Obama Doctrine Sends Shockwave Across World

Obama Doctrine Sends Shockwave Across World

The Truth about Bottled Water - Is it really better than tap water?

Water has always been essential to our body’s system and our survival, but lately, it has become one of the most recent fitness crazes as people all over the world seek to gain the certified health benefits of drinking adequate amounts of water. Although people used to rely largely upon tap water to fulfill their daily quota of drinking water, in the last two decades, consumers have begun to shy away from this water source, due to such public health scares as the 1993 Milwaukee cryptosporidium outbreak that infected more than 400,000 city residents. Bottled water companies, promising a purer, healthier water product than tap water, have expanded greatly in order to supply growing demands for quality drinking water.

In the year 2003, Americans alone spent more than $7 billion on bottled water at an average cost of more than $1 a bottle.

Clearly, the bottled water industry is here to stay, but is the price of bottled water really worth it? Do consumers truly receive a better water product for their money? This article will seek to answer these questions by exposing some little-known truths about bottled water.

Recent allegations against the Coca-Cola Company and its brand name of bottled water, Dasani, have publicly highlighted one of the biggest misconceptions about the quality of bottled water. Coca-Cola, advertising its bottled water as “pure, still water,” is now being investigated for misleading consumers about the true nature of the contents of its bottles. Rather than deriving its water from natural springs, Coca-Cola had actually been filling its Dasani bottles with purified tap water.

Of course, this problem of reconstituted tap water in Dasani bottles would not be so large if it was an isolated incident. Unfortunately, the process of bottling tap water is not limited to the Coca-Cola Company. In 1999, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published the results of a four-year study in which researchers tested more than 1,000 samples of 103 brands of bottled water. These researchers found that,

“An estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes further treated, sometimes not.”

In one case, a brand of bottled water, advertised as “pure, glacier water,” was found to be taken from a municipal water supply while another brand, flaunted as “spring water,” was pumped from a water source next to a hazardous waste dumping site. While “purified tap water” is arguably safer and purer than untreated tap water (depending upon the purification methods), a consumer should expect to receive something more than reconstituted tap water for the exceptional prices of bottled water.

If bottled water does not necessarily offer purer water than tap water, surely it provides a better tasting water product, right? The answer to this question is no. Bottled water does not always taste better than tap water.

In an interesting study conducted by Showtime television, the hosts found that 75% of tested New York City residents actually preferred tap water over bottled water in a blind taste test.

While taste is certainly highly subjective, this study shows that bottled water essentially holds nothing over tap water. In many cases, bottled water is no purer than tap water, and it may not even taste better.

Bottled water, because it is defined as a “food” under federal regulations, is under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—under much stricter standards—regulates tap water. Thus, bottled water, depending upon the brand, may actually be less clean and safe than tap water. The EPA mandates that local water treatment plants provide city residents with a detailed account of tap water’s source and the results of any testing, including contaminant level violations. Bottled water companies are under no such directives.

Also, while municipal water systems must test for harmful microbiological content in water several times a day, bottled water companies are required to test for these microbes only once a week.

Similarly, public water systems are required to test for chemical water contaminants four times as often as bottled water companies. In addition, loopholes in the FDA’s testing policy do not require the same standards for water that is bottled and sold in the same state, meaning that a significant number of bottles have undergone almost no regulation or testing.

Even under the more lax standards of the FDA, bottled water companies do not always comply with standardized contaminant levels.

Alarmingly, the 1999 NRDC study found that 18 of the 103 bottled water brands tested contained, in at least one sample, “more bacteria than allowed under microbiological-purity guidelines.”

Also, about one fifth of the brands tested positive for the presence of synthetic chemicals, such as industrial chemicals and chemicals used in manufacturing plastic like phthalate, a harmful chemical that leaches into bottled water from its plastic container. In addition, bottled water companies are not required to test for cryptosporidium, the chlorine-resistant protozoan that infected more than 400,000 Milwaukee residents in 1993. Bottled water companies, because they are not under the same accountability standards as municipal water systems, may provide a significantly lower quality of water than the water one typically receives from the tap. Think I'll be sticking to water from the tap.

BELFAST TAXI DRIVERS - TREATED BADLY BY DVA ENFORCEMENT

Frustrated public hire taxi drivers are set to continue their demonstrations in the city-centre following their mass rally to Stormont last Thursday (November 18) — protesting on a range of issues they claim are “seriously damaging their daily trade”.

Yesterday, (Tuesday, November 23), Sean Beckett, chairperson of The Public Hire Coalition, (the official group that speaks on behalf of public hire taxi drivers), told the Community Telegraph: “Things are going from bad to worse for those of us working in the public hire taxi trade.

“Private hire taxi companies continue to pick people illegally off the street and the laws dealing with issues are not being enforced effectively — even though we have presented evidence to the correct authorities to deal with this, we have been told by official enforcers the only way to prosecute is if they act covertly as members of the public and are picked up in this way — video evidence is not enough.

“We have serious concerns about the number of rank spaces in Belfast too — there are only 87 rank spaces in the city, that is not enough for 600 taxis. And we have to remember that not all of these spaces are workable, many drivers sit for ages before they pick up a fare. It’s difficult when you get private hire companies handing out pre-booking business cards — people don’t even have to phone up to book a private taxi now, it’s getting out of hand and we are losing a considerable amount of business as a result.

“We have had four taxi drivers fined this week alone for waiting outside Central station in the bus lane but there is nowhere else for them to go.

“Every other major city, London, Edinburgh, supports their public hire taxi trade, but we feel ignored here.”

Belfast Lad Commented:

I have been Taxiing over the years both Privately and Public Hire and to be honest each side has their own story. Public Hire are renown for ripping people off, charging £5.00 and £10.00 per head for short journeys, it's not a lie I have witnessed it myself. Those people who do not use their meter properly in Belfast have shafted all of the decent drivers out of a living. In regards to the DVA Taxi Licencing and Enforcement office, they are a useless bunch of individuals who are nothing more than blood sucking leaches on the tax payer. They do not do what they are supposed to do. You very rarely see them out catching unlicensed taxi drivers, I see it every night of the week, people with no plates, hence No Insurance. Private Hire picking up outside bars and cluns in Belfast, which they are not licensed to do, therefore " NOT Insured" What are the Taxi Enforcement Crew doing about it? ( NOTHING ), What do the Police do about it? ( NOTHING ) The Police also condone this illegal activity in Belfast by asking Private hire drivers to take people home as well as not challenging the Drivers who are clearly standing and plying for hire outside the pubs and clubs in Belfast. To be honest DVA - Taxi Licensing and the Police are a joke. One more thing to add, DVTA charge £138.50 for a PSV Licence for a car each year and we were told that the majority of this money goes to the Police for security checks on the vehicle. Only a few days back I found out from the horse mouth that this is Bull.. The DVA get all of this money and for What? Its a take -on and all of the Taxi drivers in Northern Ireland Private, Public should get together and shake this stupid system, it does not work and Mr. Spratt should be fired.

Limavady Arts and Culture Centre (Ionad Ealaíon agus Cultúir Ghleann na Ró) By Scott Smyth

Limavady Arts and Culture Centre (Ionad Ealaíon agus Cultúir Ghleann na Ró) By Scott Smyth

Located on Main Street on the site of the old Town Hall the centre is intended to become the new cultural focus in Limavady. Roe Valley Arts and Culture Centre (RVACC) has taken more than 18 months to complete at a cost of £3m, but after seeing the centre, I for one think it is time and money well spent. The imposing facade of the old Town Hall combined with modern architecture of the new building creates an air of sophistication rarely seen in Limavady and when I got in touch with the new Arts and Culture Services Officer, Desima Connolly, who is effectively managing the centre, I was eager to get her spin on the centre, its aims and function within the town and borough as a whole.

The Centre opened over the Halloween weekend so what can we expect to see as a launch for the Centre? “The staff, including myself, began only a few months ago and therefore we are having a ‘soft’ opening and the official launch will take place in January 2011. We have an exciting opening season (Oct-Dec) which will be launched within the next few weeks including a series of open days consisting of free workshops, live entertainment and more, to encourage people to come in and see the Centre and get a taste of what we’re about. Our launch event in January will focus on celebrating the cultural successes of Limavady and will have a few fantastic spectacles thrown in!”

Programming for the Centre is expected to cater for all tastes comprising theatre, music, performance, visual arts & crafts and local histories initiatives. The Centres Gallery Programme aims to entice us with established artists whilst showcasing the up and coming talent of the local art scene. The towns local film society, the Roe Valley Film Club, will no doubt take advantage of the recently acquired film screening license which will allow screenings for all ages as part of RVACC Reels launching early in the new year. The impressive Danny Boy Auditorium, with a seating capacity of 215 provides the centre with a multi-purpose space which evokes a sense of intimacy while at the theatre, a rare and pleasing sensation from an area designed to be something of an ‘occasion’.

In the upper level the O’Hampsey Studio provides a smaller performance area and with its mirrored interior is ideal for dance courses and rehearsals, while the colourful workshop rooms are designed for creative educational courses. Of course an Arts Centre would not be complete without a gallery and RVACC comes up trumps with three. The main Keady Gallery will host bi-monthly visual art exhibitions, complimented by the Broighter Gallery showcasing crafts and sculptural shows whilst the Ritter Gallery will provide us with local community and heritage-related exhibitions.

Desima discusses the value of having the large outdoor stage; “The Borough’s large seasonal events will now operate from the Centre’s Drumceatt Square such as Halloween and the Illuminations Ceremony. Drumceatt Square is a wonderful bonus to the Centre and will now fulfil the role of the community town square, which Limavady hasn’t had.”

Limavady has many links to international talent such as Cara Dillon, who will be launching the Danny Boy Festival, but Desima is eager to emphasise that the RVACC is here for the local artists, musicians and writers; “We are here to support local artists and already have pledged assistance to the Jane Ross Writers Group and the local film society. We are promoting emerging local artists, such as David McDowell and Donna Marley who are exhibiting with us in Nov & Dec and hope that the Centre will become a hub for all of the local creative practitioners, including independent artists, local cultural groups and cultural businesses. We will also offer employment to local artists where possible through our education programme and I believe that an arts centre excels when it enables the wonderful dynamic that occurs with creative engagement between grassroots and professional practice. I am so excited about our first main exhibition in 2011 which will be by Limavady-born and now internationally acclaimed painter Michael McGuinness. Now based in England, Michael went from Limavady to the Slade Art School in London and his work is both revered and sought after. What better message is there for us to proclaim, than to celebrate such fantastic local talent?”

Limavady over the past few years, has seen a surge in interest of all things artistic but there are some who still feel this is for a certain "elite" group of the community. Personally I think this couldn't be farther from the truth. You only have to look at our schools to see talent and enthusiasm shining through. When asked how the Centre aimed to reach everyone in the community Desima said “The key is to foster dialogue and mutual learning between artists and the community and to create unique projects and opportunities which facilitates this wonderful alchemy. Our outreach service will achieve this. Though I have to say I even dislike the word outreach – it implies there is reaching out to be done. Any good arts centre should have the local community at its core. Art should never be viewed as elitist. If it is, there’s something seriously wrong.”

The Centre is set to be the epicentre of all things cultural, a long awaited project since the closure of the Town Hall almost thirteen years ago. At a time when many feel the town is in decline, the council have brought to light a new, exciting and modern venue which will bring new life and enthusiasm to Limavady and the Roe Valley. For that, I personally thank them, and I hope you will too.

John Lennon's Irish Roots

In my opinion, John Lennon should be recognised as the greatest Irish singer ever: his California-based biographer Jon Wiener after all said that Lennon "thought of himself as Irish." The Irish roots of the two main members of the Beatles, Lennon and Paul McCartney, has not yet been fully acknowledged, despite the fact that Lennon, like McCartney, also had two Irish Grandparents. Incredible then, considering how well known the Irish roots of the world's most popular duo of songwriters - they are for some strange reason, not listed for example in The Guinness Book of Irish Facts and Feats by Ciarán Deane (Guinness Publishing, Enfield, Middlesex, 1984).

The Beatles came from Merseyside - an area around the city of Liverpool which has the largest Irish population in England, mainly as a result of the exodus of people from Ireland during the Great Famine in the 1840's. Early in their career, the Beatles had played in Ireland three times: in Dublin and Belfast in 1963, and once again in Belfast in 1964. It was after the split of the Beatles in 1970, that both Lennon & McCartney began releasing songs about the Irish question - all of which were all banned by the BCC: McCartney wrote Give Ireland Back to Irish which became a hit single in 1972, and Lennon wrote Sunday Bloody Sunday, and The Luck of The Irish, both of which were on the album Some Time In New York City that was also released in 1972.

On one hand The Guinness Book of Irish Facts and Feats informs you, for example, that the Socialist anthem, The Red Flag was written by Jim Connell from Co. Meath in Ireland (d. 1929), and under the heading "Top-selling contemporary Irish and Irish-related popular music artists" it lists only U2, Van Morrison and Bob Geldof. Under the heading "The London Irish", it lists John Lydon from the Sex Pistols (whose father is a Gaelic speaker from Co. Galway), Boy George, Elvis Costello and The Pogues - but nowhere is either Lennon & McCartney, or the Beatles mentioned - but then again neither is another world famous Irish singer - Mary O'Brien - commonly known as Dusty Springfield.

Lennon - like another famous son of Ireland, Che Guevara Lynch - was more Irish than for example than either President Kennedy or Ronald Reagan, but l suspect that the main reason why the Irish state has not given these two proper recognition is because they were both regarded probably as dangerous revolutionaries and atheists - in Lennon's case, for example, he once sang about his opposition to the Catholic Church in Ireland, and expressed outright sympathy with the Irish Republican movement in his song Sunday Bloody Sunday:

Repatriate to Britain
All of you who call it home
Leave Ireland to the Irish
Not for London or for Rome!

Lennon's grandfather, John (Jack) Lennon was born in Dublin in 1858, and like many Irish people after the Great Famine of the 1840's - when Britain allowed over a million Irish people to die of starvation - emigrated to Liverpool to seek better prospects of employment. There Jack married an Irishwoman called Mary Maguire and started a family. Sadly, their children, including Alfred, were orphaned early on and grew up in Liverpool orphanages. As his father Alfred Lennon walked out and left him at the age of 5, Lennon never knew either of his Irish grandparents or anything of his Irish roots. This is probably because he was raised by his mother's family, the Stanleys, were Welsh. In later years he became increasingly interested in his Irish ancestry. In 1975, John give his second son the name Seán, the Gaelic version of his own name.

Like many Irish people, John Lennon came from a musical family, in this case a long line of minstrel singers and crooners. His grandfather had earned his living as a minstrel singer, and his great-grandfather was also a known singer in Ireland. Alfred Lennon had also earned extra money singing as a young man also. The Lennon family tradition of crooning, which started back in Ireland, continued with John Lennon, and later through his own son Julian, who released his highly acclaimed debut album Valotte in 1984.

A real Christmas campaign

Northern Ireland man launches campaign to make John Lennon Christmas No1 2010

A real Christmas campaign

With Christmas being hi-jacked over the last few years by X-Factor, a County Down man, has started a campaign to put a John Lennon classic at the top of the charts.

2010 should have been the year John Lennon celebrated his 70^th birthday, however it instead marks the 30^th anniversary of his murder outside The Dakota building in New York, where he lived, by lone assassin Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980.

In honour of his life, this campaign aims to make John and Yoko’s timeless anti-war/Christmas masterpiece Merry Xmas (War is Over) a hit during this festive season.

The single, Happy Xmas (War Is Over), was released in the US on 6 December 1971, but never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 charts; the UK release was delayed until the following November due to a publishing dispute. Upon release, it reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was re-released in the UK on 20 December 1980 shortly after John Lennon's death on 8 December 1980, peaking at Number 3.

"With the world in such a war-torn state, there has perhaps never been a better time to remember this song, and in doing so, we celebrate the genius of Lennon and remember that he was a true songwriter and musician who would be horrified at the music-industry as it stands today." Said Marc.

So, for Christmas 2010, let us remember a true musician and artist, let us remember and celebrate real music makers and the message of Christmas and finally, let us say together 'War is Over...'

By using using the following link: http://bit.ly/cW4HOD we can make this the Christmas download No 1. Download the track on December 12^th to have a real chance at the Christmas No1 slot.

Join the campaign: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Make-John-Lennon-Christmas-No1-2010/101568756580534

This campaign has been started by Marc Savage from Banbridge, N Ireland. Marc is art director in a newspaper production house called CNS, situated in Blackstaff Square, Belfast.

He can be contacted at: marcsavage1706@gmail.com

Living in the 1500's

Living in the 1500's Ireland

Next time you're washing your hands and the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s. Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children -- last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." Houses had thatched roofs -- thick straw -- piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof -- hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs." There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway, hence, a "thresh hold." In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite awhile. Hence the rhyme, "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Often trenchers were made from stale bread which was so old and hard that they could be used for quite some time. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After eating off wormy, moldy trenchers, one would get "trench mouth." Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust." Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake." England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer." And that's the truth. . . (who ever said that History was boring)?