In the News (from versia.ru): A new term, the New Normal is catching on in the US—’Now it’s okays’—same-sex marriages, surrogate children, female priests, househusbands, and so much more. But how can it be that pills with a narcotic effect have become ‘legal drugs’? 70% of Americans regularly use legal drugs.

“The use of sedatives causes the same changes in the brain as changes that are caused by chronic alcoholism. The popular consumption of sedatives in the benzodiazepine class is as addictive as heroin after four weeks. The side-effects are accordingly—hallucinations, headaches, convulsions and death. It is just about impossible to ‘get off’ these drugs.

“With the sharp cessation of using one of these medicines, the risk of epileptic seizures, stroke, heart attacks and hallucinations is great. The irony of tranquilizers is that are prescribed for nervousness and insomnia, but the more that you take them, anxiousness and insomnia increases. What this means is that you constantly need to increase the dose. The final stage in benzodiazepine dependence is ‘loss of personalization’—loss of interest in life, often leading to suicide.

“Manufacturers were aware from the start that patients become addicted to these drugs. Indeed, the vast majority of painkillers prescribed in the United States are similar to narcotics. It is no wonder that 15 thousand more Americans per year die from an overdose of painkillers than from heroin and cocaine combined.

“The drug mafia includes pharmacies in their fields of operation. As a result, nearly 12 million residents of the United States use painkillers not for medical purposes.

“The thoughtless use of psychoactive drugs by American adults inevitably leads to children copying of this behavior. As a result, American youth have their own fashion of ‘wheels.’ Schoolchildren take medication to treat ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), ostensibly to improve educational outcomes.

“But what is even worse is that one third of American parents believe that their children will learn better through taking medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, even if the child is okay in terms of intelligence. The parents try to protect their children from street drugs, but they don’t understand that the use of many medicines is no less liable to damage the health of their children. One of the researchers in this study found that taking antidepressants causes bouts of aggression in 14% of the youth.

Even though American doctors are aware of these results, they continue to prescribe more and more pills because the whole business model of the medical industry is based not upon health but upon illness. Giants of the pharmaceutical industry invest 60 billion dollars per year in sales promotion—more than twice as much as in research.

And so that research like this will not undermine the boundless faith of the population in the wondrous power of the pills, pharmaceutical companies donate an additional billion dollars to American doctors. This is called, ‘consultation and participation in research.’ Pharmaceutical manufacturers pay doctors so that they will specifically prescribe their medicines to patients.

“But even this is ‘small change’ compared to the 34 billion dollars that pharmaceutical industry giants spend on ‘free samples.’ That is fully in line with the main rule of drug dealers on the streets: the first dose is free—Doctors are bribing their patients into getting habituated to their new medicines. And this is perfectly legal—the lobby of the pharmaceutical industry took care of this.

“Increasing profits make it possible for the manufacturers to attract even more politicians to their side. As a result of this vicious cycle, doctors make false diagnoses for millions of Americans and prescribe billions of pills to them.

“After the legalization of marijuana in the state of Colorado, the number of children whose parents prefer to be treated with this drug is increasing.

“The marketing of marijuana sold legally in the United States is one of the most rapidly developing markets. In the year 2014, the expected growth in the market is 64% to the height of 2.34 billion dollars.

“Recently, in the United States drug parties have become fashionable: All of the participants pour the pills that they brought into a large bowl, and then periodically throughout the evening, they take the pills washed down with alcohol. Overdose fatalities in gatherings like these happens with disturbing frequency.”

My Comment: The general crisis of our egoistic nature is being expressed in all of our lives, and we will not be able to deal with this unless we begin to change ourselves!
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In the News (from boyko.ru): “According to a recent study a person’s emotions are nothing but chemical reactions. The feeling of falling in love is aroused by amphetamines and then the body blocks them and releases endorphins which invoke loyalty and dedication.

“Love is a chemical reaction that lasts between 2-4 years. It isn’t a sublime emotion but merely the result of the breaking down of certain chemicals. It happens in the duration of 2-4 years and then a person’s body blocks this reaction in order to protect itself.

“Falling in love is a result of the secretion of amphetamines in reaction to a certain ‘beloved’ person. They actually create the feeling of euphoria and happiness that lovers feel. These substances include noradrenalin and adrenalin which are natural energizing substances. This is why a person feels that he can move mountains in the name of love. When lovers break up the period of the secretion of amphetamines grows longer, but at the same time when amphetamines break down they release dangerous substances including ammonia.

“These processes have a negative effect on the central nervous system and after 2 to 4 years the body gradually suppresses these reactions in order to protect itself. The amphetamines are replaced by other hormones, endorphins, which are commonly known as the happiness hormone and thus being in love is replaced by dedication.”

My Comment: If we study our emotions more deeply, meaning the reactions of our desires, we will discover that it all results from the influence of the Light on the desire, and the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how we can manage the influence of the Light on the desire.
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In the News (from kp.ru): “New research shows that our genes are responsible for our reluctance to work and our inclination to be idle. But why does a person need genes that are responsible for laziness?

“The brain uses 60% of the energy the body produces for thinking. People have directed all their energy in order to find food so that they can preserve their energy and powers. If we weren’t lazy, we wouldn’t be able to survive very long. Lazy and idle people live longer and work whenever they want to and many of them even turn out to be geniuses.

“According to nature’s laws, prominent figures generally take their time in exposing their talent. Darwin, Churchill and Picasso were never the teachers’ pets. Einstein had a reputation of being slow-witted. Practically all the geniuses were assessed by their teachers as incapable and lazy. ‘Talent and mediocre abilities during childhood, little success during teenage and a modest start at work are similar characteristics in the biographies of many prominent people.’

“In addition to the data that we were given by nature we need the right mental environment that can turn a talent into genius. This is the reason that early philosophers believed that what makes a good educator is the ability to teach a child to waste time. Boredom is a great way to develop one’s imagination. Without imagination there is no genius. Einstein said that imagination is more important than information.”

My Comment: According to Kabbalah, we should let the Upper Light, the developing force, operate. This means that we should be tuned to it and not interrupt its work…
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In the News (The Mind Unleashed): “Research on the placebo effect is revealing some amazing discoveries about the power of belief. Placebos were created to control for suggestion, imagination, and bias in both investigators and patients in clinical studies. At the time placebos were first introduced into medical research, investigators didn’t know how they produced their effects. As the field of neuroscience has evolved, it is becoming clear that belief induced within the context surrounding the placebo produces very specific and powerful physiologic effects.

“Research shows there are actually multiple placebo effects. In other words, there are multiple ways the placebo influences the body-mind to heal depending upon the therapy or condition being treated. This research shows that the placebo effect is mediated by the release of neurotransmitters, consistently impacts certain areas of the brain, and even mirrors the action of pharmaceutical drugs on human physiology.

“Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials are the gold standard for proving effectiveness of a medication. The placebo effect provides insight into the complexity of consciousness and how little we really know about the mind and its ability to heal. But the scientific evidence is accumulating and points towards the possibility that the mind has an unlimited healing ability.

“Research shows that a placebo exactly mimics a drug’s effect when the patient has been exposed to the drug prior to the placebo. This has been shown with pain medications, an immune suppressing medication, an anti-Parkinson’s agent, and an anti-anxiety drug. What’s even more amazing is that the placebo effect can even be quantified based on what is told to the patient regarding the likelihood they will be getting a drug.

“The placebo effect emphasizes the importance of belief in overall health and wellness. Be positive in what you say and be discerning about what you believe. Your body-mind is listening.”

My Comment: It is not about belief in higher powers but in the power of self-hypnosis, the authority of the  doctor, and the power of medication. Multiple increases of this force is possible during a group’s influence on participants and the impact of the group on each participant.

We usually neglect the intangible effects on a person, but the human being is a complex and composite creature who may be influenced in many ways.

Kabbalah believes that the intangible effects are most effective in how a person’s inner world can be changed, in addition to his behavior and health.
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The geneticist Bruce Lipton claims that a person can overcome any illness by using the power of the mind, and that a focused mental effect can change the body’s genetic code.

Doctors have known for ages about the placebo effect: that by believing in the power of a certain medicine, a person can change the physiological processes in his body, even down to the molecular level, thus changing his genetic code. This can be achieved in different ways: by a special diet, by the influence of a powerful medium or by certain physical exercises. But Lipton believes that the most powerful effect on our health is actually the mind.

The main difference between man and other living creatures is that man can change his body and heal himself from hereditary and terminal diseases by mentally instructing the body. The problem is that only few of those who believe in the power of self-healing using mind power really do believe in it and are therefore successful. Most people subconsciously deny this option. In order to achieve self-healing, we have to overcome the barrier that is placed by our subconscious so that we will be able to influence our mind and thus the cellular processes and the genetic code.

My Comment: I believe that nothing is stronger than the  power of the mind, and that it is easier to control this power in a collective when a person annuls himself, lowers his psychological barrier, and allows others to influence him.
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Question: How is it possible that a person does not feel himself individually but perceives himself as an inseparable part of the whole?

Answer: He will not be able to think differently if he feels connected to everyone else, like a mother, depending on her children.

Could a mother think of herself as if she has no children? Whatever opportunities—a new job that she is offered—she immediately thinks about what would happen to her home in her absence.

Question: Will people no longer feel their loneliness, depression, or inner emptiness, which are now so common?

Answer: Depression will disappear immediately, as soon as we begin to awaken the positive force of nature, which will counterbalance the negative effect of our egoism.

Indeed, depression and emptiness are caused by the fact that we are at the mercy of a single, negative egoistic force with which we cannot make our lives better. We have reached a point after which we must bring a positive force to the world.

Question: Today, a person feels lonely even living in a golden palace, but will people be lonely in a corrected, perfect Israel?

Answer: There will be no lonely people because everyone will feel like a mother with many children. People will feel enveloped in love and warmth. This responsibility for everyone as for his children, will be his joy, not a burden.

Two forces will be inside the human being, and outside everything will be balanced. We do not understand what balance is. It is a touch of eternity, a sense of paradise. After all, everything comes into balance and harmony.

On the one hand, this state is composed of two opposing forces, and, on the other hand, these forces complement each other, and thus, it turns out that I am not affected by any force outside. My connection with others is so reciprocal that it is not hard for me to act for the common good, as do all the others.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 4/12/15

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In the News (Russian-Bazaar): “In another few decades, a quarter of the children will be born with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). In addition, boys suffer from this disorder five times more than girls (4 out of 20). It is impossible to detect autism in the fetal stage of development or in the newborn. Phenomenal memory is nothing other than a result of autism.

“Many claim that autistics are much more talented and intelligent than regular children. But those that suffer from ASD are absolutely unprepared for independent living. They require constant care and supervision. The autistic can be used in scientific and technical fields, in mathematics and programming.

“They can prove themselves excellently in plants and factories, in hospitals and in laboratories. Military experts commend the skills of the autistic. These people can carry out any task if this task is defined precisely and correctly.

“Researchers compare autistics to representatives of extreme religious communities who feel happy only when they are in an environment that is familiar to them. They have their own laws, traditions and views, attributing much importance and value to these, but they don’t impose this on anyone.”

My Comment: All the “new” problems are cured only through mutual relationships in society because they are the result of a lag in the correction of society.
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In the News (from The Health Site): “Better education may help you earn more, but it may not make you a lot happier than those with low educational attainment, a new study claims.

“Getting a good education may not improve your life chances of happiness, showed the findings published in the British Journal of Psychiatry. …

“The researchers examined socioeconomic factors related to high mental wellbeing, such as level of education and personal finances. Low educational attainment is strongly associated with mental illness but the research team wanted to find out if higher educational attainment is linked with mental wellbeing.

“The team found all levels of educational attainment had similar odds of high mental well-being. …

“High mental wellbeing was defined as ‘feeling good and functioning well’. People with high levels of mental wellbeing manage to feel happy and contented with their lives more often than those who do not, the researchers noted.”

My Comment: As it is written in the Torah, “He who increases knowledge increases sorrow,” better less, but with the right intention, and simply, “the less you know, the better you sleep.”
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In the News (Time): “Loneliness kills. That’s the conclusion of a new study by Brigham Young University researchers who say they are sounding the alarm on what could be the next big public-health issue, on par with obesity and substance abuse.

“The subjective feeling of loneliness increases risk of death by 26%, according to the new study in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. Social isolation — or lacking social connection — and living alone were found to be even more devastating to a person’s health than feeling lonely, respectively increasing mortality risk by 29% and 32%.

“The researchers emphasized the difference between the subjective, self-reported feeling of loneliness and the objective state of being socially isolated. Both are potentially damaging, the study found. People who say they are alone but feel happy are at increased risk of death, as are those who have many social connections but say they are lonely. People who are both objectively isolated and subjectively lonely may be at the greatest risk of death, says Julianne Holt-Lunstad, an author of the study, though she notes that more data would be needed to know with certainty.”

My Comment: This problem will be manifested increasingly as the world becomes more tied with external connections, but people become more and more lonely. There is a constant discrepancy between our negative and positive connections in the world, and the magnitude of this discrepancy brings about all the suffering in the world.
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In the News (Scientific American): “A person’s experience as a child or teenager can have a profound impact on their future children’s lives, new work is showing. Rachel Yehuda, a researcher in the growing field of epigenetics and the intergenerational effects of trauma, and her colleagues have long studied mass trauma survivors and their offspring. Their latest results reveal that descendants of people who survived the Holocaust have different stress hormone profiles than their peers, perhaps predisposing them to anxiety disorders.

“Yehuda’s team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y., and others had previously established that survivors of the Holocaust have altered levels of circulating stress hormones compared with other Jewish adults of the same age. Survivors have lower levels of cortisol, a hormone that helps the body return to normal after trauma; those who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have even lower levels.

“This finding echoes the results of many other human epigenetic studies that show that the effects of certain experiences during childhood and adolescence are especially enduring in individuals and sometimes even across generations.

“With low levels of cortisol and high levels of the enzyme that breaks it down, many descendants of Holocaust survivors would be ill adapted to survive starvation themselves. In fact, that stress hormone profile might make them more susceptible to PTSD; previous studies have indeed suggested that the offspring of Holocaust survivors are more vulnerable to the effects of stress and are more likely to experience symptoms of PTSD. These descendants may also be at risk for age-related metabolic syndromes, including obesity, hypertension and insulin resistance, particularly in an environment of plenty.”

My Comment: If you take into account the 20 centuries of systematic oppression, then it is not clear how these people can still experience joy, bring up children, and love humor.
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