92 ellopiapress

Ellopia Press NY - February 2015 Issue 92

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Think: The way to go!!!

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Monthly magazine, publishe by Ellopia Media Group in New York City Established 2002 Publisher ATHINA KRIKELI Chief Editor ANASTASIA KASIMATIS

Recently I saw the movie American Sniper! I was not surprised by the ferocity of the scenes. Felt sad because it brought memories of the wars that I covered as a war correspondent. Audiences left the theatre in silence, perhaps annoyed because, what they show in this movie, is the real hard truth of war. People who are perched safely on their sofas need to understand that war is not a Hollywood movie.

War is death, you can see it, sense it, listen and smell it in every fibber of your body. That “flavor” dies or fades away, only when we die!

But the “lightness of being’ and the ability to absolve the cruelty that is happening all over the world, and be able to live with, is not an accident!

Plato said, ‘Those who tell the stories rule society.’ We have to change the system and the way we teach our children at school. They have to learn to question everything. Specially the “official statements” or stories and events that the mainstream press presents to us.

We experience a world full of deception and asking for the truth is almost futile !

How are we supposed to tell what is really happening in history in its making when the official version is most of the times a very carefully constructed illusion?

Keep your heart and minds open. Often what you see, hear or read is not what happened!

We have the tools – its called The Web – to research, compare, educate and inform our selves. Following our own judgment, instinct and need to find the truth.

Athina Krikeli

Contributors S. Papathemelis (Greece), Arkas (Greece) G. Kalaras, (Chicago) Titos Christodoulou, (England) Writers G. Skabardonis (Greece) Costas Krikelis (Greece) Anita Diamantopoulou (USA) Kostas Mpliatkas (Hellas)

Nick Christophers Senior Editor (English) TITOS CHRISTODOULOU (England) Music Editors NIKOS TATASOPOULOS CHRISTOS ALEXANDROU PETROS HATJOPOULOS

Business Consultant MARIA PAPAPETROS Fashion Consultant NIKOS EFTAXIAS

Creative Art Director Hellas KOSTAS KRIKELIS ANNA PAPAKONSTANTINOU Advertising Director LIA DELKOTZAKI Ellopia Media Group Ltd. USA KAUFMAN ASTORIA STUDIOS 141 East 55 str New York NY 10022 Tel: (718) 720 4522 infoellopia@aol.com

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THE WORLD

THE WORLD

Despite Initial Tremors, Markets Mostly Shake Off Greek Election Results

By DAVID JOLLY and NEIL GOUGHJAN . Janurary 25, 2015 Syriza and its outspoken leader, Alexis Tsipras, who had campaigned against the austerity measures imposed on Greece by its international creditors, formed a coalition government on Monday with a right-wing fringe party, Independent Greeks.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 percent soon after the opening bell. The Euro Stoxx 50 index, a barometer of eurozone blue chips, rose 0.6 percent in European afternoon trading, while the FTSE 100 index in London slipped about 0.1 percent. The euro rose 0.5 percent to $1.1256.

Markets had trembled initially, sending the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond in the United States to a record low in early trading, as investors moved funds to assets perceived as safer. The euro briefly dropped to $1.1098, its lowest level since 2003.

Stocks in Athens fell 3.6 percent.

The election result was largely in line with analysts’ predictions, and investors had had weeks to adjust their portfolios to reflect the possibility that a showdown over the future of Greece’s economic direction was near, pitting Athens against Brussels.

The change in the Greek political landscape comes at

a time of unsettling shifts in the world economy that have left policy makers and investors on alert for disruptions in financial markets. Crude oil prices continue to fall this year, after having dropped about 50 percent in 2014, and the European Central Bank announced last week that it would buy 60 billion euros, or about $67 billion, worth of bonds each month until inflation in the eurozone rises to its official target of just under 2 percent.

The International Monetary Fund warned last week that the prospects for global growth were dimming — with the notable exception of the United States — raising the specter of a slowdown that would exacerbate the problems of low-price pressures and growing inequality.

Derek Halpenny, the European head of global markets research at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in London, said in a research note that he did not expect the change in Athens to create “existential risks” to the euro, or for strong euro-selling pressures to emerge in the short term.

But Mr. Halpenny said that there were “certainly increased risks, and an error in the negotiating stage could mean this becomes a bigger negative for the market.”

European bonds, whose prices had been rising for months in anticipation of the European Central Bank’s move last week to stimulate the economy, showed little movement on Monday.

THE WORLD

Mr. Tsipras, who is positioned to become the next prime minister, has pledged to keep Greece within the eurozone as he seeks to negotiate an easing of austerity measures and to rebuild the economy.

Greek bond prices fell amid the postelection uncertainty, sending their yields higher, to 8.70 percent — the highest in the eurozone. Yields reached a recent peak of 10.3 percent on Jan. 7, when pre-election jitters were strongest.

Perhaps the biggest question for financial markets is what the Syriza victory will mean for Greek bonds, particularly in light of the plan announced by Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president, last week.

The central bank plans to buy up a significant part of the bonds issued by each of the 19 eurozone governments, something that could bring substantial relief to the Athens government’s borrowing costs.

But Mr. Draghi noted at a news conference on Thursday that, “There are obviously some conditions before we can buy Greek bonds,” including that the Greek government honor its bailout program.

If Athens meets the conditions, the European Central Bank “could buy bonds in, I believe, July,” Mr. Draghi added.The German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which often reflects the opinion of the business community, stated in an initial analysis:

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the I.M.F., said in an interview posted on the website of the French daily Le Monde on Monday that Greece still had to honor pledges it made as part of a bailout plan.

Athens committed to overhaul government administration and tax collection, and to reduce delays in the legal system, Ms. Lagarde said.

“These aren’t austerity measures, these are fundamental reforms that remain to be carried out,” she said.

Asked by Le Monde about Mr. Tsipras’s pledge to restructure Greece’s debt, Ms. Lagarde responded that there were “internal rules of the eurozone to be respected.”

“We can’t make special categories for this or that country,” she said.

Mr. Tsipras, who is positioned to become the next prime minister, has pledged to keep Greece within the eurozone as he seeks to negotiate an easing of austerity measures and to rebuild the economy.

The country has the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone, at 25.7 percent as of September, the most recent data available.

“Tsipras will not be able to escape one fact: Greece needs more foreign money, whether from the markets or from the European Union. He has a choice Asian stocks were mixed, with major indexes in Tokyo between compromises with the troika and a huge falling about 0.3 percent and Hong Kong shares rising state bankruptcy that could lead his country further 0.2 percent. into the abyss.”

THE WORLD

Why did the world ignore Boko Haram's Baga attacks?

“I am Charlie, but I am Baga too” A man holds a placard that reads ‘I am Charlie, let’s not forget the victims of Boko Haram’ outside the French embassy in Abidjan. Photograph: SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images

France spent last month coming to terms with terror attacks in Paris that left 17 dead. The country mourned, and global leaders joined an estimated 3.7 million people on its streets to march in a show of unity.

In Nigeria, another crisis was unfolding, as reports came through of an estimated 2,000 casualties after an attack by Boko Haram militants on the town of Baga in the north-eastern state of Borno. Amnesty International described as the terror group’s “deadliest massacre” to date, and local defence groups said they had given up counting the bodies left lying on the streets.

Reporting in northern Nigeria is notoriously difficult; journalists have been targeted by Boko Haram, and, unlike in Paris, people on the ground are isolated and struggle with access to the internet and other communications. Attacks by Boko Haram have disrupted connections further, meaning that there is an absence of an online community able to share news, photos and video reports of news as it unfolds.

But reports of the massacre were coming through and as the world’s media focused its attention on Paris, some questioned why events in Nigeria were almost ignored.

-On Twitter, Max Abrahms, a terrorism analyst, tweeted: “It’s shameful how the 2K people killed in Boko Haram’s biggest massacre gets almost no media coverage.”

-Musician Nitin Sawhney said: “Very moving watching events in Paris – wish the world media felt equally outraged by this recent news too.”

-“Mom Blogger” @Mom101 asked: “How is this not the lead story on every single news network, every Twitter newsfeed right now?” That sentiment was echoed by a number of Guardian readers over the weekend.

So why did the Paris attacks receive more coverage than the Boko Haram killings?

“I am Charlie, but I am Baga too”

“I am Charlie, but I am Baga too,” wrote Simon Allison for the Daily Maverick, a partner on the Guardian Africa network. “There are massacres and there are massacres” he said, arguing that “it may be the 21st century, but African lives are still deemed less news-

THE WORLD

“I am Charlie, but I am Baga too” worthy – and, by implication, less valuable – than — Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) January 8, western lives”.

2015 Terrible incident. Our deepest sympathies to the jour Allison recognises the challenges in reporting nalists and their families. We are one with France in – “the nearest journalists are hundreds of kilometres mourning #JeSuisCharlie away” – but also points to the significance of the at- He also pointed to comments on the official Twitter tack: taking control of Baga, “Boko Haram effectively account of Ahmadu Adamu Muazu, from the ruling controls Borno state in its entirety. These aren’t just ter- People’s Democratic party, who looked to downplay the rorists: they are becoming a de facto state.” Even more death toll: “We know it’s a political period so some of reason for the world to take notice. this [sic] things are expected”.

But the blame does not just lie with western media; there Muazu has since taken to the account again to say he was little African coverage either, said Allison. No lead- has been working with the security services to ensure ers were condemning the attacks, nor did any talk of a that “peace will soon be restored” to the people in Baga solidarity movement, he said, adding that “our outrage and other regions in the north-east of the country. and solidarity over the Paris massacre is also a symbol ‘The west is ignoring Boko Haram’ of how we as Africans neglect Africa’s own tragedies, Advertisement and prioritise western lives over our own.”

Silence from Nigeria’s politicians Ignatius Kaigama, the Catholic archbishop of Jos in

Many pointed to the palpable silence of many central Nigeria – an area which has also suffered terof Nigeria’s politicians. Last week, Nigeria’s president, ror attacks – added his voice to criticism of the west.

Goodluck Jonathan, expressed his condolences for the victims of France but stayed silent on the Boko Haram Speaking to the BBC, he argued that Nigeria could not attacks on Baga. confront the threat from Boko Haram alone. “It is a

Media analyst Ethan Zuckerman said that the monumental tragedy. It has saddened all of Nigeria. president is “understandably wary of discussing Boko But... we seem to be helpless,” he said. “Because if we Haram, as it reminds voters that the conflict has could stop Boko Haram, we would have done it right erupted under his management and that his govern- away. But they continue to attack, and kill and capment has been unable to subdue the terror group”. Ni- ture territories... with such impunity.” geria’s elections are set to take place on 14 February.

The president was also criticised for celebrating his Over the weekend Boko Haram was also blamed for niece Ine’s wedding over weekend, in the aftermath of a suicide attack in a market in Borno state that left 16 the killings. dead in Yobe state. Kaigama called the for international community to show the same spirit and resolve against Elnathan John, a Nigerian writer and lawyer who has Boko Haram as it had done after the attacks in France. changed his Twitter identity to “I am Baga” in solidarity, #BagaTogether shared a tweet from Nigeria’s finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who also expressed condolences over the Paris attacks but made no mention of the events in Baga.

THE WORLD

Central Park W & 79th St, New York, NY 10024 (212) 769-5100

Start your weekend off right at the smartest party in town, hosted by the American Museum of Natural History.

THE WORLD

In Greek crisis, Germany should learn from its fiscal past

By Harold Meyerson Opinion writer January 28 - Washigton Post

If you made a list of countries you hope have learned from their past hundred years of mistakes, Germany would have to be at the top. Happily, the staunch opposition to a nativist fringe that the nation’s government and citizenry have shown in recent weeks makes it clear, again, that Germany understands the costs of bigotry and the virtues of tolerance.

Unhappily, it has not learned the costs of a mad adherence to fiscal orthodoxy, despite the fact that its prosperity is rooted in the decision of its World War II adversaries to allow West Germany’s postwar government to write off half of its debts.

Indeed, the policies that Angela Merkel’s government have inflicted on the nations of Southern Europe could not be more different from those that European leaders and the United States devised in the early 1950s to enable West Germany to rebuild its damaged economy.

Since the crash of 2008, Germany, as Europe’s dominant economy and leading creditor, has compelled Mediterranean Europe, and Greece in particular, to sack their own economies to repay their debts.

Germany’s insistence has reduced Greece to a condition like that of the United States at the bottom of the Great Depression. Unemployment has soared to 25 percent, and youth unemployment to more than 50 percent ; the economy has shrunk by 26 percent and consumption by 40 percent. Debt has risen to 175 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. And the funds from the

loans that Germany and other nations have extended to Greece have gone almost entirely either to cover interest payments or repay past loans; only 11 percent has actually gone to Greece’s government. Stuck on a treadmill of debt repayment and anemic economic activity, Greece, as the Financial Times noted, has been reduced to a “quasi-slave economy” run “purely for the benefit of foreign creditors.”

Not surprisingly, when Greek voters went to the polls Sunday, they elected a new government that is demanding a renegotiation of its debt. German and European Union officials have responded with adamant opposition to any such changes.

Fortunately for Germany, its own creditors took quite a different stance after World War II. In the London Debt Agreement of 1953, the 20 nations — including Greece — that had loaned money to Germany during the preNazi Weimar Republic and in the years since 1945 agreed to reduce West Germany’s debts by half. Moreover, they agreed that its repayments could not come out of the government’s spending but only and explicitly from export income. They further agreed to undervalue the German mark, so that German export income could grow. By the consent of all parties, the London Agreement, and subsequent modifications, were crafted in proceedings that made West Germany an equal party to its creditors: It could, and sometimes did, reject the creditors’ terms and insist on new negotiations.

THE WORLD

Ένα χρόνο παραπάνω κράτησε η γερμανική κατοχή τώρα από ό,τι στον 2ο παγκόσμιο πόλεμο. Χωρίς να πέσει ούτε σφαίρα είχαμε 1500 νεκρούς από αυτοκτονία, 1,5 εκατομμύρια ανέργους, παιδάκια που λιποθυμούσαν από την πείνα στα σχολεία, ανθρώπους που πεθαίναν αβοήθητοι σε νοσοκομεία, άνθρωπους που πεθαίναν από τα μαγγάλια για να ζεσταθούν γιατί τους είχαν κόψει το ρεύμα και γιατί δεν μπορούσαν πια να αγοράσουν ακριβό πετρέλαιο… Η Γερμανία που ξεκίνησε και τους δύο παγκόσμιους πολέμους, αφήνοντας πίσω εκατομμύριο νεκρούς στρατιώτες και πολίτες, εξακολουθεί να θέλει να επεκτείνει το διαβόητο «ζωτικό της χώρο», όραμα του Χίτλερ, αυτή τη φορά με άρματα της τράπεζες και στρατόπεδα συγκέντρωσης τις πόλεις και τα σπίτια των πολιτών των χωρών που «επιτίθεται», όπως και η Ελλάδα. Και να, πέντε χρόνια μετά, με την Ευρώπη υποδουλωμένη στις γερμανικές πολιτικές, η Ελλάδα για μια ακόμα φορά αψήφησε τις παγκόσμιες απειλές και σήκωσε το ανάστημά της ψηφίζοντας όχι στους Γερμανούς. Και η χώρα γιορτάζει την απελευθέρωση από τους κατακτητές αλλά και τους ντόπιους συνεργάτες άντε καλοθελητές. Δεν κέρδισε ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, κέρδισε η Ελλάδα την ελευθερία της, την αξιοπρέπειά της δείχνοντας για μια ακόμα φορά το δρόμο της ελευθερίας στην Ευρώπη. Υ.Γ (μην υποτιμάτε τους καναπέδες, κρύβουν εκπλήξεις)

Γράφει ο Κώστας Κρικέλης krikelis@gmail.com

Χαίρε ω χαίρε ελευθεριά

Η Γερμανία που ξεκίνησε και τους δύο παγκόσμιους πολέμους, αφήνοντας πίσω εκατομμύριο νεκρούς στρατιώτες και πολίτες, εξακολουθεί να θέλει να επεκτείνει το διαβόητο «ζωτικό της χώρο», όραμα του Χίτλερ, αυτή τη φορά με άρματα τις τράπεζες και στρατόπεδα συγκέντρωσης τις πόλεις και τα σπίτια των πολιτών των χωρών που «επιτίθεται», όπως και η Ελλάδα.

NEW YORK Culture "Η ΚΡΑΥΓΗ

Αναφορα στον γιο μου" Shout-Report to my son Stratos Tzortzoglou Alkiviadis Tzortzoglou Lyra:Kostas Stavroulidakis Dancer:Despina Sofia Stamos Singer:Giorgos Mazonakis Direction/Adaptation: Stratos Tzortzoglou Ελληνικό Κέντρο Πολιτισμού 12 Φεβρουαρίου- 15 Μαρτίου 2015 για 20 παραστάσεις

Πέμπτη ως Κυριακή (8:00 p.m.)

T. 718-726-7329

Στρατος Τζωρτζογλου

"Η ΚΡΑΥΓΗ- Αναφορα στον γιο μου" Shout-Report to my son

Πρεμιερα Παρασκευη 13 Φεβρουαρίου 2015 Ενα γράμμα κληρονομιάς απο τον πατέρα στον γιο. Βασισμένο σε κείμενα Καζαντζακη, Γκιμπράν, Απ.Παυλου,Ευριπιδη Stratos Tzortzoglou Alkiviadis Tzortzoglou Lyra:Kostas Stavroulidakis Μια Κραυγή, συνειδητότητας και αποκάλυψης ότι τίποτε δεν είναι όπως φαίνεται.

Ταυτότητες, ρόλοι, σχέσεις, συνθήκες, όλα πλάσματα του νου. Η αλήθεια μόνο μπορεί να μας φέρει στο εδώ και τώρα, στο Είναι της ανθρώπινης ύπαρξης. Είναι ο Θεός έξω από εμάς, ή ζει μέσα μας, και ποια είναι η αποστολή του Ανθρώπου; Ο ηρωας-ασκητής είναι ανθρώπινος, σωματικός, αδύναμος, ατελής, απροσάρμοστος, ζωντανός, αγωνιστής. Είναι χορευτής, γιατί ο χορός σκοτώνει το Εγώ.

Dancer:Despina Sofia Stamos Singer:Giorgos Mazonakis Direction/Adaptation: Stratos Tzortzoglou Και κάπου εκεί, σε ένα άλλο επίπεδο “ζουν” οι μνήμες, οι οποίες σαν εικόνες-θραύσματα ζωντανεύουν μέσα στον ήρωα, σχηματίζοντας όλο και πιο συναρπαστικές ιστορίες. Μέσα από την “Κραυγή” αφουγκραζόμαστε την ανάσα, την επιθυμία του ηρωα να δώσει πρόσωπο στο χάος, να υποτάξει το Εγώ και τα στοιχεία της φύσης οδεύοντας προς τη σοφία και τη νίκη του εφήμερου. Ακολουθεί τη φωνή του Χρέους μέσα από την καθημερινότητά του. Αγαπάει, πονάει, αγωνίζεται. Ερωτεύεται και νικάει το θάνατο. Προσφέρει και ελευθερώνεται.

NEW YORK Culture

THE SHOUT THE SHOUT a musical (oratorio) performance based on Nikos Kazantzakis‘ The Saviors of God / Askitiki – Report to Greco.

World tour starts in New York and for the period February 12 – March 15, the show will be staged at the Greek Cultural Center, with subsequent destinations as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago in the States and then in Montreal and Toronto in Canada and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia.

Spring 2015 the show will be staged in Athens with subsequent destinations Crete and Cyprus. As Kazantzakis himself says, “You shall never be able to establish in words that you live in ecstasy. But struggle unceasingly to establish it in words. Battle with myths, with comparisons, with allegories, with rare and common words, with exclamations and rhymes, to embody it in flesh, to transfix it! God, the Great Ecstatic, works in the same way. He speaks and struggles to speak in every way He can, with seas and with fires, with colors, with wings, with horns, with claws, with constellations and butterflies, that he may establish His ecstasy”.

SG takes the form of a prophet’s plea to change our conception of God so that we can live better. Kazantzakis assumes there’s a difference between the esoteric and the exoteric, between the unknowable mystical truth and the mere masks of God. And Kazantzakis’s vision of divinity is quite peculiar. It reminds me of the myth of Sisyphus.

Whereas the mainstream monotheistic idea is that God is a flawless person, Kazantzakis says that God is imperfect, that he’s a vagabond who struggles between two eternally opposing forces, one pulling him down into entropy and lifelessness and the other raising him up to freedom.

Πολεμάει χωρίς βεβαιότητες. Προσεύχεται και αγγίζει την έκσταση. Πεθαίνει και αναγεννιέται κάθε μέρα. Υπομένει τη Σταύρωση για να γευτεί την Ανάσταση. Ελπίζει και ονειρεύεται την κορυφή όπως η χώρα μας και κάθε Έλληνας. Αχνογραφεί την πύρινη γραμμή της ψυχής που οδηγεί στη λύτρωση Ο ηρωας ασκητής αποποιεί το Εγώ του, σπάει το είδωλο για να κατανοήσει την ουσία της ύπαρξής του, για να ζήσει συνειδητά. Χωρίς να περιμένει τίποτε. Ελεύθερος. Αυτή είναι η αποστολή του. Μια αποστολή που σαν σκυτάλη θα την παραδώσει στον επόμενο αγωνιστή, κι εκείνος στον επόμενο... Σαν ενα γράμμα κληρονομιάς απο τον πατέρα στον γιο.

Ελληνικό Κέντρο Πολιτισμού 12 Φεβρουαρίου 2015 εώς 15 Μαρτίου 2015 για 20 παραστάσεις από Πέμπτη ως Κυριακή 2/12/2015 until 3/15/2015 (8:00 p.m.)

Greek Cultural Center 26-80 30 Str. Astoria N.Y. 11102 email: info@greekculturalcenter.org T. 718-726-7329

NEW YORK Culture

Why Each Year Seems to Disappear More Quickly Than the Last

For most people, each passing month of their lives seems to feel shorter than the previous. Many of us can’t believe that stores are already starting to display Christmas products, and if you’re writing a check, you might still catch yourself writing 2013 when 2014 is nearly over.

All clocks follow the same 12 hour / 60 minute symmetry, yet studies suggest that as we get older, we don’t experience time the same way. And there are many theories that explain why it feels like time speeds up as we grow older.

Many psychologists believe that as we age, our perception of time begins to accelerate versus time actually speeding up. Studies indicate that biological changes in the human body that happen as it ages, such as reduced dopamine production in the brain, impact our internal clock.

Furthermore, some believe that as we grow up, we have fewer emotional and arousing experiences – the first kiss, the first trip away from home, the first heartbreak. Such experiences are easier to remember and lead to higher time estimations.

The emotional intensity of our daily life is affected by the fact that many of us experience “Habituation Hypothesis”.

Consider how often you find yourself on autopilot, moving through your daily tasks such as getting dressed or cooking dinner, or sitting in your daily commute while your mind is elsewhere. If you’ve lived in one place for a long time, or held the same job for many years, less and less feels truly new.

Our instinct is to conserve energy when we can, so when life is predictable, our minds turn to autopilot and we tune out. Our minds become efficient at carrying out tasks that have become habitual, so they are freed up to address more pressing issues. Unfortunately, many of us spend this mental energy on worrying, self-analyzing, weighing decisions, etc., which can become quite stressful. Yet, regardless where our mental focus goes, by exhibiting this type of be-

havior, we have a tendency to compress time, and as a result our lives seem to speed up.

There’s also what psychologists call “Forward Telescoping”, which considers how we perceive past events that have made a significant impact in our lives. We are inclined to stay connected to important past events – a birth of a child, a friend dying – to where they seem quite recent, even when many years have passed. The realization that ten years have gone by since you got married, when you feel like it’s only been five, can be quite shocking.

The quickening of our perception of time was also explained

by Paul Janet’s “Proportional Theory”. It suggests that as we get older, each period of time is a smaller fraction of the whole lifetime, and this affects how we perceive each moment.

How can we slow down time?

Look for the beauty in things. Feelings that we experience when we come across something that inspires or transforms us will expand the perception of time, because these moments are more awe-inspiring.

Enjoy the present moment. Instead of always contemplating, analyzing, making decisions, etc., make an effort to free up some of your thoughts while you’re going about you day to appreciate the minute details of each moment and your surroundings.

Limit multitasking. Many of us have busy lives and feel that multitasking is necessary. Yet consider that multitasking will occupy more of your mental resources as you keep pace with switching between tasks. You end up with have less energy to put towards the creation of new memories. In the long run, you’re likely to be less productive while you feel like there are never enough hours in a day.

The world

Al Qaeda branch claims Charlie Hebdo attack was years in the making CNN)Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility Wednesday for last week's rampage that killed 12 people at France's Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.

The attack was years in the making, an AQAP leader said in a video, claiming U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was the mastermind behind it.

Al-Awlaki was the terror group's spokesman before a U.S. drone strike killed him in Yemen in 2011. For days, intelligence analysts have been trying to piece together whether the gunmen who attacked the magazine met him on trips to Yemen -- a theory that could be bolstered by the new video's claim.

AQAP did not claim responsibility for Friday's deadly siege at a kosher grocery store in Paris, but praised it.

What is al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula?

French security services have identified a suspected accomplice in that attack, according to the French newspaper Le Parisien. Police sources cited by the newspaper said one line of investigation is that the accomplice, a man from a Paris suburb, may have driven gunman Amedy Coulibaly to the kosher supermarket, where Coulibaly later shot dead four people.

Coulibaly was killed in a police raid to end the siege. Said and Cherif Kouachi, the brothers who authorities say were behind the Charlie Hebdo attack, also are dead. But investigators' efforts to track down possible suspects tied to last week's attacks are continuing.

So is the magazine that the terrorists targeted last month.

Charlie Hebdo's new edition hit newsstands Wednesday -- a week after authorities say terrorists Said and Cherif Kouachi burst into its newsroom and gunned down staffers. The cover features a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed crying. All 3 million copies sold out quickly, but more copies are coming

soon, the magazine said.

‘Blessing from Allah’ The claim of responsibility for the deadly attack on the magazine came in a video showing AQAP commander Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi, with pictures of the Kouachis in the background.

“When the heroes were assigned, they accepted. They promised and fulfilled,” al-Ansi said.

He praised the attack, saying it was revenge for Charlie Hebdo’s depictions of Mohammed.

Al-Ansi blamed not only Charlie Hebdo, but also France and the United States.

“It is France that has shared all of America’s crimes,” al-Ansi added. “It is France that has committed crimes in Mali and the Islamic Maghreb. It is France that supports the annihilation of Muslims in Central Africa in the name of race cleansing.” (“Islamic Maghreb” refers to North Africa.)

“It was a blessing from Allah” that the kosher market siege, in which four hostages were killed, took place about the same time, al-Ansi said.

Official: Video is authentic but not sure about claim U.S. authorities said they think the video is authentic. But they weren’t ready to say that AQAP helped carry out the assault.

“We’re not there yet. There are good indicators” that the group was behind the attack, but the intelligence community is still assessing, a senior administration official told CNN. Earlier in the day, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey said that, “if genuine, this is only the latest example of the wanton brutality that is al Qaeda’s calling card and which it has visited upon innocents of all faiths.”

Investigators believe Cherif Kouachi left Yemen with as much as $20,000 from AQAP to carry out attacks, a U.S. official said.

THE WORLD

IATREIO ONLINE

Greeks from all over the world are now a few clicks away from a Greek doctor. Anyone who has lived abroad knows, how important it is for patients to speak with doctors from their homeland

Iatreio Online is a web based service where health professionals communicate with their patients online through video call. Patients seeking medical information, a second opinion or guidance from their personal doctor, can now contact Greek doctors remotely, at their convenience. Health professionals from a range of different medical specialties have made themselves available online, since the launch of the beta version on January 1st 2015.

Manolis Couclelis, co-founder and initiator of the project, states: “We created a service to deal with common challenges faced by the majority of the population regarding their interaction with health professionals. Doctors, psychologists and nutritionists have a wider reach for their services as patients may contact them remotely from home and abroad” “Online appointments shall not replace the traditional physical examination. The value of the service lies in remote medical consultations. Our aim is to create a new channel of interaction between patients and doctors that will save time and money for both parties” states Manolis Niadas co-founder of the service.

The vision is to integrate technology in the traditional doctor-patient relationship for their mutual benefit. A team of 11 dedicated, motivated and well educated professionals, initiated the journey of Iatreio-Online.

www.iatreio-online.gr

2. How it all started

The journey begun when two young entrepreneurs decided to turn their idea into a business, committing their time, energy, and financial resources to materialize their aspiration: To create the first online doctor’s workplace in Greece. Anticipating the success of similar services overseas, where the significant value of this service has been validated, they created a user friendly platform adjusted to better fit the requirements of the Greek population needs.

The team managed to secure some funding from the EU funding scheme (ESPA). Currently, the project attracts the interest of individual investors who appreciate a fresh, sustainable and innovative initiative that generates a win-win situation for the parties involved.

3. How it works

The user logs in and searches for a doctor from a range of medical specialties The user comes across the doctor’s available hours and he books the online appointment by paying online.

As soon as the time of the appointment arrives, the user logs in and initiates the video call with his doctor in a safe and user friendly web environment.

Further information can be found here:

4. Benefits: Users gain access to Greek doctors, psychologists and dietitians regardless of their physical location

THE WORLD

www.iatreio-online.gr Users get personalized medical consultations from licensed doctors online through video call. Instead of digging in the tons of unreliable medical information available online, users may now address their queries to a specialist.

Users save significant amounts of money and time.

Apart from the lower cost of online appointments, users can often avoid the trip to the doctor which may incur more costs and inconveniency.

a transnational food company. At Iatreio Online he is in charge of business development and is in charge of finances and marketing.

Manolis V. Niadas

Following his IB diploma he studied Politics with Economics in the UK. Then, he attended an MSc in Management degree at the University of Bath where he graduated in 2012. At the age of 22 he deployed his entrepreneurial skills by co-founding Iatreio Online 5. Who may use the service? where he is in charge of technical development, techniGreeks living abroad and would like to see a Greek doc- cal support and sales. tor at a lower cost People living in remote regions of Greece and have poor Besides the co-founders, Iatreio Online has been imporaccess to specialized doctors tantly enhanced by the engagement of two experienced Disabled people or their relatives who are in need of professionals in the Greek market. Firstly, Stefanos Falsome medical advice conakis who watched the progress of the platform as a Patients who may do their follow-ups online after hav- project manager, is a specialist in e-commerce having ing met their doctor (chronic diseases) a 7 year experience in the pharmaceutical’s sector and Patients or their relatives who are in need of a second in medical publications. Secondly, Stathis Georgiadis opinion concerning their condition (g360 Communication) has been involved in the brand People who realize they should see a doctor but cannot creation process while also showing strong commitfit an appointment into their over-booked schedule. ment in shaping the promotional strategy of Iatreio Online. Stathis has a significant work experience in the 6. Specialties currently available on Iatreio Online: pharmaceuticals sector as well as in FMCG products Pathology-Gynecology-Dermatology-Urology Plastic Surgery-Endocrinology-Psychiatry-Pediatrics 8. Contact Details Otolaryngology-Psychology-Nutrition-Physiotherapy Manolis C. Couclelis Email: ecouclelis@iatreio-online.gr 7. The founders of Iatreio Online: Tel: +30 210 3610418 Mob: +30 6938720568 Ippokratous 10-12, 10679 Athens, Greece Manolis C. Couclelis Following his IB diploma, Manolis studied economics in the UK. Then, he attended an MSc in Management degree at the University of Bath where he graduated in 2011. He has worked as an intern at the shipping unit of HypoVereins Bank and at the National Bank of Greece dealing room. Moreover he has worked for Soya Hellas,

Manolis V. Niadas Email: mniadas@iatreio-online.gr Tel: +30 210 3610418 Mob: +30 6946901820 Ippokratous 10-12, 10679 Athens, Greece

New York city

CENTRAL PARK BEFORE BEAUTIFICATION

by Elizabeth Blackmar and Roy Rosenzweig Central Park was the first landscaped public park in the United States. Advocates of creating the park--primarily wealthy merchants and landowners--admired the public grounds of London and Paris and urged that New York needed a comparable facility to establish its international reputation. A public park, they argued, would offer their own families an attractive setting for carriage rides and provide working-class New Yorkers with a healthy alternative to the saloon. After three years of debate over the park site and cost, in 1853 the state legislature authorized the City of New York to use the power of eminent domain to acquire more than 700 acres of land in the center of Manhattan.

An irregular terrain of swamps and bluffs, punctuated by rocky outcroppings, made the land between Fifth and Eighth avenues and 59th and 106th streets undesir able for private development. Creating the park, however, required displacing roughly 1,600 poor residents,

including Irish pig farmers and German gardeners, who lived in shanties on the site. At Eighth Avenue and 82nd Street, Seneca Village had been one of the city's most stable African-American settlements, with three churches and a school. The extension of the boundaries to 110th Streetin 1863 brought the park to its current 843 acres.

The question of who should exercise political control of this new kind of public institution was a point of contention throughout the nineteenth century. In appointing the first Central Park Commission (1857-1870), the Republican-dominated state legislature abandoned the principle of "home rule" in order to keep the park out of the hands of locally-elected (and primarily Democratic) office holders. Under the leadership of Andrew Green, the commission became the city's first planning agency and oversaw the laying out of uptown Manhattan as well as the management of the park. After a new citycharter in 1870 restored the park to local control, the mayor appointed park commissioners.

MARIA PAPAPETROS

_ Wow are you spending Valentines this year Amanda? _ Same way I did last year. _ Which was? _ Doing my laundry as I have been doing for the past quite a few years, with almost everyone gone on a date I have the laundry room to myself. What’s the bid deal about it anyway? It’s just another day, besides with Jack out of the picture there is nothing left in me. What are you doing that day? _ I am going out to a dinner dance. _ Oh, you’ve met someone? _ No, I am going to a “Celebrating Love” single’s party and doing just that, honoring all the love I have in my life, there is so much to be had and cherish, I feel blessed. It is a privilege to have known it. My love for George is like a candle that lights up the dark corners of my heart. _ How is that? George has been gone about seven years now.

– Yes true, but my love for him is still alive, he did not take it with him, it lives in my heart as he does.

Valentines

_ Do you think you will ever have another meaningful relationship in your life.

Yes I know I will. There is someone out there for me and he is coming now that I am ready.

What about George you say you love him.

Yes I do, there is room for more than one love in my heart.

Have you forgiven Jack yet; are you ready to have a life?

– I think it’s too late for me, I am so afraid of my feelings, afraid to love even my family; I don’t want to get hurt again.

Love does not hurt Come to the dance with me; open your heart to love and I don’t mean just romantic love.

You eat alone every night, invite your sister and her family over, they love you so much. It is alright to cry let your tears fall, invite love in your life, allow people to love you, and if time comes to part ways know that the love stays and warms you up in cold winter nights. _ I love you Emma, give me an hour to get ready; lets go celebrate Valentines, and a HAPPY VALENTINES TO YOU ALL!!!!

www.mpapapetros.com

Maria Papapetros www.mpapapetros.com

Happy Valentines LOVE AND RELATIONSHIP WORKSHOP Hosted by Kelly Rutherford This is a three – hour evening designed by Psychic Maria Papapetros, focusing on goals and tools for IDEAL relationships.

TOOLS FOR IDEAL RELATIONSHIPS in Romance – Marriage – Family- Friendship – Work- The Divine – And the Self.

-Attract your ideal mate -Release and let go of unhealthy and past Relationships -Create the relationships you want -Improve existing Relationships

LOVE AND HAPPINESS MEDITATION AND PSYCHIC READINGS MARIA WILL ANSWER A PSYCHIC QUESTION FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS

Date -February 18th, 2015 Time- 6:30 to 9:30 pm.

Fee 50 Dollars prepaid by the 2-15-15 or 60 at the door PAYPAL available

For personal Session appointments and Info please call 212-935-4441 – email – maria@papapetros.com

THE WORLD

4 Simple Ways Your Thoughts Can Change The World If all thoughts are energy, then there is nothing to lose and everything to gain!

3. Magnify your intentions through meditation. During meditation, try focusing your thoughts and inten1. Send love to other people whether you know them tions on love, gratitude and appreciation for a few minor not. When you are in the car or bus, silently say to utes, not only for your immediate surroundings, but the drivers of the oncoming traffic, “I love you.” If there for as many living creations throughout the planet and are no oncoming cars, then pick out some trees or plants universe. and do the same thing.

4. Lift the energy of your coworkers. At work, try sendIf you’re driving the car, then please stay focused on the ing loving thoughts to your coworkers. road, but if you’re a passenger, you’ll have plenty of op- There is a reason why we never feel good after watching portunities to share your energy! the 6 o’clock news: because it’s filled with fear-ladened propaganda to keep us living in that vibration, which 2. Send love to everything in nature. If you go on a eventually manifests itself somewhere throughout our walk in nature, tell the trees and plants how much you day or evening. If we live in the vibration of love and love them. send loving thoughts to all living creatures, then we will If you’re at a body of water, send those same positive conversely change this paradigm into a world full of thoughts to all of the wonderful life living in that envi- love while attracting those of the same vibration, with ronment. If you’re at the beach, perhaps this will call a just a few simple thoughts each day! dolphin or manatee to you!

THE WORLD

Η ανατομία μιας ήττας Γράφει ο Πάσχος Μαρδαβέλης - ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ Hταν πολλά τα σφάλματα της συγκυβέρνησης των κ. Αντώνη Σαμαρά και Ευάγγελου Βενιζέλου, ειδικά κατά το τελευταίο -και κρίσιμο πριν από τις εκλογέςδιάστημα. Τα λάθη δεν ήταν μόνο επικοινωνιακά, όπως συνηθίζεται να λέγεται. Αυτός είναι ο ρηχός τρόπος να διαβάζουμε την πολιτική. Το πρόβλημα της συγκυβέρνησης ήταν στρατηγικό, ή για να ακριβολογούμε ήταν η απουσία στρατηγικής, που την οδήγησε από ήττα σε ήττα. Ας σκεφτούμε μόνο πόσα προσωπεία άλλαξε η κυβέρνηση τον τελευταίο χρόνο. Επί οκτώ μήνες βομβάρδιζαν τον ελληνικό λαό με ένα εν πολλοίς ψευδεπίγραφο success story. Οι πολίτες το πίστεψαν και αυτό δεν φάνηκε μόνο στις δημοσκοπήσεις, αλλά και στην καταναλωτική δαπάνη, στις εισαγωγές αυτοκινήτων κ.λπ. Και ξαφνικά, εκεί γύρω στον Δεκέμβριο, ο ουρανός γέμισε μολυβένια σύννεφα. Η «σίγουρη σωτηρία της χώρας» έγινε «ένα βήμα πριν από την καταστροφή». Ακόμη χειρότερα για τη Ν.Δ. και το ΠΑΣΟΚ: ουδείς τους πίστεψε. Η όψιμη κινδυνολογία πήγε άπατη. Οι Ελληνες επείσθησαν από την προηγούμενη προπαγάνδα περί «success story» και άφοβα έδωσαν την πρωτιά με τεράστια διαφορά στον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ. Το άλλο story που κατέρρευσε ήταν εκείνο της «υπεύθυνης κυβέρνησης απέναντι στον ανεύθυνο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ». Ας το σκεφθούμε λίγο. Η ρητορική της κυβέρνησης ήταν ότι έχει απέναντί της ένα «εξαιρετικά επικίνδυνο κόμμα που θα τινάξει τη χώρα στον αέρα». Σ’ αυτό λοιπόν το «επικίνδυνο, τυχοδιωκτικό κόμμα», οι κ. Σαμαράς και Βενιζέλος ενεχείρισαν πρόωρα -δύο μήνες πριν από τις συνταγματικές προθεσμίες- την ευκαιρία να καταλάβει την εξουσία, ώστε να αναλάβει το κρισιμότερο κομμάτι του μνημονίου, δηλαδή την τελική αξιολόγηση και τη συνακόλουθη έξοδο από αυτό. Ευλόγως, λοιπόν, κάθε νουνεχής πολίτης αναρωτήθηκε «ποιος είναι ο ανεύθυνος σε αυτή την υπόθεση;». Διότι αν η περιγραφή του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ από τους κ.κ. Σαμαρά και Βενιζέλο ήταν αληθής, τότε οι ίδιοι είναι διπλά ανεύθυνοι, αφού παρέδωσαν εσκεμμένα τον

πυροκροτητή στα «μωρά» (με την αρχαιοελληνική σημασία) του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ. Κατά έναν σατανικό τρόπο η υπευθυνότητα των συγκυβερνητών, είναι άμεση συνάρτηση του πόσο υπεύθυνος θα αποδειχθεί ο κ. Τσίπρας. Αν ο τελευταίος αποδειχθεί ανεύθυνος, τότε η ιστορία θα γράψει και για την ανευθυνότητα των κ. Σαμαρά και Βενιζέλου να μην τελειώσουν με το μνημόνιο στην ώρα του.

Και η ώρα της τελικής αξιολόγησης ήταν τον προηγούμενο Σεπτέμβριο και όχι στο τέλος Φεβρουαρίου, που θα είμαστε με την ψυχή στο στόμα.

Το βασικό στρατηγικό έλλειμμα όμως της συγκυβέρνησης ήταν άλλο. Ηταν ότι το αφήγημα δεν διέφερε επί της ουσίας από εκείνο του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, ή για να το πούμε αλλιώς η συγκυβέρνηση έτρεφε την ίδια αλλεργία στις μεταρρυθμίσεις και απλώς δεν μπορούσε να το πει δυνατά. Ας σκεφτούμε ότι από όλες τις δομικές μεταρρυθμίσεις του μνημονίου τη μόνη που υιοθέτησε η Ν.Δ. (και όχι το ΠΑΣΟΚ) ήταν η αλλαγή του συνδικαλιστικού νόμου. Σε όλα τα άλλα, συμπεριλαμβανομένου του επονομαζόμενου «email-Χαρδούβελη» μασούσαν τα λόγια τους.

Η -ομολογουμένως πιο ήπια- αντιμνημονιακή ρητορεία ήταν εμφανής σε όλο τον προεκλογικό λόγο των δύο κομμάτων και αφού (ρητώς μέχρι τον Νοέμβριο και αρρήτως μέχρι τις εκλογές) υπήρχε ο διαγωνισμός ποιος σχίζει πιο καλά το μνημόνιο, επόμενο ήταν να κερδίσει αυτός που εγγυόταν ότι θα το σχίσει καλύτερα. Ειδικά η Ν.Δ. χρειάζεται ένα διαφορετικό αφήγημα από τον «ΣΥΡΙΖΑ-light», που εν τοις πράγμασι υπηρέτησε τα προηγούμενα χρόνια. Οφείλει να ψάξει όσες φιλελεύθερες ρίζες τής έχουν απομείνει για να χτίσει ένα άλλο αφήγημα, διαφορετικό από το κυρίαρχο του παρωχημένου κρατισμού και πελατειασμού, του οποίου την πατέντα -έτσι κι αλλιώςέχουν άλλοι. Συνεπώς, όπως για τον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ ισχύει το ερώτημα «τι θέλει να γίνει τώρα που μεγάλωσε;», για τη Ν.Δ. υπάρχει το ανάποδο: «τι θέλει να γίνει τώρα που μίκρυνε;».

New York city

PASSIONATE DANCE COMPANY EMBRACES WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE Ellopia Press NY by Nick Christophers

As many of us know the origin of theatre was in ancient Greece and since then it has evolved more than even the forefathers thought it would. One pure example is the dance company Echodrama based in Athens. The company takes their audience on a musical trip that covers many cultural nuances. Their performances are centered on Greek culture which is taken from Greek history, mythology, literature and philosophy. The goal is to present a social message with combining all these facets onto the modern stage.

"Not only do we bring awareness of Greek history and culture to our audiences, but we also explore philosophical issues. We hope to show how our past directly reflects the present and how lessons learned can change the future for not only Greece and Europe, but globally, “this is our raison d’ être."

oped a grand production. Sevi is a choreographer and Yannis is a composer and their daughters are dancers as well as choreographers. Besides the Echodrama Company they also own a dance school, Dance Dream which is located in Pefki, Athens. The school teaches various styles of dance to all ages.

Sevi and Yannis’ parents are both from Peloponnesus, Attiki and Asia Minor. After living in Athens for a while they moved to the States and lived there for sixteen years. Both are also graduates of the UCLA School of Architecture. The group is predominantly made up of Greeks but they have one dancer from Cuba. Aside from their productions they also host workshops with international choreographers to bring awareness of other dance trends beyond Greece’s borders.

While living in L.A. Yannis offered his talents for an The "brainchildren" behind the company are actually Amnesty International concert in Hollywood which a family. Yannis Pisimisis and Sevi Dimitriadou along went very well. He also was approached to pen a music with their daughters Daniela and Phaedra have devel- theme for the L.A. Chapter of the American Red Cross.

THE WORLD As many of us know the origin of theatre was in ancient Greece and since then it has evolved more than even the forefathers thought it would. One pure example is the dance company Echodrama based in Athens. The company takes their audience on a musical trip that covers many cultural nuances. Their performances are centered on Greek culture which is taken from Greek history, mythology, literature and philosophy. The goal is to present a social message with combining all these facets onto the modern stage.

"Not only do we bring awareness of Greek history and culture to our audiences, but we also explore philosophical issues. We hope to show how our past directly reflects the present and how lessons learned can change the future for not only Greece and Europe, but globally, “this is our raison d’ être."

The "brainchildren" behind the company are actually a family. Yannis Pisimisis and Sevi Dimitriadou along with their daughters Daniela and Phaedra have developed a grand production. Sevi is a choreographer and Yannis is a composer and their daughters are dancers as well as choreographers. Besides the Echodrama Company they also own a dance school, Dance Dream which is located in Pefki, Athens. The school teaches various styles of dance to all ages.

Sevi and Yannis’ parents are both from Peloponnesus, Attiki and Asia Minor. After living in Athens for a while they moved to the States and lived there for sixteen years. Both are also graduates of the UCLA School of Architecture. The group is predominantly made up of Greeks but they have one dancer from Cuba. Aside

from their productions they also host workshops with international choreographers to bring awareness of other dance trends beyond Greece’s borders.

While living in L.A. Yannis offered his talents for an Amnesty International concert in Hollywood which went very well. He also was approached to pen a music theme for the L.A. Chapter of the American Red Cross.

The company was able to travel and perform with elaborate shows for two years thanks to a grant from the European Union in 2012. Because of the generosity of the EU it enabled them to create their last two productions, The Cave and Rhei. Prior to this grant, Echodrama depended on fees from Festivals that invited them to perform, and dancers received government subsidies.

Echodrama has performed outside of Greece, in Germany. They toured through eleven cities for their production of The Murderess, based on Alexandros Papadiamandis’ novel. Recently, the company has been working towards a U.S. tour which is a big task. The ground-work for the tour has been taken on by Dena Paponis Dahilig who resides in Los Angeles. Dena set up a Kickstarter campaign which raised over $10,000.

"The performances were received extremely well by Greeks and Germans alike. Members of the Greek communities in these cities spoke with enthusiasm about us, and the local press wrote detailed articles with pictures and rave reviews. The wonderful experience of offering a piece of our culture to the Germans, and generally to the non-Greeks who have attended our performances, has made Echodrama decide to undertake the difficult task of a tour in the U.S.,” added Yannis.

THE WORLD

How Diet Soda Messes With Your Brain

By Mike Barrett We have known for some time that drinking sodas can lead to an almost infinite amount of health complications, but what about diet soda?

Actually, diet soda is not at all a healthful alternative to soda, as the artificial sweeteners added to the beverages can also cause all sorts of problems. What’s more, these artificial sweeteners mess with your brain in numerous ways – often even causing you to consume more than you normally would.

Numerous studies have drawn a link between various illnesses and diet sodas – or at least with the artificial sweeteners. Research has found that drinking these beverages can lead to an increased risk of diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease, and even obesity – a primary issue many are trying to avoid by choosing the drink. So is diet soda bad for you? You bet.

One of those studies, from Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science further, investigated the correlation between artificial sweeteners, and weight gain and diabetes.

The study, published in the scientific journal Nature, had some compelling findings that may explain the previous contradicting results: People consuming artificial sweeteners had overall higher blood sugars than those who rarely or never did.

Some saw an increase in their blood sugars with just one week of con-

suming the fake sugars.

Mice given the artificial sweeteners gained just as much weight and had higher blood sugars than the ones given regular sugar despite consuming less calories!

Drinking diet sodas even affects us on a cellular level.

We can attribute this to diet sodas containing bizarre ingredients like mold inhibitors (not found in sugary sodas) often listed as sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate. Peter Piper of the University of Sheffield says these chemicals “have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it.” Be wary of these ingredients if you want to steer clear of hives, asthma, and other allergic reactions, too.

Unfortunately, the negative effects don’t stop at the physical. In addition to the physical effects of diet soda, it can also mess with your brain. Αbout the author

Mike Barrett is the co-founder, editor, and researcher behind Natural Society. Studying the work of top natural health activists, and writing special reports for top 10 alternative health websites, Mike has written hundreds of articles and pages on how to obtain optimum wellness through natural health.

3711 35th Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 -(718) 392-5600