Out of Darkness, Light???

While trying to find some insight into the recent outbreak of the "deadly Coronavirus" from China --corona, from the Latin word for "crown",for this is the structure the virus appears take on when viewed beneath a microscope--  I wound up watching a documentary on the epidemiology of the infamous "Black Death" that ravaged Western Europe in the mid-fourteenth century.  After all, we are about due for our next pandemic??? ... Very informative documentary.  I now "know more than I ever wanted to know about the digestive process of fleas."  I also learned that plague epidemics on par with the "Black Plague" had actually struck earlier in the six-century, with the "Justinian Plaque", and then again later, in the mid-eighteenth century, with the "Asian Plague."   Where the latter epidemic finally led to the identification of the bacteria responsible for these plagues ghastly symptoms:  Yersinia Pestis (named after the French scientist, Alexandre Yersin --student of Louis Pasteur-- who was attributed with the detailed description/discovery of the bacteria, although Shibasaburo Kitasato --student of Robert Koch-- was first to identify the source).  I learned about zoonotic diseases and how Ebola and Aids viruses came into being.  But by far the most interesting thing I learned from this documentary is that 10-20% of people descended from survivors of the Western European "Black Death" (mid-fourteenth century) have a gene mutation, CCR5-delta 32, which makes these fortunate descendants immune to the Aids virus by preventing the virus from entering healthy cells.  The thinking here being that something other than the plague-driven bacteria from infected fleas biting humans was simultaneously causing the hemorrhagic fever version of the disease, likely a virus akin to something like smallpox ... also a zoonotic disease. This is the first time I have ever heard of such immunity, but I have always wondered about immunity where Aids is concerned.  Most intriguing is it not, that this immunity has its likely origins in the bi-product of one of the most horrific diseases to ever 'plague' mankind?

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Reminds me of the inter-transformation of Yin and Yang in the ongoing spiral of Life within our amazing universe .... I am so very grateful for the many scientists who dedicate their lives to unraveling these medical mysteries so that we might have a greater understanding with which to combat the spread of future diseases.  And, I heard, via news sources, that a pharma company working on an Ebola vaccination thinks they might be able to  use their research in order to come up with a vaccination for this latest deadly disease, the Coronavirus.  Myself, I am revisiting my essential oils in search of natural oils with extreme antiviral properties ... an ounce of prevention, right?

Time to Tackle Term Limits for U.S. Members of Congress?

Should Republicans manage to retake the House in 2020 --which I predict they will-- while retaining their majority in the Senate, I cannot help but wonder: Would this new congressional majority be BRAVE enough to tackle the subject of Term Limits for members of the United States Congress  (working on setting up an on-line petition)?

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How else can you effectively root out corruption and restore accountability to the U.S. Congress, given the abuses of power we've witnessed these past few months with the whole Impeachment Charade?

And what exactly would said term limits look like?  Limit of two terms served for a U.S. Senator and three for a U.S. Representative?  Any thoughts?  ... Would enough citizens be willing to step up to the plate in order to meet the increased demand/turnover in both the U.S. House of Representatives (2 years per single term) and the U.S. Senate (6 years per single term)?  Moreover, would this recurrent turnover infuse the United State Congress with a more bipartisan spirit, not to mention a plethora of new ideas?

This change would, however, require a Constitutional Convention and an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Is America up for change on such a grand scale, I wonder??? I know I am!

The Fastest Way to Destroy America ....

An American was killed on U.S. soil, by terrorists funded and orchestrated through Iran, a long and well-known sponsor of terror around the globe for the past several decades. The strike on our U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, on New Year’s Eve, was planned by Iran’s top General of the Iranian Military, Khasamin Soleimani , and executed by a pro-Iranian terrorist faction in Iraq. The protesters even scribbled on the wall of our embassy “Khasamin Soleimani is our leader.” Actually, it is rather brilliant of Iran to have one of its top military officials carrying out these attacks by proxy, because when America strikes back, meeting strength with strength --which history has shown is really the only thing the Iranian regime understands and respects-- Iran can claim that American has attacked the State of Iran proper. One would expect the latter response from the government of Iran, not so from members of the U.S. Government because the distinction in this case is absurd. Iranian military leader or not, General Soleimani  was executing the role of a terrorist, both from a financial as well as a logistical standpoint.

Given this brazen act of violence, perpetrated on American soil and resulting in the death of an American citizen, one would unequivocally expect Americans to be united in outrage and in support of our President when he determines a timely, proportional and measured course of action in response to a terrorist attack. This, unfortunately, much to the detriment of our Union, is not presently the case. How so? Because a substantial number of our top body of elected officials, the United States Congress .. the voice of “We the People”.. have chosen not only to outright dismiss support for the President in his counter action response --namely, the taking out of General Soleimani by drone strike-- but these same ‘geniuses’ go even further in the direction of counterproductive dis-unity by issuing a non-binding, non-standard (lacking procedural due diligence) resolution enumerating what is already explicitly stated in our U.S. Constitution, namely  that 1) “The President shall be the Commander and Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States and of the Militia of the several States”, Article II, Section 2 of U.S. Constitution, while 2) The U.S. Congress shall retain the power to "declare [outright] war".  It should be noted that several congressional "Authorization(s) for Use of Military Force" have been issued to clarify the role/right of the President to carry out single strike military operations in defense of the nation in aftermath of 911, in the new age of terrorism, where all such authorizations are extensions of the 1973 "War Powers Act".  The latter all make the clear distinction that such strikes fall far short of outright war.

Now is the time to re-state the obvious? I think NOT! This congressional non-binding resolution does little to effect actual change with respect to the President’s authority to protect our nation where acts of terrorism are concerned, as stated above. The Constitution clearly states that only the U.S. Congress has the power to declare war --Article I, Section 8 of U.S. Constitution-- but President Trump’s actions were not designed to bring America into an actual war as the government of Iran and its supporters would have you believe [And if you look at President Trump’s actions to date, his actions speak of a President committed to bringing Americans back home and ending our decades long standing posture in the Middle East]. The President’s actions were instead a direct, timely, measured and proportional response --given the intelligence he had available to him at the time-- to an attack on Americans, with the added benefit of taking out a key orchestrator of future attacks on Americans, per information provided by our intelligence sources. What this most recent congressional non-binding resolution does achieve, however, is to make the United States of America look weak, disorganized and a far cry from united in the face an outright attack of Americans on American soil --for U.S. embassies around the globe are considered to actually be American soil.  This current non-binding congressional resolution serves as nothing more than a political slap on the hand of OUR President, in a ludicrous restatement of the obvious. How shameful?

Aside from whole impeachment charade, I have never been more disappointed in our United States Congress, particularly the Republican Congressmen from the 114th Congressional Session who crossed the aisle in order to vote with the Democrats on said ‘resolution’. The disservice these Congressmen do the sovereignty and unity of nation is beyond egregious. Our Founding Fathers would be aghast at what our nation has become these past few years since the election of President Donald J. Trump. Given the events since President Trump’s election, especially in light of these most recent events, I am left profoundly wondering if America is even capable of ever repairing the ever-widening chasms of our national divide? I mean if you cannot find unity in the face of an outright attack on the United States of America, when can you ever find true unity???????? The fastest way to destroy America is from within ......

New Hope for Treating Cancer

Not only a potentially revolutionary breakthrough in the treatment of cancer, but an incredibly less toxic treatment as well:  using salt nano-particles to attack cancer cells.  Read the article for yourself and then share with as many as possible, so this study does not get swept under the rug in favor of prevailing costly --on multiple levels-- pharmaceutical treatments.  Hopefully, this study will receive the funding and attention it needs to bring this option into the mainstream in the quickest timeline possible!  Click on the link below the image to be taken to the website to read the article.

CLICK Here to read article "Study Finds Salt Nanoparticles are toxic to Cancer Cells"