Archive for May, 2012

Poverty is tearing the middle class apart in the hell of the “New Poor”

By. Clemente Ferrer

The horror that saddens us the most is the one closest to us. Alejandro Toledo, commercial director, sensed anxiety while walking through the city center.

“It was on a pedestrian street. I stumbled upon someone I knew that was walking out from a Caritas cafeteria. Many things roamed through my mind. I thought of my little girl who, like all of us, could be in danger of becoming part of the ‘new poor’.”

Alejandro Toledo, music director of Alejandro Sanz and Marta Sanchez, as well as of advertisements for various brands, decided that something had to be done. He set out to do what he does best: a music video that calls the attention upon a painful drama, that one of many middle class people that lurk close to poverty – explains coordinator of Caritas Javier Hernando.

The music producer discussed the upcoming blurry horizon with the one who lives with the burden of need. Hernando explained to him his labor with the needy. He said that between 2005 and 2007, Caritas Madrid had attended over 182,000 people of all ages and conditions, while between 2008 and 2010, about 322,000 people were attended. He also said that 2011 and 2012 will be detrimental years.

Alejandro Toledo made the video spot at no charge. The protagonist was his own daughter. Why? He thinks that any of us can fall into extreme poverty. That “any” included his daughter, who recorded the spot when she was four years old. This affected him deeply as a parent. It was so personal for him, that he could not shoot the spot with another little girl. He needed to shoot it with his four year old daughter.

About 3,000 “new poor” arrived to Caritas Spain in 2010 – most of them families who went from lassitude to homelessness in the wake of endless unemployment caused by the economic crisis. Most of the cases seen were families, about 74%.

The Co-federal Network of Reception and Primary Care was also flooded by families. All of its dependents were unemployed.

They come to Caritas looking for economic help to meet their basic necessities of housing, food, access to employment and even of buying textbooks. Many young people have also gone back home: they have lost their jobs and their economic potential to afford a mortgage, or young couples who leave their kids to the care of their grandparents, since they have no money to pay for childcare.

The Co-federal Network takes care of the poverty situations of families that face social instability. In 2010, 7.7 million Euros were allocated to combat poverty. It was also established that the investment ratio of the GDP was to be raised in order to reach the European Union average, thus increasing 0.6 percentage points each year from 2010 until 2020.

At the National headquarters of Caritas, the Secretary General of the Spanish Episcopal Conference has given a 5 million Euros donation as a gesture from the Church of Spain. (Translated by Gianna A. Sanchez Moretti)

Author and journalist Clemente Ferrer has led a distinguished career in Spain in the fields of publicity and press relations. He is currently President of the European Institute of Marketing.

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A "Smart Defense" for NATO is an "Invincible Defense"

By Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Gunter Chassé and Dr. David R. Leffler

The 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago on May 20–21 is one of the most important diplomatic meetings of the year, with leaders from around the world in attendance. According to the official NATO website, the Summit will “principally focus on three main themes“:

• the commitment to Afghanistan through transition and beyond;
• ensuring the capabilities needed to defend the NATO community population and territory and to deal with the challenges of the 21st century; and
• strengthening the alliance’s partnerships across the globe.

A major stumbling block to achieving these goals is the extensive financial cuts facing most militaries today. In order to mitigate the effects of austerity, NATO leaders are proposing “smart defense” programs that maximize resources by encouraging NATO members to share key capabilities. Such sharing includes coordination of strategies to combat improvised explosive devices (IEDs); to counter and defend against chemical, biological and nuclear weapons; and to enhance methods of medical support.

However, it is hard to imagine that the Summit participants – or other conventional military thinkers – will be able to develop lasting solutions capable of fully protecting their nations from all the many diverse threats endangering them today. As demonstrated by recent terrorist attacks in Europe, conventional approaches cannot provide an effective defense against suicide terrorists willing to die for their cause.

Veteran U.N. Nepalese peacekeeper Lt. Col. Jitendra Jung Karki, a member of The Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies at National Defense University in Washington, D.C., addressed this issue in the Nepalese military periodical Shreenath Journal:

“Terrorism cannot be eliminated by destroying the terrorists. Any step in the direction of destruction only helps to create more terrorists. More terrorists only result in more waves of destruction. There is no wisdom in initiating a continuous theme of destruction in the name of protection. Prudence dictates eliminating the underlying cause of terrorism, war and all types of violence – collective social stress.”

NATO leaders today have the option to consider and adopt a new, surprising, and scientifically verified method to reduce such stress. It is called Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) and has absolutely nothing to do with bullets, bombs, or killing. In fact, it has the potential to diminish the role of these approaches in the provision of national and international security.

Extensive research published in the scientific literature has repeatedly demonstrated the effectiveness of IDT in reducing conflict, open warfare, and terrorism. IDT applies specific “technologies of consciousness” – the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi programs, non-religious meditation techniques practiced worldwide by members of many countries and faiths – to produce societal coherence and eliminate conflict.

In a military context, when large groups of military personnel learn and apply these technologies of consciousness, high levels of collective national stress can be immediately and significantly reduced.

In the summer of 2008, coauthor Dr. David Leffler was invited to present a provocative paper about IDT at the “International Sociological Association Research Committee 01 Seoul National University & Korea Military Academy International Conference on Armed Forces & Conflict Resolution in a Globalized World” and at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA).

The paper was entitled “A New Role for the Military: Preventing Enemies from Arising – Reviving an Ancient Approach to Peace.” Following the presentation, the paper received worldwide press attention, including publication in the Pakistani peer-reviewed The Journal of Management & Social Science.

Perhaps the IDT paper caught the attention of the world press because IDT is totally unlike any other defense technology. The goal of this unique, scientifically field-tested, brain-based technology is to prevent crime, terrorism, and war. Extensive research shows that when IDT is correctly applied, the disturbingly high levels of collective societal stress thought to be responsible for such social problems are greatly reduced.

When people – particularly national leaders, who ultimately reflect the collective will of the people they represent – become less stressed, they think more clearly and are better able to resolve their differences amicably.

In an environment of less stress, even staunch adversaries may find ways to overcome differences.

This transformation occurs when a military creates a large group of warriors (called a “Prevention Wing of the Military”) trained in IDT. “Invincible” means “incapable of being defeated.” Once these Prevention Wings have become fully operational, the collective practice of IDT by these groups neutralizes the societal stress that gives rise to conflict and enemies. Consequently, as the theory behind this concept envisions, no enemy can then be born – and with no enemy left to fight, the military becomes invincible.

Readers new to the IDT concept can read more about it in an article on Ecuador’s Military Prevention Wing: “Combating Stress in Police Work and Preventing Crime, Terrorism, and War.” Perhaps due to Ecuador’s precedent, nine Latin American countries are due to achieve a statistical level of invincibility in the next months due to their IDT deployments in military and educational settings.

NATO leaders have the possibility to make history by joining pioneering Latin American leaders who are guiding their nations on a path to invincibility by establishing IDT prevention groups.

We respectfully invite them to listen to an online video by Dr. John Hagelin, Ph.D., a renowned Harvard-trained quantum physicist and executive director of the Global Union of Scientists for Peace (GUSP, http://www.gusp.org). GUSP is a coalition of Nobel laureates and leading scientists founded to avert the growing threat of nuclear proliferation and nuclear war and to promote safe, innovative, scientifically-validated technologies for national security and global peace.

Dr. Hagelin and Captain (Ret.) Ray Seebald, a former U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port of Chicago and a military aide to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, recently spoke about IDT during the second Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul. The main points of Dr. Hagelin’s presentation are available online on a previously recorded video: http://www.istpp.org/military_science/Hagelin_military_lecture.html. GUSP is a coalition of Nobel laureates and leading scientists founded to avert the growing threat of nuclear proliferation and nuclear war and to promote safe, innovative, scientifically-proven technologies for national security and global peace.

In the video, Dr. Hagelin showcases the results of more than 50 published studies verifying the effectiveness of IDT for international security and peace – an approach that neutralizes the acute ethnic, political, and religious tensions that fuel violence, terrorism, and social conflict.

“In recent years, a powerful, innovative approach to peace has been extensively field-tested – in the Middle East and throughout the world,” Dr. Hagelin says. “The consistent result has been dramatic reductions in terrorism, war, and social violence. These findings have been replicated, published in leading academic journals, and endorsed by hundreds of independent scientists and scholars. The efficacy of this approach is beyond question.”

Dr. Hagelin asserts that the extensive IDT research indicates that IDT operates at the Planck scale, specifically at a level a thousand million million times more powerful than the nuclear force. From this level it can easily overpower conventional technologies of offense – yet it is inherently safe, being based in a completely holistic level of natural law. This most unconventional yet surprisingly powerful technology is readily available for NATO or any other world leaders to implement – and at a modest cost that would fit even the most challenged military budgets.

IDT is enormously effective and cost-effective, and the results are immediate. All that is necessary is to provide the proper training for a group of military personnel – or indeed any large group within the country. The benefits extend far beyond the military and national security, and even to economic prosperity for the whole country. The only requirement is to keep the group intact.

For more information about IDT: Dr. Leffler and his coauthors Dr. Hussain Khan, Dr. David Orme-Johnson, and Major General (Ret.) Kulwant Singh previously presented an innovative plan for military deployment of IDT in their pioneering article “Create an International Military Yogic-Flying Zone in Kashmir,” recently published in Pakistan Defence.

About the Authors:

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Gunter Chassé – decorated with the Honorary Cross of the Bundeswehr in Gold – served in the German Air Force mainly in the Integrated NATO-Air Defense and alternately in command and staff positions, and also was employed in Home Defense with territorial tasks. He is the author of the pioneering IDT alternative white paper On the New Security and Defence Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Future of the Bundeswehr: Indomitable Strength through a PREVENTION WING of the Military.

Dr. David Leffler received his Ph.D. in Consciousness-Based Military Defense from The Union Institute & University in Cincinnati. He served as an Associate of the Proteus Management Group at the Center for Strategic Leadership, US Army War College. He has published articles in over 400 locations worldwide about IDT and now serves as the Executive Director at the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS). Dr. Leffler teaches IDT and is available at: http://www.StrongMilitary.org.

Stem Cell, Yes; Embryonic Cells, No

By Clemente Ferrer

The Court of Justice of the European Parliament adopted a dictum by which embryonic cells must be legally regarded as human embryos, since they are capable of developing into a human being. Human life begins from the first moment of conception.

The human embryo has a life of its own. Benigno Blanco, President of the Family Forum, beliefs that it is basic common sense not to allow humans and their genetic identity to become a source of business.

Moreover, Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka managed to create embryonic-like adult cells, however, without manipulating and destroying the embryos. Stem cells, called iPS, can easily transform themselves into human tissue, and without ethical problems.

“When I saw an embryo under a microscope, I thought it was not so far from being like my daughters, so I decided I had to find another way to obtain pluripotent cells,” he explained.

He is also looking forward to new research studies. The most important research of his life is the one he has been working on. It deals with the treatment of Spinal Cord Injured patients, in collaboration with other investigators of Keio University in Tokyo (Japan).

The Episcopal Subcommittee for the Family and Defense of Life of the Episcopal Conference, belief that no Catholic could support practices such as abortion, euthanasia or the production, freezing and/or manipulation of human embryos.

The Vatican promotes the use of adult stem cells. Their logic is based on the moral principle of the full dignity of all human life from conception until natural death, as affirmed by John Paul II.

Moreover, Benedict XVI advocates that human embryonic stem cells cannot be drawn at the expense of causing their death. In these cases, research that borderlines its therapeutic use is not truly at the service of humanity, since it implies the suppression of human lives; lives that have equal dignity just as other people do.

With this statement, the pope reaffirms the moral principle of absolute equality and dignity between a human embryo, a fetus, an infant, an adult, and a terminally ill elder.

Moreover, the Dictionary of Bioethics, says that the use of embryonic stem cellsfor therapeutic purposesis gravely illicit.(Translated by Gianna A. Sanchez-Moretti)

Author and journalist Clemente Ferrer has led a distinguished career in Spain in the fields of publicity and press relations. He is currently President of the European Institute of Marketing.

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A Tribute to Sherman Brown

By D. Garkpe Gedepoh

As a child, I was privileged to have met Sherman Brown, the radio and television legend when I frequented the Ministry of Information where my mother worked at the time. Like Jonathan Reffell, G. Henry Andrews, Joseph Gbayou and Jesse Karnley, Sherman Brown became a household word in radio land Liberia.

I grew up listening to those distinguish voices on ELBC Radio Station at the Ministry of Information in Monrovia. One of them was the voice of Sherman Brown, a man of many talents.

In 1979, ELTV was operating in their new building in Paynesville. I had learned how to play the guitar, was singing oldies but goodies, and wanted to appear on the “Weekend Special,” a show almost everyone watched those days for entertainment.

I went to ELTV to talk to Mr. Brown but someone directed me to his production office, which was located on Benson Street in central Monrovia. His show was already planned for that week but he allowed me to audition, and was so pleased with my performance that he scheduled me to perform the following week on his TV show.

I sang two songs on his show, “My lovely Elizabeth” and “Advice to School Girls” by Sooluman E. Rogie. It was my introduction to show business, which later harnessed my desire to become a broadcaster.

After the recording of the show at ELTV studios, Mr. Brown paid me US$50.00, which was a lot of money for a kid from Logan Town. My childhood friend Emmanuel Abalo, who had learned to play the organ came to my house and suggested that we form a musical group. We formed the group and named it “The Degrees.”

Two of Emmanuel’s friends who attended Tubman High, Sam Harris and Sam Jackson, joined the group. And in no time I was back on Weekend Special with “The Degrees” singing ‘Ribbons of Blue’ and ‘By the rivers of Babylon’, and we became the talk of the community.

Sherman Brown, who passed away on April 11, 2012 was creative, and was always looking for untapped talents for television, even though other well-known talents frequented his show. Another thing I liked and enjoyed about him was the variety of slots he had on his show.

There was a slot called ‘Question Box.’ During this period, he would quiz contestants on different subjects, and also would ask the contestants to pick up a folded paper with written questions from a box while looking in the opposite direction. He would read the questions and gave the contestants 10 seconds to come up with the correct answers. With 10 seconds per question, the contestants have to answer two or all three questions correctly in order to win a price.

Sherman Brown had a way of making folks laugh. We used to sit at home and be entertained by Sherman Brown, who knew how to advertise and describe the products on his show.

He was also a musician who played the guitar very well. I remember the time he appeared on his show with his guitar, his wife, and folks from his Brewersville neighborhood. He sang a song called “The Bulldog in the pan, and the frog is in the pool.” It was a funny song, and at times he would laugh at himself for singing such song.

From ‘Pay-Me Weah,’ to Jacob Dweh, Tecumseh Roberts, and the rest of Liberia’s talents and hidden talents, Sherman gave us the opportunity to explore our hidden talents, and promoted Liberian music and culture well.

When ELTV and ELBC failed to acknowledge its potential, Sherman Brown did not sit still and grumbled, but moved on to establish Sabi Production, which became the most popular entertainment and advertising Production Company in Liberia. And when Mama Liberia failed to acknowledge her hidden potentials, it was Sherman Brown who brought the hidden talents to light.

And like Bai T. Moore, Sherman was always in search of the bright minds, musicians, and cultural artists in Liberia.

I remember the revolving advertising billboard that Sherman creatively designed and erected at the junction of the two bridges in Via Town. It was very mystifying, and brought some cosmetic beauty to Via Town on Bushrod Island.

Sherman will be remembered as a creative genius and the first Liberian to build a revolving advertising billboard in Liberia. He will also be remembered not only for his musical skills, but also as a Liberian who helped musicians gain recognition in Mama Liberia. His contributions to Mama Liberia will forever be remembered.

I hereby stand at attention and salute Mr. Sherman Brown for his magnificent contributions to Mama Liberia.

Well done Sherman, well done…

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Prostheses that Cause Breast Cancer

By. Clemente Ferrer

Breast surgery is the second most executed esthetic intervention around the world. A lot of women are asking themselves if their prosthetics is the Prosthesis Poly Implant (PIP), which has been withdrawn from the market (www.pipfrance.fr).

Galician authorities found that a company was producing a type of silicone prosthesis that was not approved. According to the analysis that was conducted, the prosthesis contained a gel of lower quality, a greater irritation power, and a 5% rate of breakage (normal rate ranges from 0.5% to 1%).

According to the conducted research, the silicone used contained a fuel additive, ship material (Basylone) and two others used for the manufacturing of rubber (Silopren and Rhodorsil).

Jaume Serra, plastic surgeon at the Hospital Virgen del Consuelo, says that when an implant is torn, the silicone gel gets closer to the nearest tissues. He explains that some patients can remain unaffected while others can be seriously damaged. For example, the liquid can form a sort of capsule around the implant, or lymph nodes can appear around the area, both bringing swelling and pain to the patient (www.daily-news.eu/es).

According to Dr. Serra and Eva Giménez, a spokesman for Affected by PIP prosthesis, this risk can be prevented by eliminating all prostheses as a protective measure by following the guidelines set out by the Galician Government.

However, the Ministry of Health suggests contacting the surgeon responsible for organizing a scheduled periodic check-up, and only if the tear of the prosthesis is found, the surgeon shall then proceed with its removal.

Andrew Kabsley, British Minister of Health, indicates that there is no evidence of a link between cancer and toxicity, therefore there is no reason for the routinely removal of these implants (www.ayudaafectadasporprotesispip.com).

It is worth recalling the news that, even though seemingly trivial, stirred more reactions than an advertising campaign on the early detection of breast cancer.

In the U.S., the discovery of two separate breast cancers in the wives of President Ford and Vice President Rockefeller led to an increase of this disease, since women, alarmed by it, rushed to get mammograms, which led to the detection of cancers that would otherwise not have been discovered (www.aceprensa.com). Translated by Gianna A. Sanchez-Moretti.

Author and journalist Clemente Ferrer has led a distinguished career in Spain in the fields of publicity and press relations. He is currently President of the European Institute of Marketing.

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