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Rethinking butter and cheese

by Ben Fuchs

If you love butter and cheese, you’re gonna love this! Recently a study was published in the respected British Medical Journal showing evidence that 60 years of government and medical convention that linked cardiovascular disease to fat consumption was based on bad science.
The article scientifically corroborated last years’ Time Magazine cover story on the failures of the so-called “Lipid Hypothesis” (lipid is the scientific designation for fat), which incorrectly blamed excessive consumption of dairy products, meat and other fatty foods for heart attacks. The article entitled Eat Butter admitted that after years of proclaiming fats as villains, it turns out, they may have been mistaken.
Now in fairness, Time Magazine and representatives of the medical model can be forgiven for their ignorance. Fats are confusing! There’s good fats, bad fats, shorts fat, long fats, saturated fats and unsaturated fats. Because of their tremendous diversity and functionality, no aspect of nutrition or diet is harder to understand than the chemistry of lipids.

Dietary and nutritional fats are called triglycerides. They’re composed of building blocks called “fatty acids” which come in three sizes: large, medium and small. While all three play an important role in keeping the body healthy, the effects of the short fats (or as they are more technically called, short chain fatty acids or SCFAs) are particularly significant, if unrecognized. These little molecular fatty structures play an especially huge role in the health of the intestine. Via this link, they have an effect on the whole body.

SCFAs are made in the large intestine by fiber munching bacteria which secrete the fatty molecules as a byproduct. SCFAs can also be ingested via the diet. From the intestine, these tiny lipids readily enter into blood circulation and travel throughout the body, eventually entering into the brain.

An increase in SCFA concentration in the blood is one of the main signals for appetite suppression. In essence, SCFAs biochemically curb the appetite and, in essence, represent a type of fat that helps you drop pounds. Eat butter, lose weight! While it may seem like fat is fat and it just sits around on our thighs or hips and does nothing, from a biological perspective, fats are quite active as messenger molecules, telling the body and brain what’s happening in the digestive system. They are signaling molecules. Once this is understood, it becomes clear why the outdated dietician and medical advice to avoid all fat is bad science and bad health advice.

Short fats can have brain health benefits too, especially when comes to calming things down. This fact explains the important link between the intestine and the brain, the so-called gut-brain axis, and its relationship to the development of schizophrenia, autism and mental health issues in general. Via this SCFA mechanism, the somewhat counter-intuitive notion (after all the intestine is located about as far away from the brain as you can get) that “what we eat affects how we think” can be explained.

All SCFAs have a calming effect, the most significant of which, as far as relaxation benefits are concerned, is called butyric acid: the chemical that gives butter its characteristic qualities and taste. The bacteria that produce butyric acid kick into high gear when food is scarce. Many researchers believe this is the mechanism behind the health benefits associate with fasting.

Butyric acid derivatives induced by caloric restriction may have a mitigating effect on pain and inflammation. That’s what scientists from Yale School of Medicine concluded in an article that was published in the journal Nature Medicine Even more significantly, the researchers found that these benefits may extend to health challenges like atherosclerosis, diabetes and dementia that are typically not associated with inflammatory pain.

All of this means that up-regulating butyric acid and increasing its levels in the blood can be one of the most important and effective of all dietary health strategies. Enjoying butter and cheese, nature’s richest sources of butyric acid is a good idea because butyric acid is produced by a reaction between fiber and microbes that live in the large intestine. You want to make sure you’ve got enough good bacteria and that you’re ingesting generous amounts of veggies, mushrooms and fruits. Get yourself on a good probiotic supplement, look for multiple strains of bacteria, use a daily dose of 10-50 billion units, and make sure you’re eating lots of fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso soup, fresh non-pasteurized kefir and yogurt.

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Extreme digital vetting of visitors to the U.S. moves forward under new name

ICE officials have invited tech companies, including Microsoft, to develop algorithms that will track visa holders’ social media activity

by George Joseph

The Department of Immigration & Customs Enforcement is taking new steps in its plans for monitoring the social media accounts of applicants and holders of U.S. visas. At a tech industry conference last Thursday in Arlington, Virginia, ICE officials explained to software providers what they are seeking: algorithms that would assess potential threats posed by visa holders in the United States and conduct ongoing social media surveillance of those deemed high risk.

The comments provide the first clear blueprint for ICE’s proposed augmentation of its visa-vetting program. The initial announcement of the plans this summer, viewed as part of President Donald Trump’s calls for the “extreme vetting” of visitors from Muslim countries, stoked a public outcry from immigrants and civil liberties advocates. They argued that such a plan would discriminate against Muslim visitors and potentially place a huge number of individuals under watch.

ICE officials subsequently changed the program’s name to “Visa Lifecycle Vetting.” But, according to the ICE presentation, the goal of the initiative — enhanced monitoring of visa holders using social media — remains the same.

Speaking to a room of information-technology contractors, hosted by the Government Technology & Services Coalition, Louis Rodi, deputy assistant director of ICE Homeland Security Investigations’ National Security Program, said the agency needs a tool equipped with “risk-based matrices” to predict dangers posed by visa holders, with the social media of those considered a threat under continuous surveillance throughout their stay in the U.S.

“We have millions and millions and millions of people coming every year, and subsequently departing, so we have to be smart about it,” said Rodi to a room of representatives from companies like Microsoft, Accenture, Deloitte and Motorola Solutions. “And I’m sure there are tools out there that can help.”

For this targeted group of visa holders, ICE’s online monitoring of public social media posts would be large-scale and non-stop. “Everything we’re dealing with is in bulk, so we need batch-vetting capabilities for any of the processes that we have,” said Rodi. Alysa Erichs, ICE Homeland Security Investigations’ acting deputy association director for information management, told attendees that ICE hopes to get automated notifications about any visa holders’ social media activity that could “ping us as a potential alert.”

ICE spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell stressed to ProPublica that the Department of Homeland Security has not actually begun building any such program. “The request for information on this initiative was simply that — an opportunity to gather information from industry professionals and other government agencies on current technological capabilities to determine the best way forward,” Cutrell wrote in an email. The program would require clearance from numerous DHS units, including the Privacy Office and the Principal Legal Advisor, before it could be implemented, according to a federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

In his speech, Rodi referred to meetings ICE has had with companies but did not mention any frontrunners. The major tech companies present at the conference, including Microsoft, Accenture and Deloitte, either declined to comment or didn’t respond to ProPublica’s request to comment about their level of interest in providing technology for the vetting program. Microsoft has opposed Trump’s immigration policies, and several Microsoft researchers have publicly called for ICE to stop spying on visitors’ social media.

ICE is already monitoring some social media at eight Homeland Security Investigation posts internationally, Rodi said, and the plan is to expand to more sites. In response to a question posed by ProPublica from the audience, he stated that the department was open to other social media monitoring techniques, such as link analysis (which helps authorities map out applicants’ online connections), so long as they solely rely on public posts.

The ICE officials emphasized the Trump administration’s strict stance. “This administration is big on immigration enforcement, so we’re not going to look the other way like we have in the past when we have overstays,” said Rodi. “Maybe it’s an administrative violation — it’s still a crime. These people need to pay. They can’t get away with it.”

Some analysts argue that gathering social media data is necessary. ICE already has a tool that searches for connections to terrorists, according to Claude Arnold, a former ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agent, now with the security firm Frontier Solutions. But, he said, potential terrorist threats often come from countries, such as Iraq or Syria, that provide little intelligence to U.S. authorities. As a result, in Arnold’s view, social media information is all the more important.

Privacy advocates take a darker view. “ICE is building a dangerously broad tool that could be used to justify excluding, or deporting, almost anyone,” said Alvaro Bedoya, executive director of Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology. “They are talking about this as a targeted tool, but the numbers tell a different story.”

Bedoya noted that the program outline originally anticipated that the monitoring would identify 10,000 high-risk visa holders a year. That suggests the pool of people under social media surveillance would be many orders of magnitude larger. (ICE officials did not address this point at the conference.)

Last week, a coalition of academics and technologists warned in a public letter that ICE’s interest in using big data algorithms to assess risk is misguided, given how rare it is for foreign visitors to be involved in terrorist attacks in the U.S. That means there’s little historical data to mine in hopes of using it to design a new algorithm. The letter cited a Cato Institute analysis that found that the likelihood of an American dying in a terrorist attack on U.S. soil in any given year was 1 in 3.6 million in the period between 1975 and 2015.

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U2 receive MTV EMAs’ 2017 Global Icon Prize

by the El Reportero’s news services

U2 will receive this year’’s Global Icon prize at the MTV European Music Awards (EMAs) on Sunday.

Bono and others will celebrate the prestigious accolade with a performance at London’s landmark Trafalgar Square on Saturday evening (11.11.17) for MTV Presents Trafalgar Square, ahead of the ceremony.

Bruce Gillmer, Head of Music and Music Talent, Global Entertainment Group, Viacom, said: ‘U2’s impact on music, pop culture and social issues around the world has been tremendous.

For over four decades and counting, they’ve entertained, influenced, and inspired fans around the globe and we’re thrilled and honored to announce that they are this year’s Global Icon.

‘Their EMAs performance for Londoners in historic Trafalgar Square is just the beginning of the electrifying celebration of music where artists from every corner of the world will unite in this extraordinary city!’

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today (06.11.17) welcomed the special MTV Presents Trafalgar Square event.

He said: ‘London is one of the live music capitals of the world, with an unrivalled music heritage. It is fantastic to host the EMAs in our city for the first time in 21 years. I’m delighted that Trafalgar Square will host this special MTV Presents performance – an iconic venue for an iconic band.

‘I have been saying, loud and clear, that London is open to talent, creativity and business. What better way to showcase this than one of the world’s greatest rock bands performing to Londoners from all backgrounds, for free, in the heart of our great city?’

This year’s EMAs’ host Rita Ora will also take to the stage for a performance.

Other to got the prize before are Eminen, Queen, John Bon Jovi y Whitney Houston.

Leyo and J2 “The King of Re-Imaginations” set to release Sabor a Mi

LEYO and J2 aimed to reinvent the song with a contemporary twist, while maintaining the authentic feeling of romance the lyrics provide. The 1959 classic by composer and singer Alvaro Carrillo was popularized by the Latin trio, Los Panchos.

This new Sabor a Mi pays homage to Carrillo and iconic artist covers by Jose Jose, Javier Solis, and Luis Miguel. Even today the song remains as one of the most beloved Spanish songs of all time.

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Texas church shooter: what no one is saying about the insanity of his previous conviction

by Jon Rappoport

Devin Kelley, the Texas church shooter, was convicted of crimes by a military court in 2012.

Mainstream press outlets are reporting this fact to show he never should have been allowed to purchase a gun after his release from prison—except the Army failed to enter his criminal record in a national database that would have red-flagged him, when he tried to buy several weapons.

But there is another issue.

In 2012, while stationed at Holloman Air Force base, Kelley “pleaded guilty to two charges of assault and battery on his then-wife and aggravated assault on his infant stepson. Five other charges that included multiple incidents in which he allegedly aimed either a loaded or unloaded firearm at his wife were withdrawn as part of the plea deal.” (ABC News)

Kelley kicked and choked his wife a number of times. He fractured his infant stepson’s skull. The Air Force stated Kelley used enough force to kill his stepson or at least cause “grievous bodily harm.” In his plea deal, Kelley admitted he struck his stepson intentionally.

Here is the payoff, from ABC News: “A mixed jury of officers and enlisted personnel sentenced him [Kelley] to a year’s confinement and a reduction in two ranks from an airman first-class (A1C) to airman basic. He also received a bad conduct discharge.”

That sentence is a crime compounded on Kelley’s crimes.

A year’s confinement?

How about 50 years in prison?

What kind of plea deal did the Air Force allow, and why? Who is investigating THAT?

With any sort of reasonable sentence, Kelley would never have shown up at the Texas Church.

Over the years, I’ve looked into numerous crimes of repeat offenders. I’m sure you’ve read reports as well. So-and-so robbed a store and shot the manager. At the time, he was serving probation after a conviction of assault on two teenagers…

What?!

In Kelley’s case, there is obviously some degree of political correctness at work. “Well, he didn’t actually kill anybody, so let’s confine him for a year and demote him…”

As my readers know, I investigate and report on many high-level corporate and government crimes—and the failure to adequately prosecute the offenders. But the same lunacy applies to street-level felonies.

Instead of, “Well, Bob is one of our own, a pillar of the community, so what if he’s poisoning thousands of people with his company’s medical drugs, let’s fine him and let him off with a promise to mend his ways,” it’s: “Well, this fellow had a very tough childhood, his father was a drunk and beat him and his mother, and the neighborhood was dangerous and everyone was in a gang, so let’s give him two years in jail for putting a girl into a coma…”

On the other hand, “Let’s see, this man committed two petty unarmed robberies and then he stole a candy bar from a traveling circus, so that’s three strikes and he goes away for life without parole…”

Devin Kelley should never have been near that Texas Church. He should have been in a lockup, after assaulting his wife many times and fracturing his infant stepson’s skull.

The press doesn’t appear to have noticed this, or if they have, they’ve declined to mention it, because, in their view, prison is some kind of illegitimate institution. It’s wrong, it shouldn’t exist. It’s “unfashionable” to demand tougher prison sentences for any street-level crime.
Fine. In that case, how about an island blocked off from escape by sea? Devin Kelley and those like him, at every level of society, can share roots and tubers, build huts, and try to share their new lives.

And the know-nothings, who reject all punishment for crimes committed against human beings, can swab the decks of ships stationed offshore to prevent the prisoners’ exit from their island paradise.

I wonder how well Devin Kelley’s jury members, from 2012, are sleeping at night.

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

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To celebrate the El Show de Pepe

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

The Pepe Show, led by Pepe González, celebrates eight years of existence. And for that he invites all lovers of good salsa music and Peruvian culture to join in celebrating this anniversary.

Mary Navarro will be a special guest directly from Peru, with the best of Creole music. Also the salsa pride Pepe and His Orquésta.

On Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017, at Club Chalaca Annexo, 428 3rd. St. Oakland, Oakland. For more information call 415-531-9933.

Exhibition of Mechanical Sculptures returns to the Exploratorium

This year’s show features nearly 30 automata, 3 artists in residence, and workshops teaching visitors to build their own automata

On Nov. 16, the Exploratorium’s returning winter exhibition, Curious Contraptions, will open to the public. The collection of automata features the work of eleven artists from around the world and gives visitors a chance to interact firsthand with charming and often hilarious mechanical objects brought to life by intricate arrangements of handmade cams, cranks, and other simple mechanisms.

“I’m so excited about this year’s show,” says Nicole Minor, who curates the seasonal Curious Contraptions exhibition.

The Exploratorium is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Every Thursday, the museum reopens from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. for adults only. For more about how to get here, visit exploratorium.edu/directions. For tickets and pricing information, visit exploratorium.edu/tickets.

Annual fundraising event honoring excellence in the art of film

SFFILM has announced the date and venue for SFFILM Awards Night (formerly the Film Society Awards Night), its annual fund-raising celebration that pays tribute to filmmaking achievement. The historic 60th anniversary edition of this glamorous event and awards presentation will take place on Tuesday night December 5 at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, 39 Mesa Street, Suite 110, The Presidio, San Francisco.

JUNTOS Collective joins the Global #GivingTuesday Movement

JUNTOS Collective will participate in it’s second annual  #GivingTuesday, hosting Voices: An Evening of Untold Stories. This event, open to the general public, will honor JUNTOS supporters, and invite new faces to hear stories and share dances from past program participants. The event will include drinks and small bites, performance shorts, guest speakers and unique raffle prizes.

JUNTOS Collective, a non-profit organization enabling free contemporary dance workshops and performances in underserved communities of Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua, joined #GivingTuesday last year, inspired by the generosity, collaboration and philanthropy that the movement encouraged. The organization was able to successfully raise the funds to sponsor 3 trips abroad during this global day of giving.

One of the many stories supported by this fundraiser, involves the journey of Megan Stricker, a JUNTOS Alumni who had the opportunity to live and teach dance in Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, Oaxaca this past summer. Megan taught dance to a community of Mixe people for four weeks, one of Mexico’s oldest indigenous cultures.

On Dec. 2 at The Golden Stateroom. Tickets to Voices: An Evening of Untold Stories can be purchased in advance at http://bit.ly/JUNTOSvoices.

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No pyramid photos without a permit

Photographer was ‘trespassing’ when he used a drone to take photo at Chichén Itzá

by the El Reportero’s news services

A breathtaking pre-dawn aerial photograph of the Kukulcán pyramid in Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, got its author instant online notoriety — and legal action by Mexican authorities.

César Mendiburu Heredia used a drone to take the photo, which he shared on the social news aggregator Reddit. The accompanying caption indicated the photographer knew he could be in trouble.

“I took this aerial (and probably illegal?) photo of Chichén Itzá last weekend.”

Mendiburu did not break any drone regulations but the device he used to shoot Chichén Itzá is considered by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) as special photographic equipment.

As such, he should have completed an official form and paid 10,227 pesos (about US $540) if he wanted to shoot video, or 5,113 pesos ($270) if he only wanted to take photographs.

INAH’s legal liaison José Arturo Chab Cárdenas told El País that since the archaeological zone is property of the nation, it is subject to several federal laws. According to those regulations, Mendiburu’s photograph is illegal, because it was shot at a time when the archaeological zone was not open to the general public.

Even if the photo was obtained through a remotely operated vehicle, “it’s trespassing . . . it’s like breaking into a museum in the wee hours of the morning.”

In a press release issued on Wednesday, INAH said it had began a legal process against Mendiburu, as the photograph contravened the federal law on archaeological, artistic and historic monuments and zones. – Compiled by Mexico News Daily.
Source: El País (sp), El Universal (sp)

Havana Film Festival to Pay Tribute to James Ivory

The 39th International Festival of the New Latin American Cinema, which will take place in this capital city from December 8th to 17th, will pay tribute to U.S. director James Ivory with eight films from his fruitful career, said organizers today.

Ivory will be paid homage by screening films he shot between the mid-1980s and 2005, including the awarded films ‘The remains of the day’ and ‘Return to Howards End,’ said president of the festival Pavel Giroud.

The films to honor Ivory, 89, also include ‘Mr. and Mrs. Bridge’, ‘A Room with a View’, ‘The White Countess’, ‘The City of Your Final Destination’, ‘Jefferson in Paris’ and ‘Le Divorce’.

The 39th International Festival of the New Latin American Cinema, which is the most important cinema event organized in Cuba, will also pay tribute to the October Revolution on occasion of its centenary, with a restored copy of ‘October’, a silent film by Russian great filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, premiered in 1928 and considered a classic film.

The 39th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema will be held in 10 movie theaters of Havana, in which more than 400 films from the region and other parts of the world will be screened.

More than 9,000 files about Chinese philosopher Confucius go digital

More than 9,000 archives from philosopher Confucius, which became one of the greatest symbols of China, have gone digital with the aim of preserving and disseminating them among the new generations.

According to journalistic information, this is a vast collection of materials about the teachings of the thinker, some aspects of the traditional society of this country and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu, where their direct descendants lived for centuries.

The project was approved in 2013 and the subsequent scanning and digitization work took four years.

Confucius (551-479 a.n.e) and his thought guided the civilization of this country for thousands of years.

He founded a school that influenced many generations in China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan. After his death, disciples and followers preached his moral and religious doctrines.

There are about 1,300 temples in his honor in and outside the country, and even several nations have opened institutions to teach the Chinese language and culture that bear his name.

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Why the army of reality always needs more soldiers

by Jon Rappoport

What we call Reality is a hall of mirrors. It reflects itself back and forth and builds up a consensus.

People do the same thing. They confirm with one another that the reality they believe is real is, in fact, real.

And having established that, they live out their lives and make the best of it.

But what happens if you defect? What happens if you’re not satisfied to live out the rest of your life inside the space of what everyone assumes is real?
More to the point, what happens if you’re not satisfied to live out the rest of your life inside the space of what YOU assume is real?

This is where a lot of people get off the train. They assert, with great assurance, that what they have discovered is the ultimate frontier. They’ve broken through the illusion. They’ve found out who is running the show from behind the curtain.

And with those discoveries in their pocket, they will live out their lives, confident in the knowledge that they can’t be fooled. They’ve won the prize.
Actually, peering behind the curtain and seeing what’s there is step one. The journey has barely begun.

No matter what degree of truth one has found, living out the rest of a life in that truth is going to be disappointing. It’s eventually going to be boring. It’s eventually going to be insufferable.

You want to lift that curtain, and you should. You should find out everything you can about who and what is behind it, and how they operate. But how long before you stop patting yourself on the back?

How long before you decide to create, with great passion and commitment, your own reality, the one you profoundly desire?

The process of creating reality never ends. It’s the ongoing voyage. It’s the reason things become new. It’s the reason boredom loses. It’s the reason you have no end. It’s the reason you can’t be stopped.

It’s the means by which you don’t decline. It’s the means by which you keep imagining something you haven’t imagined before.

It’s the reason you don’t “live out your life.”

It’s the reason “living out your life” seems about the worst thing you can do.

No excuses will suffice to rationalize staying in one place. No complaints will make you feel better. No “ultimate” space or time is good enough, as it is, to convince you that you should just play out the string inside it.

Right now, we are witnessing tech giants—Google, Facebook, You Tube, Twitter—hiding and de-listing news they deem “fake.” On one level, this is an obvious attempt to control political content. But on a much deeper level, this is an effort to shore up They want to consolidate their Army of believers and expand its ranks. Outsiders and their ideas and analyses are a threat.

Outsiders, heaven forbid, might decide to launch other creative realities that bleed into the consensus and dissolve it.

The independent and free individual mind has its own immune system. It responds when it detects the intrusion of collectivist concoctions.
“Alert! Fake collective reality is showing up. Take action. Resist. Reject.”

Yes, but then?

The individual then has the power to invent his own future, according to his own vision. This is where the journey really gets interesting.

This is where new space and new time emerge, and the space of consensus shrinks and withers.

This is where the Army of Reality has no answer.

In my private consulting practice, I’ve worked with a number of clients, each of whom has his own invention of reality—a project and an enterprise that spills over the conventional boundaries.

Each enterprise is quite different. Each approach is quite different.

What’s similar is the available energy for the work.

Where does that energy come from?

It comes from the individual himself.

When imagination and the creative impulse are unleashed, energy appears in large quantities. New and fresh energy.

Frontier energy.

Cutting-edge energy that quite naturally and automatically begins to shred Army of Reality energy.
Life renews. Life begins again.

The fabric of old limiting ideas falls apart, and the individual steps out on to a unique launching platform.
His own.

This is the voyage that can never be stopped.

Because it doesn’t depend on the fake news and fake consensus and the fake illusion of power of The Group.

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

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Six Thanksgiving myths and the Wampanoag side of the story

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Dear readers:

I share this unique article about the truth of the history of Thanksgiving – told by the native Indians themselves to show you what other media do not tell you. – MR.

The Thanksgiving Day celebration originated from a massacre

by Vincent Schilling

Considering Indian Country Today has published its fair share of the true history of Thanksgiving, in which 90 Wampanoag shared provisions with the Pilgrims in 1621, we thought we would take a bit of time delving into some of the most common misconceptions about the November holiday, especially since many Americans think it’s the only thing happening in November.

The Thanksgiving Day celebration originated from a massacre

In 1621, though Pilgrims celebrated a feast, it was not repeated in the years to follow. In 1636, a murdered white man was found in his boat and the Pequot were blamed. In retaliation settlers burned Pequot villages.

Additionally, English Major John Mason rallied his troops to further burn Pequot wigwams and then attacked and killed hundreds more men, women and children. According to Mason’s reports of the massacre, “We must burn them! Such a dreadful terror let the Almighty fall upon their spirits that they would flee from us and run into the very flames. Thus did the Lord judge the heathen, filling the place with dead bodies.”

The Governor of Plymouth William Bradford wrote: “Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword; some hewed to pieces, others run through with their rapiers, so that they were quickly dispatched and very few escaped. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire…horrible was the stink and scent thereof, but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them.”

The day after the massacre, William Bradford who was also the Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote that from that day forth shall be a day of celebration and thanks giving for subduing the Pequots and “For the next 100 years, every Thanksgiving Day ordained by a Governor was in honor of the bloody victory, thanking God that the battle had been won.”

Native Americans and the Pilgrims were “besties”

The above statement is straight from the mouth of a fifth-grader at Long Elementary School in Ohio, who stated the Indians (Wampanoag) and Pilgrims were not “besties” or best friends. True to this statement, the pilgrims in Massachusetts were far from friendly. Soon after arriving in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Pilgrims went into Indians’ dwellings and cornfields and took whatever they wanted leaving beads behind. But that isn’t the picture that is painted by many accounts of the first Thanksgiving.

According to one colonist’s account in Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen: “The next morning we found a place like a grave. We decided to dig it up. We found first a mat, and under that a fine bow… We also found bowls, trays, dishes, and things like that. We took several of the prettiest things to carry away with us, and covered the body up again.”

The Pilgrims settled in an area that was once Patuxet, a Wampanoag village, but it had been abandoned four years prior because of a deadly outbreak of a plague brought by European traders. Before 1616, the Wampanoag numbered 50,000 to 100,000, occupying 69 villages scattered throughout southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island. The plague, however, killed thousands, up to two-thirds, of them. Many also had been captured and sold as slaves.

Native Americans and Pilgrims came together to give thanks and celebrate

In 1621, when the Pilgrims were celebrating a successful harvest, they were shooting guns and cannons into the air. The Wampanoag chief and 90 warriors made their way to the settlement in full warrior mode—in response to the gunfire. As the Huffington Post’s Richard Schiffman puts it, “It remains an open question, however, whether the Wampanoag were actually invited, or if they crashed the party.”

The Pilgrims were most likely nervous—the Wampanoag outnumbered the Pilgrims two to one, but it certainly wasn’t the happy picture put forth in many history books. According to Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Ramona Peters, “It was Abraham Lincoln who used the theme of Pilgrims and Indians eating happily together. He was trying to calm things down during the Civil War when people were divided. It was like a nice unity story.”

They ate turkey, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce at the first Thanksgiving

According to many historical accounts, there is no proof of turkey gobbling at the 1621 meal, but there was wild fowl (most likely geese or duck). Sweet potatoes were not yet grown in North American and cranberries are not a likely dessert food because sugar was an unaffordable luxury. Other items on the table included such things as venison, pumpkin, succotash and Indian corn.

Europeans appreciated Squanto’s help

Many have heard the story of the friendly Indian Squanto who learned English from fishermen and later taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn and other vegetables. But what many history books don’t share is that Squanto was kidnapped as a boy and sold into slavery in Spain. After several years, Squanto struggled to get back to Cape Cod.

When he returned to his village, he discovered he was the only member of his tribe that remained—the rest were either killed in battle or died of disease during his absence.

Another myth here would be to note that Squanto did not learn English solely to help the colonists—it was a necessity to facilitate his escape so he could return home.

Pilgrims taught Indians about Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims did not introduce the sentiment of Thanksgiving to the Indians. According to Loewen, “Thanksgiving is full of embarrassing facts. The Pilgrims did not introduce the Native Americans to the tradition; Eastern Indians had observed autumnal harvest celebrations for centuries. Our modern celebrations date back only to 1863; not until the 1890s did the Pilgrims get included in the tradition; no one even called them ‘Pilgrims’ until the 1870s.”

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Forum promotes ways to stop AIDS infection

by Fernando A. Torres

Meeting at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco on Oct. 31, leaders and public health experts warned this week that despite the marked decrease in deaths attributed to AIDS, the numbers continue to be disturbingly high in the African-American and Latino communities in relation to unprotected sexual conduct.

The experts met in a public forum organized by the New America Media organization and the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Deaths from the virus are at an all time low – last year there were 223 cases in San Francisco. However, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in two African-American men and one in four homosexual Latino men will become infected with the virus during their lifetime.

The lack of communication and education, religion, lack of public funds, fear produced by the attacks of the federal government on immigrants and idiosyncrasy itself, are some of the problems cited by experts that affect the scope of prevention.

According to the director of Latino services of the foundation against AIDS, Jorge Zepeda, the typical advertising messages are intended for the white community. “The messages we hear do not resonate with our culture, linguistically speaking. The ads we see throughout the city are very sterile, they are more like ads that do not reach the heart and for Latinos and Latinas we like it with more texture with more flavor, with more seasonig,”said Zepeda.

The event also served to promote the use of the preventive pill known as PrEp (Pre-exposure prophylaxis). This appeared on the scene five years ago, however there is a wide ignorance of its existence within the Latino community. The pill can prevent HIV from entering and spreading throughout the body. If used as prescribed and consistently, the pill is effective in preventing the virus.

“PrEp is for everyone. It’s a pill, a drug that has been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Aministration) that can help prevent HIV by more than 90 percent,” said Jorge Vieto, a public health worker at the Glide Memorial Foundation.

“But people do not have enough information. We are seeing that a majority of people do not know that PrEp is available. People who do know, do not know how to get it and do not know that can be covered by their insurance. If you have questions ask your doctor and if your doctor says no, find another doctor, “Vieto added.

Medicine is not cheap. A bottle of 30 pills PrEp costs $1,600. But according to Michael Barajas, a public health worker in San Francisco County, there are programs that help get it for free for a period of three to six months. These can be obtained regardless of the migratory status of the patients.

“With PrEp we can apply for a program of assistance from the company Gilead (Sciences) which is the one that manufactures the drug. They provide the medication for three to six months for free,” said Barajas who also reported that the advertising campaign initiated by the county two weeks ago is managing to reach the Latino community. They have already received more than 60 calls and the number is expected to increase in the coming days.

“I think that in general the Latino community is very conservative and has a lot of prejudices and stigmas in our minds because of our culture and how we have grown. Many are still afraid, Many still have stigma, prejudice and do not even want to talk about sexuality,” said Adrián Vargas, a 29-year-old Colombian man who a year ago was diagnosed with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

“Let’s have this conversation, and not be afraid, let’s ask and also take care of ourselves using condoms, using all the services that exist in the city of San Francisco to get an HIV test, which is very easy. So it is to take care of ourselves a bit and as a community to have that conversation, be together and not judge, and support our other friends and people who are going through this,” Vargas concluded.

Despite the efforts of these organizations to educate on the subject, they exclude the issue of sexual promiscuity that affects the homosexual community, including the expiritual education that leads to monogamy, which can be factors that would help the prevention of this disease.
These issues, according to Zepeda, are not included as they would scare away those who practice homosexuality – and therefore open sex – because the plan is to avoid contagion without feeling guilty about their actions.
It was decided, says Zepeda, not to judge, but to respect the individual and not to break his sexual identity and sexual orientation, his exercise of his sexuality.
“When you put words like promiscuity, you’re saying you’re wrong, because you put weight on that word. But if you say, look, it does not matter what you are saying, I want to help you stay healthy … and more people are going to approach you, in contrast to say, do not do this because you are promiscuous. The people are going to go away. So what do you prefer, a community that is healthy or one where people get sick?”
(Marvin Ramírez contributed to this article).

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Time for a vigilante celebration in Venezuela

by Nino Pagliccia
Global Research

In one day, on Oct.15, Venezuela has achieved several outstanding landmarks in our region at a time when we face dangerous world conflicts and unrest. By carrying out fair elections for governors of the 23 states, Venezuela has shown that people value the opportunity to participate in decision-making even under hard circumstances.

The Gran Polo Patriotico (Great Patriotic Pole), a coalition of ten parties, including the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela – PSUV), and the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), have won 17 governorships and lost five to the coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mesa de la Unidad Democratica – MUD) (One State still pending at the time of writing).

This represents winning a significant battle, but the war may still be brewing.

The significance of this victory lies in the different fronts in which Venezuela has established a clear claim.

On the democratic front 64 percent of the voters who participated in the elections have made an implicit statement that there is no dictatorship in Venezuela, contrary to the propaganda of Western right wing corporate media. In fact, there has been no shortage of elections in Venezuela. This has been the 22nd free, secret ballot in the last 18 years, including a failed referendum to revoke Hugo Chavez from the presidency in 2004.

This display of building democracy flies in the face of the recent action of the OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro, who staged a swearing in ceremony in Washington, DC of a “supreme court” whose members are Venezuelans opposing the Maduro government who have left the country. This is a fragrant illegitimate, anti-democratic interference in internal affairs of Venezuela. Luis Almagro has no shame to show his personal antipathy for Nicolas Maduro but he should be ashamed to involve the organization he represents.

This victory for democracy in Venezuela has been succinctly expressed by Bolivian President, Evo Morales, who posted a tweet that said,
“Democracy has won over intervention and conspiracy. The people defend their sovereignty and dignity.”

The second front where this election can claim a victory is likely the most welcome: Desire of people to live in peace. The large turn out of voters is both a testimonial to fearless defiance and a statement of aspiration for a country at peace. Around 10 million Venezuelans have agreed to engage in this electoral dialogue in the understanding that violence cannot be a bargaining chip.

Telesur reported the president of the National Constituent Assembly, Delcy Rodríguez praising the Venezuelan people for going to the polls and ratifying their desire to live in peace.

“This was an election convened by the National Constituent Assembly and we were not mistaken,” said Rodríguez. “This election has allowed us to consolidate the peace and to defend (our) sovereignty.”

The victory of Chavismo on the political front is perhaps the most tangible for political analysts. Despite the economic hardship in Venezuela caused by harsh US sanctions, despite negative media propaganda, and despite months of street violence triggered by the opposition that caused 126 deaths, Venezuelans are still putting their trust in support of the governing party, the PSUV, with a 54 percent overall popular vote.
Considering that the PSUV is a party openly anti-imperialist that fiercely advocates for independence and sovereignty, the vote signals a rejection of any direct intervention by the United States. Evo Morales rightly interpreted this sentiment in his tweet:

“the people triumphed over the empire. Luis Almagro lost with his boss Trump.”

The opposition MUD has not performed badly if we take into account that they gained two more states compared to the three they had in the 2012 elections. (States gained by the opposition in the 2017 elections: Anzoategui, Merida, Nueva Esparta, Tachira and Zulia).

However, early indications suggest that the opposition will not respect the democratic process in the days to come, will reject the offer of peace and dialogue, and will not recognize the elections results. In fact, they have already called for a recount and at the same time for “street actions” in protest.

In a true democracy differences in state politics is not a ground for revolt, but the continued belligerent attitude of the opposition MUD is dangerously fueled by the US, Canada and increasingly by the EU. This is precisely the kind of interference that Venezuela does not need and the Bolivarian Revolution is fighting back. Under these circumstances, the opposition cannot be trusted and nobody can lower the guard.
For now, we join all Venezuelans in a vigilant celebration for their victory for democracy over violence.

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