This article was amended on 18 March 2011 to remove references to Facebook and Twitter, introduced during the editing process, and to add a comment from Centcom, received after publication, that it is not targeting those sites.
The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.
A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an "online persona management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world.
The project has been likened by web experts to China's attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet. Critics are likely to complain that it will allow the US military to create a false consensus in online conversations, crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries or reports that do not correspond with its own objectives.
The discovery that the US military is developing false online personalities – known to users of social media as "sock puppets" – could also encourage other governments, private companies and non-government organisations to do the same.
The Centcom contract stipulates that each fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers should be able to operate false identities from their workstations "without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries".
Centcom spokesman Commander Bill Speaks said: "The technology supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language websites to enable Centcom to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US."
He said none of the interventions would be in English, as it would be unlawful to "address US audiences" with such technology, and any English-language use of social media by Centcom was always clearly attributed. The languages in which the interventions are conducted include Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto.
Centcom said it was not targeting any US-based web sites, in English or any other language, and specifically said it was not targeting Facebook or Twitter.
Gen David Petraeus has previously said US online psychological operations are aimed at 'countering extremist ideology and propaganda'. Photograph: Cliff Owen/AP
Once developed, the software could allow US service personnel, working around the clock in one location, to respond to emerging online conversations with any number of co-ordinated messages, blogposts, chatroom posts and other interventions. Details of the contract suggest this location would be MacDill air force base near Tampa, Florida, home of US Special Operations Command.
It also calls for "traffic mixing", blending the persona controllers' internet usage with the usage of people outside Centcom in a manner that must offer "excellent cover and powerful deniability".
The multiple persona contract is thought to have been awarded as part of a programme called Operation Earnest Voice (OEV), which was first developed in Iraq as a psychological warfare weapon against the online presence of al-Qaida supporters and others ranged against coalition forces. Since then, OEV is reported to have expanded into a $200m programme and is thought to have been used against jihadists across Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East.
OEV is seen by senior US commanders as a vital counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation programme. In evidence to the US Senate's armed services committee last year, General David Petraeus, then commander of Centcom, described the operation as an effort to "counter extremist ideology and propaganda and to ensure that credible voices in the region are heard". He said the US military's objective was to be "first with the truth".
Centcom confirmed that the $2.76m contract was awarded to Ntrepid, a newly formed corporation registered in Los Angeles. It would not disclose whether the multiple persona project is already in operation or discuss any related contracts.
Nobody was available for comment at Ntrepid.
In his evidence to the Senate committee, Gen Mattis said: "OEV seeks to disrupt recruitment and training of suicide bombers; deny safe havens for our adversaries; and counter extremist ideology and propaganda." He added that Centcom was working with "our coalition partners" to develop new techniques and tactics the US could use "to counter the adversary in the cyber domain".
Asked whether any UK military personnel had been involved in OEV, Britain's Ministry of Defence said it could find "no evidence". The MoD refused to say whether it had been involved in the development of persona management programmes, saying: "We don't comment on cyber capability."
OEV was discussed last year at a gathering of electronic warfare specialists in Washington DC, where a senior Centcom officer told delegates that its purpose was to "communicate critical messages and to counter the propaganda of our adversaries".
Persona management by the US military would face legal challenges if it were turned against citizens of the US, where a number of people engaged in sock puppetry have faced prosecution.
It is unclear whether a persona management programme would contravene UK law. Legal experts say it could fall foul of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, which states that "a person is guilty of forgery if he makes a false instrument, with the intention that he or another shall use it to induce somebody to accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act to his own or any other person's prejudice". However, this would apply only if a website or social network could be shown to have suffered "prejudice" as a result.
• This article was amended on 18 March 2011 to remove references to Facebook and Twitter, introduced during the editing process, and to add a comment from Centcom, received after publication, that it is not targeting those sites.
Source: guardian.co.uk - Authors: Nick Fielding and Ian Cobain (17 March 2011)
2007--- The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda. guardian.co.uk
Many people find it comforting to believe that someone else is looking out for them, watching over them, and guiding them gently through the path of life. Indeed, life would be so much simpler if someone else were responsible for our destiny, for countering evil with good, and for ensuring that caring people enjoy a comfortable afterlife.
Many well-intentioned but misguided people will tell you prayer is the answer to the problems of the world. They’d have you believe that if only you pray often enough and hard enough, you can realize your most precious goals. Unfortunately, this is not reality.
The untold suffering throughout the world should be evidence enough that no benevolent creator is watching over us, helping justice and fairness to triumph. People start wars, people abuse children and animals, and there’s no deity to prevent that.
You are responsible for your own happiness, and you alone are responsible for your own successes and failures.
Be an honest person for its own value – not from fear of spending an eternity in hell. Success in life requires hard work and logical thinking, and these are the values you must strive for.
Positive thought is about the recognition that we are empowered with a degree of control over our destiny. It is the realization that by doing our best along a pathway that is right we achieve as much as we possibly can. Doing this brings the knowledge and satisfaction that we could have done no more.
Positive thought is not about optimism or pessimism. These are related to future expectation. It’s easier for an optimist to think positively; but even a natural pessimist can adopt a positive attitude, though they expect the worst they can recognize that a positive approach in the here and now will affect the future and make it not so bad as it might have been.
Neither is positive thought about unrealistic expectation or denial of that which should be addressed. It is about making the best of what we can change and accepting what we can’t.
There are two kinds of events in life. Those we can control – or at least influence – and those we can’t.
Obviously it’s natural to be more positive about things we can influence. First we must identify how we’d like that event to turn out. This is not always as easy as it sounds as we ourselves may be subject to numerous external influences. We may need to visualize ourselves in a range of outcomes of the event in question. We should listen to our head and our heart but ultimately we should be true to our own essential, instinctive feeling. That which simply feels right probably is.
Having actively decided how we would like an event to turn out we can apply ourselves completely positively to making our desire into reality. Of course we may not always be completely successful, but in making our best effort along a path we know to be right we shall achieve the best outcome possible.
Events we cannot change (often because they’ve already happened) must be accepted. That which is, is! We should not give way to negative thinking over them, eg bitterness, anger, resentment, regret… for negative thinking is not only pointless but also distracts and wastes valuable energy. Much (if not all) of what happens to us occurs for a reason. We may even have chosen it before incarnating into flesh, or it may be presented as an opportunity to learn and grow. Either way there is no point resisting the irresistible. Far better to focus one’s energy towards what can be positively influenced.
Suppose a person loses their job. It would be too easy to sink into despair. But that is unlikely to find them a new job as well as overpowering the positive thought essential for moving forwards. A better approach is to accept the situation. On the one hand unfortunate, but on the other a challenge and an opportunity. Perhaps the chance to try something different, to stretch one’s capabilities in new ways and in so doing to fulfill our true purpose in being here, the growth of the Spirit. A side effect of positive thought is absolute freedom from regret.
The biggest obstacle to positive thought is fear of failure, or rather, fear of the disappointment of failure. But disappointment is a human emotion of no Spiritual significance. Expect nothing, but know that anything is possible. And in this knowledge pursue your life path(s) with energy, confidence and focus.
If you believe and know something is right and possible for you positive thought will keep you progressing relentlessly towards that goal, even when it’s against the odds and contrary to the well-meaning but ill-informed advice of negative naysayers. Where there is will there is way. It is from this true positivity that that which is really special can, and often does, arise.
The moon has a powerful allure - it is full of beauty, legend, myth and romance. Anyone with an interest in the moon or the phases of the moon - for whatever reason - should find some valuable information here, including a free current / daily moon phases website module, how to get a moon phases calendar software application, and other lunar phases information, including links.
Free Daily Moon Phases Website Module
This "Current Moon" module provides basic information on the current moon phase. It is intended to be a helpful general reference.
The phases of the moon are caused by the relative positions of the earth, sun, and moon. The moon goes around the earth in 27.3 days, or 27 days 7 hours 43 minutes, on average. This measurement is relative to the stars and is called the sidereal period or orbital period. However, because of the earth's motion around the sun, a complete moon cycle (New Moon to New Moon) appears to earthbound observers to take a couple of days longer: 29.5305882 days to be exact. This number is called the synodic period or "lunation", and is relative to the sun.
The sun always illuminates the half of the moon facing the sun (except during lunar eclipses, when the moon passes through the earth's shadow). When the sun and moon are on opposite sides of the earth, the moon appears "full" to us, a bright, round disk. When the moon is between the earth and the sun, it appears dark, a "new" moon. In between, the moon's illuminated surface appears to grow (wax) to full, then decreases (wanes) to the next new moon. The edge of the shadow (the terminator) is always curved, being an oblique view of a circle, giving the moon its familiar crescent shape.
The more vaccines are studied, the more apparent it becomes that safety studies are sorely lacking, as vaccine expert and pediatrician Larry Palevsky explains. For example, those that have been done compare vaccinated populations only to other vaccinated populations, and only follow vaccinated kids for 4-6 weeks.
As mentioned earlier, there are major differences between naturally-acquired immunity and vaccine-induced immunity – and science does confirm this. Those who disagree are simply ignoring the evidence and perpetuating ignorance. Unfortunately, while obtaining natural immunity has far greater benefits, this fact seems to be completely overlooked in the United States, considering it's recommended that U.S. babies receive 26 doses of vaccines within the first 12 months of life (which, incidentally, is twice as many vaccinations as are given to babies in Sweden and Japan).
When children are born, they develop natural immunity to a large variety of microorganisms that they breathe, eat, and touch. The immune responses initiated by cells lining their airways, skin and intestines are very important in creating "memory" and protection against the microorganisms they naturally come into contact with every day. That primary line of defense is a very important step in the maturation of your child's immune system – and it's bypassed when he/she gets a vaccine.
With vaccination, you are merely creating an antibody, but as the Journal of Virology study9 showed, the unvaccinated children actually built up more antibodies against a wider variety of flu virus strains than the vaccinated children!
Vaccines usually do not impart long-term immunity because they don't create the kind of memory that occurs when you go through the process of a natural immune response. Natural exposure does not necessarily lead to symptoms of infection – it is possible for your immune system to respond and for you to obtain natural immunity without actually getting sick, if your immune system is functioning well. In fact, vaccines do NOT strengthen the healthy functioning of your immune system, but actually weaken it. Here are just some of the ways vaccines can impair and alter your immune response:
Some components in vaccines are neurotoxic and may depress your immune response or cause brain and immune dysfunction, particularly heavy metals such as mercury preservatives (thimerosal) and aluminum adjuvants
Vaccines may alter your t-cell function and lead you to become chronically ill
Vaccines can trigger allergies or autoimmune disorders. Vaccines introduce large foreign protein molecules into your body. Your body can respond to these foreign particles in a way that causes an allergic reaction or triggers autoimmunty, especially in persons genetically or biologically vulnerable to allergy and autoimmunity
Getting a flu shot can affect your cardiovascular system because vaccination stimulates an acute inflammatory response in your body, which also could become chronic. One 2007 study published in the Annals of Medicine10 concluded that:
"Abnormalities in arterial function and LDL oxidation may persist for at least two weeks after a slight inflammatory reaction induced by influenza vaccination.These could explain in part the earlier reported increase in cardiovascular risk during the first weeks after an acute inflammatory disorder."
What You Need to Know about Informed Consent
Informed consent is especially important when it comes to vaccination because no one can predict whether you or your child will suffer a devastating vaccine reaction. Furthermore, doctors have been notoriously lax when it comes to providing patients with full disclosure of potential serious vaccine side effects.
All Americans should know that if your doctor does not provide the CDC Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) sheet, or directly discuss the potential symptoms of side effects of the vaccination you or your child is about to receive BEFORE vaccination takes place, it is a violation of federal law. Remember, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 requires doctors and other vaccine providers to:
Give written vaccine benefit and risk information to the person or guardian of the person before vaccination takes place (and, ethically, a doctor should be willing to discuss and answer all questions the patient or parent has about vaccination)
Keep a permanent record of all vaccines given and the manufacturer's name and lot number
Enter serious health problems, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths that occur after vaccination in the patient's permanent medical record
File an official report of all serious health problems, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following vaccination to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS)
If a vaccine provider fails to inform, record or report, it is a violation of federal law, and I would encourage anyone who is injured from a vaccine, who did not receive the proper warnings, to use the legal system to hold the physician responsible. For more information about the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and your rights under that law, go to the website of the nonprofit National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) at www.NVIC.org, where you also can find referenced information on diseases and vaccines to help you make well educated vaccine choices. You can also sign up to be a user of the NVIC Advocacy Portal to work to protect the legal right to make vaccine choices in your state.
How to Protect Yourself Against Influenza
So the question is, why do we continue doing something that has been proven ineffective and risky? As Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." This certainly could be said to apply to the practice of getting a flu shot every year and expecting to be protected against the flu without taking a health risk.
While the media is sure to continue hyping potential pandemic influenzas, remember that a healthy immune system is your best and primary defense against any viral threat. The following simple guidelines will help you keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you're far less likely to acquire influenza or other respiratory infections to begin with or, if you do, your immune system will deal with it without complications:
Optimize your vitamin D levels. As I've previously reported, optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the absolute best strategies for avoiding infections of ALL kinds. This is probably the single most important and least expensive action you can take. I would STRONGLY urge you to have your vitamin D level monitored to confirm your levels are therapeutic at 50-70 ng/ml year-round.
Avoid Sugar, Fructose and Processed Foods. Sugar decreases the function of your immune system almost immediately. Be aware that sugar is present in foods you may not suspect, like ketchup and fruit juice.
Get Enough Rest. Just like it becomes harder for you to get your daily tasks done if you're tired, if your body is overly fatigued it will be harder for it to fight the flu. Be sure to check out my article Guide to a Good Night's Sleep for some great tips to help you get quality rest.
Have Effective Tools to Address Stress. We all face some stress every day, but if stress becomes overwhelming then your body will be less able to fight off the flu and other illness. If you feel that stress is taking a toll on your health, consider using an energy psychology tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique, which is remarkably effective in relieving stress associated with all kinds of events, from work to family to trauma.
Exercise. When you exercise, you increase your circulation and your blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of finding an illness before it spreads.
Take a Good Source of High Quality Animal-Based Omega-3 Fats. Increase your intake of healthy and essential fats like the omega-3 found in krill oil, which is crucial for maintaining health. It is also vitally important to avoid damaged omega-6 oils that are trans fats and in processed foods as it will seriously damage your immune response.
Wash Your Hands. Washing your hands will decrease your likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. Remember that antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary and cause more harm than good. Instead, identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to.
Use Natural Antibiotics. Examples include oil of oregano and garlic. These work like broad-spectrum antibiotics against bacteria, viruses, and protozoa in your body. And unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics, they do not appear to lead to resistance.
Avoid Hospitals. I'd recommend avoiding hospitals unless you're having an emergency, as hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds and could be one of the likeliest places you could be exposed to any new bug. Also keep in mind that virtually all vaccinations have the potential to reduce the effective functioning of your immune system, NOT make it stronger!
Sources and References: Vancouver Sun September 10, 2012 MetroNews September 9, 2012 1 Vancouver Sun September 10, 2012 2 ABC News March 5, 2011 3 Journal of Virology 2011 Nov;85(22):11995-2000 4 See ref 1 5 MetroNews September 9, 2012 6 See ref 1 and 5 7 See ref 5 8 See ref 5 9 Infectioncontroltoday.com, National Council on Aging Urges Older Adults to Get Their Annual Flu Shot, August 2012 10 See ref 3
Nota Bene: * These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your physician before using this product.
* Estas declaraciones no han sido evaluadas por la Administración de Medicamentos y Alimentos. Este producto no tiene como objetivo diagnosticar, tratar, curar o prevenir ninguna enfermedad.
Confirmed! Flu Vaccine INCREASES Risk of Serious Pandemic Flu Illness.
According to the Vancouver Sun:1
"Researchers, led by Vancouver's Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an influenza expert at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, noticed in the early weeks of the [2009 H1N1] pandemic that people who got a flu shot for the 2008-09 winter seemed to be more likely to get infected with the pandemic virus than people who hadn't received a flu shot. Five studies done in several provinces showed the same unsettling results."
New Study Confirms: Flu Vaccine Really Does Increase Your Risk of Serious Pandemic Flu Illness
In March last year, ABC News reported:2
"There is renewed controversy surrounding influenza vaccines, with some studies showing people immunised against the seasonal flu might have been at greater risk during the swine flu outbreak...
'What was a bit surprising when we looked at some of the data from Canada and Hong Kong in the last year is that people who have been vaccinated in 2008 with the seasonal or ordinary vaccine seemed to have twice the risk of getting swine flu compared to the people who hadn't received that vaccine,' [Professor Collignon from the Australian National University] said.
ANU microbiologists say it is the opposite of what vaccines should do.
Professor Collignon says the findings of the study also highlight the benefits for healthy people who are exposed to some illnesses. 'Some interesting data has become available which suggests that if you get immunised with the seasonal vaccine, you get less broad protection than if you get a natural infection,' he said.
'It is particularly relevant for children because it is a condition they call original antigenic sin, which basically means if you get infected with a natural virus, that gives you not only protection against that virus but similar viruses or even in fact quite different flu viruses in the next year.'
'We may be perversely setting ourselves up that if something really new and nasty comes along, that people who have been vaccinated may in fact be more susceptible compared to getting this natural infection.'" [Emphasis mine]
Truer words are hard to find in mainstream media. This is, after all, the fundamental basics of immunity against disease. Vaccine-induced immunity to disease is trying to mimic this natural mechanism, but failing miserably in doing so...
Case in point: research published in the Journal of Virology3 in November of last year also confirmed that the seasonal flu vaccine may actually weaken children's immune systems and increase their chances of getting sick from influenza viruses not included in the vaccine. Further, when blood samples from 27 healthy, unvaccinated children and 14 children who had received an annual flu shot were compared, the former unvaccinated group naturally built up more antibodies across a wider variety of influenza strains compared to the latter vaccinated group – which is exactly what Professor Collignon referred to in the quote above.
While the initial reports of increased pandemic disease risk associated with flu vaccination were downplayed and widely dismissed as some odd Canadian phenomenon, a new study suggests this was no fluke. According to the featured article:4
"Skowronski and a group of researchers have recreated the event in ferrets. Their findings were presented... at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a major international infectious diseases conference taking place in San Francisco. Skowronski... worked with 32 ferrets, giving half the 2008 seasonal flu shot and the rest a placebo injection. The work was blinded, meaning the researchers didn't know which ferrets received which shot. Later, all the ferrets were infected with the pandemic H1N1 virus.
The ferrets in the vaccine group became significantly sicker than the other animals, though all recovered. 'The findings are consistent with the increased risk that we saw in the human studies,' Skowronski said." [Emphasis mine]
Proof Positive – Vaccine Industry Really Does Not Know What it's Doing...
According to the Canadian MetroNews5, researchers in other countries have also reported similar interactions between the 2008-09 flu vaccine and increased risk for more serious H1N1 illness. Remarkably, even though no one understands the reasons for this paradoxical effect, Dr. Skowronski "insisted the findings should not deter people from getting seasonal flu shots."6
"Two theories exist about what might have been behind the effect, said Skowronski, who favors the first. That theory relates to the fact that the 2008 vaccine protected against an H1N1 virus that was related to – but not similar enough to – the pandemic virus to generate antibodies that would neutralize it. The thinking is that might actually have facilitated infection with the pandemic virus," MetroNews reports.7
"Skowronski likened the mechanism to what happens with dengue viruses. People who have been infected with one subtype of dengue don't develop immunity to the other three. In fact, they are more at risk of developing a life-threatening form of dengue if they are infected with one of the other strains.
Skowronski called the second theory the infection block hypothesis. Having a bout of the flu gives the infected person antibodies that may be able, for a time, to fend off other strains; flu shots only protect against the strains they contain. So under this theory, people who didn't have flu in 2008 because they got a flu shot may have been less well armed against the pandemic virus."
It's important to realize that these are only theories, and researchers still don't know if either of them is correct. However, IF the first theory is correct, then this troubling effect is believed to be limited to pandemics in which the pandemic virus is related to a human flu virus in circulation. According to this theory, a virus with a hemagglutinin protein that humans haven't been previously exposed to would probably not trigger increased infection risk. However, as stated by Dr. Skowronski:8
"My own opinion, my own feeling would be that if you have a completely different hemagglutinin like H5 or H7... you may not see that... But who knows, frankly? The wise man knows he knows nothing when it comes to influenza, so you always have to be cautious in speculating."
That statement about sums up what the CDC and vaccine industry really know about what they are doing! Yet you're expected to just take their word, again and again, that vaccines are safe and the most effective form of disease prevention...
Flu Shots for All (Science Optional)
For the past several years, physicians in America have been insisting that every child age 6 months to 18 years must get an annual flu shot. Making matters worse, health officials have now ramped up those recommendations, telling EVERY person over the age of 6 months get a flu shot, healthy or not, low risk or high.
With all of those vaccinations, will you become more susceptible to influenza-related complications and death?
We really don't know, but if the interaction between the 2008-09 flu vaccine and H1N1 is any indication, the answer is likely to be yes. Health officials have leapt ahead with recommendations of "flu shots for all" without safety studies – so by getting a flu vaccine, you are effectively offering yourself up as a laboratory rat. In other words, YOU are the safety study!
To get a preview of the potential risks you take every time you accept a seasonal flu vaccine, listen to the following interview with a Connecticut artist and her mother, a former professor of nursing, who developed Guillaine-Barre syndrome after getting a seasonal flu shot in 2008 and today is permanently disabled with total body paralysis. This family has chosen to share their heartbreaking story to help those who have had the same experience feel less alone, and to educate others about what it means to be vaccine injured. What happened to this family is a tragic reminder of just how important it is to make well-informed decisions about vaccinations.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Nota Bene: * These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your physician before using this product.
* Estas declaraciones no han sido evaluadas por la Administración de Medicamentos y Alimentos. Este producto no tiene como objetivo diagnosticar, tratar, curar o prevenir ninguna enfermedad.
A Honey Bees dance is where they communicate where to find food, a new home, and things of this nature. Using this information, an experiment was done called the “Schafberg Experiment”, which was named after the mountain it was performed on. The only source of food for a colony was placed on the far side of the mountain. The bees could not fly over the mountain. However, when they communicated where the food was to be found, they communicated this angle exactly across the mountain, relative to themselves, even though it was an angle they had never flown to the food source, but rather would have had to figure out in their head.
Further evidence of this amazing ability and that they take into account the roundness of the earth is found in their typical food finding dances. When Honey Bees dance to communicate where a good food source is, they will dance on a comb surface. The dance consists of the bee turning in circles, on each revolution the bee will bisect the circle at an angle; the angle with respect to the 12 o’clock represents the angle to fly with respect to the sun. For instance, if the bee ran from 6 to 12 o’clock, this would mean fly straight forward towards the sun; 7 to 1 o’clock would mean fly just to the right of the sun; 12 to 6 o’clock, fly directly away from the sun.
But it gets even better; these little dances can take a really long time. So the angle of the sun is going to have changed in the meantime. The dances might even take all night to communicate. So while doing the dance, the bee actually calculates the change in angle based on where the sun is right now with respect to the hive. So if it’s at night when they are doing the dance, they calibrate the angles to associate with where the sun is right now on the other side of the world! Likewise, when the bees are following the instructions and flying towards the food, they calibrate what they learned based on where the sun is right now vs when the instructions were given. So basically, bee’s are tiny little math nerds with amazing time keeping abilities and ability to calculate distances without any discernible measuring device… NERDS!!!!
Now in addition to knowing angles, they also need to know how far they need to go in each direction. In order to accomplish this, they wiggle their abdomen’s while crossing the circle. The more wiggles, the greater the distance; and like with the angles, this is no vague notion of distance. The bees take and communicate relatively precise measurements on how far they need to go. Now if the distance to the food source is under about 80 meters, it has been found that the bees will not do the wiggle part of the dance, but will just give the direction to the best spot to go.
But this isn’t the only fascinating things honey bees do. Today I also found out a boatload of other crazy information about the absolutely amazing Honey Bee:
Honey Bees share out jobs based on their age. For instance, worker bees that are 1-2 days old spend their time cleaning cells, starting with the one they were born in, and keeping the brood warm; from 3-5 days old they feed older larvae; from 6-11 days old they feed the youngest larvae; from 12-17 days old they produce wax, build combs, carry food, and perform undertaker duties; from 18-21 days old they get guard duty, protecting the hive entrance; from 22 days on until their death at around 40-45 days, they get to fly from the hive collecting pollen, nectar, water, pollinating plants, and things like that.
Honey Bees do die when stinging humans, but not when stinging many other things. The reason being that the barbs in the stinger get caught in our flesh and rip off the stinger and some of the bee’s insides attached to the stinger, spelling certain doom for the bee. For stinging insects, for instance, this is not the case and they can continue to sting the insect multiple times without harm to themselves. Honey Bees can fly around 15-20 miles per hour. Honey Bees can’t see red, but they can see well in the ultra-violet; flowers then end up being like beacons for them as they reflect a ton of ultra-violet light.
Honey Bees are not native to the Americas. They were brought over by Europeans. Native Americans called Honey Bees “White Man’s Flies”.
A Honey Bee colony will fly a total of around 55,000 miles to make just one pound of honey. In addition to this, a hive can produce as much as 60 pounds of honey in a good season with about 25 pounds more than they need to survive the winter.
When a colony gets crowded, the bees will decide to make a new queen bee. The process to do this is as follows:
step 1: Bees construct up to 20 wax queen cells
step 2: The current Queen lays fertilized eggs in each queen cell.
step 3: The young nurse bees feed the young queen larvae with a special rich creamy food called Royal Jelly and extend the cell downwards until it is about 25mm in length.
step 4: Nine days after laying, the first queen cell is sealed with a layer of wax.
step 5: A large swarm, called the prime swarm, of bees leaves the hive led by the older bees. The old queen gets starved so she is thinner and able to fly. The older bees then convince the old queen to join the swarm and they go off scouting for a new place to create a colony. Amazingly, this swarm will take a lot of breaks along the way, sending out scouts to go search. Scouts report back and from this information, they chose the best spot to go next.
step 6: Eight days later the first virgin queen leaves her cell. Now, either she then takes an additional small swarm and leaves this hive to start a new one. Or she locates and kills her sister potential queens by stinging them through the wax wall of their cells.
step 7: The young queen flies around and orients herself to her new surroundings.
step 8: The queen will take several mating flights and will mate with up to 20 male bees called drones; the drones will die after mating.
step 9: Three days later the mated queen will begin to lay fertilized eggs at a rate of about 2000 per day. Fertilized eggs become female worker bees. Unfertilized eggs get fertilized by male drones and become new drones. At any given time there is 1 queen bee, up to 40,000 or so female worker bees and a few hundred male drones.
step 10: This queen will stay with the colony for at least a year until a large enough swarm is available to go start a new colony somewhere else. Though the worker bees only live 40 or so days and drone bees die in mating or are evicted from the hive in the autumn to conserve food as they do no actual work, the queen bee can live up to 5 years.
An average sized colony in the summer will contain over 35,000-40,000 bees and in the winter about 5000 bees.
Honey Bees are cold blooded. Unlike many cold blooded creatures, they do have the ability to generate heat by vibrating their bodies; a bee in flight for instance will typically have a body temperature of about 130 F. However, if caught in cold rain or the like, a bee can lose the ability to move. A honeybee hive is typically kept at around 98 F.
Honey Bees make honey by taking nectar from flowers and mixing it with enzymes from glands in their mouths. This is then stored in hexagonal wax honeycombs until the water content has been reduced to around 17%. Once this happens worker bees cap the combs with a wax seal until the bees need it for food, for instance in the winter time.
Capped honey can be kept without spoiling for many thousands of years; the current oldest known honey that is still good being found in the tombs of Pharaohs, put there over 3000 years ago and still tasty.
Honey Bees make wax by clustering a bunch of bees together, raising their body temperatures. Their wax producing glands under their abdomen then slowly secrets slivers of wax. Other worker bees then harvest these wax strands and take them where they are needed.
It takes eating about 6 pounds of honey for Honey Bees to produce about 1 pound of wax.
Royal Jelly, the food only fed to the queen and future queen larvae, is a creamy white color and is very rich in proteins and fatty acids. It is a substance produced by glands in the mouth of young bees. Because so little is needed (only enough for one bee), it is extremely expensive to buy, though supposedly has many health benefits associated with it.
Honey Bees do not hibernate. They stay very active year round, though in the winter primarily stick to staying inside their hive for warmth as they are cold blooded.
Honey Bees are generally considered the highest form of insect life with the most sophisticated colonies and complex behaviors, even among other bee types.
Changing queens will change the personality and behavior of bee colonies. Beekeepers use this fact to control certain bee-haviors among colonies like aggressiveness and enthusiasm for their work.
If the queen bee dies prematurely, the worker bees will immediately start doing what is necessary to create a new one from existing larvae. As long as there are larvae that are under 3 days old, they can be converted to being a queen bee. The bees know if the queen dies because they will stop smelling her pheromones.
Honey Bees pheromone communication is extremely sophisticated.
Contrary to popular belief, Honey Bees do in fact sleep, though there is always a ton of activity in the hive 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Research done in 1988 does show though that occasionally Honey Bees will take a rest and become relaxed, body temperature drops, and become somewhat unresponsive. Their sleep is nothing like human sleep, but it is considered a form of sleep.
It would only take about one ounce of honey to fuel a honey bee for a flight around the world! Now that’s efficiency.
Two million flowers must be tapped to make just one pound of honey (no wonder they need to be so efficient).
Smoke triggers bees to stop whatever they are doing and consume as much honey as they can as there may be a need to abandon the hive if there is a fire. This allows beekeepers to divert their attention so they don’t get swarmed while they do things to the hive.
Beekeeping has been going on for about 13,000 years, with the Egyptians particularly having developed very sophisticated means for keeping hives and harvesting honey.
A Honey Bee can fly as far as 5 miles from the hive to search for food.
Ounce for ounce, honey is one of the healthiest things you can eat and contains many beneficiary medicinal values. It’s also a decent antibacterial and works extremely well at helping get rid of pink eye and helping burns heal as well as soothing the pain of deep burns. It has also been shown to help allergies, if you eat honey made from the area you live in.
After working 16 hour days making honey for about 20 days of it’s life (1/2 it’s life), a worker bee will only be able to make about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in that lifespan.
Con le manifestazioni anti-austerity che si stanno diffondendo in tutta l'Europa meridionale, da Atene a Madrid passando per Lisbona, l'enclave nota per la sua neutralita' ha preso precauzioni estreme.
La Svizzera ha lanciato una serie di esercitazioni militari per rispondere all'instabilita' sociale e civile in Europa, provocata dalla crisi del debito della moneta unica.
L'operazione "Stabilo Due" e' stata annunciata in settembre e ha l'obiettivo di testare la rapidita' con cui l'esercito e' in grado di rispondere in caso di diramazione delle proteste e dei flussi migratori.
Lo stato non e' membro dell'Unione Europea e nemmeno del blocco a 17 dell'area euro.
Il quotidiano svizzero tedesco Der Sonntag ha scritto che le esercitazioni si sono svolte in settembre intorno alle zone di rischio individuate in una cartina dallo staff dell'esercito dove si teme che si possano tenere scontri tra 'fazioni rivali' e dove la Svizzera teme si rechino i rifugiati provenienti da Grecia, Italia, Spagna, Francia e Portogallo.
Il ministero della Difesa non esclude il dispiegamento di truppe militari nei prossimi anni per sedare eventuali proteste che potrebbero svolgersi nel piccolo ricco paese, circondato da stati indebitati in recessione.
"Non e' da escludere che le conseguenze della crisi finanziaria in Svizzera possano portare a protestare e scontri violenti anche qui", ha riferito all’emittente CNBC un portavoce del ministero della Difesa elvetico.
In una anticipazione in anteprima pubblicata in giugno Wall Street Italia sotto il titolo di "La Svizzera si prepara allo scenario peggiore", si avvertiva già dei preparativi presi dal paradiso fiscale in caso di disgregazione dell'Eurozona.
Sul piano economico Berna, che fa affari con gran parte dell'Europa, e' pronta a tutto pur di evitare che l'euro sprofondi sotto quota 1,20 franchi svizzeri.
Apiterapia este una dintre cele mai vechi terapii ale lumii si se poate aplica în cazul unui numar impresionant de boli, cu rezultate de-a dreptul uimitoare. „Medicamentele” naturale de baza folosite sunt: mierea, polenul, pastura, propolisul, laptisorul de matca, Apilarnilul si veninul de albine, beneficiile acestuia din urma fiindu-va prezentate într-un numar trecut al revistei noastre. Unul dintre cei mai renumiti apiterapeuti din România, dr. Stefan Stângaciu (medalion), va spune, în acest numar si în cel viitor, cum se obtin produsele apiterapeutice, cum se diferentiaza cele autentice de cele contrafacute, în ce afectiuni se folosesc, ce cantitati sunt ideale pentru consumul zilnic si ce trebuie sa stiti despre cocteilurile apicole.
Trei metode de control
- Cum putem distinge mierea naturala de cea artificiala, produsa din zahar, fructoza sau glucoza?
- Exista multiple metode care ne pot ajuta în a stabili daca o miere este sau nu 100% naturala. În primul rând, verificati aroma, gustul si savoarea mierii pe care vreti sa o cumparati. O miere de origine naturala va avea aproape întotdeauna un „buchet” de parfumuri care provin de la florile sau plantele pe care albinele le viziteaza. Mierea falsificata are doar gust dulce, fara a lasa parfum sau aroma. De asemenea, verificati densitatea. Mierea are o densitate de 1,4 ori mai mare decât apa. În consecinta, atunci când lasati mierea de pe o lingurita sa se scurga într-un pahar cu apa rece, mierea va cadea rapid catre fundul paharului si va ramâne acolo. Cea falsificata, având în compozitie zahar, glucoza sau fructoza, are o densitate mai mica si nu va cadea pe fundul paharului, ci se va împrastia repede în tot volumul apei, atunci când va fi amestecata usor cu o lingurita. Nu în ultimul rând, verificati miscarea de „elastic”. Mierea care este naturala si are cantitatea corecta de apa, în general sub 20%, va avea o miscare de tip elastic, pe verticala, coborând si urcând de câteva ori atunci când este turnata în pahar. Mierea „botezata” cu apa sau cu ceaiuri nu prezinta aceasta miscare specifica. Daca dupa cele trei teste de mai sus înca mai aveti dubii puteti trimite borcanul cu miere, pentru analiza, la un laborator de specialitate precum cel al Institutului de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Apicultura din Bucuresti sau cel al Universitatii de Stiinte Agricole si Medicina Veterinara din Cluj-Napoca. Colegii de la aceste laboratoare vor verifica multipli parametri, pentru a da verdictul final. Daca este miere falsificata adresati-va celui mai apropiat Oficiu de Protectie a Consumatorului pentru a se lua toate masurile legale corespunzatoare contra falsificatorilor si cereti despagubiri.
„Nu lasa glicemia sa creasca rapid în sânge”
- Mierea se poate recomanda oricarei afectiuni?
- Aproape oricarei afectiuni, exceptie facând diabetul în forma avansata sau cel instabil, de tipul I sau II. Dar, daca se administreaza o doza mica de miere si se scoate din alimentatie o cantitate echivalenta de carbohidrati, atunci nu este nicio problema pentru diabetici. De exemplu, se scoate o felie de pâine din alimentatie si se înlocuieste cu o jumatate de lingurita cu miere. Acest lucru se face numai sub control medical. Mai exista o situatie de contraindicatie, atunci când exista intoleranta sau alergie digestiva la miere. Sunt foarte rare cazurile de pacienti, unul la zece mii, care au dureri gastrice ori crampe sau diaree din pricina acestui produs. În aceste cazuri se face o pauza de o saptamâna, apoi se reîncepe administrarea, dar în doze foarte mici si foarte diluate, apoi se creste concentratia gradat.
- Când se recomanda mierea ca aliment vitaminizant?
- Trebuie sa facem o remarca aici. Nu este tocmai bine sa promovam mierea ca fiind foarte bogata în vitamine, chiar daca ea contine o gama variata, deoarece acestea se afla totusi în cantitati foarte mici. Vitaminele provin din polen, iar acesta este doar în proportie de circa 1% în miere. Putem spune însa ca este bogata în minerale diverse, are multe enzime si, mai ales, carbohidrati liberi, precum glucoza si fructoza, care se absorb în organism foarte usor, aproape fara efort energetic. Daca avem nevoie rapid de energie sau daca avem un pacient grav bolnav, mierea aduce rapid aportul energetic necesar si este foarte sanatoasa pentru întregul corp, deoarece nu se mai pierde energia prin digestie, asa cum se întâmpla în cazul dulciurilor pe baza de zahar. Mai este ceva foarte util la miere: are substante flavonoide sau polifenoli, care sunt pigmenti vegetali si nu lasa sa creasca glicemia în sânge rapid, asa cum se întâmpla în cazul zaharului, si nu deranjeaza pancreasul. Acest lucru înseamna ca absorbtia mierii din tubul digestiv este mai lenta.
„Polenul uscat îsi pierde din valorile nutritionale”
- Cum se obtine polenul?
- Exista tehnici speciale apicole care folosesc un fel de filtru, numit placa activa. Sa ne imaginam un dreptunghi din plastic, subtire de câtiva milimetri, care are multe orificii cât sa permita intrarea albinei în stup. Aceasta vine încarcata cu grauncioare de polen, care o fac sa aiba „gabarit depasit” pentru acele orificii. Albina trece prin ele, dar polenul de pe piciorusele ei cade printr-o sita într-o cutiuta speciala. Acesta se aduna zilnic, ideal de mai multe ori pe zi, si se usuca sau se congeleaza imediat înainte de a fi folosit ca produs final. Eu recomand consumul celui proaspat, care a fost congelat, deoarece sortimentul uscat îsi pierde o parte din valorile nutritionale. Scotându-se apa, o data cu aceasta se evapora si din uleiurile volatile, care au efecte antibacteriene, antivirale si nu numai.
- În ce afectiuni se foloseste polenul?
- Lista este foarte lunga. Cele mai importante afectiuni, din punctul meu de vedere, sunt cele legate de ficat, cele ale aparatului cardiovascular, ale sistemului nervos, dar sunt si alte indicatii traditionale, precum cele ale prostatei, preventiv si curativ si pentru refacerea sportivilor ori a studentilor. Sa nu uitam ca polenul are foarte multe vitamine si aminoacizi liberi esentiali!
- Se poate recomanda un tonic zilnic din polen?
- Toate produsele apicole sunt foarte bune din punct de vedere preventiv, ele având numerosi nutrienti de mare valoare, care se absorb usor, si multe substante protectoare, un fel de medicamente ale naturii care ne protejeaza de oxidare si de virusuri. Este bine ca aceste produse sa fie consumate zilnic, în cantitati adaptate de la caz la caz, pentru a preveni afectiunile si pentru ca, asa cum se stie de mii de ani, medicul cel mai bun este cel care previne, nu cel care trateaza. Sortimentele apicole se pot consuma atât individual, cât si în amestec, dar la început este foarte important sa se efectueze un test de toleranta. Se ia o cantitate mica din fiecare produs, apoi se creste gradat, iar daca lucrurile sunt în regula, se poate ajunge la o doza medie pe termen lung. În numarul urmator va vom prezenta beneficiile aduse de pastura, de propolis si de laptisorul de matca, dar si ce trebuie sa stiti despre cocteilurile apicole.
Evitati sa puneti miere în lichide fierbinti
- De ce nu se recomanda topirea mierii în lichid fierbinte?
- Acesta este un lucru foarte rau. Mierea are enzime si vitamine, ambele grupe de substante fiind proteine destructibile la caldura, care se coaguleaza si se deterioreaza, iar orice supunere la temperaturi ridicate este un lucru negativ. Asadar, înainte de a adauga mierea, trebuie asteptat pâna când ceaiul sau cafeaua se racesc pâna la 39°-40°C, când nu mai apare senzatia de opareala la atingerea buzelor.
Cantitati zilnice recomandate
- Spuneti-ne, orientativ, ce gramaj ar fi indicat zilnic pentru fiecare produs apicol.
- Miere: 30-40 g, adica patru-sase lingurite, polen: trei-cinci lingurite, pastura: una-trei lingurite si laptisor de matca: 1-2 g. În cazul propolisului se iau 2-3 g de propolis brut sau o picatura/kg/corp împartita în mai multe portii. De exemplu, daca aveti 60 kg, luati 60 de picaturi de tinctura, împartita în patru portii pe zi, dupa mese.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the European Union for its role in securing peace to the continent. The Nobel committee says the accolade is meant to be an encouragement to the union in difficult times. Norway - the home of the prize - is itself divided over EU membership and has twice refused it in a nationwide referendums. For more on this decision RT talks to host of the Keiser Report - Max Keiser.
RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 500 million YouTube views benchmark.
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