Calls for verbal abuse of children by adults to be formally recognized as form of child maltreatment

Co-author, Professor Peter Fonagy (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences), said: “This systematic review is timely and of significant clinical value. Preventing the maltreatment of children is the most effective way we can reduce the prevalence of child mental health problems.  A sharp focus on childhood verbal abuse by adults around them by the new charity Words Matter, and this review will help make significant change, and support and direct our efforts to identify and respond to this risk in an effective and timely manner.” 

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This is right up my alley in that it concerns the use of language in interpersonal relations. In the abstract, it would be very good to reduce the ‘verbal abuse’ of children and no one would object to that abstract ideal. I am concerned, though, that this will end up being yet another excuse, bloated with government grants and payola, to intrude on the the private lives of children and families. A better plan, in my view, would be to teach the Words Matter people FIML and then get them to figure out a way to teach everyone in the world how to do FIML. Note that Prof Fonagy is on the advisory board of Words Matter, and also that childhood mental health has done nothing but decline the more governments and charities interfere in children’s upbringing. Their list of Trustees reads like a front for a psyop with boondoggle side-benefits. Their Find Help page takes you straight to more charities and groups with well-paid executives. This looks like just another leg on the giant parasitic organism feeding on Western societies. In today’s world, skepticism is justified. I am strongly in favor of the excellent use of language in every environment but am wary of anyone who uses language to intrude, control, self-aggrandize, or solve problems that people of that type have only made worse. ‘Hate speech’, ‘gender-affirming care’, ‘equality of outcome’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, and now ‘Words Matter’. It’s all of a piece and nothing good has come from any of it. ABN

UPDATE: I hope readers of this site understand that only FIML or a practice very much like it will fix the extremely serious problems all people face whenever they use language. And that includes self-talking as well as interpersonal speech with children and others. No one should expect a charity or government policy to improve interpersonal language based on theoretical and often ideological psychological assumptions, most of which have little or no grounding in reality. To optimize your use of language to the fullest, only you can do it with the help of an honest partner through FIML practice. There is no other way. Children can and should be taught FIML in the home. It will provide them with a beautiful intellectual and spiritual tool that will enrich their lives in every activity. ABN

Portland, Maine City Council Passes Ordinance to Decriminalize Psychedelics

The council of Maine’s most populated city voted 6–3 in favor of the resolution, which would apply to the possession of DMT, mescaline, psilocybin/psilocyn (magic mushrooms) and ibogaine.

“[The] use of psychedelic plants and fungi should be deprioritized by our criminal justice system in order to facilitate access to people who need this for a public health benefit”, said Councilor Anna Trevorrow prior to the council’s vote.

Similar to what Seattle did with marijuana back in 2003, the ordinance would make the possession of psychedelics the lowest enforcement priority, directly police to focus instead on all other potential crimes and infractions

“Portland departments, agencies, boards, commissions, officers or employees of the city should avoid using city funds or resources to assist in the investigation, criminal prosecution or the imposition of criminal penalties”, states the ordinance.

The passage of the ordinance is another example of the growing trend towards a reformation of psychedelic laws. Both Oregon and Colorado have legalized psychedelics, and the California Legislature recently passed a bill to do the same.

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FENBENDAZOLE and CANCER

FENBENDAZOLE and CANCER – at least 12 Anti-Cancer mechanisms of action. Not approved by FDA. Cheap. Safe. Kills aggressive cancers. Why no Clinical Trials?

I review 9 research papers proving anti-cancer effects of Fenbendazole.

Benzimidazole drugs (including Fenbendazole) have widely been used as anti-helminth agents in both human and/or livestock since the 1960s

Due to their low cost and high efficacy, benzimidazole anthelmintics have been used throughout the world

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Consulting Firms Linked To Blinken & Nuland Are Advising Ukraine On How To Spend US Foreign Aid

Consulting firms linked to the White House’s leading Ukraine policy architects – including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland – appear to be advising the Ukrainian government on its reconstruction efforts funded by U.S. taxpayers.

The unearthed connections come amidst over $110 billion being sent to the notoriously corrupt country, with staunch opposition to curtailing the flow of cash or even auditing where the funds are actually being spent. Strategy papers obtained from these White House-linked consulting firms appear to call for a “multi-decade” continuation of foreign aid to Ukraine, even admitting the war provided a “window of opportunity” to achieve changes that would have been “politically difficult to achieve.”

Nuland, currently a top State Department official believed to be behind U.S. efforts to orchestrate Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan Revolution, was a former Senior Counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm based in Washington, D.C. In addition to Nuland, Albright Stonebridge Group counts several high-ranking White House officials linked to Ukraine policy as its alumni: United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien.

Despite the robust conflict of interest, Albright Stonebridge appears to be involved in advising on the issue of Ukraine reconstruction. The firm published a white paper -“Land Value Capture Can Finance Ukraine’s Reconstruction, Reduce Corruption, And Boost Productivity” – outlining a variety of economic strategies for rebuilding Ukraine with foreign aid packages, predominantly underwritten by U.S. taxpayers.

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The rot is displayed front and center in this article.

It is obvious the Ukraine War was provoked by US neocons who control NATO in order to: 1) destabilize Russia and 2) destroy Ukraine and denude it of population and military males so that Ukraine can be rebuilt by US neocons in their image and for their gain. This is the real meaning of ‘Build Back Better.’

Strategists willing and able to pursue goals as destructive and selfish as these cannot be expected to back down because they lost the war. In their minds, they have succeeded in one-half of their mission—destroying Ukraine—and will not flinch from escalating the war to control the 2024 US election probably through new emergency war powers.

Many signs show the neocons also want to destabilize and destroy Europe and for the same reasons—Build Back Better in their own image. My sense is that Poland and the Baltics are being bribed and pushed into entering the war, thus making it a full-on NATO responsibility. The timing of this will be linked to the US elections. The covid psyop, which controlled the elections of 2020, began in early 2020 so it is reasonable to expect similar timing in 2024. This time it will be a war psyop probably starting around the end of this year. ABN

UPDATE: If the war goes nuclear and then global, destroying Russia, China, Europe and USA, I do not believe the neocons in control of these policies will be bothered in the least. They know that when the dust settles they will be in control of all of it—the entire world, which will have a greatly reduced and compliant population, allowing them complete freedom to Build Back in any way they choose. ABN

A Skeptic’s Guide to the Holocaust

There is hardly any other historical topic, about which as much information and disinformation can be found as about the Holocaust. The topic is huge, as it occurred in thousands of individual events across an entire continent, and lasted almost four years – from mid-1941 to May 1945. Accordingly, scholars specializing in the field have produced large tomes and many multi-volume collections dealing with the various aspects of this event of the past that refuses to pass.

However, for those of us not specializing in Holocaust studies – meaning for almost all of us – the information contained in those volumes and collections is usually too much information. Furthermore, it is commonly presented in a way that is not helpful for us to wrap our heads around it. Where is a concise overview explaining what exactly “the Holocaust” was, and what it was not? What major parts does it consists of? What are the main characteristics of these parts?

To answer such questions, encyclopedias are written. So far, mainstream scholars have produced four encyclopedias on this topic. In September 2023, another one has been added. We may ask: who needs a fifth door stop, when we already have four?

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Those who understand covid-19 anti-science are in a position to understand how just about everything in the West works. This includes academia, mainstream media, the public face of governments, and the history of our society and all other societies. I have no expertise in the history of WW2 but welcome this encyclopedia as another offering on the road to telling something approaching the truth about whatever happened in the past. It’s an absolute offense to any civilization that any topic be banned or people who write about it or speak about it be imprisoned or fined. It’s very easy to see that happening to us today in the USA and in Europe. If even medical science can be twisted as much as covid anti-science has, we can see that nothing is sacred and nothing can be believed just because some authority figure—or even a large group of them—say it’s true. That’s how it is. From covid we also have learned that the real scientists were the ones who questioned the official bs. And what happened to them? They were banned, vilified, deplatformed, fired. We all know this, but the lesson is so valuable it bears emphasizing. Covid provides us with a very recent lived and ongoing example of mainstream government and media mind-control and harassment. The covid example applies to many other areas of immediate concern—the Ukraine War, our borders, anthropogenic climate change, our economy. all news and all history. ABN

What is Artificial General Intelligence?

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a type of AI that can understand, learn, and solve tasks that require a human level of intelligence. Just like us, it can adapt to different environments and solve various complex problems.

Unlike artificial narrow intelligence (ANI), which is the type of AI that we have today, AGI is not trained for a specific task, but it’s made to observe, learn, and adapt on its own without being directly commanded by a specific code.

Nearly everything we do today is, in one way or another, linked to narrow AI. The order of content and ads that you see on the Internet is governed by a specialized AI. Your neighbor’s kid is playing a video game against an AI opponent. Perhaps the customer service assistant you just talked to was a synthesized voice of narrow artificial intelligence. These all function seamlessly, but put any one of these narrow AI to do the task of the other, and it will fail.

Artificial general intelligence could learn and perform all these tasks and more. Eventually, when we develop an AGI in earnest, it would display the capabilities of the median human, but retain the potential to become an expert in the field, something we now consider reserved for the narrow AI. It would be possible for AGI to become a scientist, an engineer, or a doctor.

“Would be”, as we have yet to reach the point of general AI. But some experts say that we’re getting there.

ETA for AGI?

The big question is: when will we create artificial general intelligence?

For proper general AI, there are three vital components of consciousness it must have:

  1. A model of surroundings with the body of the unit at the center
  2. Perception of time for projections of future outcomes
  3. An ability to consider and evaluate multiple actions and choose the most optimal one

In other words, it has to be able to explore, learn, interpret, and solve various problems in different environments. For example, just like a three-year-old child can. 

While current AI models efficiently tackle various tasks, we have failed to develop a system that would harmonize these tasks into a single AI solution. Our AI fails to overcome problems that three-year-old children routinely solve. Forget the toddler, we still have to reach the intelligence of a parrot or a mouse. 

But the necessary research is rapidly advancing, and investments are bigger than ever. John Hennessy estimates that we’re 20 to 40 years away from artificial general intelligence. John Carmack, an ex-Meta executive, gives a 95% chance of AGI being developed by 2050 and 60% chance of this happening by 2030.

In our lifetimes! Should we buckle up?

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