://www.baltheatre.com/event

142-year old fair is cultural heritage

León State Fair, one of Mexico’s biggest, runs for 26 days until Feb. 6

by the El Reportero’s news services

The government of Guanajuato has decreed that the 142-year-old León State Fair, celebrated annually in the state’s capital, is now part of the state’s intangible cultural heritage.

Governor Miguel Márquez Márquez issued the decree yesterday during the opening ceremony of the fair, which also marked the 442nd anniversary of the founding of León.

“To keep [the fair] going for 142 years and to keep it family friendly has no price. It is an intangible cultural heritage, it’s something that will stay forever, and this decree brings the efforts of the three levels of government… and society together, making sure that it continues for future generations,” the governor said.

The fair “is an event we all feel proud of, and is respected across the country and around the globe.” As such, the event has been part of the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) since 2016.

“Everyone can come to this fair,” continued Márquez, “where peace, happiness and enthusiasm reign. There are no differences here, because those with and without money alike can come.”

More than 5 million people are expected to visit the event, dubbed “the fair of smiles,” during its 26-day run and enjoy cultural, gastronomic and recreational attractions. One of the largest such events in Mexico, it ends Feb. 6.

The state Secretariat of Tourism expects the fair to generate an economic spillover of over 2.8 billion pesos, or just under US $147 million.

A livestock show and exhibition also opened yesterday on the fairgrounds, an event that attracts 110 livestock breeders from around the country and some 2 million visitors. (By Mexico News Daily)

Source: El Universal (sp)

Eric Clapton Says He’s Going Deaf

Rock legend Eric Clapton is losing his hearing.

The ‘Layla’ singer, 72, revealed Tuesday that he’s suffering from tinnitus, a ringing in the ear that’s commonly caused by noise-induced hearing loss.

‘The only thing I’m concerned with now is being in my 70s and being able to be proficient. I mean, I’m going deaf, I’ve got tinnitus, my hands just about work,’ Clapton said on BBC Radio 2.

‘I mean, I am hoping that people will come along and see me (for) more than (because) I am a curiosity. I know that is part of it, because it’s amazing to myself that I am still here.’

In 2016, Clapton revealed that nerve damage has affected his ability to play the guitar.

The musician’s only scheduled 2018 show so far is the July British Summer Time Fest in Hyde Park.

Mind control and “the flu virus”

by Jon Rappoport

Yesterday, I exposed the fact that most “flu” is not the flu.

For example, here is a quite suggestive quote from Peter Doshi’s report, “Are US flu death figures more PR than science?”

“[According to CDC statistics], ‘influenza and pneumonia’ took 62,034 lives in 2001 — 61,777 of which were attributable to pneumonia and 257 to flu, and in only 18 cases was the flu virus positively identified.”

OOPS.

Today, I want to look at the mind control aspect of this insanity.

If someone says, “You have the flu,” he means you have one thing and other people who have the flu have the same thing.

It is caused by a virus, and everyone who has the flu has that virus.

If you say, “No, the so-called flu could be caused by many different things,” people might appear to agree with you, but they’re still thinking, “The flu is one thing.”

They won’t let go. That’s called mind control.

Person A has a cough, fatigue, headache, and fever. Why? A combination of stress, exposure to cold weather, and contaminated indoor air.
Person B also has cough, fatigue, headache and fever. Why? A combination of junk food, nutritional deficits, and a toxic pain reliever.
Do persons A and B have the same thing?

No, they don’t. If they did, the causes would be the same. And they aren’t.

Now take 10,000 people who have the above list of symptoms. But none of them has the flu virus. Do any of them have the flu? No. Do they all have the same thing? No, because the combination of causes and the precise nature of each cause are not the same from person to person.

If 10,000 people have the flu virus, do they all have the flu? No. People with strong immune systems don’t get sick. People with weak immune systems do get sick. The determining factor is the condition of the immune system, not the presence of the virus. Therefore, the tight equation, “flu virus equals flu,” is false.

Understanding all these factors rearranges the thought process vis-à-vis “the flu.”

“Flu outbreak across America” is a generality. It doesn’t hold together. Once you take it apart, you see something different.
You’re no longer in a state of hypnosis about “the virus.”

“Yes, but all these people getting sick…showing up at hospitals…they must all have the same thing…”

No. They might have similar symptoms, but that doesn’t mean “they have the same thing.”

If you want one factor, which combined with other immune-suppressing factors, might be at work, why not start with the freezing weather across America? That could be a clue. But it’s far from the whole story.

Person C has cough, fatigue, headache, and fever. In his case, it’s caused by a combination of freezing weather, five toxic medicines on his night table at the nursing home, and a forced change of diet that increases the load of empty calories.

Person D has cough, fatigue, headache, and fever. In her case, it’s caused by grief over the loss of a loved one, a bad reaction to the flu vaccine, and a power outage that cut off heat in her home for two days.

And so forth, on and on.

Casually blaming “the virus” is a response dictated by the stimulus of news and government propaganda about “the flu.”

And the propaganda ignores the most important factor: the condition of a person’s own immune system. THAT is a non-medical situation; and increasing the power of one’s own immune response requires something the medical system refuses to recognize—all the actions a person could take under the general banner of “natural health.”

From which the medical system makes zero money.

This is called a clue.

“Let’s see. We can tell people that when they get sick with ‘flu symptoms,’ they have the flu, and it’s all about the virus. Then we can sell flu vaccines and drugs like crazy. OR we can tell them these so-called flu symptoms come from different combinations of causes, which in many cases are environmental and should be identified—and most importantly, we can tell them they need to strengthen their immune systems through ‘natural’ methods—and then we make no money and go out of business and end up pumping gas in Death Valley. Hmm. Which choice do we make? Let’s take a vote…”

(Jon Rappoport is the author of three explosive collections, The Matrix Revealed, Exit From The Matrix, and Power Outside The Matrix).

Trump administration using ICE to target immigration activists

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

Dear readers, following is a news article written by Kevin Gosztola, that I am sharing with you so you can get informed of the latest move by the current President – which aimed at to target immigration activists, a new strategy to deport more immigrant, causing to separate American children from their undocumented parents. – MR.

Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, multiple high-profile cases have surfaced where immigrants involved in community activism were deported or faced an increased threat of deportation

by Kevin Gosztola

Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to be escalating its targeting of immigrant rights activists for deportation.

Since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, there have been at least ten prominent cases where immigrants involved in community activism were deported or faced an increased threat of deportation.

Maru Mora-Villalpando received a notice from ICE to appear before an immigration judge. She is from Mexico City and leads an organization known as Northwestern Detention Center Resistance. It was launched in 2014 to protest a private immigrant detention facility in Tacoma, Washington. At the time, hunger strikes were launched by detainees to protest abusive conditions.

She has engaged in civil disobedience, which means she likely has an arrest record. She believes ICE is targeting her for her activism. Her “notice to appear” indicated deportation proceedings were initiated.

“For us, it’s clear that although their actions against immigrants, starting with their campaign, actually hitting Mexicans has grown. But we still fight. We still resist. And we have been winning. So we believe that ICE is really sending us a message to stop our political activity, to stop our activism. When I saw that letter, I immediately knew what it was. And I laughed to myself, because I felt, ‘They are sending me a message. They want me to stop. And I won’t stop,’” she added.

There are several other cases that garnered attention in 2017 that show ICE is developing into a major tool for political oppression.
Siham Biyah, a 40-year-old mother, and activist in Boston, was deported to Morocco a day after Christmas. She had a check-in at ICE headquarters on Nov. 7 and was detained. The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families took her 8-year-old son Naseem and refused to let Biyah’s family decide who would take care of Naseem.

She was removed from her cell on Dec. 26, transferred to Virginia and placed on a plane to Casablanca the next day. Each time she was moved, authorities would not allow her to use the phone so she could rally supporters to make phone calls against her deportation.

The Denver Post reported in October that Colorado had more immigrants living in sanctuary in churches than any other state. One of those individuals who sought sanctuary is Sandra Lopez, a 42-year-old mother who fled violence in Chihuahua, Mexico, about 20 years ago.

Lopez took refuge in the church in November after she was informed ICE would likely deport her if she went to her annual check-in on Oct. 19. She was arrested in 2010 on “misdemeanor criminal mischief and domestic violence” charges but that was “after one of her children mistakenly dialed 911.” Officers reported her to ICE when she could not show a Colorado ID.

“It’s important that we call this what it is. I’m an undocumented mother, and that does not make us criminals. I’m just a mother, and I’m fighting for my family to be together. I had the option to flee and go into hiding, but instead, I’m here. I have dreams. My family has dreams,” Lopez stated.

A California State University student named Claudia Rueda, who is an immigrant rights activist, was arrested on immigration charges on May 18. She was outside of a relative’s home in Los Angeles. The U.S. Border Patrol claimed her arrest was part of a “drug smuggling investigation.”

Rueda had no criminal record but was arrested twice during protests for immigrant rights. Fortunately, immigration judge Annie S. Garcy found her detention without bond to be “unduly severe.” In June, she was ordered released and the judge even was “incredulous when a government attorney asked that Rueda be required to wear a monitoring device.”

A retail janitor and organizer for low-wage workers in Local 26, Luciano Mejia Morales was arrested in Minnesota last summer when he was stopped by police and officers discovered he had no driver’s license. Family and colleagues raised funds for his bail. But a few hours after, ICE arrested him and initiated his deportation. The community was unable to stop his deportation back to Guatemala.

In May, Carimer Andujar, an undocumented Rutgers University student, was summoned by ICE to go to their office in Newark, New Jersey. She feared they would deport her to the Dominican Republic but left the meeting without ICE detaining her.

Both Enrique Balcazar, a 24-year-old human rights activist from Mexico, and Zully Palacios, a 23-year-old activist from Peru, were arrested in March after ICE agents surrounded their human rights organization, Migrant Justice, in Burlington, Vermont. They were detained and face deportation proceedings in March.

Another Migrant Justice advocate, Cesar Alex Carillo, who was 23 years-old, agreed to “voluntary departure” back to Mexico in May after he was arrested the same week as Balcazar and Palacios. He had a prior driving under the influence (DUI) charge, which led a Boston immigration judge to order Carillo be held in detention without bail. (“Voluntary departure” was accepted so Carillo was not formally deported and could attempt to return to the U.S. in the future).

Migrant Justice strongly believes immigration authorities targeted their organization for their political activism. They filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in October.

Jeanette Vizguerra, a mother, and immigrant rights activist, sought refuge at the First Unitarian Church in Denver after her stay of removal expired. She was supposed to meet with ICE but instead sought sanctuary to avoid deportation to Mexico. She was granted relief in May, weeks after Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people.

Three Colorado Democrats—Michael Bennet, Jared Polis, and Ed Perlmutter—fought for a stay of removal to be granted. They introduced legislation. ICE responded affirmatively to the bill, however, as the Los Angeles Times reported, the agency changed its policy of reversing deportation proceedings if a member of Congress introduces a bill. Now, “ICE will consider and issue a stay of removal for up to six months only if the chairman of the House or Senate judiciary committee, or appropriate subcommittee, makes a written request to ICE.”

Comaceuticals: Steeped in and dependent on consumerism

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“Many purchases are the result of nothing more than hype and buying decisions are often functions of ignorance and ads”

by Ben Fuchs

The skin care business is, like many other businesses, steeped in and dependent on consumerism and marketing. Rather than having real effects, products have come to rely much more on sizzle; many purchases are the result of nothing more than hype and buying decisions are often functions of ignorance and ads.

The world of cosmetic products as we know it today was birthed in the late 19th and early 20th century, at the same time that business enterprises were beginning to understand Freudian psychological theories of human motivations and buying behaviors and how to use them to exploit and manipulate consumer minds and emotions.

No business has leveraged human desires and vulnerabilities via sales and advertising more than the business of beauty. We are endlessly manipulated and contorted into spending our hard earned cash via celebrity sales pitches, advertising slogans and the recommendations of dubious department store “advisers”.

But that all changed with the active ingredients dubbed “cosma-ceuticals” which worked as powerfully as prescriptions but were only regulated as cosmetics. The father of the cosmaceutical, Dr. Albert Kligman coined the term to distinguish inactive and superficial ingredients from those that went “…beyond mere camouflage…” and could achieve real and often long-term results. While it’s true that everything including water will inevitably alter the skin in some way, only true cosmaceuticals can provide the kind of performance most consumers expect and are (mis-)led to believe they’ll get when they purchase and apply their cream, lotion, toner and treatment skin care preparations and products.

The retinoids, Vitamin A molecules, were the first cosmaceutical substances, and are, to this day, the most effective. These were followed by alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), which are low pH extracts from fruit and plant materials that can achieve dramatic anti-aging and skin retexturing effects. Then, most recently, a class of actives called peptides, which affect the structure of the skin like a “-ceutical”, but that were intended to beautify like a “cosma-“, have become all the rage. The most important and the gold standard of peptides is a substance called “Matrixyl.”

The bottom line is, if you’re looking for skin care that works look for cosmaceuticals. While the vast majority of products that you put on your skin are ineffective and inactive, using real cosmaceutical actives will allow you to bypass the standard, “extract-from-a-melon-that-grows-of-the-coast-of-France” type ingredients that you hear about on infomercials and promoted by movie stars. Retinoids, (retinol and retinoic acid primarily) and alpha hydroxy acids are cosmaceutical elements that really work. And, Vitamin C, in its fat-soluble (the proper term is “lipophilic”) format, is one of the most effective topicals you could ever use. In fact, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and alpha hydroxy acids, (which include glycolic, lactic, citric, malic, and acetic acids), are the most important active ingredients and ones that everyone over the age 40 (or even 30) should be applying on a regular basis. I call them “The Big 3” and they should be the core ingredients of any anti-aging skin care program: lipophilic Vitamin C, Vitamin A and AHAs. And for the consumer who wants everything, consider adding in a peptide containing product, ideally one that contains a proven and time-tested ingredient like Matrixyl.

Guatemala’s Israeli ties drive decision to move embassy to Jerusalem

In recent years, Israel has been increasingly turning its attention to Latin America. The shift toward right-wing governments in the region, the latest example being Chile, may facilitate such diplomacy

by Ramona Wadi

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — The unfolding of events since U.S. President Donald Trump announced his unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, against international law and U.N. resolutions, revealed the historical bond between the settler-colonial state and Guatemala — the latter being the first country after the U.S. to declare its intention to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

Writing on his official Facebook page, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales stated that the decision was taken in light of the historical ties between Israel and Guatemala, thus making the embassy’s relocation “of major relevance.” Guatemala was one of the countries with an embassy based in Jerusalem prior to 1980 when the U.N. called for the withdrawal of such embassies after Israel proclaimed ownership of the entire city.

Morales’s statement was issued after the U.N. General Assembly’s non-binding resolution on Jerusalem in December 2017, which was backed by a majority of 128 to 9. The resolution called upon countries to abide by the previous U.N. Security Council resolutions and reaffirmed that the status of Jerusalem should be resolved through negotiations. It also reiterated that:

Any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void, and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”
Honduras and Guatemala, both of which rely upon Israeli sales of military equipment, voted against the resolution. Honduras recently bought $209 million in surveillance and military equipment from Israel.

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel gave an interview to the Times of Israel in which she stated that her country had planned the move several years back but had been unable to effect it. “Obviously, President Trump’s decision helped in a way, because we can do it together, as allied nations,” she acknowledged.

Jovel was also reported as stating that Guatemala wanted to be the first country to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

In recent years, Israel has been increasingly turning its attention to Latin America. The shift toward right-wing governments in the region, the latest example being Chile, may facilitate such diplomacy.

Several countries in the region — such as Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Honduras, and Guatemala — have ties with Israel and avail themselves of the opportunity to buy Israeli surveillance technology. Regionally, there is also governmental support for the two-state paradigm rather than overt support for historic Palestine. Governments in the region, therefore, are reluctant to sever ties with Israel, which results in a situation where support for Palestine is in tension with maintaining ties with Israel.

Adel Turjuman — a Palestinian from Jerusalem who has been living in Guatemala since the age of 14 and is a committee member of Confederacion Palestina Latino America y del Caraibe (COPLAC) — thinks that Guatemala’s influence in Latin America remains limited, explaining:

COPLAC has reasons to believe that Guatemala will not influence other countries. For instance, Honduras has announced they will not be moving their embassy to Jerusalem, even though they voted against the U.N. resolution. Panama and El Salvador, who abstained, have also said their embassies will remain in Tel Aviv. The majority of countries in the region voted in favor of the U.N. resolutions and countries such as Argentina, Mexico and Colombia abstained.”

A look at the comments on Morales’s facebook page announcement reveals public sentiment as generally supportive of the government’s position, coming from a largely religious perspective.

On January 8, however, Dr. Marco Vinicio Mejía filed a legal complaint against Guatemala’s decision to move the embassy. He was an advisor to Morales during his electoral campaign, until 2016 when Morales assumed the presidency. The Constitutional Court’s decision on whether to revoke the decision to move the embassy is expected on Monday.

In comments to MintPress News, Vinicio Mejia gave an overview of the religious and political perspectives of Guatemala that led to Morales’s decision:

President Morales’s decision to move the embassy is political; however, he framed it with religious arguments. Guatemalan society is characterized by religious divisions. The majority is Christian; there are also Catholics and Protestants. Morales supports the construction of the Jews as the ‘chosen people.’”

Vinicio Mejia stated that there were public protests by Zionists against his legal action, but he is adamant about his intention:
I am not of Palestinian origin but I believe that the decision taken by President Morales is against peace. I oppose the decision to relocate the embassy to Jerusalem because it violates freedom of religion. On political grounds, the President’s decision is wrong because it also violates international law. With his decision, Jimmy Morales has also violated his obligation to maintain Guatemala’s dignity.”

Morales’s electoral campaign slogan was “Ni corrupt, ni ladron” (neither corrupt, nor a thief), which made him a favorite candidate with the Guatemalan electorate despite his lack of political experience. However, Vinicio Mejía explained:

[By September 2017] hundreds of thousands of people protested and demanded his resignation, after he ordered the expulsion of the commissioner against corruption. He remains in power thanks to the support of the military and Protestant sects.”

Mejía is of the opinion that with this decision, Guatemala will be “considered as a satellite of the U.S.”

Turjuman is of a similar opinion, giving consideration to Morales’s decision against the framework of corruption of which his government is accused:

I do believe that the U.S. has influenced this decision and for several reasons. Since the summer of 2017, Jimmy Morales has been under investigation for charges of corruption. Both his brother and son were in prison for the same reasons. His party is now being investigated for illicit financing. I think that he believed that if he supported Trump and the U.S. with this decision, he would be in some way ‘protected.’”

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