On more than one occasion, I have experienced heart failure and was medically resuscitated. I don't tend to discuss my experiences, because I'm not in the habit of trampling over the beliefs (comforts and reassurances) of others. For the majority of people, death is the great unknown- something that nobody can ever describe with any guarantees of accuracy. Thus, having faith in an afterlife offers some hope that the spirit will continue after the physical body expires, decays and decomposes. If this concept provides comfort and reassurance to those who believe in it and it causes no harm, who am I to deride such ideas and deprive an individual experiencing possibly the single most terrifying episode of this life, a modicum of peace in a theory that essentially harms nobody?
For those who are open to an alternative explanation, I will relate my experiences here, along with a brief discussion of the most commonly held ideas about the mysteries that occur in the event of our death. I am happy to answer any questions you may have, to listen to reported experiences of others and to engage in a discussion of any ideas I raise in this article.
Firstly, I wish to establish the following facts. On no occasion has there been any "white light", voices calling, or loved ones beckoning to me from the beyond and I did not find myself looking down on my physical body from above. There was darkness. Black, silence. Emptiness. Nothingness. Something worth noting is that arriving in this state after being in a state of extreme pain and trauma, all that was gone. I sometimes describe it as a state of "bliss" and I have spoken to others who have described it in remarkably similar terms.
Returning to consciousness, I will honestly say that I was furious. While it had been a place of nothingness, there had been no desire to leave and return to this life, with all the chaos and pain, where normality reigns. Those same people who had described their time in the void, had those exact same feelings of anger at being forced to return to reality.
It's been suggested that I might simply not have been "gone" for sufficient time, to meet with the other worldly occurrences so frequently detailed by believers. I don't deny that this could be a possibility, although the most recent incident caused such extensive hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain), that upon waking, I had literally lost all motor function and comprehension of language. In fact, the reason I regained consciousness was because the doctor was removing the ventilator, as once the body regains the ability to breathe independently, such equipment must be withdrawn. So, to my thinking, if that's not sufficient time to have the full experience, I doubt it ever would be.
I'm aware that there are theories that upon physical death, the brain is flooded with DMT. This is a hallucinogenic substance which occurs naturally in the brain (and in nature, within a large number of species and environments). It's believed to play a major role in the dreams that occur during sleep. As such, it's not impossible that a large quantity of DMT might cause hallucinations in the mind, during a NDE (near death experience). It's also not outside the realms of possibility that already having a degree of familiarity with accounts of others, that their own hallucinations might be of a similar nature.
It's important to bear in mind how the human brain often allows us to see the very things that we want to see. We are constantly discovering new and astonishing examples of the immense power this organ wields over the body. More complex than any computer, relatively little understood by the finest neuroscientists, much of its capabilities remain a mystery to this day.
Yet concerning the concept of an afterlife, with around 120 billion people having passed from this life, might it not be rather crowded? What of our animal friends? Why would we be entitled to this eternal existence and they are not? Imagine the struggle for space under those circumstances. Are we to trust in the notion of both a heaven and a hell? In which case, who decides whether each individual meets the required criteria? Are the Muslims correct in their beliefs? Or the Jews? Perhaps it's the Buddhists? Maybe it could even be the Scientologists?
Providing such peace of mind to the millions of frightened people, each and every one of whom know the day will come, when they will stand at the edge of the great abyss, is a very profitable business. As hard as they try and as many trillions of dollars are thrown at it, there's no cheating death. But one certainty remains. That is how we all have the opportunity to make the best we can of our time here, in this world. Our experiences, values, perspectives and goals will undoubtedly vary, but to a greater or lesser degree, we have some control over the direction out lives will take. Don't waste this, depending on an uncertainty in a future that may not be ours to behold.
Since the tragic tower fire in Grenfell exposed how badly its residents were failed, Scottish lawmakers have introduced additional measures to protect people there from the dangers of fire and carbon monoxide leaks. Many residential areas - especially those around the inner city which are frequently home to a less affluent population - made up of typically older properties, that may not be quite as well maintained as they otherwise would be or could be.
Scotland has long been campaigning to claim her independence from the United Kingdom. Legal, Judicial, educational, medical, procedural and fiscal systems very often differ from those in English, Northern Ireland and Wales.
New requirements mean Scotland will be the first country in the UK to legislate for such vital, life saving equipment across the board. Another claim those petitioning for national independence can proudly disport. The use of early warning devices in the home, for businesses and in public places saves lives. The statistics are undeniable and they've proven to be so successful, that many insurance providers deem them a necessity to obtain cover.
Every home will be required to install an interlinked system, meaning when one alarm is triggered and sounds, every device will sound, wherever you are in the property. This system is connected using radio frequencies and doesn't require wi-fi to function. Kitchens will need a heat detector, smoke detectors must be positioned in the most commonly used space (usually a living room), in every hallway and landing and if there are any carbon fuelled appliances, that room will need a carbon monoxide detector (although the latter need not be interlinked). Landlords, local authorities or housing associations will be responsible for equipping rental properties.
Building regulations demand that newly built properties, extensions and loft conversions include the provisions. Homeowners will probably find mortgage and insurance providers insist upon compliance. Anyone who has ever had to make a claim against their insurance policy, will appreciate how unlikely they were to be successful, if not adhering too a legal stipulation. It's not an excessive expense given that the operational lifespan is about ten years, reducing the potentially steep human price tag. However, the treasury will be providing the fire service with the necessary finances to assist those most at risk. Loans will be made available to social landlords (local authorities and housing associations) as they will probably need to fit a large number of properties within a limited amount of time.
Although it is not currently a criminal offence to not have the correct devices fitted, using the interlinked system, it would not be possible to sell the property and local authorities can use their statutory powers, to require work on substandard housing. Undoubtedly should a court of law have to ascribe responsibility following injury, disability or loss of life, any failure to comply with minimum legal standards would be a deciding factor. Systems may be powered by long life lithium batteries or mains powered (with a back up battery). Reusable batteries cannot be used and batteries must be in a sealed, tamper proof unit. The systems are widely available, although the government does not endorse any particular manufacturers. They do however detail specific safety standards with which each device must conform, akin to the CE mark that indicates a standard for toys.
The UK has been amending legal requirements for providers of rental properties and in building regulations, but this is the first inclusion of the interlinked system within legislation.
These groundbreaking measures are a response to the notorious Grenfell tower disaster in 2017. Tower fires are utterly terrifying and (fortunately) a horror few people will ever have to know.
Shortly before 1am on 14th June 2017, a ferocious blaze tore through a 24 storey tower block in Grenfell, Kensington, West London. 74 lives were lost that day and 70 more people received hospital treatment for their injuries, in what was the UK's worst residential fire since WWII and the devastating fires of the blitz.
The entire nation watched in shock, as the tower was rapidly engulfed, burning for 60 hours. Firefighters were unable to reach many of the victims before they were overwhelmed by smoke, or their exit was made inaccessible. They battled the flames for 17 hours before they could reach the top floor. That no more people perished is a testament to the efforts of police and firefighters, who worked tirelessly under impossible conditions, gaining control after 24 hours.
A full, formal inquest investigated a catalogue of concerns raised by residents prior to the tragedy. There had been only one staircase to serve all 129 flats. It had been more than four years since any safety checks had taken place. Many fire extinguishers were inoperable having expired whilst others were marked with the word Condemned. Rubbish had been allowed to amount in corridors, there was only one entrance and a single exit with no sprinklers at all.
As far back as 12 years prior to the disaster, a report had criticised emergency lighting at Grenfell tower.
Just 12 months before their demise silenced them, residents Nadia Choucair(33) and Mariem Elgwahry(27) had complained after an independent assessor identified 40 serious issues with fire safety in the high-rise. They were threatened with legal action by K.C.T.M.O.; an organisation described described as an "evil, unprincipled, mini-mafia" by the Grenfell Action Group, accusing them of ignoring health & safety laws, saying that: "only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of [KCTMO]" adding that they "predict that it won't be long before the words of this blog come back to haunt the KCTMO management and we will do everything in our power to ensure that those in authority know how long and how appallingly our landlord has ignored their responsibility to ensure the health and safety of their tenants and leaseholders. They can't say that they haven't been warned!".
An electrical fault with a refrigerator on the fourth floor being identified as the source of the fire holds little significance in light of the litany of failures that elicited a perfect storm during the early hours of that June morning.
Heavy, airtight fire doors and thick walls were intended to contain a fire until fire crews could address it, in which case only residents in the affected unit needed to be alerted or evacuated. Most of Grenfell's 600 occupants were asleep at that hour. Without any kind of warning, they had no way to know the danger they were in until it was far too late. An over-reliance on these features is employed at Grenfell and in buildings the length and breadth of the country, with standard procedures advising occupants to "stay put". Would you feel happy remaining inside a building as the flames are licking at your windows?
Many more lives were lost than should have been, primarily due to the aluminium composite rain screen cladding that had been fitted to the exterior two years earlier in an attempt to improve energy efficiency - or that's where the blame came to a rest anyway.
Harley Facades; the construction company responsible for applying this facia stated that "from a selfish point of view", his company's preference was to use cheaper aluminium Composite material. An alternative cladding with better fire resistance was refused due to cost. High-rise tower blocks are overwhelmingly inhabited by
72 victims of uncaring policies, punishing the poor
highly flammable cladding and an air gap beneath it, incurring the stackeffect essentially fanning the flames of what had by then, become an inferno. Emergency services were alerted shortly before midnight, when witnesses were woken by residents shouting and screaming for their lives. Accounts of people throwing children from windows and tying bedsheets together to make their escape, make for grim reading. More than anything, the speed with which the smoke and flames took control, shocked everybody. Traumatised survivors told reporters that no alarms had sounded. It's yet ANOTHER example of the lethality presented by capitalist pragmatism. Persistent demands to impose more and more cost cutting measures puts profits before safety and the lives of people.
The government immediately demanded a public enquiry and I can personally attest to witnessing hundreds of tower blocks nationwide, being stripped of exterior cladding.
⚠️Video timeline of the Grenfell tower inferno: Watch as 24 floors are gutted within half an hour, by a real-life raging inferno.Keep in mind that parents trapped in their homes on the upper floors, had no other option than to hold their kids, knowing in their hearts how it was the end for each and every one of them.⬇️
Have you ever had one of those dreams where you know a terrible disaster is imminent, but you either can't tell anyone or they just won't listen? Well, this has been my life for the past twenty years or so. Yes, it's bizarre and no doubt, it sounds like I'm being overly dramatic. I probably wouldn't have believed me either.
Despite being marketed as a "safer" option than benzodiazepines for the treatment of insomnia, none of these medicines are intended for long term use. Prescribing medical practitioners are advised to limit their patient's use of the drug to a maximum of 14-28 days. All these medicines prevent the patient from obtaining complete sleep cycles, with their rhythm oscillating between slow-wave and REM phases of sleep. Such a deficit impedes regeneration of the immune system and the cognitive abilities of the brain to retain thoughts and memories, among other vital functions. Consequently, sleep obtained by taking such medicines, is little better than none at all.
Irrespective of prescribing guidelines advising doctors, countless patients take these drugs on a daily basis for years on end, having become hopelessly addicted after years of use. It's impossible that they can be getting anything but relief from withdrawal symptoms (which admittedly does feel good) and a psychosomatic effect , given the tolerance they must have acquired. Ironically, withdrawal symptoms can be so severe that benzodiazepines are needed to assist with tapering, reduction and the management of potential seizures. Incidences of over prescribing have continued increasing in frequency alongside a staggering popularity for recreational use.
Although the number of people addicted to Z drugs is significant, it's not the biggest concern users should be aware of. Pharmacies are legally obliged to clarify the many side effects that can befall patients. Warnings in the UK mainly consist of verbal advise from doctors and pharmacists, whilst in the US, black box warnings and many times the size of the packaging itself. They describe all the usual unpleasantness associated with hypnotics, but one specific peculiarity has been intentionally suppressed since its inception. One that everyone, whether they take the drug or not, needs to be keenly aware of.
It's impossible to suggest that I misused this drug in any way. I used it no more than two nights out of seven. Upon those occasions, I took a single 7.5mg pill, as prescribed, without any alcohol or any other possibly contra-indicated substance. To the best of my knowledge, I had experienced a fairly good night's sleep, waking feeling normal with nothing out of the ordinary to report. Then, one morning a friend of my then partner, knocked on my door. Thinking nothing of it, I opened the door and invited him inside. Before I could close the door behind him..BAM! He punched me square in the face. Now, I can take a punch, so my response was a combination of shock and confusion. I'm a very agreeable person. Definitely not the kind of person who has angered a queue avengers waiting for their turn to hit me.
Raised voices, accusations and denials ensued. Apparently, I had called his GF numerous times during the night, making increasingly severe threats. Calls made to someone I had never met, but yet even more baffling - how did I even know her phone number? I simply couldn't believe this was a behaviour I was capable of and still struggle to believe it to this day.
When he played me a recording of the calls, hearing my voice like that I was forced to admit my guilt. There was absolutely no denying it was my voice, but why or how it occurred was and still is, inconceivable.
Before too long I discovered from talking to friends, that these sort of bizarre incidents in conjunction with the memory loss, while under the influence of Zopiclone, were more common than we could have imagined. The common characteristics in all occasions were:
💊The use of a single 7.5mg dose of Zopiclone.
💊Behaviour out of character to the individual.
💊Absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the events.
During the ensuing years, obscure reports of violent and embarrassing stories involving both celebrities and everyday people, began to hit the headlines. Oprah Winfrey was mocked, when she blamed the drug for racist remarks she had made on Twitter. Also alleging to be affected by the medicine, was Chris Pratt who challenged WWE star Dave Bautista to a fight.
An airplane was forced to make an emergency landing, when one passenger who had used the drug to alleviate their fear of flying, physically attacked the cabin crew. Further accounts portrayed hotel rooms being destroyed, patients facing domestic violence charges and all manner of peculiarities.
Until you've personally experienced such an episode, I can understand how hard it would be to accept the deniability that is warranted in what has been dubbed "The Ambien defence". This is unlike other instances of amnesia such as that caused by alcohol, where it's possible that remnants of events can return in drips and drabs with time. It's not like the effects felt from benzodiazepines, barbiturates, anaesthetics, opiates, Ketamine or just getting messed up, or overindulging.
The truly terrifying business effectively steals your body for a period of time, to do absolutely anything with and you can never know. "Body snatching".
Manufacturers Merck were making obscene profits from their product, maintaining that it was a "very rare side effect". In truth, many people were either too embarrassed to report anything, or were simply unaware that anything had befallen them, besides a full night's sleep.
Initial reports that did become public, were considered funny due to how bizarre it sounded. As time progressed, the more problematic nature of sleep eating, having (potentially involuntary or forceful) sex whilst unconscious, sleep cooking and even sleep driving, offered an indication of where this was heading.
Then one day when I searched the internet for the latest news concerning the matter (which usually led with a selection of rehab and detox facilities), everything had changed. Suddenly, the first results the search engine churned out were for lawyers. Finally after nearly 2 decades, the other foot had fallen... a terrible disaster I had foreseen all those years before had come to pass. It was truly like some kind of horror movie. Patients using the drug had awoken to discover the person they loved and that loved and trusted them most in the world -their soul mate - was dead. Butchered by them in utterly heinous ways. Scientists had investigated this "very rare side effect" and discovered that everything that we had been saying was true. Thus it's now become an accepted alibi in defence of crimes, where it could be proven the phenomenon was in effect.
However, the important thing to keep in mind is that whether a court of law accepts this alibi or not, that person still has to live each day for the remainder of their life, imagining that terror and suffering they inflicted upon their trusting partner. To my mind, such a sentence is a fate worse than death.
Whether you take Zopiclone, Zolpidem or another nonbenzodiazepine, consider whether it's really a gamble you're prepared to take. This pill could lead you into a nightmare world from which there could be no waking up.
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In the UK we are fortunate enough to have important legislation, that's based on one overarching principle;
Access to safe, drinkable water is critical for the sustenance of human life. This might not sound like much. If you think it doesn’t apply to you, YOU’RE WRONG!
Those living without access to clean, safe, potable water no longer belong to third world nations of the kind we probably imagine. Take a closer look at this most vital of necessities that we had assumed was, and always will be plentiful and flowing freely… that’s not quite as certain as it might once have seemed.
All Brits pay water charges. But even if those go unpaid, no home can be deprived of the water supply while it’s inhabitants draw breath. It’s not like there’s any other option and you can just pop down to the canal, take a bath, fill up a jerry can and not end up sick.
With an extensive network of purification plants, sewerage systems and delivery pipes, every home can be reached. That's definitely not something people of the world universally enjoy. For some years, I lived in a small village in southern Europe where nearly everybody relied upon a few communal taps . During summer months, water only flowed from the taps for a few hours each day. A queue would grow at the tap as 4pm drew near each afternoon, of villagers bearing buckets, jerry cans, cheese tins and other assorted containers. After filling them, they could then flush toilets, bathe, cook and clean. Anything more than a single square of toilet paper would completely block the pipes, so a small bin (usually a repurposed cheese tin) sat at the side of every toilet, into which all disposables were placed.
Recently all the lead pipes in the U.K. received an upgrade. They can’t be replaced without our streets collapsing. After so long, they have just a part of the landscape we live in.
How-to resolve this problem when aging pipes are increasingly presenting a potential hazard to the health of consumers. Every lead pipe in the U.K. has had safe, new plastic piping threaded through it, providing a public health solution for the ages to come.
There exists an almost mythical belief that the superior quality and health benefits of bottled water cannot be unequalled.
Simply put, there's no such thing as clean bottled water, whether it’s the impurities inside the bottle tainting it, the unfathomable mark-up in price for something being stolen from a finite source, intended to support life within its natural vicinity, the obscene environmental impact, or the knock on effect that the industry imposes on the less fortunate and the vulnerable; if you could truly see the dirty tricks and human cost floating around inside that squidgy bottle that screams as clear as your conscience, nobody would ever give bottles of water a second glance, let alone pay for it.
Having had one or two health issues, I made a resolution to drink more water. Doctors had repeatedly advised my grandmother drink water. Not Tea, Coffee, Juice, Cordial or anything purporting to contain water. Something of which I hadn't been aware was that certain medicines draw water from the body to function properly. So drinking water with nothing added to it really is quite important.
Time and again, I see people screw up their face at the prospect of actually drinking the water flowing from the tap in their kitchen. Now, I've lived in places where foreign visitors are advised against drinking the local water... directions that serve local businesses quite nicely, thank-you very much and reduces demand on a water supply that could only be available for an hour or two each day.
Of course, there are certain places where under no circumstances should you ever drink the tap water (This includes ice made from that water too).
💥Facts💥 1 in 3 people worldwide lack access to safe, potable water. 700 children (under 5 years) die every day from diarrhoea linked to inadequate sanitation and hygiene. Try to imagine a little child s*itting liquid, then blood, then dying and the agonies that entails. Cholera can end a life in just a few hours time. Polio, Dysentery, Hepatitis A and Typhoid Fever are some of the delightful treats in store for 1/10 humans today. Often, parents faced the impossible choice of their children drinking water containing faecal matter from animals and humans, or simply going without. It doesn't hurt for holidaymakers to cough-up for bottles of drinking water during their two week holiday. People frequently experience stomach problems despite the local water sources being perfectly fine, with this solely resulting from their not being accustomed to the levels of minerals etc therein. However, I have spoken with people living in some of the most devestatingly beautiful places on the planet, who have described drinking directly from the nearest river or stream; the very same one into which flows raw sewerage. Undoubtedly, the critical difference when considering the impact of tainted water on human life is poverty. For those of us lucky enough to enjoy the benefit of industry controls, I guess there are a number of reasons why a large glass of H²0 from their local supply doesn't exactly fill them with enthusiasm.
Many claim that they taste or smell something unsavoury in their water.
They might feel that a bottle of water is safer or better
They could find bottles of water more convenient
They might have previously detected a metallic taste, smell or an unusual colour in the water.
Yet there are people who still complain about “undrinkable” water. A small amount of chlorine added at the source, quickly becomes nothing more than a residual amount. And fluoride hysteria forgets the far larger presence naturally occuring in the earth. That which actually reaches them is nothing in comparison. Regulatory bodies inspect records, but more importantly, tested repeatedly at the source, as it leaves the supplier and at the tap, those results are there for everyone to see by right.
Variations in taste are either due to changes in equipment, distance from the source. Chilling and allowing a jug of this water to stand is usually sufficient although at no point is it ever a risk to health. The biggest causes of noticeable variations in taste, are due to consumers moving between places supplied by different sources, often unknowingly. But also, the effect of other factors, such as smoking, diet, health, dehydration, other drinks such as tea, coffee and carbonated beverages, on the function of the taste buds. The impact of which, I could never have comprehended a couple of years before.
The biggest complaint is about so-called “hard" water. Nothing more than magnesium and calcium from the rocks in the land, a crucial feature that has contributed to natural filtration for centuries. Something, endangering only the life of the kettle, required to eliminate the issue completely. What petty and entitled whingers such privilege has made of us.
Being as I was paying for it anyway, I was going to drink what we lovingly describe using its pet name; council pop. The results were astonishing. Almost every aspect of my health improved rapidly. Suddenly people would comment on the clarity of my eyes and I was spending less time in the consulting room. As time went on, I reacquired the use of my taste buds to the point where I could no longer use metal cutlery as that’s all I could taste. Even my thinking became clearer.
As a child, I recall my father telling me “it’s the things you CAN’T see in water, you need to worry about. Try taking a bottle of water and evaporating it in a regular saucepan. Do the same thing with the same quantity of tap water and there’s a visible result. So, that can’t bode well.
I would see outraged comments about the developing world and the need for untainted water on social media. Scrolling to the bottom, it’s the work of the bottled water industry. Something just doesn’t add up. Being familiar with the value of investment in infrastructure, the industry is nothing but a thief, sneaking in, draining the reserve intended for the local inhabitants, making a horrible mess, selling it back to them with a lot of empty promises and escaping before the damage can be assessed.
Meanwhile, there are no requirements for the people getting fat from the dirty water tricks, to disclose the ingredients of their product either on the bottle or otherwise. Using the old name change switcheroo, it was one of those cases where you know something isn’t quite as it seems. But you can’t work out it is and somehow there’s a funny stink. Then you spot the Nestlé brand. Bingo! A leopard doesn’t change it’s spots. Being familiar with their track record, gave me an idea of what to look for. It’s not their self interest to GIVE their product away. But this is the same players who got the third world hooked on baby formula. So there’s always something being concealed, usually at the expense of someone with no voice.
Let’s start at the source. Nestlé are known for setting up shop in economically depressed areas with lax water laws. They often pay nominal charges, like the municipal extraction fee of $200 they paid in Flint, Michigan. They notoriously sold $343 million worth of product, leaving the area’s supply contaminated and genuinely undrinkable. A single plant produces 3.5 million bottles a day, eating up vast amounts of a dwindling energy supply and pumping great plumes of toxic gases into the sky. It may sound familiar. Flint is among the most deprived communities in North America. This is a routine business plan for one of the most despised, monopolies in the world.
But don’t imagine choosing another brand eliminates this factor. For example big players Danonê buying up Evian was no accident. People have such a vast exposure to branded products, their trust is easily abused in the knowledge, the majority either don’t care, don’t want to know, don’t have the time or energy to find out or have no option. Companies don’t spend billions on advertising because it doesn’t work. The very fact that someone maintains they’re not influenced by it indicates it’s done the intended job. You’re supposed to want it without knowing why. Selling a product for exorbitant profit depends on nobody finding out the true cost.
Fertilizers, pesticides and nitrates, even arsenic leeches into the water table. Their ridiculous claims of technologies that have no value at this scale, such as reverse osmosis and distillation are laughable. But even if they could (or would) use large scale purification processes, there’s the other effects on the environment too. It’s impossible to miss the great chimneys that release the very gases we have worked so hard to eliminate in a bid for our very survival. And when the argument of chemicals from the plastic bottles leeching into the bottles arises, notice how “scientists” (have a guess who’s paying for this study), say that they’re stable unless temperatures fluctuate. Anyone who has ever worked in a warehouse will be familiar with the searing heat during the day and freezing nights. That’s without accounting for seasonal and regional variations.
While our waterways yield the results of the industrial waste spilling out. Killing fish, creating mutations like spinal curvatures and even sex changes. If it’s doing that to fish, how long before it reaches us? Remember the old canary in the coal mine? When it keels over and drops to the floor, you don’t have long.
But there’s even greater profit to be found in the export market. Nestlé started selling water in Lahore, Pakistan in 1998. Locals could still turn on a tap and get a clean glass of water. Fast forward 20 years and instead of asking to buy a bottle of water, they are asking for a bottle of Nestlé. Infrastructure has broken down and there is no longer any choice. Suspicion leaks out occasionally, but biased “experts" coincidentally always appear with some way to subdue the issue if only for sufficient time for people to lose interest.
You can’t water parched arable farmland with a bottle of Nestlé. Neither does it treat raw sewerage and industrial effluent from some of the countries with the fastest booming economies in the world, built largely at the expense of the desperate poverty right next to it. The textile industry is notorious for the disastrous ethical cost to those who are worst off.
The pandemic has caused panic and chaos on a global scale, but 3,575,000 die annually due to lack of access to untainted water. If we had to choose between giving our children poisoned water or nothing, would it be allowed to continue?
Nestlé have publically announced that safe water isn’t a human right. By falling for their dirty bag of tricks, and filling their bulging pockets, we’re silencing.
A whole range of diseases are found in untreated water around the world, from Malaria, Cholera, Hepatitis A and Amoebic dysentery to parasitic infections, Trachoma, the majority of which affect children. In countries battling epidemic levels of HIV/AIDS, it’s the last thing you need with a weak immune system.
With the market for export bottled water growing, the question of finding an uncontaminated source is getting closer to home everyday. Isn’t it time we stopped kidding ourselves and allowing what is ours to be taken out of greed?
Bottled water is no solution for this problem. It’s just a band aid at best. But, where it detracts pressure from those responsible for provision and upkeep of crucial infrastructure, the only humane resolution, it’s actively worsening matters. There’s nothing that could convince me that replacing the linguistics for a basic element required for life, can be acceptable.
This is a much more pressing public health issue than recent events. Legislation, planning and the development for the essential works required, doesn’t happen overnight.
The notion of bottles of water being “convenient” is nonsensical, when it can be as simple as the touch of a button. And flavoured waters are nothing more than a tool to add to the blood money on the hands of big water.
In San Bernardino, California, Nestlé pays $524 annually to extract 30 million gallons of water, come fire or drought. How does that add up in anyone’s mathematics? If those in power allow such a trade off, even providing generous tax breaks, you can guarantee something is not being said. Ask the people of Mecosta, Michigan and neighbouring Evart about the cost of having Nestlé come in and pump your water. Years of wrangling, secret deals and desperate fundraising, by those with the least to give and the most to lose, for an idea of dirty water tricks.
Nestlé will quickly deny any involvement in profiteering from public scandals such as those faced by Flint. But years of dependence on bottled water by citizens, hasn’t hurt their business. Once they’re done abusing the public’s lack of recognition that this resource is theirs, they’ll be onto the next opportunity. Selling a product for 10,000 times the price is grotesque. There’s more to it than simply what’s needed to drink. Simply bathing in tainted water can be extremely dangerous. There’s absolutely no way they are capable of removing some of the chemical contaminants, especially. There are no requirements for bottled water to reveal the contents. A single plant pays $200 producing 3.5 million bottles a day. Filling the ocean with plastic, pumping toxic gases in the sky. fertilizers, pesticides and nitrates, even arsenic, leeches into the water table. These resources are finite.
In Lahore- Pakistan, 20 years ago, they could get a glass of clean water from a tap. Now they ask to buy a bottle of Nestlé . It’s not even called water anymore. And in this time, infrastructure has broken down. You can’t water a farm with a bottle of Nestlé.
I only know this because we have very tight restrictions on tap water in the UK. Tests are mandatory at multiple points and times- publically available with suppliers being accountable. I literally weep, when I look to the United States, a nation admired for the virtues of justice and public health. The ease with which this vital resource, for the wellbeing of themselves and future generations, is dismissed as a priority. Simply because there is an all prevailing culture of entrusting corporations in matters that cannot ethically be a question of profitability. Until it’s too late and everything goes horribly wrong. Revealing no protections for the citizens. Only a series of corrupt decisions and shady deals by those responsible for “guard duty”
When they turn up pumping your water supply, maybe the shine of bottled water won’t seem so attractive. If the money spent on bottled water was in the right hands, everyone could have access to the highest standards of clean, life saving water. What has the world come to, that the most basic needs are sold to corporate predators?
How long before the suffocating man gasps “give me some Nestlé?
I brought a bottle of water over 5 years ago, refilled it from the tap in the kitchen until something better came along. It’s filthy!
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2nd October 2024.
Update.
Last week this was published in SciTechDaily. What the heck is wrong with people? Can nobody think beyond their own immediate needs? No wonder this planet is purging itself of the parasitic disease that's steadily but surely killing it as if they had planned it all.
This is stuff you learn before the age of 10 as a rule-evaporation tests etc. In the UK -now this could have a lot to do with it- there's a tendency to look at social media and assume anything that's said applies to you, forgetting it's a global affair. Just as Britain has NEVER had vaccine mandates, we have some of the most rigid controls and regulations regarding the distribution storage, treatment of water and processing of water, whereas bottled water, (frequently precisely the same stuff) has none at all. All the road works and temporary traffic lights causing mayhem nationwide? That's your waterboard.
Our water supplies and sewerage systems are so ancient that they're part of the landscape. To remove them could lead to subsidence, pot holes,crevices and chasms appearing.. so instead of replacing lead piping, every water pipe has had durable plastic piping threaded through it manually. If you're unhappy with the water you've paid for, , just get onto the computer via their website or the old fashioned way.. give them a call! Then again, I suppose they would need to find something else to moan about 😠
Not so long ago, the notion that such a large portion of our lives would have been relocated to the virtual online world, seemed like something depicted in science fiction. Having a perfect stranger choose your grocery shopping for you, attending meetings and even medical appointments in cyber space is now deemed to be "convenient". In fact for most people, it's really no more opportune at all; Something like an uncomfortable mattress that the dog was sick on so can't be returned, or a blue coat you waited 6 weeks to be delivered that turned out to be more green than blue. What's could be simpler than stopping by a nearby outlet (your local traders need your business now, more than ever), buying what you need with the advice of an assistant who's knowledgeable and has your full attention? You get to see, touch and try out your purchase, then take it home in your hand that same day? Personally, I prefer to choose the produce from the top of the display, where it's not battered, bruised, squishy and mouldering underneath. When there's no tuna on the shelf, I don't want to receive laundry detergent or pet food instead.
Not only does the disconnect that's come about affect our local businesses and the local economy, but it's delivered a fatal blow to the remnants of our "community". We don't need to be intimately acquainted with the humans behind the doors near ours, to simply know who belongs and who doesn't when home contents are hastily being loaded into an anonymous vehicle in the street. Even if pot luck shopping suits your needs, there's some things in life for which nobody should have to settle (for second best). I would argue your health is one of those and that your mental health even moreso.
Many will argue the successes of online therapists, but the fact is that online therapy is not psychotherapy. As a stop-gap during a global emergency, without doubt, the benefit has been undeniable. You'll find a "not the same as face-to-face psychotherapy" disclaimer on most websites. It's a simulation, with all the limitations and impediments of a simulation. Your practitioner is like a restaurant that can only offer you half the menu, or a surgeon with one broken hand.
There are more reasons why a face to face convergence of patient and practitioner is the optimal method for this discipline. A consulting room is a truly sacred space and an representation of confidentiality itself. Rules that clinicians live by and that assure patients their deepest help thoughts will remain within the confines of the physical and symbolic space, not unlike the confessional booth in a church. More than that, both parties leave the trappings of life at the door, devoting the time within this sanctuary to healing.
A space that's dedicated only to healing, with intimacy reflected in the choice of decor, every picture frame in place, carefully selected furniture. The themes of trust, safety and a dearth of judgement all play their part. Undoubtedly the principle concern demanding consultations occur in the office, is that of confidentiality.
Most people have realised by now that online privacy was never anything more than a myth. When the patient is in a home or work environment, it's a "make shift" alternative, or there could be echoes of less peaceful moments. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas and what happens in the consulting room, stays in the consulting room. The practitioner/patient relationship extends as far as the door..no further. For example, should you encounter your therapist in a social space, it would be exceptionally unprofessional for them to publicly acknowledge you (without your express permission) or risk exposing any details about the patient, their life or a reason for knowing them. Once the boundaries of the space within which they can speak freely are blurred, so those reassurances are lost.
For most people, there will be discussion of traumatic events, raw emotions and painful memories. A great benefit is acquired by the addition of body language and facial expressions for both parties. Indeed, one of the primary tasks in psychotherapy is to guide and assist the patient in discovering, extracting and managing repressed, forgotten and painful memories, that the patient may well be unaware are an issue. Picking up on potentially buried details depends on analysing such mannerisms, as well as speech patterns, irregular emotional responses and numerous other "tells", detected only due to the familiar understanding founded with time and trust.
At the end of the day, your mental health is too important to employ half measures. Frankly, I believe a worthwhile practitioner won't want to be limited in such a way. It may be your preference and feel easier not to have to travel to the meeting, but it's more than just a doctor's office. You deserve the best, so if you're thinking about online therapy, do consider everything you want to achieve from the process. Is a simulation really what you need? When the actual journey has been subject to decades of research and study.
Well, there you have it. Without overarching trust between the two parties afforded by strict confidentiality, it's essentially a futile endeavour.
They might seem like just any other Facebook groups. But Facebook has come alive with 90s rave revival groups, where the rave generation rapidly bond over a common love.
During the early 1980s, Brits partying in the Balaeraics brought home a very special souvenir. Acid house music hit the nation, along with Ecstacy (and just about anything else they could lay their hands on). The (so-called “designer") drug had been intended for therapeutic use in marital counseling. If you have experience of it, you can see how it works. Users experience an “ecstatic" euphoria, but also a kind of shared empathy and a sense of compassion, allowing them to both speak and (more importantly) listen, without judgement. A state that united users with a universal acceptance.
Events would be a badly kept secret with a phone number to ring for the location, often two, just to throw the police off the scent. 👽. You would all gather in an abandoned warehouse or just a field, then dance until dawn. The DJ managed the room and churned out a mix of the biggest bangers, building sweaty youngsters into a frenzy of whistle blowing, lolly sucking, gurning, loved up kids. EDM (Electric Dance Music) had arrived with a large, powerful sound system of amplifiers and speakers. If you were there, everyone was your soul mate. Everything from water to chewing gum and prolonged hugs were shared.
https://youtu.be/gCWoAEhXaVU
Roger Cook on TVs “The Cook Report" shocked the nation, when he exposed an event advertised as having “no illegal substances", as having drugs freely available. In truth, he didn’t know the half of it. Not only was Ecstasy bringing together hundreds of ravers from across the nation, in a communion of empathy heightened by the scent of VICKS VAPORUB, 💊but suddenly football violence which had plagued the 80s, fell by 30%. Pubs across the nation were safer too. Thousands of would be drinkers were having the time of their lives, faces aching from their smiles.
Nobody cared what you wore. It would be drenched and hanging off you pretty soon anyway. The trainers though..danceability was key and endurance was the order of the day.🌅. Commonly copious quantities of Ecstasy, LSD and Amphetamine was the secret weapon. Loved up ravers with pupils like saucers threw their hands in the air to catch the laser shows that marked the era. Nobody drank alcohol. A bottle of water that you brought at the start of the night, then refilled from the bathrooms. UV reactive smiley faces were the code.😃. A DJ used whatever tracks he could purloin and blend samples, taken from iconic media of the day into his own kind of magic. The dancefloor was controlled by their fingertips on the mixer, as the tempo rose, so did the euphoria. Every night was the best night of your life. 🕊️. Now the Cheesy Quavers have reunited using technology…this from an era before even CDs and Digital technology. Photographs were taken with a camera and videos, something still new to most of us, occasionally could be created by a monstrous block that had to be carried upon a shoulder. 📹
It really was a once in a lifetime atmosphere. There were hugs and bonding between lads and girls, or any mixture of the two. But there was absolutely no cause for any unease, because everyone was there for the same purpose. ☄️. To dance and have it large!!
Raves frequently continued well into the following day, as everyone defied the daylight, or anything else to stop them. ♥️. Until in 1994 they did. The government created “The Criminal Justice Bill", ironically the ultimate injustice to unity and peace. It would criminalise any gathering and saw helicopters scouring the cities and suburbs alike. But the rave wasn’t so easily curtailed. 👀. Ravers protested by doing what they did best. More than 5,000 people gathered in London to fight for the right to rave.
https://youtu.be/S6ruUooMK9w
So raves moved indoors and were no longer illegal, although the concept remains frowned upon to this day and were, in a sense, legitimised.
There was a kind of parting of the ways as more commercial sounds went upmarket, charging higher entrance fees. The fact that the take at the bar wasn’t going to be sufficient to sustain the venue, was hardly a secret. Underground music frequently occurred in old and derelict nightclubs. Afterall, there’s no denying a thorough mess was proudly made, as hedonism prevailed. 🎧.
The movement had made a huge impact on the political views of those involved. The ethos was free music and love all round. Everyone is welcome. Just be with us in the moment. 🚨. As the indoor scene rolled through the 90s, it spread throughout Europe, across the Atlantic and even down under. It was absolutely normal, expected even, for ravers to take such a cocktail of drugs that they couldn’t see the floor or got lost in inanimate objects, that were now the secret to the meaning of life. If it sounds like madness, that’s because it was. But it was all about Love and a DJ.🍄.
There was a split of sorts at this time, with the smarter clubs hosting House music, Big room floor fillers, happy hardcore and bounce tunes, while the rougher venues accommodated gabba, jungle, techno and drum&bass.🎛️ EDM even spilt over into mainstream popular music with acts like THE SHAMEN, KLF, MASSIVE ATTACK, THE PROGIDY and THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS. The louder the better and don’t spare the bass.
Generation X was born and the dance Revolution had started. 😃.
The media tried their best to spread the perilous danger of Ecstasy, but it just became another inside joke, for the people who simply couldn’t stop smiling. 📰 We kept our stash of lovey doves, Mitsibushis, billy whizz and acid tabs safe, by swallowing the lot. From the front pages of the tabloids to the nine-o-clock news, the rest of Britain must have thought we were barking mad! Nothing was going to stop us. Then I guess people just grew up.
But what age pulled asunder let Facebook bring together, to revel in the residual bond. There are numerous groups where old rave nostalgia and stories of ridiculousness are exchanged. Some cater to specific styles of music, but there’s a common theme…those smiles literally go on for miles!! When we look back fondly on days and nights, remembering that the blurrier the memory, the bigger the rave was. It probably sounds incredibly irresponsible and stupid, but the intention was to get as mashed up as possible. 👟 Upon making a public display of yourself, your rave family would give you a cheer and lots more hugs. It was incredibly safe considering what we were actually doing. You always knew the other 900 odd revellers had your back. We were truly blessed.
Of course, there existed the eternal dilemma of how to get home. You could catch a ride with anyone, but there was always the time spent shivering in the car outside the club, because nobody was capable of operating a car. 🚬 But somehow or other everyone DID get home safely, although when we talk about it, we are deeply ashamed of driving in that condition. We thank the house of God that we didn’t kill anyone. If you ever dropped in at a British motorway service station on a Saturday evening (a good place to link up for hunt the rave), or a Sunday, you may well have bumped into these dishevelled, and over friemdly bunch. We were the most harmless bunch of criminals you’re ever going to come across. Couldn’t get into a fight if we tried. We must have looked quite a fright, but in our minds, we were the beautiful people. We had pure love and pills to welcome anyone who would join us. It was of no concern whatsoever for a single girl to go home with a total bunch of strangers.🤪 Nobody who raved was actually capable of being a stranger or any kind of danger.
These were immediately people you knew you could trust. It’s reminiscent of the gatherings in club toilets, which were naturally unisex…just try tearing us apart!! 🌀
Now we communicate through the comments section. It’s since been said that the neuropathic threat of the particular type of Ecstasy we took back then was drastically underestimated. Sure enough, this post concerning those who fell into heroin, crack cocaine and alcohol addiction in the ensuing years indicates a current 3K participants. Many have found a place within addiction services, which is so very valuable. An addict has zero trust in a counsellor who has read about drugs in a book. There is the language of rave for us to communicate our connection.
But we have each other for support with no fear of judgement. These are our brothers and sisters and we will go to the ends of the Earth together. We will never let one of our own go in need. I guess we are Just one, big happy family. We pray to the God of dance music and are borne of pure love. There is no drunken brawling, spiking of drinks, necessity for females to even begin to feel any threat. Did our happiness scare the public and authorities so very much? 😃.Many of us have paid the ultimate price. Just yesterday, I went to look for a messenger and noticed the long list of names under the header, “deceased". Mental health issues are chronic and enduring. We were just young and having fun. 😢.
R.I.P. John Knowles, Alex Wooldridge, ~Theò de Belgeonne, ~Dan Carter,~ Jay Barstani, ~Deborah-Louise Wood, ~Andrew Barker, ~Jeff Ostle, ~Gideon Dawson,~Fynn Western Davey. ~Tim Branson.😢.
🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭
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