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Trump says it again: Mexico will pay for the wall

Trump and Peña Nieto met in Germany where trade was the chief topic

Compiled by Mexico News Daily

Despite an agreement between the leaders of Mexico and the United States that a border wall would no longer be the subject of public discussion by them, U.S. President Donald Trump today repeated earlier claims that Mexico would pay for the wall.

But he also spoke in positive terms about the progress being made on trade talks in preparation for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Following a meeting between Trump and President Enrique Peña Nieto on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the former was asked by reporters if he still expected Mexico to pay for the border wall, a key platform of his election campaign last year.

“Absolutely,” Trump said.

His insistence that Mexico would pay and Mexico’s insistence that it would not led to a war of words in January. After a meeting between the two leaders was canceled they ended the impasse with an hour-long telephone chat in which they agreed not to speak publicly about the wall.

Trump told this morning’s joint press conference with Peña Nieto, whom he called his friend, that he thought they had made “very good progress” at today’s meeting, their first since Trump took office in January.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Videgary, who attended the meeting, told reporters trade had formed a major part of the conversation with Trump and he was optimistic about the upcoming NAFTA talks, expected to begin in August.

“We expect to have a meaningful, constructive, modernization of the agreement that is good for the three nations,” the minister said. “And we think there is a lot of room to make it a better agreement for the three nations.”

He said during a subsequent radio interview that the process should be “relatively quick” with general agreements being reached by the end of the year.

Somewhat less positive was Donald Trump today in his weekly address to the nation. He said the U.S. was pursuing “a total renegotiation of NAFTA and if we don’t get it we will terminate it, that is, end NAFTA forever.”

Mexican officials said the border wall did not come up during today’s meeting between the two leaders.

Source: The Independent (en), Reuters (en)


Illegally-sold ejido land returned in Cozumel

The judge who bought it has returned 100 hectares to the ejido

One hundred hectares of community-owned land sold illegally in Quintana Roo during the administration of former governor Roberto Borge Angulo has been returned to its rightful owners.

According to investigations carried out by the anti-corruption organization Somos tus Ojos (We’re your Eyes), Fidel Villanueva Rivero acquired 135 hectares of community-owned land in the ejido of Villa Cozumel, located on the island of Cozumel.

The accused has been president of the Supreme Court of Justice of Quintana Roo since 2011.

The land was sold by the former director of the state agency Real Estate Assets of the Public Administration (Ipae), Claudia Romanillos Villanueva, who has been under investigation for the sale of several pieces of land throughout the state.

There are several local and state agencies that should have a record of the sale of the Cozumel land, but no such record exists, said Fabiola Cortés Miranda, president of Somos tus Ojos, and Gabriel Yam Chan, a high ranking ejido (community land) official.

Ejido laws also prohibit a single individual from owning such an piece of land, said Yam.

After the non-governmental organization filed a formal complaint against Villanueva, generating vast coverage by local media, the judge was pressured to return 100 hectares to ejido authorities, reported the newspaper Milenio.

Villanueva has built a ranch known as San Gabriel on the other 35 hectares. It boasts a villa, baseball diamond, tennis courts and a stable of horses.

The ranch is located 18 kilometers from downtown Cozumel, where Somos tus Ojos claims he bought a 160-square-meter property from the state Urban Development and Housing Institute for only 11,000 pesos (about US $610).

International Human Rights Federation charges crimes against humanity in Coahuila, Mexico

Groups seek probe by international court

Compiled by Mexico News Daily

The International Criminal Court was asked yesterday to investigate hundreds of crimes in the state of Coahuila between 2009 and 2016, some of which are being described as crimes against humanity.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), along with about 100 Mexican organizations, asked the court to probe killings, disappearances, torture and detentions, including incidents in Allende and the Piedras Negras prison.

There have been claims that as many as 300 residents of Allende were massacred by the Zetas cartel in 2011 while 150 people are believed to have been murdered in the prison, which had become a center of operations for the same criminal gang from 2008 until 2012.

“. . . the whole chain of state security authorities colluded with the Zetas to commit crimes against humanity,” said Jimena Reyes, the Americas director of the FIDH, which has prepared a 72-page report that examines 500 cases of torture, deprivation of liberty and enforced disappearances.

“The collusion and corruption was such that high-ranking officials in the Coahuila government implemented a policy of support and commission of crimes with the Zetas, even while simultaneously communicating publicly about their supposed fight against those groups,” the report says.

It also alleges that state security authorities directly committed crimes against humanity through special forces between 2012 and 2016.

It claims that high-level government officials earned millions of dollars by allowing the Zetas to act freely in the commission of crimes, which took place during the administrations of brothers Humberto and Rubén Moreira. The latter is still in office.

The report says the situation in Coahuila is not one of sporadic violence but a policy and structure that permits and actively supports attacks on the public.

The FIDH filed the report yesterday with the ICC in The Hague, requesting that it carry out a preliminary investigation.
Source: Reforma (sp), AFP (en)

In other news from Mexico:

Federal aid continues to help dead people

Of 47 million pesos, 4.6 million went to the dearly departed, the rest to civil servants

Social program audits have often found benefits going where they shouldn’t — such as dead people — and the practice carries on.

The federal Agriculture Secretariat (Sagarpa) paid out millions of pesos last year in farm subsidies to ineligible beneficiaries including people who had died and civil servants, says the Federal Auditor’s Office (ASF).

Questionable payments of more than 47 million pesos (US $2.6 million) were made by ProAgro Productivo (previously known as Procampo) to deceased beneficiaries and government officials.

Payments of 4.6 million pesos were paid to people who had passed away before the money was authorized while the balance was allegedly paid to 174 civil servants who were not entitled to the subsidies.

The document also indicated that just over 25,000 recipients of aid totaling almost 80 million pesos had failed to show that the money they received had been used for agricultural purposes and a further 114 million pesos (US $6.3 million) were paid to just four property owners in Puebla.

Again, the ASF detected irregularities in those cases including a failure to report how the money was used, and in one case there was no evidence of the eligibility of the recipient.

A requirement of receiving aid from the program is to report how the money was spent.

Approved uses include the purchase of fertilizers, improved seeds, farm machinery and wages for farm labor.

The incorrect payment problem allegedly stems from an outdated beneficiaries register held by Sagarpa, although since 2013 the secretariat has committed to updating it and removing the names of anyone who should not be on it.

In January 2013 then Agriculture Secretary Enrique Martínez y Martínez announced that a revision of all the secretariat’s rural aid programs was under way and he highlighted the need to eliminate ineligible and deceased beneficiaries.

In December 2015 Sagarpa signed an agreement with the National Agricultural Council (CNA) to revise the beneficiaries register of four aid programs: ProAgro, Progan, Propesca and Procafe.

The four encompass 2.5 million beneficiaries to whom 15 billion pesos are allocated.

But in February 2016, Martínez’s successor, José Calzada Rovirosa, made a similar announcement about the need to update the registries, seemingly indicating that not much progress had been made since the 2013 announcement.

This latest finding by the ASF is not the first time that it has uncovered irregularities in the secretariat’s finances.

For five consecutive years the ASF has warned about the possible embezzlement and misuse of public funds by Sagarpa, with duplicate payments and deceased beneficiaries among other irregularities being discovered in 2015.

In 2014, the federal auditor determined that Sagarpa subsidies had been paid to producers who were not part of the target population and consequently did nothing to address low productivity and imbalances in the agricultural sector.

A total of just over 552 million pesos were paid to ineligible beneficiaries in that year, the ASF found.

Drug use affects 60 percent of homeless Puerto Ricans

by the El Reportero’s wire services

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The dramatic social reality of Puerto Rico today brought another of its great ballasts afloat after 119 years of US colonial domination: 60 percent of homeless Puerto Ricans use drugs.

In addition, 31.3 percent of youngsters from 18 to 24 years old spent time in correctional institutions and treatment centers, according to the results of the Homeless Counting 2017 offered by the Minister of the Family Department, Glorimar Andújar to Matos.

‘The information gathered in this effort is fundamental to understand the changes and profiles of the homeless, which will allow adequate planning of programs and services aimed at this population,’ she explained.

The data for 2017, she said, also showed that this problem, mostly in males, has deep roots in the consumption of controlled substances, mental health and economic complications.

According to the data, 59 percent of the people interviewed have a situation of substance use.

Andújar Matos revealed that the Homeless Count is part of the requirements of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which states that each jurisdiction must do so at least every two years.

Identifying the reasons why they are homeless include the use and abuse of controlled substances, family and financial problems, explained Andújar Matos, along with his counterparts in Housing, Fernando Gil Enseñat, and Health, Rafael Rodríguez Mercado. The research identified 3,150 homeless people in Puerto Rico, including those housed in shelters, and a total of 3,155 families.

Boxeo – The Sport of Gentlemen

JULY 14, 2017
Buffalo Run, Miami, Oklahoma, USA (Showtime)
Antoine Douglas vs. Bruno Sandoval
Kenneth Sims Jr vs. Rolando Chinea
Ivan Baranchyk vs. Keenan Smith
Glenn Dezurn vs. Adam López
Joshua Greer Jr vs. Leroy Dávila
Los Angeles, CA, USA (Estrella)
“LA Fight Club”
JULY 15, 2017
Forum, Inglewood, CA, USA (HBO / BoxNation)
Miguel Berchelt vs. Takashi Miura
Jezreel Corrales vs. Robinson Castellanos
Joe Smith Jr vs. Sullivan Barrera
Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, USA (PBC on FOX)
Omar Figueroa Jr vs. Robert Guerrero

Blues, Music, Arts & BBQ Festival in downtown Redwood City

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

Visit Redwood City on July 21 and Saturday July 22 for free family fun and much more.

The City of Redwood City announced today the schedule of events for the Pal Blues, Music, ARTS, and BBQ Festival coming up July 21 and 22. Celebrate summer in Redwood City this July with family fun, food, art and entertainment and more! After you and your family enjoy the Fourth of July in Redwood City, mark your calendars for the free Pal Blues, Music, Arts & BBQ Festival!

Featuring live music, the Pal Blues, Music, Arts & BBQ Festival also offers delicious food and drink on Redwood City’s Courthouse Square (2200 Broadway, Redwood City).
For its 12th year, a special rendition of the festival puts women in the forefront by celebrating Women in the Blues, with musicians from the San Francisco Peninsula and beyond.

Friday, July 21 with Music on the Square & Art on the Square from 5 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 22 with Art on the Square from 12 p.m. – 8 p.m. For more event details, visit www.palbluesfestival.com

Jehovah’s Witnesses invite to an assembly

The assembly will be held at the Cow Palace. The sessions will be in Spanish.

In a series of speeches will discuss the importance of enduring under difficult circumstances such as old age, chronic health problems and loss of a loved one, plus other events with a focus on the praise to God.

The event will be held from 14 to 16 and from 21 to 23 July. To find out about other programs, call Gerardo G. Zelaya at 707-360-5018 or write to: geryandlana@msn.com. Official website: JW.org. Cow Palace ,2600 Geneva Ave, Daly City.

Silicon Valley’s Premier Annual Music San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017

San Jose Jazz Summer Fest returns for its 28th festival season from Friday, August 11 – Sunday, August 13 in and around Plaza de César Chavez Park in downtown San Jose, Calif.
A showcase for jazz and related genres, SJZ Summer Fest is also nationally recognized as one of the biggest Latin festivals in the country. A standout summer destination for music lovers, concert-goers and families alike, the three-day event features 120+ performances on 10 stages, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to downtown throughout the weekend.

The 28th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017 features an acclaimed roster of artists from around the world as well as homegrown Bay Area talent.

San Jose Jazz announces today its second round of confirmed artists: Óscar Hernández and Alma Libre; California and Montreal Guitar Trios; Peter Cincotti; Dayme Arocena; Orgone; Anton Schwartz Sextet; Eddie Henderson Quartet; Kalil Wilson With Love; Naughty Professor; Allan Harris Quartet; Hip Bone Big Band with Michael Davis; Zydeco Flames; Claudia Villela Quintet; Jackie Gage; The Sons Of The Soul Revivers; JC Smith Band; Aaron Lington Sextet; Conjunto Karabali; Juan Pollo Raffo; A.C. Myles; Big Sandy and His Fly Rite Boys; CABANIJAZZ Project; Carlitos Medrano; The Bay Area Salsa All-Stars featuring Jimmy Bosch; Lily Hernández Orchestra featuring Calixto Oviedo; and additional artists to be announced!

Residente shares his view on the independence of Puerto Rico

by the El Reportero’s news services

MEXICO CITY – Following the interest in the policy that has characterized it throughout his career, Residente, whose birth name is René Pérez Joglar, claimed the lack of attention that the United States has had with Puerto Rico, which supposedly owes $73,000 millions and has been in recession for a decade.

“They do not do anything. What are they going to do with Puerto Rico, which for them is nothing but a small island with only lizards and monkeys? “Said the interpreter from Latin America and Baile de los pobres, who also blamed local authorities who refuse to do an audit to the debt.

Being an unincorporated territory, the island does not receive the same protections as the States of the American Union, where cities and counties can declare themselves bankrupt. In Puerto Rico, neither municipalities nor public agencies can do so.

The island pays Social Security and Medicare, however, it receives less federal funds compared to the United States.

Residente is rapper, writer, producer and founder of the alternative rap group Calle 13. Together with the group he has won 24 Latin Grammy awards in total, making him the Latin artist who has won the most gold-plated gramophones.

Puerto Rico is very present in Resident’s first solo album that begins with the monologue of a distant relative, the famous composer and playwright of Puerto Rican origin Lin-Manuel Miranda, talking about his ancestors.

“Primo, you and I descended from Gilberto Concepción de Gracia, founder of the Puerto Rican independence party,” recited the Broadway superstar on the subject “Intro ADN / DNA.”

Like that ancestor, Residente has said that he is an independentist, but the Puerto Rican rapper clarifies that “independence is not against the United States.” The independentista movement has tended different currents in Puerto Rico, some pacific, others tending to the revolution and others to the socialism.

“There are people who misunderstand it and associate it with a communism, with a socialism. Forget about it, do not associate it with anything, it’s about owning your stuff,” the musician said in a recent interview with The Associated Press in Mexico City, where he presented the first concert of the world tour of his self-titled album.

“Independence has no limits, no ceiling. You grow as long as you want to grow, “he added.

In June, Puerto Rico held a non-binding referendum in which more than half a million voters (97 percent of the participating voters) supported statehood, more than 7,600 free association with independence and nearly 6,700 independence. The influx at the ballot box was only 23 percent of the electorate so their detractors questioned the validity of the vote, which several parties had boycotted.

The government of Puerto Rico announced that it would not hold official celebrations on July 4, the day of US independence, due to the economic situation that the island is going through.

To perform “Resident,” which Rolling Stone recently included in its list of the 50 best albums so far in 2017, the artist toured Siberia, China, Europe and Africa in search of their roots, inspired by DNA tests that had made. With the theme “Hijos del cañaveral”, a delicate song with clave, bongo and guitar, makes the complete circle and returns to his land.

Resident is as international as his project: he lives between Argentina, New York and Puerto Rico. And for the tour he looked for a band that reflected this diversity of cultures.

“There is a German, there is a Moroccan, there is an Argentine, there are two Puerto Ricans, there are two Americans, there are people from different parts collaborating to make the sound feel universal,” he said.

Excuse me if I do not celebrate the Fourth of July

by Dave Hodges

It is becoming abundantly clear that the globalists are escalating their timetable to establish a New World Order and they are in a hurry to achieve this goal.

The globalists are operating out of a sense of panic

The major reason that the globalists must speed up their takeover is due to the fact that the an increasing number of people are waking up to their tyranny and their ultimate agenda which consists of establishing a neo-feudal society which is autocratic, decidedly satanic, devoid of personal liberties, practices 100 percent control over all essential resources (e.g. gold, guns, ammunition, food, water, energy, medicine) and a 90 percent reduction of the existing population. If you are one of the 10 percent selected few designated to survive, you will own nothing, not even the clothes on your back, and you will control nothing. Like many of your Middle Ages ancestors, you will not travel, only be functionally educated and you will only reproduce when allowed to do so and with whom is selected. You will have no autonomy over career choice. Your future will consist of nothing but a predetermined and shortened life-span of misery. This is the America our children are going to inherit. So, I ask you, what are we celebrating tonight?

The accelerated timetable

Back in 2011, Brzezinski stated “that it is easier to kill million people than to control a million people”. Brzezinski was one of the most brilliant, albeit evil, minds in the modern era. In his book, Between Two Ages: The Technotronic Era (1970), he accurately foresaw the coming free trade agreements and the subsequent economic decline of America.

I have often wondered why sites like mine are allowed to exist. After all, the Independent Media is hitting home runs in terms of exposing the nature and character of the Deep State. I believe that sites like this continue to flourish because at the end of the day, it will not matter. The Globalists have already figured that they have already won and they are engaged in mop up operations.

The Fourth of July

As a conversation maker, many have asked me what I am doing on this holiday where we celebrate American Independence. The short answer is that I am doing nothing to celebrate what we no longer have. We live in the midst of the greatest charade in American History. For example, before every sporting event we trot out these brave soldiers as a symbol of, not American bravery, but of globalist-driven Imperialism.

The Bill of Rights

One surface examination of the Bill of Rights will tell America just how far we, as a people have fallen.

1st Amendment- Any time an American expresses their opinion related to the repeated violation of Constitution by the globalists who have seized control of our government, that person is labeled as a conspiracy theorist, a promoter of fake news, a Russian subversive, and disloyal to the country. Everyday, people are losing their jobs for expressing their views. The First Amendment is headed towards extinction.

There is a continual assault on the Second Amendment. California just passed a bill that outlawed gun magazines that hold 10 bullets or more. Why does the government so desperately want to remove the right to own guns? The answer is simple, when it comes time for the Deep State to separate the desirables from the undesirables, it would be time to defend oneself. However, the government wants to take that away. Remember, the University of Hawaii conducted a Demicide study (ie death by government) and in the 20th century, far more people were murdered by their government than died in wars. That makes your government your number one enemy.

The Third Amendment has to do with the Quartering Act in which Americans were forced to share their homes and food with British soldiers. There doesn’t seem to be a threat to this Constitutional prohibition. However, in times of declared national emergency, FEMA can commandeer any resource they want including your home.

The Fourth Amendment has to do with prohibiting improper, warrant-less searces and seizures of our persons and our property. Every time you fly, and the TSA puts their grubby hands on our bodies without and probable cause and commits second degree sexual assault,, we have had a our rights violated. No knock raids upon our domiciles are also unconstitutional as are drunk driving checkpoints because the presume guilt without probable cause. The mere fact that the government, usually in the form of the NSA can listen to every phone call and read every email, speaks to our rights obliterated beginning with President Bush and the Patriot Acts.

The Fifth Amendment has to do with the government following due process. The amendment states that a citizen cannot be deprived of life, property or liberty with the government following due process of law. The Fifth Amendment is gone. The NDAA permits the government, based on the say-so of the President to snatched off of the street and held indefinitely without legal counsel or anyone knowing where that citizen is.

7. 8. These amendments have to do with a speedy trial, avoiding cruel and unusual punishment and the right to a speedy trial as well as being granted a jury trial. Again, the NDAA takes care of these rights as well.

The last two Amendments have to do with the preservation of local political power. These Amendments are gone as well. IF these amendments were still in place, we would not have the Federal Reserve, the IRS, the EPA, the FDA and the Department of Education.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that some will brand this article as unpatriotic. Quite the contrary, for every firework I see explode tonight, I am reminded of how this country has gone up in flames. This is a major motivator for me to attempt to recapture what we have lost. And believe me America, we have a lot of work to do.

The persecution of the most vulnerable for political gain

As we enter into the fifth month of the presidency of Donald Trump, immigrant communities would have been the most hit by the new law just passed by the House.

As this edition goes to press, the news of a bill backed by Trump to crack down on undocumented immigrants passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, drawing criticism from immigration activists and others who called them a threat to civil liberties.

The target is the so-called “Sanctuary City,” a status designated by local government to protect undocumented immigrants who are jailed for whatever minor offenses, even for traffic violations.

The House voted 228-195 to pass the “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act” that would withhold some federal grants to so-called “sanctuary city” jurisdictions that do not comply with certain federal immigration laws.

Also passed was “Kate Law, ” named for Kate Steinle, who was shot dead in San Francisco in 2015 by an undocumented immigrant who had been deported five times.

It must be noted that it is well-known undocumented labor is part of the daily life in the United States, and restaurant chains, construction companies, private homes, etc., utilize these men and women to perform jobs most American won’t do. And so, they are part of the growing economy in the country. And they are not criminals. However, with so many laws mining our lives, anyone may hit one of them and get arrested for a violation.

And the sad thing is that when someone runs for public office they try to blame the easiest target, so they find a perfect one in undocumented people. But it is not fair to continue inflicting pain to millions who had left their countries to serve and help the US economy with their low-cost labor that most citizens won’t do. And this anti-Sanctuary Law really unfairly hurt the most vulnerable.

The legislators and politicians know that these sanctuaries don’t protect the criminal, it just protects the person from being automatically deported without the benefit of due process – a right to see a judge, a process that is guaranteed in a democracy and in the Constitution.

Sanctuaries provide some protection for undocumented immigrants under laws that limit how much cooperation local police may have with federal immigration authorities.

The “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act” prohibits sanctuary cities from adopting policies that restrict police officers from asking individuals about their immigration status or the immigration status of others.

Imagine that a hateful neighbor wants to take revenge against his undocumented neighbor because he has a pretty wife, and calls the police on the guy, and accuses him of selling drugs, when in fact is a fabrication. So he is arrested.

Well, the sanctuary protection will not notify the immigration, rather, the suspect will be investigated and probably released after it is found that he is innocent. So the wife and his children didn’t lose their loved one. The family remained intact. But now all this could change.

And although both bills will need approval from the Senate to become law, the panic will already be spread onto the community.

Texas is going through its own persecution case of Latinos.

A federal judge will hear arguments to decide whether the harsh anti-sanctuary cities law will take effect in September.

Anger at Texas’ strict new immigration law simmered as a thousand Latino policymakers and advocates gathered in Dallas this weekend, ahead of a hearing in which civil rights groups will ask for the measure to be blocked.

A federal court in San Antonio will hear arguments on Monday, with Judge Orlando García to decide whether to grant a preliminary injunction that would stop the law, known as SB4, from taking effect on Sept. 1.

SB4 is in some aspects redolent of Arizona’s SB1070, a “show me your papers” law that was passed in 2010 but largely neutered by court challenges. Conference-goers in Dallas also recalled California’s Proposition 187, a measure passed by voters in 1994 that would have denied social, health and educational services to undocumented immigrants. It was swiftly halted in court.

The Texas law would in effect ban “sanctuary cities” – places that offer limited or no cooperation with immigration authorities – by criminalizing and fining officials who do not accede to requests to hold immigrants for federal pick-up and potential deportation.

The human face of the case is that many people enter the US without documents because sometimes they are too poor to qualify for a visa in their country, and because visas are almost impossible to obtain. The requirements are too high for this people to fulfill. They just want to work, work and work, and so they cross the border for survival.
I feel for those many – who probably have been living in the country for decades and have no criminal record – that will be victimized by this law, and who will leave their families behind for petty offenses such as traffic violations.

And also for those businesses that benefit from low-cost labor, which allow them to keep consumer prices low for the general public.

And with this I am not endorsing the presence of those who are real criminals who deserve to be taken away. But to soften those harden hearts.

Why cannot this government pass to another page by embracing everyone and start a new chapter of reconciliation? Why every administration has to go through the same process of persecuting the most vulnerable, in the name of security?

Olive oil the healthiest to cook

by Russel Davis

While frying is considered a generally unsafe way to prepare food, a number of studies have demonstrated that frying can be healthy, as long as you use olive oil to do it. According to Rachel Adams, senior lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom, cooking with high heat triggers changes in oils that alter their aroma, flavor, and nutrient content, and that overheating cooking oils cause the release of toxic chemicals that are associated with the risks of diabetes and cancer. However, Adams maintained that the high antioxidant levels in olive oil may reduce the concentration of harmful chemicals produced during cooking. Using high-quality olive oil and keeping it below its smoking point may lessen the potential harm.

Australian Nutritional Medicine practitioner Fiona Tuck expressed a similar opinion on olive oil use. The health expert also stressed that consumers should consider the type of oil to use in cooking. Olive oil is “high in polyphenols which are antioxidants. Most health experts would agree the healthiest diet in the world is the Mediterranean diet which is rich in olive oil. It’s actually a very healthy oil to use, it’s the healthiest of oils, especially virgin olive oil which is less processed. It’s cold pressed which means it retains all of its nutrients. The more processed an oil is means it can potentially lose its nutrients,” Ms. Tuck wrote in an article on the Daily Mail.

Studies examine the safety of cooking with olive oil

Previous studies have indicated that using vegetable oils in frying could otherwise be detrimental to one’s health, largely due in part to the release of toxic chemicals called aldehydes when the oils reach their smoking point during high heat cooking. While aldehydes are naturally-occurring compounds, past research revealed that aldehyde accumulation in the body may lead to adverse health conditions including cancer and diabetes.

In an effort to determine the amount of aldehydes produced during frying, a team of researchers at the University of the Basque Country analyzed olive, sunflower, and flaxseed oils that were heated to 190 degrees Celsius. The researchers found that exposing both sunflower and flaxseed oils to high heat produced more aldehydes at a faster rate. However, olive oil was found to produce fewer aldehydes at a much slower pace. According to the experts, this may be because of structural differences between the oils. They  also noted that the polyunsaturated sunflower and flaxseed oils may contain more regions that are susceptible to chemical reaction. (Related: Study demonstrates why olive oil is the best oil for frying).

Another study showed that frying fish in extra virgin olive oil resulted in higher amounts of Omega-3, Omega-1 acyl groups, linoleic acid, and saturated fat. “The choice of cooking oil is hugely important owing to its impact on the lipid profile in the fish and on the possible generation of toxic compounds in the oil during frying, which can influence food safety and human health. This study shows that the frying technique, the type of oil used, and the fish species exert a great influence on the changes that take place during the frying process,” said researcher Bárbara Nieva-Echevarría.

In addition, experiments carried out for BBC’s Trust Me I’m a Doctor showed that heating olive oil, butter and goose fat produced relatively low aldehyde levels, suggesting that using olive oil might be a better option in frying. (by Natural News).

UN calls for decriminalizing drugs use worldwide

American press silence

by Justin Gardner
The Free Thought Project

A little-noticed public statement issued by the United Nations last week contains a dramatic shift in thinking on the issue of “illicit” substance use. After recommitting to the failed idea of prohibition just last year, the UN is now calling for the worldwide decriminalization of drug use and possession.

The statement, put out by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the U.S. is in the midst of a nonsensical debate over health care, calls for “ending discrimination in health care settings.” The WHO calls on states to end discrimination against “marginalized and stigmatized populations” in a variety of ways, and includes a blunt and rather shocking statement on the drug war.

“We, the signatory United Nations entities, call upon all stakeholders to join us in committing to taking targeted, coordinated, time-bound, multisectoral actions in the following areas. Supporting States to put in place guarantees against discrimination in law, policies, and regulations by… Reviewing and repealing punitive laws that have been proven to have negative health outcomes and that counter established public health evidence. These include laws that criminalize or otherwise prohibit…drug use or possession of drugs for personal use.”

This is an admission that the problem of drug abuse is a public health issue, not a criminal justice issue. Locking people in cages for the victimless behavior of ingesting substances arbitrarily deemed illegal by the State does nothing to reduce drug use or supply, as evidenced by the utter failure of the War on Drugs.

Prohibition has also denied people the miraculous healing powers of cannabis. For decades medical research of cannabis was stifled by a drug war borne of racism and political suppression. But research has increased exponentially in recent years as governments around the world take steps to decriminalize this medicinal plant, notably among states in the U.S.With this awakening have come amazing stories of healing through cannabis, such as stopping seizures in children with debilitating epilepsy, treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans where all other treatments have failed, and healing a host of other illnesses without the dangerous side-effects of pharmaceutical drugs.

In terms of health care, prohibition is truly discriminatory, and the drug war only degrades public health.

Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and it has been a resounding success. Drug usage rates, addiction rates, overdose deaths and sexually transmitted diseases have all declined.

The WHO statement is also notable because it contradicts the UN’s reaffirmed support of prohibition during their 2016 “special session on drugs.” The special session was the first to be held in almost two decades, and many were expecting a softened approach from the failed war on drugs.

Despite the pleas of countries like Mexico—suffering from horrendous black market drug violence—to “move beyond prohibition,” a prohibition framework remained in place. In the UN’s 1998 ‘special session on drugs’ the world body agreed to work toward a “drug free world” by 1998. The sheer lunacy of this position is blatantly obvious now more than ever. Despite decades of prohibition and trillions of dollars spent, drugs remain easily accessible.

The WHO statement comes at a time when the U.S. drug war is in a pivotal moment. More and more U.S. states are decriminalizing cannabis at both the medicinal and recreational level, putting themselves at odds with the ongoing federal prohibition of cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a well-known rabid prohibitionist, is taking steps to ramp up the drug war, calling for increased police measures and prison sentences—even though this approach is proven as a failure.

There is little hope that Sessions and other drug warriors around the world—such as Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte who is now having his police forces murder drug users on the spot (with the explicit blessing of Trump)—will pay any attention to the WHO call for decriminalization. Nevertheless, the WHO statement is an encouraging sign that the tide has turned against prohibition. As the drug war is dismantled piece by piece—in Portugal, U.S. states, Mexico (which recently legalized medical cannabis) and Canada (soon to legalize recreational cannabis)—the wisdom of ending prohibition will become ever more obvious.

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