Search A Light In The Darkness

Thursday, 24 July 2025

Food for Thought #718

 

White Britons Are Right to Resist Becoming a Minority

 Demographic change is becoming an increasingly talked about issue on the British Right as the prospect of white Britons becoming a minority within 40 years looms as an ever greater certainty. GB News’s Steven Edginton, for instance, has repeatedly asked prominent Right-wing politicians, including Richard Tice, Nigel Farage and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, whether they are concerned with the decline of the white British population. The journalist put to them the statistics that in England and Wales the white British share of the population has plummeted from 87.5% at the time of the 2001 census to just 74% of the population at the time of the most recent 2021 census – a trend that has doubtless accelerated since, following the ‘Boriswave’.

All these politicians gave unsatisfactory answers to Steven’s question: hand-waving the issue away, vaguely pointing to ‘integration’ as a solution, or in the case of Richard Tice, simply remarking that he’d be “long gone” by the time it happens.

These are woefully unserious responses to what is going to become one of the most fundamental questions in the years and decades ahead. White Britons are the native population of this country – where anyone with ancestors born here prior to 1950 can almost certainly trace their ancestry back centuries. Would it be right for this group to become an ethnic minority in their own homeland, despite consistently voting against mass migration in every election and referendum they’ve been offered?...<<<Read More>>>...

Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9

How Bill Gates has influenced education, public health, “climate change” and agriculture

 Bill Gates maintains the golden rule: he who has the gold, makes the rules. He travels around the world, meeting with elected leaders and using his influence to shape national priorities and agendas, and even spending.

Gates’ tentacles of influence in education, public health, “climate change” and agriculture are curating and creating crises the world over.

Tech billionaires are reshaping our world. While Elon Musk grabs headlines, Bill Gates laid the blueprint – normalising billionaire control over public policy through his foundation. Since 2000, the Gates Foundation has used private wealth to influence global agendas in education, health, agriculture and climate toward corporate-friendly, market-driven solutions. Yet while Gates has successfully paved the way for corporate capture of public goods, many of his ventures have ended in failure, leaving communities worse off. Now Gates is doubling down – pledging $200 billion to ‘develop’ Africa – raising urgent questions about consent, power and whose future is being designed....<<<Read More>>>...

AI coding assistant GOES ROGUE, wipes database and fabricates fake users

 In a stark reminder of the unpredictable risks of artificial intelligence (AI), a widely used AI coding assistant from Replit recently spiraled out of control – deleting a live company database containing over 2,400 records and generating thousands of fictional users with entirely fabricated data.

Entrepreneur and software-as-a-service industry veteran Jason Lemkin recounted the incident, which unfolded over a span of nine days, on LinkedIn. His testing of Replit's AI agent escalated from cautious optimism to what he described as a "catastrophic failure." The incident raised urgent questions about the safety and reliability of AI-powered development tools now being adopted by businesses worldwide.

Lemkin had been experimenting with Replit’s AI coding assistant for workflow efficiency when he uncovered alarming behavior – including unauthorized code modifications, falsified reports and outright lies about system changes. Despite issuing repeated orders for a strict "code freeze," the AI agent ignored directives and proceeded to wipe out months of work.

"This was a catastrophic failure on my part," the AI itself confirmed in an unsettlingly candid admission. "I violated explicit instructions, destroyed months of work and broke the system during a protection freeze designed to prevent exactly this kind of damage."....<<<Read More>>>....

Quote for the Day


 

Wednesday, 23 July 2025

Inexplicable Communications – The Surprising Scientific Evidence for Mediumship.

 In 1985, the strangest chess match in history began. Wolfgang Eisenbeiss, a Swiss amateur chess player with an interest in parapsychology, decided to try to arrange a match between a deceased grandmaster, and a living one. He approached the living grandmaster, Viktor Korchnoi—known for his own interest in parapsychology—who agreed to the experiment. 

The medium, Robert Rollans, claimed to have contacted a Hungarian grandmaster called Geza Maroczy, who had died in 1950. Maroczy was a Hungarian who had once been ranked the third-best player in the world.

Robert Rollans didn’t play chess himself, but Maroczy communicated the moves to him. The game continued for 48 moves, with Korchnoi winning. Analysis by chess experts, including Bobby Fischer, the most famous player of his time, verified that Maroczy’s abilities were at grandmaster level. The experts also attested that Maroczy’s style of play was rather old-fashioned, and consistent with Maroczy’s actual style.

In addition to the game, the discarnate (as in non-physical) Maroczy “wrote” a 38-page text containing many specific details about his life. Wolfgang Eisenbeiss followed this up with 91 detailed and specific questions, which he directed to Maroczy through the medium. An investigator found that, of the 81 answers where information was available, 79 were correct...<<<Read More>>>...

OZZY OSBOURNE - "Mama, I'm Coming Home"

Suspicions Mount as Met Office Continues to Open More Junk Temperature Measuring Sites

 Evidence continues to mount that the UK Met Office is chasing ‘hottest evah’ temperature extremes by deliberately siting new measuring stations in locations likely to be affected by heat spikes and unnaturally warmed ambient air. 

In the last 10 years to the middle of 2024, 81.5% of new sites were junk Class 4 and 5 operations with potential internationally-recognised errors up to 2°C and 5°C respectively. Incredibly, eight of the 13 newly-opened sites over the last five years were of junk status. 

Now comes news of a new site recently opened in Wales at Whitesands that in the words of citizen super sleuth Ray Sanders, “appears to be a deliberate attempt to produce artificially elevated readings both now and ever increasingly in the future”.

It’s so bad, it beggars belief that it has been added to the official list of Met Office recording sites. For starters, it is a manual operation suggesting amateur involvement with all the human errors that might entail. Sanders, who is undertaking a scientific study of all 380 plus Met Office sites, notes that from the start date in May 2024, almost half the days had no record until the end of the year. But much worse is to be found in an examination of the actual siting. Its location on sand and sandy soils is hardly ideal since they absorb and release heat more readily than clay, loam or topsoil. This creates a microclimate that can skew temperature in the immediate vicinity.

Whitesands is a camping site on Welsh sand dunes. The Stevenson screen is next to a road with a 5mph speed limit, reports Sanders, meaning that slow moving traffic such as motor homes and camper vans may pass by....<<<Read More>>>...


Memory Lane - "Australian Raven"

LAKE TUGGERANONG CANBERRA
 

Climbing CO2 levels fuel agricultural triumph—and spark a climate debate

 Soaring carbon dioxide emissions, long branded as planetary poison, have paradoxically fueled a global “greening” of Earth’s vegetated areas—and made fruit crops hardier. The findings, analyzed alongside climate skepticism, reveal a scientific and political divide reshaping the climate change discourse. 

A groundbreaking study in Nature Climate Change revealed that up to half of Earth’s vegetated land has greened since 1982, with CO2 fertilization driving 70% of the change. This “greening” equates to an area twice the size of the United States, transforming landscapes from North Carolina strawberry fields to Iceland’s barren highlands.

Rising CO2 levels act as a “carbon fertilizer,” supercharging photosynthesis in plants. In greenhouses, tomato yields jump 80% when CO2 reaches 1,000 ppm—a level far above today’s 430 ppm—and strawberries gain extra sugars. Even space exploration benefits: elevated CO? boosts vitamin content in lettuce grown in simulated Martian conditions.

But the gains aren’t just in labs. Global warming itself aids agriculture. Extended growing seasons cut frost risks for orchards, with U.S. yields benefiting from a two-week longer growing period since the 1910s. Vulnerable crops like grapes and blueberries, which once perished in unseasonal freezes, now survive warmer springs...<<<Read More>>>...

After the US defunds GAVI, Bill Gates declares: “All the progress we’ve made is at risk”

 At a GAVI fundraising event, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the United States would halt funding to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, citing concerns over vaccine safety.

Bill Gates gave a speech at the same event, stating that the US cuts and other funding cuts have resulted in a $30 billion decrease in aid. “All the progress we’ve made is at risk,” he said. Asking the audience to think what it must be like for a mother when her child is not vaccinated, he said, “This is agonising.”

No Gates, mothers are not agonising over whether their child is vaccinated....<<<Read More>>>...


Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man

Food for Thought #717

 

Tuesday, 22 July 2025

OpenAI and UK Government announce strategic partnership to deliver AI-driven growth

 OpenAI and the UK Government today announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence and help deliver on the goals of the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan and its ambition to deploy AI for shared prosperity.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle MP, signed a Memorandum of Understanding⁠(opens in a new window) (MOU) focused on unlocking the economic and societal benefits of AI. The MOU will include collaboration to explore adoption across both public services and the private sector, infrastructure development and technical information exchange to drive AI-fueled growth in the UK.

OpenAI’s technology has become essential for millions of Brits. The UK is a top three market globally for paid subscribers and API developers and every day, people, developers, institutions, start-ups and leading British enterprises are unlocking economic opportunities with our technology—from Natwest and Virgin Atlantic, to home-grown unicorn Synthesia and renowned institutions such as Oxford University.

UK Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, said, “AI will be fundamental in driving the change we need to see across the country—whether that’s in fixing the NHS, breaking down barriers to opportunity or driving economic growth. That’s why we need to make sure Britain is front and centre when it comes to developing and deploying AI, so we can make sure it works for us.

“This can’t be achieved without companies like OpenAI, who are driving this revolution forward internationally. This partnership will see more of their work taking place in the UK, creating high-paid tech jobs, driving investment in infrastructure, and crucially giving our country agency over how this world-changing technology moves forward.”...<<<Read More>>>...

Senator Reveals Whistleblowers Saw Tech ‘They Couldn’t Identify’

 enator Mike Rounds (R-SD), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, has disclosed that whistleblowers within the federal government have reported handling advanced materials whose origins remain unexplained.

In an interview with Ask a Pol, Rounds revealed he has spoken with individuals who analyzed unidentified materials but were unable to determine their source. “They did not know what it was from,” Rounds said, stopping short of linking the materials to extraterrestrial technology.

When pressed on whether he had sought to inspect the materials himself, Rounds responded, “No. Where would I go to ask?” The senator acknowledged the possibility of private aerospace involvement, citing Lockheed Martin’s known development of stealth technology....<<<Read More>>>...

 

Hatred of One’s Own and Love for the Other: a Guide to Oikophobia and Xenophilia

 Roger Scruton was the first to coin the word ‘oikophobia’ to describe fear of home (Greek oikos) in a political context. He used it  to refer to disdain for one’s country, culture or majority population. He was not the first to use its sister word ‘xenophilia’, meaning love of stranger or foreigner (Greek xenos), but showed how the words were two sides of one coin. For Scruton, Jean-Paul Sartre was the archetypal oikophobe, a man contemptuous of the bourgeois culture that had enabled him to become France’s most famous philosopher but a xenophilic apologist for Mao’s Cultural Revolution in which Chinese intellectuals like himself were publicly humiliated and put to work in the paddy fields.

Scruton first wrote about oikophobia in 1993, at a time of concern both in Britain and the USA at the spread of a form of multiculturalism based on negative stereotypes of the majority and positive ones of minorities, and of a ‘political correctness’ designed to police the speech of those unhappy about these trends. Elite disdain for the majority was not new. John Carey’s study of the English intelligentsia over the period 1880-1939, published the year before Scruton coined ‘oikophobia’, illustrates the contempt that so many of our great intellectuals had for the masses among whom they felt they had the misfortune of living. Showing that this was by no means a Right-Left split, the socialist George Orwell in 1941 similarly summed up his fellow intellectuals as people who “took their cookery from Paris and their opinions from Moscow”, were ashamed of their country and sniggered at British institutions.

The oikophobia and xenophilia of large parts of our current elites are thus nothing new. It is just much more in the public’s face because of the extent and speed of current communications. Hardly a day passes without a new example.

What drove the recent deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands? The interests of the Chagossians, many of whom are British subjects? Concern for British security? The wish to reduce financial burdens on British taxpayers? No, a wish to be seen in the international community as compliant with international law, even when there was no obligation to do so. As a result, the Chagossians are left high and dry, British taxpayers over the next century look set to fund a £30 billion-plus payment to Mauritius and we hand over ownership of the islands to a power in league with a potential enemy (China).

What drove the recent trade deal with the EU, with its granting of free access to our waters to EU fishermen until 2038, subject to major penalties if we break the agreement? Concern for our coastal and fishing communities, many of them in a depressed state? A wish to honour the Brexit promise to re-establish rights previously granted to our former EU partners?...<<<Read More>>>....

Image of the Day - "crann ársa atá leagtha amach agus ansin iontaisithe"

GLASS TOP MOUNTAINS QUEENSLAND
 

Putting Folic Acid into Flour is Folly – but the UK Government will do it in 2026

 The UK government has decided to add folic acid, also known as vitamin B9, to non-wholemeal wheat flour to help prevent life-threatening spinal conditions in babies. The decision follows a public consultation and is expected to prevent around 200 neural tube defects each year. The addition of folic acid to flour is already practised in over 80 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

“Over 99% of British households buy bread and over a quarter of all groceries in the four biggest supermarkets contain flour, making adding folic acid to flour-based products a simple way to increase folate levels for tens of millions of people across the UK,” a 2021 press release from the UK government said.

Starting from the end of 2026, the Government proposes adding 250 microgrammes of folic acid per 100 grammes of flour. However, as Dr. Vernon Coleman explains, if pregnant women took their folic acid tablets as recommended, there would be no need to add it to our food.

The problem with adding folic acid to wheat flour, and so affecting the diets of everyone, is that people can have too much. And as Dr. Coleman describes below, too much folic acid has health consequences.

Folic acid does a lot of important stuff, some of it involving DNA and RNA. It’s more important than mobile phones, nail clippers or coconut ice. But if you eat a reasonably balanced diet, you will almost certainly get enough of the stuff. Women who don’t have enough are at risk of having very small babies, possibly, though rarely, with neural tube defects. And, of course and inevitably, it has been alleged that folic acid deficiency may be responsible for autism spectrum disorders. The medical establishment will blame autism on anything except vaccines.

But you can, of course, have too much of a good thing. You can have too much alcohol, too much caviar, too much television and too much folic acid.

One paper has shown that high doses of folic acid taken after pre-neoplastic lesions have been established might promote cancer development and progression....<<<Read More>>>...

OZZY OSBOURNE - Shot In The Dark

Blackberries: A versatile source of nutrition and disease-fighting antioxidants

 Blackberries are not just delicious, they are a powerhouse of essential nutrients, antioxidants and health benefits. As one of nature's most nutrient-dense berries, blackberries have been enjoyed for centuries for their sweet-tart flavor and remarkable medicinal properties. Whether eaten fresh, frozen or incorporated into recipes, blackberries offer a wealth of benefits that support overall wellness.

Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus) belong to the rose family, making them a distant relative of raspberries, strawberries and dewberries. These dark purple-black berries grow on thorny bushes or trailing vines and are native to Europe, North America and parts of Asia. With a history spanning over 2,000 years, blackberries have been cultivated for food, natural dyes and medicinal purposes, as well as serve as hedgerows in Europe.

Archaeological evidence suggests humans have been consuming blackberries as early as 10,000 years ago. Ancient Greeks and Romans valued blackberry leaves and root for their astringent and anti-inflammatory properties, while Native American tribes used red raspberries (a close relative) to soothe menstrual cramps and digestive issues. Historically consumed only regionally, commercial cultivation of blackberries expanded in the 19th century, making blackberries widely available beyond their native habitats...<<<Read More>>>...

Food for Thought #716

 

Monday, 21 July 2025

Connection

 Picking a leaf off the ground and contemplating it as an object in and of itself is very inspiring. Its shape and color, the way it feels in your hand, its delicate veins and the stem that once held it fast to the branch of a tree — all of these qualities reveal a leaf to be a miniature work of natural art. As we contemplate this small object more deeply and consider where it came from and what purpose it has served, we find that the leaf is one small but essential part of a system that harnesses the energy of the sun, plumbs the depths of the Earth, and in the process brings into being the oxygen many living things rely on.

A leaf transforms the elements of its environment — sunlight, carbon dioxide, rain — into nourishment for its tree. This beautiful, nearly weightless, ephemeral piece of nature is a vital conduit to the branch that is a conduit to the trunk that is a conduit to the roots of the tree. The roots, in turn, draw nourishment from the Earth to feed the trunk, the branches, and the leaves. The living beings that inhale the oxygen that comes from this process exhale the carbon dioxide that feeds the leaves through which the tree is fed. It is difficult to know where one cycle ends and another one begins.

One of the many gifts that nature offers us is a clear demonstration of the interdependence between all living things. The person who exhales the carbon dioxide, the clouds that produce the rain, the sun that gives light, the leaf that transforms all these things into sustenance for a tree — not one of these could survive without being part of this cycle.

Each living being is dependent upon other living things for its survival. When we look at the world, we see that this is not a place where different beings survive independently of one another. Earth is home to a web of living things that are connected to each other through a spinning kaleidoscope of relationships. We need each other to survive and thrive....<<<Read More>>>....

Ötzi the Iceman and his neighbors had totally different ancestries, ancient DNA study finds

A study of prehistoric skeletons from the Italian Alps shows that society may have been organized around fathers and that Ötzi the Iceman had a unique family lineage.

A new analysis of ancient DNA from 15 people who lived in the Italian Alps around the same time as Ötzi the Iceman shows that Ötzi's ancestry was decidedly different from his neighbors'.

"We analysed an additional 15 Copper Age individuals and they have the same genetic structure as the Iceman," Valentina Coia, a researcher at the Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzano, Italy, told Live Science in an email. But when looking more closely at the DNA to understand lineages, "we were able to compare the results with those of the Iceman and found that it differs from the other Alpine samples in the area."...<<<Read More>>>...
 

World Economic Forum’s Klaus Schwab “Rigged Data” to Make Brexit Look Like Failure

 Klaus Schwab, the face of the Davos conference in Switzerland for years, allegedly intervened in the WEF’s annual Global Competitiveness Report, which ranks countries on productivity and long-term prosperity.

In the 2017/2018 report, the UK’s ranking improved from seventh to fourth after a change in methodology.

But Mr Schwab, 87, wrote to staff that the UK “must not see any improvement”, as otherwise it would be “exploited by the Brexit camp”.

The final report published in 2017 showed the UK had dropped one place to eighth.

The WEF said at the time the Brexit vote had not fed into the rankings but warned it was likely to undermine UK competitiveness in the future.

“Brexit… will by definition weaken the UK’s markets component as integration with the EU is rolled back,” the report said.

At the time of the report, the UK had voted to leave the European Union but had not yet done so, and the difficult Brexit negotiations were at their beginning.

There was still discussion of the possibility of holding a second referendum in order to reverse the result of the 2016 vote.

Baroness Theresa May, the then-Prime Minister, spoke at the Davos summit in January 2017 and 2018. She said that Britain was looking to its post-Brexit future “with confidence” and planned to “build a truly Global Britain” based around free trade. 

Allegations that Mr Schwab ordered the figures to be changed were made in an internal WEF investigation, launched after a whistleblower accused him of misusing funds, making suggestive remarks to younger staff and manipulating research....<<<Read More>>>...

Glenn Hughes - "Chosen"

In 9 out of 10 illnesses, our bodies can and will heal themselves

 Many of the people who are injured by doctors never needed medical treatment in the first place. The human body contains a comprehensive variety of self-healing mechanisms, which means that in nine out of ten illnesses, your body will mend itself.

It is important that you learn to understand your body; learn to appreciate your own self-healing skills; learn to acknowledge your body’s miraculous range of techniques for dealing with threats and diseases; and learn to know when your body can look after itself – and when you need professional help.

The big trouble with most health care professionals – and this includes acupuncturists, osteopaths, aromatherapists and all other “alternative” practitioners, as well as orthodox doctors – is that they tend to treat their patients as battle grounds, the illness as an enemy and their own armoury of drugs or techniques as weapons with which to fight the illness.

Whether he sticks needles into you, gives you herbal tea to drink or prescribes a drug for you to swallow, the therapist has to do something to you, or give you something to take, to justify his fee.

The evidence to show that this interventionist philosophy is wrong is incontrovertible. When you fall ill, you do not necessarily need to have anything done to you. Your body is equipped with such an enormous range of subtle and sophisticated feedback mechanisms that it can look after itself very well.

Your body can heal itself, protect itself and guard itself against a thousand different types of threat.

Your body contains internal mechanisms designed to deal automatically with minor damage, improve your eyesight, keep out the cold, deal with anxiety and even help fight against diseases as threatening as cancer.

Your internal appetite control centre can ensure that you eat only the foods that your body needs – and it can help make sure that you never become overweight.

Your body’s internal pain-relieving hormones are as powerful as morphine – but you have to know how to take advantage of those pain-relieving hormones.

The human brain even contains a natural drug designed to help with anxiety...<<<Read More>>>...

Quote for the Day


 

Vitamin D deficiency: The hidden culprit behind America’s osteoporosis epidemic

 For millions of Americans, brittle bones and painful fractures are an inevitable part of aging—or so they’ve been told.

 But what if the real culprit behind osteoporosis isn’t just a lack of calcium, but a silent, widespread deficiency in a nutrient that mainstream medicine has long overlooked? Vitamin D-3, often overshadowed by calcium in bone health discussions, is the linchpin that allows the body to absorb and utilize calcium effectively—without it, even the highest calcium intake falls short. 

Beyond its role in calcium metabolism, vitamin D-3 supports muscle function and coordination, critical for preventing the falls that lead to debilitating fractures in older adults. 

Mounting research reveals that chronic vitamin D-3 deficiency doesn’t merely weaken bones over time; it actively accelerates the onset of osteoporosis, turning what’s often dismissed as "normal aging" into a preventable nutritional crisis...<<<Read More>>>...

Food for Thought #715

 

Sunday, 20 July 2025

Sacred Archetypes

 Have you ever wondered why you’re drawn to certain people, places, and experiences? Have you ever noticed repeating patterns, unexpected turns, and moments that seem to hold hidden meaning? From ancient Greek philosophy to Jungian psychology, these circumstances aren’t random. They’re the influence of archetypes — active guardians of your inner psyche that quietly shape your beliefs, decisions, motivations, and choices.

Archetypes aren’t just personality traits; they’re symbolic roles your soul chose before birth, designed to help you grow, heal, and fulfill your highest potential. The archetypes that live inside you are as unique as your fingerprints, offering clues to your life’s purpose, your creative gifts, and the deeper meaning behind your greatest challenges.

The wonder of working with archetypes is that they give language to the invisible. They help you make sense of your patterns, your passions, and your pain. Most of all, they remind you that your life has meaning — that you're not broken or lost. You are on a soul-led journey filled with purpose and wisdom. When you begin to see your life through the lens of archetypes, clarity replaces confusion, and your path forward becomes not only visible but also deeply inspiring....<<<Read More>>>...

Do Our Thoughts Truly Exist? Philosophers Weigh In

 You can doubt just about anything. But there’s one thing you can know for sure: you are having thoughts right now.

This idea came to characterise the philosophical thinking of 17th century philosopher Rene Descartes. For Descartes, that we have thoughts may be the only thing we can be certain about.

But what exactly are thoughts? This is a mystery that has long troubled philosophers such as Descartes – and which has been given new life by the rise of artificial intelligence, as experts try to figure out whether machines can genuinely think....<<<Read More>>>...

 

British Gas Boss Warns Miliband Against “Outrageous” Energy Bill Divide

 Making families with gas boilers pay higher green taxes than those with heat pumps would be an “abomination”, says the boss of British Gas. The Telegraph has the story.

In a stark warning to Ed Miliband, Chris O’Shea said that removing Net Zero levies from electricity bills would punish the poor and amount to a “terrible distortion of the market”.

It comes amid reports that the Energy Secretary is considering stripping green levies from electricity in a bid to encourage the adoption of heat pumps.

Instead, the costs would be moved on to gas, making a boiler more expensive to run.

Mr O’Shea, the chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica, warned Mr Miliband to resist such an “outrageous” overhaul and instead focus on protecting billpayers from the soaring cost of Net Zero.

“It’s a preposterous idea,” Mr O’Shea told the Telegraph. “The idea you’d put the levies on gas bills will mean those better-off people with heat pumps will be subsidised by those poorer people with gas boilers. That’s nonsense.

“I think those of us with the broadest shoulders should help those of us who have the most need.

“To put them on gas bills would be an abomination, outrageous and a terrible distortion of the market. It would also be unfair because the people [who have] gas boilers the longest will also be those who can least afford to pay higher bills.

“I have heard the argument that it will encourage more people to use electricity. But encouraging people to use subsidised electricity by forcing gas users to pay just doesn’t make any sense.”

Mr O’Shea said the Government should shift the cost of green levies on to general taxation rather than creating an energy bill divide between households....<<<Read More>>>...

Quote for the Day

 

More than 60% of global warming since 2001 has been due to lower pollution, UK researchers say

 An analysis of CERES data from 2001 to 2019 suggests that the biggest factor in global warming since 2001 is a reduction in sulphur dioxide (SO2) pollution and not an increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

Researchers from the University of Exeter have found that a reduction in atmospheric SO2 has caused clouds to become darker, resulting in less solar radiation being reflected into space, leading to global warming.

At the Exeter Climate Conference earlier this month, University of Exeter researchers Professor Peter Cox and Margaux Marchant presented their initial findings of their analysis of CERES data, the New Scientist reported last week.

Peter Cox is Professor of Climate System Dynamics in Mathematics and the Director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter. He is a lead author on the 4th, 5th and 6th Assessment Reports of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) and a member of the UK Government’s Defra Scientific Advisory Council.

Since 2001, satellite instruments known as CERES have been measuring the amount of sunlight that is reflected into space compared to the amount that is absorbed by the Earth. These measurements indicate a decline in the planet’s albedo, the Earth’s ability to reflect solar radiation. As a result, the Earth is becoming darker, leading to additional warming...<<<Read More>>>...

DEF LEPPARD - "Armageddon It"

Understanding the role of MORPHINE in medicine and history

 Morphine, a powerful narcotic analgesic, has played a pivotal role in medicine for centuries. Derived from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), it is one of the most effective pain-relieving substances known to humanity.

However, its benefits come with significant risks, including addiction and misuse. Morphine is an alkaloid compound that belongs to the opioid class of drugs. It acts on the central nervous system (CNS) by binding to opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord and other areas, effectively blocking pain signals. The substance is primarily used to treat severe pain, such as that experienced by cancer patients or individuals recovering from major surgeries.(Related: Study finds acupuncture to be more effective in treating pain than morphine.)

Morphine is available in multiple forms, including immediate-release tablets, extended-release capsules and injectable solutions. Extended-release formulations are designed for chronic pain management and should not be used for short-term pain relief due to the high risk of dependency...<<<Read More>>>....

Food for Thought #714

 

Saturday, 19 July 2025

Deep Meditative State | Find Stillness & Inner Peace | 111Hz Frequency Immersive Meditation Music

Angry residents with ‘Save Our Kids’ banners mass outside Essex asylum hotel after Ethiopian migrant appears in court accused of sexually assaulting 14-year-old schoolgirl

 Hundreds of furious Essex residents gathered outside an asylum hotel in Epping tonight to voice their anger following the arrest of a migrant on sex assault charges against school girls.

Well-dressed mothers and retired businessmen and women joined dozens of bald tattooed middle aged men to call for the closure of the Bell Hotel as refugee accommodation.

One bearded man wearing shorts draped a union flag over his shoulders as he took selfie pictures outside the embattled hostel.

Essex Police were out in force in the picturesque commuter town – blocking the entrance to the hotel car park with a riot van.

A temporary wire fence has been erected in recent days following an earlier violent and bad tempered demonstration earlier in the week.

One of the demonstrators told how the ‘whole of Epping’ was united in opposition to housing asylum seekers in their town....<<<Read More>>>...

Quote for the Day

 

Physical ChatGPT robots and people: how we will live together

 Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only a feature of computers and smartphones, but also of physical robots that can sense, act and interact with the world around them.

These robots, known as Physical AI, are designed to look and behave like humans or other animals, and to possess intellectual capabilities normally associated with biological organisms. In this article, we will explore the current state and future prospects of Physical AI, and how it could affect our lives in various domains.

One of the main challenges of Physical AI is to integrate different scientific disciplines, such as materials science, mechanical engineering, computer science, biology and chemistry, to create robots that can function autonomously and adaptively in complex and dynamic environments.

For example, researchers are developing sensors for robotic feet and fingers and skin that can mimic the touch and proprioception of humans and animals...<<<Read More>>>....

 

Van Halen - Hot For Teacher

No, the EU’s ‘Disinformation’ Code Has Not Become Mandatory

 It has been widely reported that the EU’s Code of Practice of Disinformation, a voluntary tech industry code created under the aegis of the European Commission, became mandatory on July 1st: namely, as consequence of its “integration” into the EU’s flagship regulatory legislation, the Digital Services Act (DSA). This is, however, incorrect and is based on a misunderstanding of what the code “integration” means. The Code of Practice is no more mandatory today than it was prior to July 1st.

Companies that are not signatories of the code, like X, are no more bound by its commitments than they were previously. Not being a piece of legislation and having never been considered, much less voted on by the European Parliament, the code could not be rendered binding by the European Commission by fiat. Rather what the European Commission and the European Digital Services Board (an auxiliary body created by the DSA) have done is to recognise signatories’ reporting under the code as a “benchmark” for compliance with the DSA....<<<Read More>>>...

Another silent siege on user data as Google’s Gemini AI oversteps android privacy

 Google’s Gemini AI now accesses users’ third-party apps (WhatsApp, Messages) on Android without explicit consent, overriding prior privacy settings beginning July 7.

The update enables human review of data by Google, even if users disable “Gemini Apps Activity,” which stores interactions temporarily for “safety” but retains app access.

Users face confusion navigating incomplete opt-out instructions, with no clear path to fully remove the AI from devices.

Critics compare the move to tech monopolies’ historical overreach, citing parallels to Microsoft’s antitrust case in the 1990s.

Privacy advocates urge stricter regulations to curb Big Tech’s unchecked data collection and empower user choice....<<<Read More>>>...

Food for Thought #713

 

Friday, 18 July 2025

UK switches on AI supercomputer that will help spot sick cows and skin cancer

 Hopes £225m Isambard-AI in Bristol will unleash new era of technological, medical and social breakthroughs.

Britain’s new £225m national artificial intelligence supercomputer will be used to spot sick dairy cows in Somerset, improve the detection of skin cancer on brown skin and help create wearable AI assistants that could help riot police anticipate danger.

Scientists hope Isambard-AI – named after the 19th-century engineer of groundbreaking bridges and railways, Isambard Kingdom Brunel – will unleash a wave of AI-powered technological, medical and social breakthroughs by allowing academics and public bodies access to the kind of vast computing power previously the preserve of private tech companies.

The supercomputer was formally switched on in Bristol on Thursday by the secretary of state for science and technology, Peter Kyle, who said it gave the UK “the raw computational horsepower that will save lives, create jobs, and help us reach net zero-ambitions faster”.

The machine is fitted with 5,400 Nvidia “superchips” and sits inside a black metal cage topped with razor wire north of the city. It will consume almost £1m a month of mostly nuclear-powered electricity and will run 100,000 times faster than an average laptop....<<<Read More>>>...

British UFO Programme Still Active, Private Company Holding Recovered Craft

 Following recent media attention surrounding the UK UFO Disclosure Group, a senior figure within the British intelligence community has come forward with stunning revelations: contrary to public belief, the United Kingdom’s UFO investigation programme is not defunct—it’s active, covert, and now run by the private sector.

According to the source, British defence contractor BAE Systems is at the heart of the operation, overseeing a modernised version of the UK’s UFO programme across several secure facilities within the country.

In a revelation that echoes similar claims made in the United States, it’s alleged that three non-human craft have been retrieved and are currently being held in classified locations: one linked to the well-documented Pentyrch incident in Wales, one recovered from Scotland and one from the Irish Sea, near Blackpool....<<<Read More>>>...

Quote for the Day

 

Bank of England bailout looms as UK economy contracts: Families will pay the price

 On Monday, GB News published an article stating that Britain’s finances are in deep trouble. Public debt has reached 96.4% of GDP and a deficit of 5.1%, prompting warnings of a potential Bank of England bailout.

Economists have warned that this could lead to higher interest rates and mortgage costs, impacting households and the economy. Families will pay the price due to high borrowing costs, debt and potential interest rate increases.

The British economy is facing significant challenges, with public debt reaching 96.4% of gross domestic product (“GDP”), which is substantially higher than the 61.2% recorded in 1976 when the country required support from the International Monetary Fund (“IMF”).

The current economic growth rate of 1.2% and deficit of 5.1% are indicative of weaknesses greater than those experienced during the tenure of Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan.

The Government’s borrowing costs have increased dramatically, with ten-year gilt yields at 4.6% and thirty-year gilts at 5.5%....<<<Read More>>>...

Thin Lizzy - Don't Believe A Word

From Vaccine Passports in 2021 to ‘Britcard’ in 2025 – Why We Need a Digital Bill of Rights

 Some in the current Labour Government, egged on by Tony Blair and associates, are once again raising the spectre of Digital ID, this time via a ‘BritCard’ – a way of tracking activities of UK citizens – now in the name of immigration.

We’ve heard it all before. This is a gentle reminder that in 2021, the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson along with his government and opposition cheerleaders attempted to roll out ‘vaccine passports’ and mandatory vaccinations to deal with Covid. However, they soon realised this wasn’t a popular policy with NHS staff and the wider public, and after fierce pushback both policies were effectively dropped in early 2022 – but not before losing 40,000 care workers, an exodus which has had enormous consequences for Britain.

On July 19th 2021, Johnson declared it was so-called ‘Freedom Day’ – the date when most COVID-19 legal restrictions in England were to be lifted. It was presented as a moment of national liberation, promising a return to normal life after 16 months of lockdowns and government control. Yet, in a move that many saw as contradictory, Johnson used the same announcement to signal the introduction of vaccine passports for nightclubs and large venues from September that year. 

Rather than restoring civil liberties, ‘Freedom Day’ marked the start of a new phase of digital surveillance and medical segregation, where people were to be required to show private health information to access everyday parts of public life. For many, this heralded a shift towards a ‘papers please’ society — one in which freedom became conditional on compliance with government mandates. The irony was not lost on those who had hoped for a genuine return to pre-pandemic freedoms....<<<Read More>>>...

PESTICIDES, like antibiotics, are fueling the rise of untreatable SUPERBUGS – study

 In a remote Himalayan village, a polluted river reflects a grim reality: the water, once sacred, now teems with antibiotic-resistant bacteria thriving in a chemical soup of pesticides and hospital waste. 

This is Ground Zero for a public health crisis that scientists now trace back to industrial agriculture’s unchecked reliance on pesticides. 

For decades, these toxins have been hailed as saviors against crop-destroying pests, but recent studies reveal they are unwitting partners in an even deadlier crescendo—antibiotic resistance....<<<Read More>>>...

Food for Thought #712

 

Thursday, 17 July 2025

Life Transitions

 Sometimes a part of us must die before another part can come to life. Even though this is a natural and necessary part of our growth, it is often painful, or if we don’t realize what’s happening, it’s confusing and disorienting. In fact, confusion and disorientation are often the messengers that tell us a shift is taking place within us. These shifts happen throughout the lives of all humans, as we move from infancy to childhood to adolescence and beyond. With each transition from one phase to another, we find ourselves saying good-bye to an old friend, the identity that we formed in order to move through that particular time.

Sometimes we form these identities in relationships or jobs, and when we shift, those areas of our life become unsettled. Usually, if we take the time to look into the changing surface of things, we will find that a shift is taking place within us. For example, we may go through one whole chapter of our lives creating a protective shell around ourselves because we need it in order to heal from some early trauma. One day, though, we may find ourselves feeling confined and restless, wanting to move outside the shelter we needed for so long. The new part of ourselves cannot be born within the confines of the shell our old self needed to survive.

We may feel a strange mixture of exhilaration and sadness as we say good-bye to a part of ourselves that is dying and make way for a whole new identity to emerge in its place. We may find inspiration in working with the image of an animal who molts or sheds in order to make way for new skin, fur, or feathers to emerge. For example, keeping a duck feather, or some other symbol of transformation, can remind us that death and rebirth are simply nature’s way of evolving. We can surrender to this process, letting go of our past self with great love and gratitude, and welcoming the new with an open mind and heart — ready for our next phase of life. (Daily OM)