Child separations: Trump faces extreme backlash from public and his own party

US border patrol agents take Central American asylum seekers into custody on 12 June 2018 near McAllen, Texas. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

David Smith in Washington and Tom Phillips in Mexico City-Tue 19 Jun 2018 

Donald Trump heads to Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon facing an extraordinary backlash from his own party – and the American public – over his policy of separating children from their parents at the southern US border.

The separations occur when, under a “zero tolerance” immigration policy, adults are arrested for crossing the border illegally. As children cannot be held in an adult jail, they are held separately.

According to a Quinnipiac University national poll, two in three voters oppose the separations. Outcry from Democratic and Republican politicians, former first ladies, churches, commentators and business leaders is gathering momentum.

The president, however, seems determined only to up the ante. On Tuesday morning he tweeted that Democrats want undocumented migrants “to pour into and infest our country”. In a lunchtime speech to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), he said the US had two options: “Totally open borders or criminal prosecution for lawbreaking.”

Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll, asked: “When does public opinion become a demand that politicians just can’t ignore? Two-thirds of American voters oppose the family separation policy at our borders. Neither quotes from the Bible nor get-tough talk can soften the images of crying children nor reverse the pain so many Americans feel.”

Trump’s campaign was built around a tough stance on immigration, with “build the wall” a frequent chant at his rallies. He is now losing the battle for public opinion, though support among his base is resilient.

For example, Republicans support the zero tolerance policy at the border by 55% to 35%, the Quinnipiac survey found. And while national voters oppose building a wall on the border with Mexico by 58% to 39%, three in four Republicans back it.

Why are families being separated at the southern US border? – video explainer

One issue does cross the divide. Four in five voters support allowing undocumented migrants brought to the US as children, so-called “Dreamers”, to remain and apply for citizenship. According to the Quinnipiac poll, which questioned 905 voters nationwide from 14 to 17 June, support ranges from 61% to 28% among Republicans to 94% to 5% among Democrats.

Public reaction to the border policy – according to the Department of Homeland Security, from 5 May to 9 June 2,342 children were separated from 2,206 adults – is disquieting many Republicans facing midterm elections in November. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal warned the party’s feuding over immigration is fast becoming “an election-year nightmare”. The conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt was quoted by the Axios website as saying this could be “Trump’s Katrina” – a reference to the 2005 hurricane that devastated both New Orleans and the reputation of George W Bush.

Trump, who could end the crisis with a phone call, was scheduled to meet House Republicans on Tuesday afternoon in what could turn into a heated confrontation in an already sweltering Washington. His homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, has insisted: “Congress alone can fix it.”

The president is offering no concessions. “Democrats are the problem,” he wrote on Twitter. “They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. They can’t win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!”

But where Republicans have previously followed Trump’s lead, prompting comparisons to a cult, the emotive images and sounds of children in fenced cages are prompting a growing number to speak out.

 A boy and father from Honduras are taken into custody by US border patrol agents near Mission, Texas, on 12 June, and then sent to a processing center for possible separation. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

Fred Upton, a congressman from Michigan, urged an immediate end to the “ugly and inhumane practice”, adding: “It’s never acceptable to use kids as bargaining chips in political process.” John McCain of Arizona, a frequent Trump critic, tweeted: “The administration’s current family separation policy is an affront to the decency of the American people, and contrary to principles and values upon which our nation was founded. The administration has the power to rescind this policy. It should do so now.”

Despite previously asserting that it would oppose any fix aimed solely at addressing the plight of children separated from their parents, the White House acknowledged on Tuesday that it is reviewing emergency legislation introduced by Ted Cruz, the hardline senator who faces a re-election fight in Texas, to keep families together.

Asked if the White House supports the Cruz measure, Mercedes Schlapp, the director of strategic communications, told reporters: “We’re looking into the legislative text on the Cruz bill.”


Donald Trump hugs the US flag after his speech to NFIB conference. Photograph: NFIB

In his NFIB speech, however, Trump took a stand against Cruz’s proposal, which would attempt to speed up the review of immigration cases by doubling the number of judges.

“I don’t want judges,” the president said. “I want border security. I don’t want to try people. I don’t want people coming in.”

Other legislation is in the works in both the House and Senate, aiming to spare Republicans from a PR disaster. Democrats have been paying personal visits to detention centres in Texas and demanding the resignation of Nielsen.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, told reporters on Tuesday that “all of the Senators of the Republican conference” support a plan that would allow children to stay with their parents in family detention centers, ending the current practice of separating families.

“We need to fix the problem and it requires a legislative solution,” McConnell told reporters during a weekly press conference. The issue animated their weekly lunch and a consensus emerged that Congress must act, possibly as early as this week, leaders said.
'These children are not animals': US house decries separation policy – video

But Democratic leaders disagree, arguing that the president can halt this process with this “flick of a pen”.

“You alone can fix this,” the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said to Trump, holding out his pen to emphasize how quickly the practice could be stopped. Pressed on why Democrats were reluctant to work with Republicans on legislation that addressed family separations, Schumer pointed to the Congress’ long history of inaction on immigration.

“How many times has immigration legislation passed in this Congress? How many times? Zero,” he said, adding that the measure is an “excuse by our Republican colleagues who feel the heat”.

There has been condemnation from religious leaders and from business. In Dublin, Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, told the Irish Times: “It’s heartbreaking to see the images and hear the sounds of the kids. Kids are the most vulnerable people in any society. I think that what’s happening is inhumane, it needs to stop.”

In Mexico, less than a fortnight away from a presidential election, politicians lined up to denounce the separations. Candidate Ricardo Anaya said the treatment of children recalled “terrifying images” of Nazis separating mothers from their children. His rival, José Antonio Meade, denounced an unacceptable “horror”.

In Mexico City, the foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, expressed his government’s “most categorical and energetic condemnation” of the policy.

The majority of the children affected were from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, he said, while only about 1% were Mexican. Even so, he said, Mexico had “both a moral and a constitutional responsibility” to push back against “a cruel policy, an inhuman policy”.

Children driven to be refugees

The history of these Churches and religious groups’ involvement is a proud tradition dating back many decades supporting migrants of all faiths and non-faiths settling as refugees in UK.

by Victor Cherubim-Jun 19, 2018

( June 19, 2018, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Children are children, teenagers are teenagers, but not if they are vulnerable refugees. Unaccompanied children marred by violence in Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan and many other countries are being forced to make dangerous journeys, particularly in the Mediterranean to Europe.

Recently we saw on TV the saga of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Rescue vessel, “Aquarius” and other craft bringing 630 migrants and refugees, of which 104 were children and at least 7 pregnant women, rescued off the coast of Libya, dock at the Spanish port of Valencia. Spain was the only country willing to allow these migrants to land after a full week of negotiation at sea and the rough seas making these desperate people sea sick needing shelter, many suffering from hypothermia.

Migration in Europe

Everyone knows the deep divisions over migrants within the EU. We also know the “ostrich policy” on immigration imposed by the newly elected Italian coalition of the Right Wing Populist Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Northern League Government and the refusal by Malta to take these refugees. To avert a humanitarian catastrophe and perhaps, to show the rest of Europe “the values of a civilised nation,” the newly formed Spanish Government after much soul searching accepted these refugees. Illequipped to deal with the new influx and the lack of planning is causing problems.

The unaccompanied children are being housed in temporary accommodation, as they await for asylum in other European countries, in France, in Greece and possibly, in UK.

We are told that Britain could once again to take as many as 10,000 children, 1000 each year until 2028.

Charities like Safe Passage, with offices in Whitechapel, London E1 2JA, and religious groups like Caffod, Caritas, Church of England charities, groups of Baptists, Methodists and even Muslim charities are all involved in welcoming refugee children today.

The history of these Churches and religious groups’ involvement is a proud tradition dating back many decades supporting migrants of all faiths and non faiths settling as refugees in UK.

UK is celebrating the 80th anniversary of its child refugee protection

Descendants of the 10,000 children sent to the UK between 1938 and 1939 from Germany on the “Kindertransport” are going to retrace the 600 mile journey on two wheels, doing 100 miles per day on their bikes, for the 80th anniversary arriving from Berlin at Liverpool Street BR Station on 22 June 2018.

Many of these children, among them Lord Alf Dubs, once of British Refugee Council, and others such as Past Councillor, Newham Borough Council, Paul Sathianesan have made a major contribution to British public life.

Kindertransport, a well known charity, stands out in welcoming strangers and offering protection to children fleeing persecution.

Besides, the child refugees brought to UK under the Dubs Amendment passed in Parliament in May 2016 required the UK Government to act “as soon as possible” to relocate and support unaccompanied refugee children in Europe.

Under this scheme it was required to consult with Local Authorities to determine the number of children each Council has the capacity to help and/or accommodate refugee children.

But notwithstanding same and many Councils volunteering in Scotland, Wales and even in London, particularly Councils like Camden and Lewisham have accepted child refugees, the British Government amended in early February 2018 that it was to close the Dubs scheme after accepting 350 minors in UK.

Fair and effective Family Reunion

UK Family Reunion law prohibits children rejoining their parents or any member of their family. This is keeping families apart. But for purposes of family reunion the Home Office does consider the sponsor as the individual who has refugee status including those resettled under the Gateway Protection Programme, Mandate Protection Programme or the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) Scheme.

Children in Calais and in Greece we know have been living in the woods with “their lives on hold.”

The Charity “Help Refugees” intends to appeal on the Courts decision of the Dubs amendment.

Meanwhile protesters and charities are demanding UK resettle more migrant children in response to the refugee crisis in Europe. They are seeking the support of churches and religious groups to appeal to their MP’s and Local councils to provide support for refugee children. by fostering, or in care or with reunion.

The nature of today’s conflict and persecution and the speed and manner with which those seeking asylum are often forced to flee their country of origin, reunion from family members of those granted refugee status or “humanitarian protection” in UK being able to sponsor immediate family and especially children under the age of 18 is a welcome sign.

UNHCR identity of Vulnerable Children

In the 80th year of Child Refugee Protection in UK, UNHCR identifies vulnerable children at risk on the following criteria:
• Children with specific medical needs
• Children with disabilities
• Child survivors (or at risk of ) violence, abuse or exploitation, including sexual or gender based violence
• Children at risk or harmful traditional practices (eg.child marriage or FGM)
• Children without legal documentation
• Children in detention
• Children at risk of refoulement
• Children at risk not attending school
• Children associated with armed forces or armed groups
• Children at risk of child labour or already working.

UK and Vulnerable Refugee Children

We are told that Britain is committed once again to take 10,000 children, 1000 each year until 2028 and charities like Safe Passage, with offices in Whitechapel, London E1 2JA, and religious groups like Caffod, Caritas, Church of England charities, Baptists, Methodists and even Muslim charities are all involved in welcoming refugee children today.

The history of these Churches and religious groups’ involvement is a proud tradition dating back many decades supporting migrants of all faiths and non-faiths settling as refugees in UK.

Heat Causes Aluminum to Leach Foil to Food. Aluminum Toxicity Causes Dementia, Alzheimer’s and Cancer

Aluminum has been long known to be neurotoxic, with mounting evidence that chronic exposure is a factor in many neurological diseases, including dementia, autism, and Parkinson’s disease.

However, definitive scientific proof is difficult to establish due to the the lack of longitudinal studies, as well as pushback from industries that use aluminum in their products. Despite the shortage of conclusive studies, mounting scientific evidence leaves little room for doubt.

Case in point: a new case study from Keele University in the UK unequivocally shows high levels of aluminum in the brain of an individual exposed to aluminum at work, who later died from Alzheimer’s disease.

While aluminum exposure has been implicated in Alzheimer’s and a number of other neurological diseases, this case claims to be “the first direct link” between Alzheimer’s disease and elevated brain aluminum following occupational exposure.

The Aluminum-Alzheimer’s Link

The 66 year-old Caucasian man developed an aggressive form of early onset Alzheimer’s disease after eight years of occupational exposure to aluminum dust, which scientists conclude “suggests a prominent role for the olfactory system and lungs in the accumulation of aluminum in the brain.”

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This is not the first time high aluminum levels have been found in the tissues of someone who died from Alzheimer’s disease. For example, in 2004, high aluminum levels were found in the tissues of a British woman who died of early-onset Alzheimer’s.

This was 16 years after an industrial accident dumped 20 metric tons of aluminum sulphate into her local drinking water. And there are many studies showing elevated aluminum levels in living individuals displaying a wide range of neurological symptoms.

Aluminum Can Be an Occupational Hazard

Exposure to aluminum is unfortunately an occupational hazard for those who work in industries like mining, factory work, welding, and agriculture. Not to mention that you ingest aluminum vapors every time your nose catches cigarette smoke wafting by.

Inhaling aluminum dust or vapors sends aluminum particles directly into your lungs in a highly absorbable form, where they pass into your bloodstream and are distributed throughout your body, including your bones and brain. Aluminum powder has been known to cause pulmonary fibrosis, and aluminum factory workers are prone to asthma. Studies of the health effects of aluminum vapors have been grim, pointing to high levels of neurotoxicity.

So why are most government regulators and physicians so resistant to looking at the health and environmental effects of aluminum? One filmmaker is shining a light on this issue by way of a documentary.

The ‘Dark Side’ of Aluminum Exposed

The featured documentary, The Age of Aluminum, reveals the “dark side” of this toxic metal, exploring the scientific links between aluminum and diseases such as breast cancer and neurological disorders. Also exposed is how aluminum mining and manufacturing have created acute ecological problems across the globe, leading to environmental disasters in Hungary, South Africa, and the UK. In the film, neuroscientist Christopher Shaw reports:

“Many researchers are beginning to accept that aluminum has some sort of role to play in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Whether it does in others is still an open question, but Alzheimer’s is really coming into focus and it’s fairly clear that the body burden of aluminum from all the sources to which humans are exposed may be contributing to Alzheimer’s disease.”

Aluminum Is Everywhere

Although aluminum occurs naturally in soil, water, and air, we are contributing to the load with the mining and processing of aluminum ores, manufacturing of aluminum products, and the operation of coal-fired power plants and incinerators. Aluminum can’t be destroyed in the environment—it only changes its form by attaching or separating from other particles.

Rain washes aluminum particles out of the air and into our water supply, where they tend to accumulate rather than degrade. If you live in an industrial area, your exposure is undoubtedly higher than average.

According to CDC, the average adult in the US consumes about seven to nine mg of aluminum per day in food, and a lesser amount from air and water. Only about one percent of the aluminum you ingest orally gets absorbed into your body—the rest is moved out by your digestive tract, provided it’s functioning well.

When tested in a lab, aluminum contamination has been found in a vast number of products on the market, from foods and beverages to pharmaceuticals, which suggests the manufacturing process itself is a significant part of the problem. Aluminum is found in a shocking number of foods and consumer products, including:

-Foods such as baking powder, self rising flour, salt, baby formula, coffee creamers, baked goods and processed foods, coloring and caking agents

-Drugs, such as antacids, analgesics, anti-diarrheals, and others; additives such as magnesium stearate

-Vaccines—Hepatitis A and B, Hib, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), pneumococcal vaccine, Gardasil (HPV), and others

-Cosmetics and personal care products such as antiperspirants, deodorants (including salt crystals, made of alum), lotions, sunscreens, and shampoos

-Aluminum products, including foil, cans, juice pouches, tins, and water bottles 

Does Your Frozen Dinner Come with a Side of Aluminum?

Aluminum contamination in our food supply is a more significant problem than you may think. In a study published in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe, researchers analyzed 1,431 non-animal foods and beverages for aluminum content. This is what they found:

-77.8 percent had an aluminum concentration of up to 10 mg/kg

-17.5 percent had aluminum concentrations between 10 and 100 mg\kg

-4.6 percent of the samples had aluminum concentrations in excess of 100 mg/kg

Aluminum compounds are often used as additives in foodstuffs. Additional contamination occurs when food comes into contact with aluminum equipment and other items because aluminum is unstable in the presence of acids and bases. Aluminum equipment has a protective oxide film, but this can be damaged as fine fissures develop from normal wear and tear.In the study, Table 3 shows the aluminum content of everything from flour and baking mixes to soup, chocolate, beer and wine, and herbal teas. Some products show a wide range of contamination levels, and others are more homogenous. Baked goods are very high because of the common practice of baking and storing foods on aluminum trays. The report has numerous other tables that demonstrate how prevalent this toxin is in your food.

If you cook your food in aluminum foil, you are introducing your own contamination. One investigation found that cooking meats in aluminum foil increases their aluminum concentration. Researchers concluded, “eating meals prepared in aluminum foil may carry a health risk by adding to other aluminum sources.” As with many toxins, it isn’t one exposure here and there that is so concerning—it’s the cumulative effect of many smaller exposures over time that can lead to a toxic metal overload and erosion of your health. According to a 2006 study, cooking meat in aluminum foil increased aluminum levels as follows:

-Red meats cooked in aluminum foil showed an increase in aluminum by 89 to 378 percent

-Poultry increased by 76 to 214 percent

-Aluminum levels increased with higher cooking temperatures and longer cooking times

Aluminum Heads Straight to Your Brain

Aluminum is to your central nervous system as cigarette smoke is to your lungs. Scientists are clear that toxic metals damage brain tissue and lead to degenerative disease by producing oxidative stress—and aluminum is one of the worst offenders. With Alzheimer’s rates skyrocketing, today’s multiple avenues of aluminum exposure are of great concern. Just as with particles in the environment, once aluminum is in your tissues, your body has a difficult time releasing it. This toxic metal serves absolutely no biological purpose, so the less of it you ingest, the better.

Once in your body, it travels around easily, unimpeded, piggybacking on your iron transport system. It crosses biological barriers that normally keep other types of toxins out, such as your blood-brain barrier. Over time, aluminum can accumulate in your brain and do serious damage your neurological health—regardless of your age. Aluminum toxicity may be doing as much damage to our children as to our seniors.

Brain Inflammation in Both Children and Adults

Vaccines present a particularly problematic source of toxic metal exposure. Aluminum is the most commonly used vaccine adjuvant and is considered “safe” even though research shows it may induce serious immunological disorders and neurological complications in humans.

In the video above, Dr. David Ayoub discusses how the aluminum in vaccines may be even more dangerous than mercury. The number of aluminum-containing vaccines children receive today11 has quadrupled over the past 30 years. In the 1970s, children got only four aluminum-containing vaccines in their first 18 months of life, but now they typically receive 17. And as children’s aluminum burden has increased, so has the prevalence of childhood neurological disorders. In one school, 90 percent of the children developed ADHD during the course of a single school year, and their toxicity profiles all revealed massive amounts of aluminum.

Aluminum is also in vaccines and is used as an adjuvant. If you go by the aluminum content on vaccine labels, the amount kids are getting is excessive, but if you add in the aluminum NOT listed on the labels—”accidental exposure” due to contamination—it’s a much more serious problem. Dr. Ayoub cites one study that found five to six times more aluminum in vaccines than what was actually listed on the labels.

When you review the signs and symptoms of aluminum toxicity, they are shockingly similar to the symptoms of autism, ADHD, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other neurological diseases. Vaccine adjuvants can cause serious chronic brain inflammation. Aluminum targets your cerebellum and autonomic nervous system—the part responsible for biological processes over which you have no conscious control (breathing, blood pressure, balance, coordination, etc.). When you look at the MSDS sheet for aluminum, you will see symptoms strikingly similar to those in common neurological diseases, including memory problems, speech impairments and aphasia, dementia, depression, muscle weakness, motor disturbances, and other neurological difficulties. The list goes on and on.12

Researchers Claim New Blood Test May Predict Alzheimer’s

There has never been a way to accurately predict who will get Alzheimer’s, but that may be changing. Researchers at Georgetown University and University of Rochester claim they have found a blood test that predicts this with 90 percent accuracy—and incredibly, with NO false negatives. If further research confirms what researchers expect, this is a medical breakthrough of epic proportions.13

The test involves measuring the patterns of 10 specific lipids (fat-like compounds) associated with the plaques found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. These 10 lipids are highly predictive of whether or not you will become cognitively impaired. All of the people in the study were in their 70s, so the next step is to determine if the test is accurate earlier, say in your 40s and 50s. Researchers say they are still several years away from implementing the test, but they all feel very hopeful.14

Biomarkers such as lipids are tricky for Alzheimer’s because they change during the course of the illness. Some occur in high levels during the early phase of the disease and then actually decrease after symptoms appear—so they are stage dependent. There is clearly much more research that needs to be done before we have a grasp of this disease.15 Even with a test that can predict whether or not you are in the process of developing dementia, there are no good treatments once you have it—so you should be doing everything in your power to prevent it. One of the strategies is helping your body detoxify from metals, such as aluminum.

Aluminum Impairs Your Body’s Ability to Detoxify

Removing mercury from vaccines and replacing it with aluminum may be increasing the problems from BOTH toxins in your body. The reason for this is because aluminum impairs your body’s ability to excrete mercury by impeding your glutathione production. Glutathione is your most important intracellular detoxifier, required for reversing oxidative stress. So, if your aluminum load is high, your body will potentially become more toxic from the mercury from, say, flu shots and fish because you are now on “aluminum overload” and your detoxification system no longer functions well.

Your body requires sulfur to manufacture glutathione, making sulfur an extremely important dietary nutrient when it comes to metal detoxification, which can be optimized through dietary sources. Onions and garlic are good if they are grown in sulfur rich soils, but most soils are unfortunately sulfur deficient. Therefore, animal-based proteins seem to be one of your best bets. Whey protein concentrate is particularly high in cysteine, one of the two sulfur-bearing amino acids that are direct precursors to glutathione.

Please note that if you avoid consuming animal proteins, it is VERY easy to become sulfur deficient, and this may be one of the most significant risk factors for choosing an animal protein-free diet. That doesn’t mean you should go overboard on meat, however! Most people need only about one gram of protein per kilogram of lean body weight, or about half a gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. Also make sure to buy grass-fed and finished meats, as most factory farmed meat is of inferior quality and contaminated with a whole host of veterinary drugs, including antibiotics and growth hormones.

How to Detoxify Aluminum

There are a number of potent chelators you can use to detoxify aluminum. Clearly, your first step would be to avoid further exposure to aluminum. This means avoiding products such as:

• Toothpaste containing aluminium oxyhydroxide16
• Antiperspirants containing aluminum chloride, aluminum chlorohydrate, or aluminum-zirconium compounds
• Aluminum laminated pouch drinks
• Aluminum cookware
• Aluminum espresso makers

For serious Alzheimer’s disease, the following chelating agents can be helpful:

• Silica-rich water, such as Fiji water,17 which contains 83 Mg of silica per liter. Research18 published in 2013 showed that drinking up to one liter of a silicon-rich mineral water daily for 12 weeks effectively excreted aluminum via the urine, without detrimental effects on essential metals such as iron and copper. According to the authors: “We have provided preliminary evidence that over 12 weeks of silicon-rich mineral water therapy the body burden of aluminum fell in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and, concomitantly, cognitive performance showed clinically relevant improvements in at least 3 out of 15 individuals.”
• Melatonin: Research19, 20, 21 shows that melatonin has a metal binding role and is a useful supplement in the treatment of neurological disorders in which oxidative stress is involved, which includes Alzheimer’s. Melatonin can travel freely across all cellular barriers, facilitating the removal of toxic metals such as aluminum. It also appears to suppress the oxidative activity of aluminum in your brain.
• Anything that raises your glutathione. Your body synthesizes glutathione from three amino acids: cysteine, glutamate, and glycine. Raw fruits and vegetables, particularly avocado, asparagus, grapefruit, strawberries, orange, tomato, cantaloupe, broccoli, okra, peach, zucchini, and spinach are rich in the precursors glutamate and glycine. Dietary sources of cysteine include eggs, meat, red peppers, garlic, onions, Brussels sprouts, whey protein, and wheat germ. Other helpful treatments for improved glutathione metabolism include:
  • Exercise: Exercise affects your adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels needed to help produce glutathione
  • Optimizing your vitamin D levels through sun exposure: There’s some evidence vitamin D increases intracellular glutathione levels
  • Epsom salt baths
  • MSM supplementation
  • The supplement N-acetyl L-cysteine (NAC) may also be useful. NAC is the rate-limiting nutrient for the formation of the intracellular antioxidant glutathione
• Curcumin:22 Research23, 24 suggests that curcumin has a protective effect against aluminum-induced damage by modulating the extent of oxidative stress. It also decreases beta-amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s, delays neuron degradation, chelates metals, decreases microglia formation, and has an overall anti-inflammatory, antioxidant effect. Studies have shown that curcumin can help improve memory in Alzheimer’s patients. There are some contraindications25 that curcumin is not recommended if you have biliary tract obstruction (as it stimulates bile secretion), gallstones, obstructive jaundice, or acute biliary colic.

In Summary

It can no longer be argued that aluminum does not have a role in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s—the evidence is very clear and growing. It really should not be surprising that people with aluminum toxicity display many of the same symptoms as those with dementia, Parkinson’s, ADHD, autism, and other neurological diseases, because aluminum targets exactly these areas of your brain and nervous system.

The best way to protect yourself is to be careful about your choices in food and personal products, and minimize your use of vaccines and other drugs that are often contaminated with aluminum.

Optimizing your dietary sulfur is also essential, as your body needs sulfur to manufacture its number one weapon against aluminum overload: glutathione. By taking a few steps to protect yourself, you’ll minimize your exposure while maximizing your body’s ability to rid itself of this toxic metal, which will move you toward a long and healthy life well into your senior years. For additional tips and strategies that can help prevent and/or treat Alzheimer’s, please see my previous article “Two Exciting Alzheimer’s Advances: A Novel Early Detection Test Using Peanut Butter, and a Study Evaluating Coconut Oil.”

National unity government needs to govern with more consensus

By Jehan Perera-June 18, 2018, 9:01 pm 

In the past two weeks there have been indications that the government parties are trying to sort out their differences. SLFP National Organiser, Minister Duminda Dissanayake has said that contrary to views expressed by some SLFP members, there were no discussions during the recent SLFP Central Committee meeting about the party trying to quit the National Unity Government. At the same time the Joint Opposition appears to have ruled out the possibility of reunification of the SLFP under President Maithripala Sirisena. Prof G L Peiris, who heads the SLPP which outdid the SLFP at its maiden contest has said that they would also not be supporting the president in any re-election bid.

There seemed to be a real prospect of a break-up of the National Unity Government in the sequence of events that followed the poor showing by the government parties at the local government elections of February 2018. The unsuccessful attempt of President Maithripala Sirisena to remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from his post followed by the departure of 16 SLFP members from the government added to this likelihood. It seemed that the UNP and SLFP led by these two protagonists would go their own ways. But the anticipated break-up of the government has not yet taken place and now it seems it is not likely to take place.

Contrary to negative expectations the UNP and SLFP have continued to remain together, albeit with reluctance in the absence of bettering their prospects by going forward separately. The president and prime minister have been meeting in dialogue that has been promoted by some of the senior members of their respective parties. As a result there is a renewed prospect that the two parties will be able to overcome their differences and stay together, at least until the term of office ends at the close of next year. However, until the two parties find a way to reach agreement on their roles and responsibilities within the government, and on powersharing arrangements, there will continue to be mistrust and rivalry which will give rise to an unhealthy environment for governance.

REPARATIONS OFFICE

The value of the continuation the National Unity Government is its continuing willingness to address the unresolved issues of the war and to reach out to the ethnic and religious minorities in a spirit that is responsive to their concerns is what distinguishes it from its predecessor. The former government showed itself unprepared to address the unresolved issues of the war, and approached the ethnic and religious minority communities from a national security perspective. It tended to see them from a national security perspective as a source of present and potential threats to be neutralized rather than as equal citizens of the country to be protected and nurtured no less than the members of the ethnic majority.

The most positive feature of the leadership exercised by President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is that they continue to stand by the principle that the ethnic and religious minorities are part and parcel of Sri Lanka’s plural society and their concerns are legitimate. This was most recently seen in the correction that took place when a Muslim was appointed to a ministerial position that overlooks Hindu religious affairs. As a result the ethnic and religious minorities are able to live today with a greater sense of security.

The approval given by the cabinet of ministers to the establishment of an Office of Reparations is evidence that the UNP and SLFP under their present leaderships are willing to address the tragedies of the past, which is the most important challenge to sustain to the future. The Office of Reparations is one of the four reconciliation mechanisms that the government promised to the international community and to the country at large as part of the solution to the problems created during the previous three decades of war. It is reassuring to note that the UNP and SLFP and their leaders continue to be on the same page in respect of one of the most important issues that brought them together in a winning combination at the presidential and general elections of 2015.

This positive feature has previously been reflected in the passage of new laws such as the 19th Amendment to the constitution, and the laws on the Right to Information and Office of Missing Persons and the establishment of mechanisms to implement their decisions, with the latest being the Office of Reparations. These are examples of consensual decision making between the two parties. Where consensus has been obtained the government shows an extraordinary ability to push important laws through parliament. The passage of these laws is significant since it puts in place a framework of good governance that will serve the country well in the longer term.

MORE CONSULTATION

On the other hand, the weakness of the government is that on too many occasions there seems to be ad hoc decision making by individual ministries that are then shot down by others in the government. One recent example would be the proposal by the Ministry of Rehabilitation that reparations should be paid to families of the LTTE. This proposal is not part of the legislation pertaining to the Office of Reparations. It is an entirely separate, even if laudable, proposal made by an individual minister. But because it has been made at the same time as the appearance of the legislation on setting up the Office of Reparations it is being seen as part of the new mechanism although it has not been discussed within the government.

A similar phenomenon was seen in an earlier proposal to permit women to purchase liquor which was vetoed by the president to the disappointment and anger of those who stand by gender equality. This type of decision making that is done unilaterally by one part of the coalition government without the consent of the other parts, and vetoing by one party of the proposals of the other party give the impression of a government that is not governing effectively. The government needs to dispel the impression that it is not governing due to the contradictions within itself which gives rise to the dangerous yearning for a strong government that can make the trains run on time.

There is a need for greater consultation within the government before new proposals are made by ministers. As this is a coalition government comprising two major parties and several smaller ones, there is a need to have discussions and to reach consensus before publicizing the proposals. This may slow down the process of decision making. But more than speed alone, it is the implementation of decisions made that gives credibility to the government. The government needs to show that once it makes a decision it will carry out that decision and that it has the political will to do so. There is also a more fundamental need to agree on a framework for governance by the two main parties up to and beyond the next presidential elections scheduled for end 2019.