Alcohol Kills More Than...

Back on February 11, 2011, Reuters reported out of Geneva from the World Health Organization (WHO) that alcohol causes nearly 4% of all deaths worldwide which is more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence.

With incomes on the rise in countries around the world Africa, Asia, India and South Africa along with many other countries are now seeing binge drinking as a problem.  This is developing due to the added incomes according to the United Nations agency.   What is interesting about this is that many countries have weak control policies and this issue remains a low priority for most governments despite drinking's heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism.

According to the Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health from WHO they said that approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes.  "The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and alcohol is the world's leading risk factor for death among males ages 15-59," the report found.

Every 5th death is due to harmful drinking in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)...the highest rate.  Binge drinking is often tied to and leads toward risky behavior and is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the Ukraine and is rising elsewhere again according to WHO.

"Worldwide, about 11% of drinkers have weekly occasions, with men outnumbering women by four to one.  Men consistently engage in hazardous drinking at much higher levels than women in all regions," the report said.

Last May, 193 health ministers from WHO agreed to try and curb binge drinking and other growing forms of excessive alcohol use through higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and tighter marketing restrictions but I doubt this will change the attitudes of people.

In a milder connection, alcohol is a casual factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries according to WHO's first report on alcohol since 2004.  It's  consumption is linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancers including colorectal, breast, larynx and liver.

"Six or seven years ago we didn't have strong evidence of a causal relationship between drinking and breast cancer.  Now we do," Vladimir Poznyak head of WHO's substance abuse unit who coordinated the report, as he told Reuters.

The statistics revealed from this report are interesting as the alcohol consumption rates vary greatly from high levels in developed countries to the lowest levels in North Africa, sub-Sararan Africa and southern Asia along with the large Muslim populations that often abstain from drinking.  Homemade or illegally produced alcohol (or those falling outside governmental control as and tax nets) account for nearly 30% of total worldwide adult consumption...some is toxic.

In France and other European countries with high levels of adult per capital consumption, drinking is rather low for those who indulge in "episodic" drinking which suggests that those who drink more regularly tend to have more moderate drinking patterns.    According to WHO, light to moderate drinking can have a beneficial impact on heart disease and stroke, "however, the beneficial cardio-protective effect of drinking disappears with heavy drinking occasions," it said.

Again, to try and get this situation under control the WHO has found that one of the best ways to curb or control young people and their consumption is to raise taxes on alcohol the report said.  Setting perimeters on the buying, consuming and regulating the alcohol levels in drivers also reduced the abuse if enforced.

Another effort has been by some countries to restrict the sale and distribution of alcohol at sporting events.  "Yet not enough countries use these and other effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury attributable to alcohol consumption" WHO said.

With this added information one might wonder what the breweries themselves have to say on the subject.  Diageo and Anheuser Busch InBev have said they recognize the importance of industry self-regulation and the need to address alcohol abuse and promote information on being drunk, drinking and illegal underage drinking.  The SABMiller brewery has warned that policy measure like minimum pricing and high excise taxes on alcohol could cause more public healthier harm than good by leading more people to drink homemade or illegally produced alcohol.  Not surprising on their "concern" for someone cutting in on their bottom-line.

In God We Still Trust - Diamond Rio

This song is not a recent release but the reason I am sharing it was because of the controversy that I have heard that surrounds it.  In God We Still Trust by Diamond Rio was apparently boycotted and not played by MANY radio stations in America because it was considered politically incorrect.  Really?  What has happened to America?  Where are the conservative Christians out there and why are we silent?  It is time to wake-up and more importantly SPEAK up!  Since when does a Christian based song offend because we are talking about God being in America?

This was shocking to me as I hear of rap-stars singing lyrics that are offensive to groups of people - directly degrading them, yet that is considered music and permissible.  There have been artists whose art defames Christianity yet it is covered under freedom of expression.  They have the right to degrade Christian images under the rights of freedom yet radio stations are not playing music because there may be a back-lash.  Am I the only one to see something wrong with this picture?  This is troubling in the least as this song should be played as any other song is played on the radio.  I am proud of my God and am not going to shrink back because some people may be afraid to offend a few listeners over this song.  This is ridiculous.

Earthquake in Japan

A person can hardly turn on a television and not hear some report about the devastation from the earthquake and then tsunami that destroyed parts of Japan.  Well, this footage was like NOTHING I had seen on television.

Starting out you will watch the water come up on the dry streets and by the time it ends, you will be concerned for the people on this building watching the disaster unfold before their eyes.  Not only were cars affected but buildings were uprooted. 

INCREDIBLY tragic and now lay on top of all of this the impending concern of the nuclear reactors in this region leaking radiation on these people and one can only hold their breath and cry out for God to have mercy upon these people.  I am praying for miracles to manifest and for this struggling nation to be spared further calamity.

Obama - Muslim?

To quote the disclaimer at the beginning of this video, Obama Admits He is a Muslim, "the writers, producers, editors, and publishers of this video are not stating, claiming, or implying that Barrack Hussein Obama is a Muslim, or that Obama himself claimed or admitted to being a Muslim.  Rather the writers, producers, editors, and publishers of this video are only examining the evidence surrounding the rumor that Barack Hussein Obama might be a secret Muslim".

There are plenty of sound-bites here that will give you an indication of who the real Obama is.  Sometimes we here a clip here and there and never take the time to link them all together.  This video will help you see the "big" picture.

Obama has publicly recited the "Muslim call to prayer" in a perfect Arabic accent and then went on to say that (the Muslim prayer) was "the prettiest sound on earth." He repeatedly quotes from the "holy Koran" indicating his love for this text and even on repeated occasions states that "America is no longer a Christian nation".  This is in line with being a Muslim.

Again, this is a fascinating video; you make up your mind.  Please take the time to listen.  Have we forgotten?

Actual Footage: Brainwashing in Elementary School

This is actual footage from a documentary done in an elementary school (Cambridge Friends School - a Quaker School) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  What is troubling to me is that in this day of "education" only one side of many issues is allowed to be taught.  They are focusing all the explicit attention to the tolerance of a few and "re-educating" these children.

Elementary schools should be a place where children learn to read (phonics), write, grammar, learn the English language (rules, spelling), practice reading, learn math (calculate numbers - add, subtract, multiply, divide, percentages, fractions), learn the introductions to science (and there is plenty to teach that is non-controversial like plant life, cell life, animal life, solar system, rocks, oceans) learn about history - US (our presidents, our founding of our nation, our wars, our government (the branches of government and what they do) and a limited amount of world history (the big items like wars and countries births, basic economics (money - the use of and it's influence on our society) and yet this school feels the need to "re-educate" on issues that are non-academic.  There was opinion shared throughout these interviews and it's allowed because it's the "lefts" agenda.  No one on the "right" would be able to share in such detail "their" opinions in the classroom on such topics or many other topics without an uproar yet these children are being "formed" by teachers on matters that should remain issues taught at home.

I don't remember my teachers sharing their "intimacies" and choices while I was in grade school; in fact, it wasn't until I was in high school that I ever knew much about the private lives of my teachers and the information I did receive was shared after school hours outside the classroom instruction.

There is such a double standard in this country.  Would these same teachers agree to have someone come into address Christianity and all the details of that with their students?  Would they feel that was education or indoctrination yet they are allowed to "share" because "they" have determined what is acceptable and what it not.  This is NOT surprising that this is in Massachusetts but still it is shocking how far they are pushing the envelope under the guise of "education".

Elementary School Brainwashing - Part 1
Elementary School Brainwashing - Part 2