Getting slimed all the way to being sold down the river...

ALL of 'em!!!


‘Every river in this country is polluted’...
wrote:

... The chronic shortfall of investment in water infrastructure, the £56bn debts of the water companies, the £66bn paid out in dividends since privatisation, the slashing of EA budgets by Liz Truss, the procession of hapless, ineffectual Defra ministers, the built-in 25-year statutory notice period to remove a water company licence ...

“When you create something that is a naturalised, geographical monopoly,” he says, “you need really effective regulation, because by definition, the companies are set up to take advantage. Instead you’ve got 30 years of political indifference and regulatory failure. And guess what? In that vacuum, the water companies, financed by venture capital, [profitably] completely game the system.”...

... Clean up Britain?

“Yes. Sewage, corruption. It’s true on just about every level.”...

Rather than continuing to wade through it all... What do we do about it??...


Only in our only one country...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
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And getting slimed at the other end, we have continuing into ever greater unhappy unhealth:


UK in ‘rapidly escalating’ diabetes crisis as cases top 5m
wrote:

... also expresses concern about growing number of younger people with type 2...

... About 90% of diabetes patients have type 2, a condition much more likely to develop if people are overweight. About two-thirds of adults in the UK are overweight or obese...

... The stark figures mean millions of Britons are at increased risk of complications including heart attacks, kidney failure, stroke, amputation and blindness.

As a result, the UK faces a public health emergency unless action is taken...

Meanwhile, we continue to suffer the profitable farce of:

Food experts condemn UK supermarkets over failure to tackle sugar levels
wrote:

Retailers continue to encourage sugar consumption while paying lip service to healthy eating...

... UK supermarkets have been accused of encouraging people to consume more sugar, despite the huge concern about its significant role in causing obesity, rotten teeth and type 2 diabetes...

... condemn leading supermarkets ... for increasing the amount of sugar people consume, while pretending to be committed to helping them adopt healthier diets...

"... supermarkets – continue to encourage sugar consumption through their drive for higher sales, despite paying lip service to healthy eating goals.”...

... The total amount of sugar bought in Britain is still rising, even though successive governments and health experts have been warning for years about the damage it is wreaking, for example through highly sugared drinks...

... Henry Dimbleby, the government’s food tsar, resigned from his role last month in protest at the government’s “insane” lack of action against Britain’s growing obesity problem. Ministers’ “ultra-free market ideology” and refusal to force food producers to reduce the amount of fat, salt and sugar in their products was proving ruinous for public health, he said...

Caffeine may reduce body fat and risk of type 2 diabetes...
wrote:

Findings could lead to use of calorie-free caffeinated drinks to cut obesity...

... “It does not study or recommend drinking more coffee, which was not the purpose of this research.” She said any caffeinated drinks containing sugar and fat would offset the positive effects...

Continuing the profitable addictive slime that leaves us all with a very bad taste, and a crippled NHS cleaning up the health mess...


Or...

Eat truly healthy?

Stay healthy!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Getting slimed all the way to being sold down the river...

ALL of 'em!!!


‘Every river in this country is polluted’...

No wonder there is such dirty ongoing stupidity when these realities converge:


Environment Agency workers strike over pay
wrote:

Thousands of Environment Agency workers began a three day strike on Friday over claims of "endemic low pay"...

... Since 2001 the Environment Agency has attended 1, 490 major incidents which could post a serious threat to human health. However, it relies on staff volunteering to be on these 24/7 emergency rotas as well as their normal day jobs...

... low pay meant colleagues were moving on to other jobs and there was a struggle to recruit...

... Rivers monitoring is a crucial element of the government's [yet another] new Water Plan...

... The new Water Plan allocates an additional £2.2m a year to the agency for enforcement - an increase of 2.4% on the Agency's current grant.

[Yet,] The Environment Agency's overall enforcement budget, has been cut from £170m in 2009-10 to £76m in 2019-20...

... "The number of monitoring sites and the frequency of monitoring have been reduced which has reduced the ability to drive improvements in the health of our rivers."

And still yet:

Rather than continuing to wade through it all... What do we do about it??...

Only in our only one country...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Here's quite a healthy fun eye-opener:


Zoe: Should you eat more protein? with Stanford's Professor Christopher Gardner


See for their vastly more healthy real world detail, rather than continuing to suffer the incredible Marketing slime that scams us all!

That really is too easy to go truly healthy:

Enjoy!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Simply neo-liberal amazing:


Zoe - What is "Ultra Processed" Food, and Why Does It Lead to Weight Gain?
wrote:

... Many [most?] of us eat them regularly...

... Dr. Chris van Tulleken is an infectious diseases doctor at University College Hospital, in London, and one of the BBC’s leading science presenters.

Chris shares the groundbreaking research from his own lived experiments, including the now famous study with his twin brother Xand...

... Jonathan and Chris are joined by ZOE regular Tim Spector. Drawing from their combined expertise...

Quite a revelation... Much much more than just "weight gain" and emptying your wallet. All so plainly 'obvious' yet also so badly obscured by our mad dash through a supermarket/big-store.

And amazingly stark for his very own birth twin in their "Twins" study for the examples from both ends of the scales!


Eat to live healthy!

Enjoy!!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Some people are gluten and/or lactose intolerant, that said I like Yogurt as long as it's not plain or pineapple. I can tolerate sourdough bread since I can't buy any bread that is gluten free in this area, so all I can do is limit my intake. My paternal grandpa was into health foods before it became a term and after he died he was found to be as "healthy as a horse", that's what I was told back in 1970.

Weight gain can be complicated, like joint problems where ones hips that had dislocated at one time have not been operated on cause of ones weight, 9 pain pills a day here, 5 in the morning and 4 in the evening, 3 Bayer back and body 500mg aspirin w/32mg caffeine in the morning and 2 later, the other pills are 650mg acetaminophen for OA which I've had since I was 30yrs old, I'm now almost 63. Plus there are 2 forearm crutches here rated at 500lbs each.

As to what is a good food to start the day, it could be eggs or chex cereal or something, even a sandwich. My dad thought processed foods might not be a good choice, some of his dad rubbed off on him, dad could climb a rope hand over hand to the ceiling in high school and climb down without using his legs as grandpa had dad do exercises before breakfast, my dad was a WW2 US Army PFC Medic in North Africa and in Europe with the 3rd ID.

---

Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

Dead slimy:


Could ultra-processed foods be harmful for us?
wrote:

"It's a bit scary isn't it after only two weeks to see those results."

Aimee, 24, has spent two weeks on an ultra-processed diet as part of a test carried out by scientists from King's College London for BBC Panorama.

Her identical twin, Nancy, was also on a diet containing exactly the same amount of calories, nutrients, fat, sugar and fibre - but she was consuming raw or low-processed foods.

Aimee gained nearly a kilo in weight - Nancy lost weight. Aimee's blood sugar levels also worsened and her blood fat levels - lipids - went up.

This was a short-term study on just one set of twins, but the results highlight growing fears among some scientists about the possible impact of so-called ultra-processed foods on our health...

... "We're talking about a whole variety of cancers, heart disease, strokes, dementia."...

... More recently, they have been looking into the impact of one specific ingredient - emulsifiers - which act as a glue in ultra-processed foods to hold everything together.

Emulsifiers are the Holy Grail for the food industry - they improve the appearance and texture of food, and help to extend the shelf life far beyond that of less-processed food.

They're everywhere, in mayonnaise, chocolate, peanut butter, meat products. If you eat [supermarket food or fast food], you're likely to be consuming emulsifiers as part of your diet...

Scary indeed!

Eat healthy?
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Sadly, an ongoing story poisoning us all:


Revealed: The secret push to bury a weedkiller’s link to Parkinson’s disease
wrote:

The global chemical giant Syngenta has sought to secretly influence scientific research regarding links between its top-selling weedkiller and Parkinson’s, internal corporate documents show.

While numerous independent researchers have determined that the weedkiller, paraquat, can cause neurological changes that are hallmarks of Parkinson’s...

All 'just' a deadly 'game'?...

And we are all slimed!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

If true, this sugar substitute probably will end up on the ban list.
This Common Sugar Substitute May Damage Your DNA and Increase Your Cancer Risk

The zero-calorie sweetener in question is sucralose, which is about 600 times sweeter than table sugar.

The new study found that sucralose may lead to a leaky gut lining, and increase the activity of genes related to inflammation and cancer.

Continuing the slime:


Government delays buy-one-get-free junk food ban
wrote:

Plans to ban two-for-one junk food deals have been delayed by the government for another two years.

It would have meant shops being unable to sell food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar using multibuy deals.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it would be unfair to restrict options when food prices remain high.

The policy, part of an anti-obesity strategy, had already pushed back to this October. It has now been delayed until 2025 while a review takes place...

... while the government reviews the impact it would have on shopp[ing habits] and businesses...

... showed the deals are effective at influencing purchases, particularly for children...

What politics is this?

Instead: Eat healthy?!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

---

... And for another unnecessary Marketed addiction:


(UK) Antidepressants: Two million taking them for five years or more
wrote:

More than a quarter of patients on antidepressants in England - about two million people - have been taking them for five years...

... This is despite there being limited evidence of the benefits of taking the drugs for that length of time. A doctor who runs an NHS clinic helping people off the pills says withdrawal symptoms can make it hard for some to stop...

... More than eight million people in England are on antidepressants...

... uncovered evidence that a leading drug company attempted 27 years ago to conceal possible withdrawal effects...

... they simply change how you think or feel, rather than rectifying an underlying problem...

... long-term antidepressant use may be linked to some health risks, such as heart problems and diabetes...

... He is concerned that far more work has been done on how to start patients on antidepressants - and much less on stopping. "To me, it's the same as allowing cars to be sold without brakes,"...

Very unhealthy scary just how many people are on antidepressants...

Exploiting the greater greedy profits of peddling (forever) on-going 'treatments' rather than offering an actual useful cure?...

Stay healthy folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Very unhealthy scary just how many people are on antidepressants...

social media, television, movies ...

This one is just Wow!... A big wow!!


The BITTER TRUTH About Sugar & How It Causes INFLAMMATION | Robert Lustig
wrote:

Dr Robert Lustig ... His passion is communicating how sugar and ultra-processed food is fuelling the chronic disease epidemic that we are all facing today...

(Ignore the handful of incomprehensible sentences listing how our insides work, or rather the bits getting poisoned. The message is clear... Would you eat cyanide? Or put sand into engine oil??...)


That is about the clearest and most hard-hitting summary of the disaster of supermarket food and fast-food for our lives that I've seen thus far.

We really are killing our children, and ourselves. And he's seen it and tried to treat it in people and children, directly himself (with varying success...).


How can we quickly turn this around for the good of all?

Stay healthy folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

One note that is particularly hard-hitting from that one:

Trying to lose weight by counting/restricting calorie intake does nothing more than make you tired and depressed. No way around it!

(And with that, supposed "slimming aids" do not work either.)


... Far far better is to change what it is that you are eating. The rest comes naturally. Literally.


Enjoy your good food!!

Stay healthy folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Folks living in the area of the UK who get their water via Thames Water have ben slimed all too often:
https://news.sky.com/story/thames-water-fined-more-than-3m-over-sewage-spill-that-turned-rivers-black-near-gatwick-airport-12914604

That's quite a sad record for a company that is supposed to supply good quality drinking water and ensure that the resultant sewage is properly treated before being returned "to the wild". Instead of which their sewage treatment has left a lot to be desired. far too often. (And remember it is said that the water drawn from the lower (non-tidal) reaches of the Thames have been through several sets of kidneys before reaching your mouth, and only a couple of those sets weren't human....
I like my water clear and free from sewage.

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Looks like all Americans also need to have their water checked for contamination.

Study says drinking water from nearly half of US faucets contains potentially harmful chemicals

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Drinking water from nearly half of U.S. faucets likely contains “forever chemicals” that may cause cancer and other health problems, according to a government study released Wednesday.

The synthetic compounds known collectively as PFAS are contaminating drinking water to varying extents in large cities and small towns — and in private wells and public systems, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Now you have to wonder if the U.S.'s EPA still has far too many Trump workers in it or there's just plain corruption going on fueled by the U.S. industry.

The U.S. Banned Farmers From Using a Brain-Harming Pesticide on Food. Why Has It Slowed a Global Ban?

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden announced that his administration planned to scrutinize a Trump-era decision to allow the continued use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that can damage children’s brains. And with great fanfare, the Environmental Protection Agency went on to ban the use of the chemical on food.

“Ending the use of chlorpyrifos on food will help to ensure children, farmworkers, and all people are protected from the potentially dangerous consequences of this pesticide,” the head of the EPA, Michael Regan, said in his announcement of the decision in August 2021. “EPA will follow the science and put health and safety first.”

Yet when officials from around the world gathered in Rome last fall to consider whether to move forward with a proposed global ban on the pesticide, chlorpyrifos had a surprising defender: a senior official from the EPA.

Karissa Kovner, a senior EPA policy adviser, is a key leader of the U.S. delegation at a United Nations body known as the Stockholm Convention, which governs some of the worst chemicals on the planet. Chlorpyrifos is so harmful that the American government not only banned its use on food but also barred the import of fruits and vegetables grown with it. But Kovner made it clear that the U.S. was not ready to support taking the next step through the convention to provide similar protections for the rest of the world.

At the meeting, Kovner questioned whether the pesticide is harmful enough to merit being included on the Stockholm Convention’s list of banned and restricted chemicals. Some attendees said Kovner’s intervention ultimately stalled the effort.

“Her role is essentially to slow the process down and stop things from getting listed,” said Meriel Watts, a New Zealand-based scientist and pesticide expert who attended the Rome meeting and has participated in the Stockholm Convention process for years......

......For many of the experts who attend the Stockholm Convention meetings on behalf of polluted communities, though, Kovner and the whole U.S. delegation represent a puzzle. The EPA’s mission is to protect public health and the environment. “It has seemed so strange to me to see the U.S. EPA at these international meetings so determined to derail the listing of chemicals,” said Pam Miller, the executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics.

The U.S. is home to powerful chemical companies and lags behind much of the rest of the world in banning toxic compounds. The EPA says the U.S. delegation to the convention has supported restrictions on some chemicals. But observers say that the support has often come after countries agreed to carve out exemptions important to American industries.......

......The U.S. government, which has a long history of refusing to be bound by international treaties, has not ratified the Stockholm Convention, so it can only participate as an observer. But even without having a vote, American officials have been hugely influential.

The U.S. is known for throwing a wrench into the international convention’s efforts to restrict pollutants. “They’re usually seen as a country that raises objections to the regulation of chemicals,” said David Azoulay, a managing attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law who has attended meetings of the convention since 2011. Because the U.S. is not a voting member, Azoulay said, much of its efforts take place outside of the usual channels. “They are very active in the corridors,” he said.......

Very slimy:


Prime: Top US senator calls for probe into KSI and Logan Paul energy drink
wrote:

... alleges the drink is being targeted at children despite its high caffeine content.

Prime Energy contains 200mg of caffeine per can, which is around twice the amount in rival energy drink Red Bull.

Each drink carries a warning stating that it is not recommended for children under the age of 18.

However Mr Schumer, a Democrat, alleged that Prime Energy was packaged and marketed "in near identical form" as a caffeine-free drink from the brand.

As a result, some parents had unknowingly bought the caffeinated drink for their children...

Market and be damned of the consequences?...

Stay healthy folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Very unhealthy all round:


Surge in ill health will have major impact on NHS
wrote:

... Obesity is one of the major factors that will drive rises in illnesses.

This will more than offset the gains made by fewer people smoking, and lower cholesterol levels.

The 10 conditions causing most ill health:

Chronic pain
Diabetes
Anxiety or depression
Cancer
Chronic kidney disease
Atrial fibrillation
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Heart failure
Constipation
Dementia

... She said there needed to be a greater focus on prevention to reduce the numbers living in ill health...

Note that obesity and lack of healthy exercise drives all those conditions...


A very unhealthy consequence of symptoms...

Is not the real cure to gain better health right at source in the first place?...


Stay healthy folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)