Sugary...

Regular consumption of soft drinks both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened was associated with a greater risk of all causes of death, according to research published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine.

It found that consumption of two or more glasses of artificially sweetened soft drinks a day was positively associated with deaths from circulatory diseases. 

For sugar-sweetened soft drinks, one or more glasses a day were associated with deaths from digestive diseases, including diseases of the liver, appendix, pancreas and intestines.

The research indicates that the association between soft drinks and mortality is not strongly influenced by smoking habits and BMI.

4 P ..

Millions of patients could soon get high doses of statins without a GP’s prescription at high-street chemists, the head of the NHS announced yesterday.
Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, has proposed that patients no longer be required to visit a GP to get the cholesterol-lowering drugs. Under the plan, pharmacists could prescribe them after running a series of heart health checks. Up to six million people take statins, which cost 4p a day and can help to prevent heart disease.
However, it is estimated that millions of people most at risk of heart attacks and strokes do not taking it due to the cost associated with seeing a doctor, and pay for the medication.
Can we do the same in USA? Just a thought.

Gates ...

President Tayyip Erdogan said he was determined to create a “safe zone” in northeast Syria in partnership with the United States.

“We will be forced to open the gates,” Erdogan said. “We cannot be forced to handle the burden alone.”

Erdogan said Turkey aims to resettle about 1 million out of the 3.65 million Syrian refugees in the safe zone. He added that his nation “did not receive the support needed from the world” to help it cope with Syrian refugees.

The war in Syria is an ongoing armed conflict between President Bashar al-Assad's government and multiple opposing factions supported by foreign powers.

More than half of the Syrian population ( 6.6 millions) have fled the country as a result of the conflict, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported.

What a web we weave...

Values...

US national security adviser John Bolton says a new satellite image shows a previously seized Iranian oil tanker is currently placed two nautical miles from a naval base in Syria. 

Western values has many aspects, many faces. There is a decline in faith in liberal democracy, a loss of confidence in universal human rights, a collapse in support for all kinds of transnational projects. There is a constitutional crisis brewing in London. There are challenges to the free press and independent judges in democracies everywhere.

But this same crisis  this same loss of Western self-confidence, this same collapse of faith in ideals  also has a bloodier, more violent face. That face is the ongoing war in Syria or rather the slow, grinding, murderous endgame of the war in Syria. 

Why are we starving the Syrian people?  Just a thought.

Receiver...

Wide receiver Antonio Brown, the Oakland Raiders, has been accused of rape in a civil lawsuit filed in Florida.

Britney Taylor, who worked as a physical trainer for Brown, alleges that the NFL Pro Bowler sexually assaulted her twice in June 2017 while they were working together, and a third time after a night out in Miami in May 2018.

Brown's representatives said Taylor approached Brown in 2017 and asked him to invest $1.6 million in her business project, but he turned her down after learning she allegedly intended to pay off a tax lien on her home and cut off communication with her. She approached him again in 2018, though, and the two engaged in "a consensual personal relationship."

Heitner also says the 28-year-old woman stayed at Brown's house after one of the alleged assaults and continued contact with him throughout 2018 and posted photos of the two on social media.

Brown's lawyer said Taylor invited herself to a strip club with him and his friends and later invited herself to join him in his hotel room, where the two had consensual sex.

Is this the new thing now?

Lead...

The good thing about John Bolton, President Trump’s national security adviser, is that he says what he thinks.

The bad thing is what he thinks.

There are few people more likely than Mr. Bolton is to lead the country into war. His selection is a decision that is very alarming.

Mr. Bolton, in particular, believes the United States can do what it wants without regard to international law, treaties, the political commitments of previous administrations or the ethical concern for the consequences of war. 

He has argued for attacking North Korea to neutralize the threat of its nuclear weapons, which could set off a horrific war costing hundreds of thousands of lives.       

At the same time, he has disparaged diplomatic efforts, including the talks planned between Mr. Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.     

He not only wants to abrogate the six-party deal that, since 2015, has significantly limited Iran’s nuclear program; he has called for bombing Iran instead. He has also maligned the United Nations and other multilateral conventions, as Mr. Trump has done, favoring unilateral solutions

Code...

The main element of flirting body language is emphasizing sexual differences; highlighting these differences is what makes a person sexy to other people.

When a person meets someone they are interested in, certain physiological changes take place. The muscle tone increases, body sagging disappears, the body assumes erect posture, and the person appears younger and more attractive.

A man will stand taller, expand his chest and look more powerful and dominant, while the woman will tilt her head, and touch her hair while exposing her wrists.

Body language reveals how available, attractive, enthusiastic or even how desperate we are. Some signals of flirting body language are unconscious and completely natural, while other signals are studied and intentional; regardless, the core principle of flirting body language is emphasizing sexual differences in order to attract the opposite sex.

Highlighting these differences is what makes a person look and feel “sexy”.

Numerous studies into courtship showed that women are initiators of a romantic encounter 90% of the time. They do it by sending subtle signals – eye, face and body signals that are sent to their targeted men. If a man was perceptive enough to pick it up, he would usually approach them.

While some men approach even without any signals being sent to them, their overall success rate with courtships is low, because they are approaching even when they are not welcome.  So wait for the code.

Lefties...

According to an Australian study published in 2006 in the journal Neuropsychology, left-handed people tend to have faster connections between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, which leads to quicker information processing. 

Lfties seem to have a real advantage in interactive sports, such as boxing, fencing, tennis and baseball, but this advantage doesn’t extend to non-interactive sports, like gymnastics and diving. It’s possible that because of their different physical orientation and movements, lefties are able throw off right-handed opponents, who are used to going up against other righties.

Your dominant hand may determine how emotions are arranged in your brain. A 2012 study found that in left-handers, motivation was associated with greater activity in the right hemisphere of the brain, while the opposite was true of right-handers.

This may have important implications in caring for anxiety and mood disorders, which are sometimes treated using brain stimulation to increase neural activity in the left hemisphere.

Left...

Joe Biden is on the top of the electability level for a reason. He is not as fanatic socialist as the others. That what the Dems are saying by choosing him over the other free stuff candidates.

So here it is, stop the fanatic free stuff that the same poor people will pay for it. The Dems are handing the election to the Republicans a year ahead by being that misguided. Just a thought.

Turn...

You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it does take time and practice.

•  First identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it's work, your daily commute or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way.

• Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, put a positive spin on them.

• Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings.

• Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. Exercise can positively affect mood and reduce stress.

• Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase your stress level.

•  Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you're thankful for in your life.