Roundup formula is far more toxic than glyphosate in isolation

I have observed in Europe, where Roundup use is prohibited, that Americans who claim intolerance to gluten are able to eat the bread without any side effects. I wonder if this is actually poisoning of Americans by the farmers using Round Up as opposed to Gluten intolerance? On a personal trip to Italy the mayor of a city in Piedmonte told me that cancer rates were through the roof 20 years ago and they assumed a direct link with Roundup. They banned the use and went back to traditional methods of weed control such as ploughing the weeds back into the soil. Not surprisingly there is a study being promoted in Italy to study the cancerous effect of round up..... Aivars.

Story at-a-glance 

• Government researchers warn the Roundup formula is far more toxic than glyphosate in isolation, due to synergistic interactions between various chemicals
• Testing by the U.S. National Toxicology Program reveals glyphosate formulations such as Roundup “significantly altered” the viability of human cells by disrupting the functionality of cell membranes
• The Ramazzini Institute in Italy is raising public funds to perform a comprehensive, independent, global glyphosate study. Stage 1 will investigate the chemical’s carcinogenicity and chronic toxicity potential

By Dr. Mercola

In recent years, concerns over the health effects of glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup and other weed killer formulations — has risen exponentially. Researchers have discovered it not only may be carcinogenic,1 but may also affect your body’s ability to produce fully functioning proteins, inhibit the shikimate pathway (found in gut bacteria) and interfere with the function of cytochrome P450 enzymes(required for activation of vitamin D and the creation of nitric oxide and cholesterol sulfate).

Aboriginal settlement in Australia was planned migration: study

Hang on what did they say? In this article it talks about how the sea level was 210 feet lower 60,000 years ago allowing aborigines to migrate to Australia easily! How many cars were there then? Why did the sea level rise?   Aivars

Aboriginal settlement in Australia was no accident but the result of large-scale migration by skilled maritime explorers, research shows.

Experts have made the finding using wind and ocean current modelling, similar to that deployed in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The process was designed to simulate likely routes between the islands of Timor and Roti and more than 100 now-submerged islands off the Kimberley coast.

"There's always been a lot of speculation about how Aboriginal people made it to Australia and a lot of people have argued that people might have made it here by accident," study co-author and James Cook University archaeology Professor Sean Ulm said.

"What this study has shown ... is that it's so absolutely improbable that you can explain any of those lines of evidence with accidental voyaging.

"It has to be purposeful, it has to be co-ordinated and it has to be fairly large-scale to explain the patterns we see."

The study – published in the Quaternary Science Reviews – estimated migration to the bridge of islands off north-west Australia occurred between about 50,000 and 65,000 years ago.

Prof Ulm said the sea was 75 metres lower and the islands visible from the parts of Timor and Roti.

The hundreds of routes modelled would have taken between four and seven days and spanned up to 150 kilometres.

"If you had the technology to make it there, it was really easy to make it to Australia," the professor said.

"We're talking 60,000 years ago here. So that is an incredible time stamp to how complex the first Australians were from the moment they first saw Australia."

The study – a collaboration between experts from the CSIRO and various universities – also used genetic information to show hundreds of people, not just a few, likely made the voyage.

"This is very significant because it was very early in modern human dispersals across the globe," Professor Ulm said.

"We're talking multiple boats, not just one boat blowing off course ... reflecting the population in the mainland South-East Asian area."

By the Sydney Morning Herald

Steve Eisman of ‘The Big Short’ Bashes Cryptocurrency: ‘I Don’t See the Purpose of It’

He bet against it, I wrote about it - the collapse of CDO’s. We are both in agreement about crypto currencies. The underlying blockchain and the use of tokens for electronic contracts is where the merit lies. Eliminating rafts of unnecessary brokers, processes and providing transparency and visibility in originating transactions is where value will be created....... Aivars

HONG KONG—Steve Eisman, the money manager who earned celebrity status for correctly betting against subprime mortgages a decade ago, isn’t such a fan of the investing craze around cryptocurrencies.

Digital currencies like bitcoin have increased in popularity for only two reasons: speculation and money laundering, he said on stage at the CFA Institute’s annual conference here on Monday. Mr. Eisman, a managing director at Neuberger Berman, also questioned the reasoning behind why such currencies even exist. 

“I don’t see the purpose of it,” he said on stage in front of roughly 1,500 attendees. “What value does cryptocurrency actually add? No one’s been able to answer that question for me.” 

Mr. Eisman rose to fame when his prescient predictions about the 2008 financial crisis made him millions of dollars and earned him a lead role in author Michael Lewis’ bestseller about the crash, called “The Big Short.” The character based on Mr. Eisman was later played by actor Steve Carell in a 2015 movie based on the book.

Mr. Eisman now joins a growing chorus of prominent market participants, including Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway and Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase , who have been openly critical of digital currencies. Mr. Buffett said earlier this month that bitcoin is “probably rat poison squared’ and predicted that cryptocurrencies “almost certainly...will come to a bad ending.”

In a panel discussion and subsequent interview that ranged from current economic conditions to the moment he knew the U.S. housing market would collapse—May 8, 2006, when Wachovia Corp. made a $26 billion bet on the mortgage market—Mr. Eisman said he has never bought or sold any cryptocurrencies. 

“I don’t touch it,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m looking at...I have no interest”

He emphasized that he isn’t an expert on the subject and never invests in traditional currency markets, let alone cryptocurrencies. He also wondered why governments haven’t put proper investor controls in place to protect cryptocurrency investors. 

“I don’t understand why regulators haven’t regulated it more heavily,” he said.

Bitcoin recently traded at around $8,400, according to Coindesk. Its price was at around $1,000 at the beginning of last year and surged to nearly $20,000 in December before falling back. 

Mr. Eisman added that he doesn’t see a U.S. recession imminent. He stressed that there don’t appear to be risks in the global economy rivaling what took place prior to the 2008 crisis. 

“I see risks but I don’t see systemic risks,” he said. 

One of his chief concerns lands far, indeed, from the crypto market: Canadian property.

“There’s a housing bubble in Canada which is starting to break,” he said, adding that he’s shorting, or betting against, seven publicly-traded Canadian financial stocks. 

Mr. Eisman, who said he has 8,000 comic books on his iPad, also stressed that he had almost no involvement in the making of “The Big Short” movie— though he did meet for breakfast once with Mr. Carell,and saw him twice on set. 

“People who have known me a long time have all said the same thing,” he added. “He got me right.”

By  Steven Russolillo - Wall Street Journal

Sustainable, Affordable, Healthy Food: Not An Oxymoron for Long?

About time that people are focusing on quality of food vs the farmer like Gargiulo who creates tasteless products. He focuses on benefiting his own bottom line having created tasteless non nutritious products that look fantastic and do not bruise, consequently educating whole generations of bland palettes..... Aivars

Science is already bringing us more sustainable, flavorful cuisine in the form of engineered seeds, plant-based proteins and electronically traceable seafood. But producers, chefs and restaurateurs are still struggling with how to bring these novel—and often pricey—foods to Americans who live outside coastal cities.

Instead of the industry working to convince the average consumer to forgo meat, food experts at the Future of Everything Festival offered another solution: make affordable, healthy, delicious and convenient alternatives.

“Animals as a food production system are the most destructive food technology on earth,” said Patrick Brown, founder and CEO of Impossible Foods, maker of a plant-protein burger designed to taste (and bleed) like beef. “The only way to solve the problem is by beating that technology in the marketplace.”

To that end, the Impossible Burger will soon be available at the Cheesecake Factory , which has 214 locations across the U.S. and Canada, according to its website, as well as at about 400 White Castle locations nationwide, up from 140 last month, Mr. Brown said.

To that end, the Impossible Burger will soon be available at all 199 U.S. locations of the Cheesecake Factory, Mr. Brown said. The burger is also served at 140 White Castle locations nationwide, and the company hopes to eventually expand into all 400 White Castles.

Others are tackling the issue at seed level. At Row7 Seed Company, chef Dan Barber and breeder Michael Mazourek are deploying plant genealogy, computer modeling and field sensors to create flavor-packed vegetables served beyond the white-cloth-covered tables of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Mr. Barber’s restaurant in Pocantico Hills, N.Y.

Even as more eaters demand quality food, “stores will charge a bit more for whole wheat pasta [because] whoever’s buying it will pay a premium,” said Sam Kass, former White House chef and founder of Trove, an advisory firm.

For restaurateur Kimbal Musk, the goal is to serve “real food” at a price point competitive with Chili’s or Applebee’s. He is working with local farmers and using automation to keep costs down, he said. A tech-enabled oven, for example, can sear and braise pork, enabling cooks with much less training to make the dish.

By Wall Street Journal Tech