Work is not a curse

Lots of people may find work  to be a curse. But work should not at all be a curse. Everything you do in life you should do with pleasure. Though we do agree that for the present generation that is not easy at all.

In the beginning, God created also work. Lots of people seem to forget that or do notice it. One of the first things we learn about how God made us is that he designed us for work.

“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28),

God said. And just so we didn’t miss his point, the author tells us,

“Jehovah, The Lord God, took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Gen. 2:15).

That we have to take care of the earth, most people have forgotten. They mostly misuse the earth. These days and in the coming years, we shall feel the consequences of how man mistreated mother earth.

Throughout the Scriptures we can read how people treated their surroundings.

God shows us that work is part of His perfect design for our lives and the Bible tells us that one day we shall be able to find the restored paradise.

In fact, work is as much of a basic human need as food, beauty, rest, and friendship. Sociological studies show that without meaningful work, people suffer emotionally, physically, and spiritually. The loss of work is harmful to us because God specifically designed us for work.

Our work helps us discover part of what it means to be a human made in the image of God. It also helps us understand our own abilities and gifts. Working also allows us to feel useful and get satisfaction for those things we manage to achieve. Moreover, work is one of the main ways that God uses us to bless other people. He designed the world so that our work benefits others.

If you think of all the things you own and use — from toothpaste to highways to clothing stores — you will see that you have been immensely blessed through the work of countless people. Work is such a wonderful thing!

But we can safely admit that a large majority of people are not so happy with the work they do. Work doesn’t always feel good.

In fact, polls show that seven out of ten people “hate” or “strongly dislike” their jobs.
Why is that?
Why do so many of us despise what God created us to do, and which God uses to bless the world?

You probably already know the answer. The problem is not with work, but with us, human beings. We are sinful, which is not just a description of our guilt before God. To say that we are sinful also means that our thoughts, our feelings, and our actions are backwards, upside-down, twisted, polluted, and every other word we might use to say that our hearts and minds and souls and bodies are just plain broken. We can find people on this earth who misuse other people or let other people work for them, those doing all the work not gaining as much as the one who let the others work. In many companies, there is inequality between employers and workers. A lot of people are exploited and have to work at a pittance while the employer manages to line his pockets with the much-earned money on the backs of those workers.

On May 1, Labour Day, those relationships between employer and employee are discussed in many places. It is a day to think about the work that does need to be done.

Each of us bears responsibility for the work that belongs on this globe. Provision must be made that everyone can eat and sleep well, but that none of this happens by overburdening nature, through overfishing or overhunting, for example.

If everyone showed respect to the person, plant and animal around him or her, there would be no reason at all to be displeased for what one can do to advance the other as well as oneself.

Each time that our jobs seem stressful, difficult, taxing, boring, un-fun, hard, etc., we ought to remember why this is the case. How was it possible that it could come so far. Who or what is the cause of the burden of work.

For those who misuse other people, we should talk to them and try to bring them to other ideas.

If we know that goods are produced under poor conditions or made by child labour and/or at too low a wage, we should certainly not buy them in order to stop exploitation. As long as consumers choose the cheapest goods, they contribute to the exploitation of people and make themselves sinful according to the Laws of God.

We ourselves when we look for work, we must always check whether the work is responsible and whether the employer also gives his workforce the necessary respect. Someone who cannot show appreciation for the people who help him earn a living is not worth being helped. So, it is up to us first and foremost to do the right work so that we can make or accomplish worthy things under worthy conditions.

It is also notable how certain people have started to shift emphases in their lives. By focusing largely on accumulating as much material gain as possible, they have lost sight of the real values of life. As a result, work can sometimes be harder than it should be. Their materialism then kills them.

We should remember that no honest job is too hard, too insignificant, or too boring if done for the glory of God and for serving His son. That is why Paul exhorts us,

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Col. 3:23-24).

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Preceding

The Necessity of Rest

Believe me! Everything is Possible

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Find also to read

1. Man enticed to long for more
2. Begin by carrying away small stones to remove a mountain
3. A look at materialism
4. Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #8 Work
5. I want to get paid for changing diapers, but i don’t want to run a day care
6. Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief
7. How do you keep people from stealing your joy?
8. A treasure which can give me everything I need
9. A look at materialism
10. a Strong Family doesn’t just happen
11. Work and career a major focus of young adulthood
12. Brilliant.
13. A risk taking society
14. Jehovah shall make the earth waste and turn its ground up-side-down
15. Today’s thought “Bible Tip for Life: Work Hard!” (November 20)
16. Today’s thought “I know your works” (December 22)
17. Do we have to be an anarchist to react
18. Finding our identity in serving God
19. The work I do, let it be done good
20. Work with joy and pray with love
21. Your New Job Description — Bless!
22. God should be your hope
23. God make us holy
24. God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies
25. A way to prepare for the Kingdom
26. Paradise restored

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Related

1. Is that all there is?
2. Common But Misaligned
3. Why Must We All Follow One Definition Of Success?
4. Respecting Ourselves
5. ’tis the Season To Think Clearly
6. “…Drop your weapons of greed and gluttony …for when you do, peace
7. Workers’ Day Celebration: Plight of informal and domestic workers
8. Government Withdraws Permission For Workers To Hold May Day
9. May Day Celebration: Eagle Square remains sacrosanct — FG
10. May Day: Ortom commends Benue workers for remaining undaunted
11. Workers Day: Obaseki Hails Workers, Lists Promises
12. Cosatu encourages workers to march on Workers Day
13. May Day: Keep the flag flying, Oborevwori tells Nigerian workers
14. Servants sewed from morning until night
15. May Day: It’s been terrible, excruciating for workers — NLC
16. May Day: Peter Obi Sends Message To Nigerian Workers
17. International Labor Day – 2023 Sona Yukti thanks every brave person
18. International Labor Day – 2023
19. ‘Treat workers with respect’: CAN urges FG and employers on May day
20. Happy Workers’ Day –From Complete Sports
21. The History and Significance of Malta’s 1st May Public Holiday
22. NAOSNP Hails Workers on International Workers’ Day
23. International Labor Day – 2023
24. Worker’s Day Honour Today we honor all of the #Workers in our Country
25. Workers Day: Obasa Praises Nigerian Workers, Urges Increased Support
26. Praying to find meaning of life in our work
27. Workers’ Day
28. Different stages of work
29. We must continue the historic work of reducing working time
30. Monday Morning Wake-Up Call
31. Rethinking the relationship to work is ultimately all that matters!
32. Fire At Will
33. 5 Important Purpose-Driven Questions
34. Human Being, Not Human Doing

Mediterranean diet associated with a reduced risk of cancer

It is a well-known fact that the Mediterranean diet is known to be associated with a reduced risk of many different kinds of cancer.

In Belgium, a lot of people thought one had to eat a good many potatoes with a good piece of meat to stay healthy. Certainly eating a lot of meat is not a good choice.

Often we hear people here talking about typical Belgian food, whatever that may be. Of course, beefsteak frites are among the Belgian classics, but they are a dish that should not be served too often.

When we heat or fry something, the fat used is of utmost importance. Hardened fats do not belong in people’s kitchens. We should exclude all hardened fats anyway.

The fleshy part of the ripened fruit of the olive tree should be pressed mechanically and without further treatment bottled. That olive oil, called virgin oil, its quality depends on the state of the fruit.
Extra virgin, oil derived from first pressings that possesses excellent taste and odour and has a free fatty acid content, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams.

Researchers discovered that oleocanthal was targeting that protein causing the cells to die. Rather than targeting the apoptosis protein, oleocanthal was breaking apart the lysosomes of cancer cells. These organelles are responsible for processing cellular waste, and are much larger and more fragile in cancer cells than in healthy cells.

What is important is that oleocanthal does not harm nearby healthy cells. Instead, it put them into a kind of stasis or hibernation for about a day. After that time, the cells resumed normal, healthy functioning with no apparent lasting effects.

“The mechanism of killing cancer cells and sparing healthy cells, lysosomal membrane permeabilization, has been hypothesized as a possible mechanism of effectively killing cancer cells and sparing healthy tissues but has never been realized before,”

researcher Paul Breslin said.

Olive oil and its component parts have been shown to have a wide variety of health benefits, including strengthening the immune system, preventing osteoporosis, protecting the body from air pollution, and possibly helping prevent dementia. The healthy fats in olive oil have also been shown to boost brain health, and may even improve memory.

A 2010 study conducted by researchers from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona also suggested that olive oil may help prevent cancer. The researchers found that olive oil led to changes in the signaling pathways of breast cancer cells, leading to apoptosis and preventing DNA damage to healthy cells.

These findings are particularly significant because a high-fat diet is typically considered a risk factor for breast cancer. Yet olive oil and certain other “healthy” fats may actually have a protective benefit.

A moderate intake of virgin olive oil has instead been linked with lower rates of cancer, heart disease, and numerous other health problems.

Mediterranean Diet: Key Ingredients and Cooking Tips. Photo by Askar Abayev

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Come to read

1. “Looking Back to Move Forward: What Historical Diets Can Teach Us
2. “Food for Thought: How Your Diet Can Impact Your Mental Health
3. Mediterranean Diet 101 | The Authentic Mediterranean Diet
4. Discover the Delicious and Nutritious Benefits of the Mediterranean diet
5. Unlock the Secrets of the Mediterranean Diet
6. Discover the Delicious and Healthy Mediterranean Diet
7. “Manage Stress with the Mediterranean Diet
8. 6 Surprising Ways the Mediterranean Diet Benefits Your Heart
9. “Lean Meats: The Key to a Healthy and Balanced Diet”
10. How To Implement The Mediterranean Diet If You Play High
11. Can You Eat Rice On The Mediterranean Diet?
12. Mediterranean Diet for a Day: Healthy and Tasty Recipes to Try
13. The Ultimate And Simple 7-Day Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan

Making acorn flour an easy, affordable habit

English oak (Quercus robur) in autumn.

The acorn is the  nut of the oak, the genus of about 450 species of ornamental and timber trees and shrubs in the beech family (Fagaceae), distributed throughout the north temperate zone and at high altitudes in the tropics.

In our regions, you shall be able to find lots of oak trees, one of the most widespread trees in the world. For centuries the acorn was a staple of the human diet, but it got somehow left into the background only to be used in animal food. In the 1970s is became also very popular as an alternative to a ‘coffee drink’.

Acorns provide food for small game animals and are used to fatten swine and poultry; the acorns of some species can be made into a flour for human consumption.

Acorns hanging from a northern red oak tree (Quercus rubra).

If you’re ready to enjoy a flavourful, healthy flour that’s a pleasant blend of sweet and nutty, then you’ll want to try making acorn flour. It’s an easy, affordable habit that not only makes meals more flavourful but is also one that puts you on the fast track toward self-reliance. And these days, just about everyone knows that self-reliance is essential, especially as society stands on the brink of collapse.

Mike Adams has been warning NaturalNews readers of society’s impending collapse for quite some time. He wrote about it in the summer of 2014, in a story where he revealed his poverty-stricken-turned-successful life and detailed key points on how to fight for the future of mankind.

The Health Ranger continues to encourage self-reliance, suggesting that people turn away from dependency on traditional food purchases and instead, become involved with “revolutionary, low-tech technology.” One such technology is his Mini-Farm Grow Box, a 100 percent non-electric manner of producing nutrient-dense vegetables and herbs, which is found on FoodRising.org.

Making acorn flour involves a few steps but is very easy to produce

Come to read:

1. Acorn Flour
2. How to make all-natural acorn flour
3. Making Acorn Flour
4. Edible Acorns
5. Acorn Flour Cookies and Acorn Coffee.
6. Experiments in eating acorns (part 1): tutorial on how to make acorn
7. A Nutty Fall: Eating Acorns
8. 10/10/2021: Adventure with Acorns
9. Acorn flour muffins
10. Acorns: Gathering, Processing, and Grinding into Flour
11. Red Oak Recipes: Acorn Cakes
12. Chocolate cake using acorn flour.

Helping us maintain muscle in later life and getting fit

Three stories you should read today How steaks, eggs and nuts could help prevent midlife spread A high-protein diet can boost fitness as well as help us maintain muscle in later life. Here’s how it’s done It turns out it’s much harder to build muscle mass and strength without consuming adequate protein. And as we age, we may need more than we think. Why running is the worst way to lose weight Taking up jogging in midlife may not give you the results you want, but these alternative methods just might “Running always seems to be the default exercise when people think of getting fit or losing weight,” says personal trainer Matt Roberts, who has worked with David Cameron, Tom Ford and Amanda Holden. “Most weight-loss journeys begin with somebody thinking, ‘Right, I’ll start by going for a run.’ But it’s actually one of the worst things you can do to a midlife body that’s not conditioned to run.” How I cured my insomnia with ASMR Fed up with anxious, sleepless nights, Georgina Fuller delved into the wonderful world of ASMR – and discovered a greater sense of calmASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response)= a “relaxing brain massage” which is triggered by gentle sights and sounds such as speaking softly, hair brushing and crackles.+ Dipti Tait, a hypnotherapist who specialises in non-sleep deep rest (NSDR), says ASMR has become increasingly popular with those who suffer from anxiety or other forms of stress. “It can be a very effective form of relaxation therapy. The gentle, soft, repetitive sounds and sensations associated with ASMR can help to calm the nervous system and reduce overwhelming feelings and tension,” she says.

To help you out today

	Looking to lose weight for summer? Slight tweaks to your eating habits can help shed unwanted pounds – and may become your new normal.
	Negative thoughts can damage our wellbeing, but following these ways to flex your ‘happiness muscle’ can lead to a much sunnier outlook in general.
	As new research links air pollution to lung cancer and heart disease – here are some ways we can all look to reduce the air pollution in our life.
	A new reality show reveals why life without light is so profoundly unpleasant – but what’s the science behind our need for daylight? Here’s what living in the dark really does to your body.

The naughty blood pressure

Blood pressure is the often-overlooked stealth killer behind 10 million deaths a year globally. The cause of 60 per cent of all strokes and half of all heart disease. If you weigh yourself regularly, ask yourself, when did you last check your blood pressure?

It rarely has noticeable symptoms, but around a third of adults in the UK suffer from it. Many will not realise it, and if left untreated, it increases the risk of serious problems, including heart attacks and strokes.

Only a handful of us will reach the end of our lives without experiencing hypertension. At age 20 there is a 20 per cent chance of raised blood pressure, at 50, a fifty per cent chance and at 80 an eighty per cent chance.

“If you haven’t got it now, you’re going to have it later,”

says Prof Graham MacGregor, chair of Blood Pressure UK.

An “ideal” blood pressure is usually thought to be between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg. The target for over-80s is below 150/90mmHg (or 145/85mmHg if measured at home). If your blood pressure is between 120/80mmHg and 140/90mmHg, you could be at risk of developing high blood pressure, and should make lifestyle changes to get it under control.

By making small changes to your life you can start to limit your blood pressure levels. And there’s evidence that for those already taking blood pressure medication, lifestyle changes combined with the drugs make them much more effective.

1. Stop the takeaways
2. Chuck out the stock cubes
3. Have a banana
4. Dance around your kitchen
5. Take a deep breath
6. Chuck out the large wine goblets
7. Stub out the cigarette and don’t vape!
8. Swap sausages for salmon
9. Eat parsnips
10. Buy a blood pressure machine

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Find to read more about it:

Stay healthy with regular blood pressure checks

10 simple lifestyle changes that can reduce your blood pressure

Your weekly good news roundup for the third week of April 2023

A new start after 60: I left the civil service – and started dressing in Tudor costume When she retired, Rosemary Griggs discovered a passion for researching 16th-century clothes. It led her to another adventure: telling the stories of history’s forgotten women Full story here

Tim Dowling tries cheese cocktails: ‘Like a food waste sack the night before bin day’ An espresso martini with parmesan has gone viral – part of a wider trend including blue cheese negronis and a stilton-washed gin. Are any of them any good? Full story here

Artificial eyries raise hopes of golden eagles breeding in southern Scotland Nests placed close to where three young birds have been spotted with intention of encouraging them to reproduce The artificial nests are the first to be placed on private land, with more than 17 privately owned estates including shooting estates with grouse moors supporting the South of Scotland Golden Eagle project. A series of translocations have increased the area’s population from a few pairs to 38, the highest number recorded for three centuries. The nests are designed to encourage the eagles to establish territories and breed in the coming years. Full story here

‘Small like a ball’: Pearl the chihuahua becomes world’s shortest dog Pearl is shorter than the standard television remote and about as long as a dollar bill, Guinness World Records says Guinness recently presented Pearl on the set of its televised talent show in Milan. Semler carried Pearl on to the set of Lo show dei record in an elaborate seat shaped like an Easter egg, and said the two had just gone around Milan shopping. Calling her dog “a bit of a diva”, Semler said Pearl is “small like a ball” and barely taller than a teacup. Pearl kept calm in the face of the audience’s applause, which impressed the crowd because chihuahuas have a reputation of being feisty and temperamental. Full story here

They had us at eh oh: the surprise staying power of Teletubbies The children’s TV favourite is having an unexpected cultural renaissance. Why are designers, artists and activists taking inspiration from Po and co? Teletubbies has always been in fashion. Created by former teacher and children’s television show producer Anne Wood and writer Andrew Davenport, the show premiered on BBC Two in March 1997 and quickly became a kids’ classic, reaching 2 million viewers an episode in just five months. Teletubbies Say Eh-oh, the show’s theme tune, was a UK No 1 single for two weeks later that year. + Like the best kids’ shows, Teletubbies made absolutely no sense. So much so that it led to outrage from parents, aghast at its lack of comprehensible speech or educational value. Harvard psychologist Susan Linn saw it as another sign of the increasing commericalisation of children’s television, while the Daily Mirror said “the show was a bad influence on children”. In the end, though, the alien babies won, playing their part in 485 episodes on-and-off until 2018. Full story here

Food, gut health, fitness regime, John Wick workout and keeping your body young

Six easy ways to improve your gut health

Happy gut bacteria means increased support for our immune system and protection from harmful bugs. Try these simple diet changes for a healthier digestive system.

To help you out today

	Keanu Reeves’s fitness regime is designed to build strength, balance and flexibility, without risking injuries – and now you can try it too. Here’s the John Wick workout that will help you look like Keanu at 58.
	With a recent study finding that using any form of hormonal contraception increases the risk of breast cancer, Bryony Gordon wants to know why we haven’t found a solution.
	Experts say the ageing process shouldn’t create big problems until your late 90s, so how can you keep your body young? Read the nine rules to follow if you want to live to 100.
	‘My son thinks I should move in with him – but my daughter-in-law is not convinced’. The Telegraph’s Agony Uncle Richard Madeley weighs in on our anonymous author’s dilemma.

More from Health & Fitness

• • Why the right kind of Easter chocolate is good for you

    By Andrew Baker 5 Apr 2023, 5:00pm

• The truth about what you should eat – or avoid – when breastfeeding

  By Claire Cohen 5 Apr 2023, 12:00pm

• Why you’re constantly burnt out – and what to do about it

  By Melissa Twigg 5 Apr 2023, 7:00am

• I’d lost my sight, but thanks to a pioneering new ‘bionic eye’ I can do some gardening again

  By David Cox 4 Apr 2023, 5:00pm

• What this menopause expert does daily to feel happy and healthy

  By Mary Comber 4 Apr 2023, 4:25pm

More from The Telegraph

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Getting your meal in before 4pm

There have been presented lots of diets and fasting methods. At the end of the previous posting we presented a healthy method, going from solid to liquid food before ending up eating nothing and only drinking pure water.

In an interview with the Coldplay frontman rock titan Chris Martin, who in turn gleaned it from Bruce Springsteen, spoke highly of the Omad diet – you get your meal in before 4pm and spend the long hours until “breakfast” (tea or coffee, no sugar), looking forward to lunch.

It is a wellknown fact that people best do not eat after 5pm, but that is for most people not possible because lots of people are than not yet home from work.

Concerning the Omad diet, the benefits reportedly stretch from weight loss – clinical trials have shown repeatedly that time-restricted eating (TRE) results in fat loss, as well as a three per cent average drop in weight – to those related more specifically to health. These include a decrease in blood sugar level, better insulin resistance and improvements in cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Some studies suggest that fasting like this may help cancer patients tolerate chemotherapy.

Though, it’s not all good news. Eating one meal a day can make it harder for the body to get the nutrients it needs making vitamin deficiency more likely. It can make you dehydrated, feel more irritable and stressed. Lower levels of blood sugar can lead to dizziness, headaches and poor circulation. And one meal a day is contraindicated for anyone with diabetes.

> Read more about it: What eating one meal a day really does to your body

 

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Preceding

About fasting by monotheists

For those who would go to eat a lot tonight for Passover

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Related

1. Intermittent Fasting
2. Omad diet -Eating one meal a day
3. -315: Getting Ready
4. Omad Diet: Is Eating One Meal a Day Safe and Effective for Weight Loss?
5. Omad Keto

About fasting by monotheists

The previous days found many people fasting. There were Christians, Jews and Muslims abstaining from certain things, be it sweets to full meals. Some people find spring a time to fully purify themselves and therefore proceed to a certain time of “eating nothing” but drinking only pure water.

By Catholics, the fast period strangely enough begins with a day that they go for letting a little cross being placed on their forehead as a sign that they are just dust and ashes, though the majority believes that they will go to heaven after death, instead of deteriorating to dust. In the previous century in several Catholic countries, Catholics tried to eat less and did not eat meat on Wednesday and Friday (as if that would really be doing shortage to them) Today there is not really much fasting in most Catholic families.

In the Scriptures (Old and New Testament) we find several examples of people who thought about the fact that they are just human beings who shall end up dead, to decay in the grave (sheol/hell). Even the sent one from God took time to think about his mortality and after his death landed up in sheol. Though several people who call themselves Christian say Sheol or Hell is a place where sinners would be placed to be burned eternally. Jesus did not get burned. He even did no sin, so there would have been no reason to land up in hell or to be tortured by hellfire for his sins. Indeed, Jesus is the only human being who remained without blemish and therefore deserved to go straight to heaven. But he too did not go directly to heaven after his death. First, he was laid in a tomb, where he stayed for three days. Then he was raised from the dead by his heavenly Father and came to roam the earth for a few more days, before being exalted by God to sit beside Him and act as high priest and mediator between God and man.

Like many Jews did before him, Jesus went for forty days in the desert, to think about his mortality and his relationship with God. The Hebrew people before him, after they were liberated from the slavery of the Egyptians, also came to wander for a very long time in the wilderness. In moments, they had not enough food and were starving. After they had complained to God, they received food from heaven (manna).

Thousands of men and women before us took some time in their life to think about the Divine Creator and His Plan. Moses and Elijah, went without food in their respective fasts.

Fasting has been promoted and practiced from antiquity worldwide by physicians, by the founders and followers of many religions, by culturally designated individuals (e.g., hunters or candidates for initiation rites), and by individuals or groups as an expression of protest against what they believe are violations of social, ethical, or political principles. {Encyc. Brit. Fasting}

The essence of fasting is to clean the body, giving it time to get rid of the damaging things. Letting the body purify itself, one can give it time to heal. Fasting is an important natural part of the recovery process of one’s health.

Fasting for special purposes or before or during special sacred times remains a characteristic of major religions of the world. For Jesus and his disciples, there were many dietary laws and customs. They hold on to those traditions and observed several annual fast days, primarily on days of penitence (such as Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement) when they sought to expiate their sins and achieve reconciliation with God.
The Bible refers to Yom Kippur as Shabbat Shabbaton (“Sabbath of Solemn Rest,” or “Sabbath of Sabbaths”) because, even though the holy day may fall on a weekday, it is on Yom Kippur that solemnity and cessation of work are most complete.

Like on Yom Kippur the past few days certain of our brethren and sisters made an effort to purify their bodies in the hope that could also help by the individual and collective purification by the practice of forgiveness of the sins of others and by sincere repentance for one’s own sins against God. This year the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and the holy month of fasting felt together with the period before Passover. The same as for the Jews and Jeshuaist for Muslims is their Ramadan a period of introspection, communal prayer (ṣalāt) in the mosque, and reading of the Qurʾān. Instead of earthly food, Jews, Jeshuaists, Messianics and Muslims those people trying to go throughout the day without that earthly food, use a lot of time to read their Holy Scriptures trusting God shall provide them with the proper spiritual food that will bring them much further than what the earthly food can give them.

By fasting, they give themselves to their God.

Photo by Thirdman on Pexels.com

For all adult Muslims who are not acutely or chronically ill, travelling, elderly, breastfeeding, diabetic, or menstruating, there is the is fard or the religious duty to have the daily prayer (salat) so that purification of the heart can take place. According Muslims the spiritual rewards (thawab) of fasting are believed to be multiplied during Ramadan.

Iftar serving for fasting people in the Imam Reza shrine

The method of fasting adopted by the Islamists is to be taken with a grain of salt though, and actually not a healthy way of fasting as they then start eating copious amounts of sweet things after sunset, which is very bad and actually counteracts purification. Though the ifṭār, the fast-breaking evening meal has some good aspects when it is really a gathering of friends and extended family. For those gathered it is also a time for taking spiritual food by additional prayers offered at night( called the tawarīḥ prayers), during which they also recite the entire Qurʾān over the course of the month of Ramadan.

If one wants to fast solidly, one is best to build it up by moving from solid to liquid food and then to teas and finally to just drinking water for several days, without eating anything else. Then, after not eating anything at all, it’s back to liquid food, via teas, to return to solid food. Such a real and efficient fast period should only be done under medical supervision

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Preceding

All Scripture Has Its Point of Origin In God’s Mind

9 Adar and bickering or loving followers of the Torah preparing for Pesach

Coming days to indulge in good food

A bird’s eye and reflecting from within

For those who would go to eat a lot tonight for Passover

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Additional reading

1. Was Jesus Religious
2. Matthew 6:1-34 – The Nazarene’s Commentary on Leviticus 19:18 Continued 3 Forgiveness and neighbour love
3. Matthew 9:14-17 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The Bridegroom and Fasting
4. Matthew 9:14-17 – What others are saying about feasting at the sinners’ table instead of fasting for God’s table
5. Mark 2 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Mark 2:18-22 – The Question on Fasting
6. Mark 7 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Mark 7:17-23 – How to Defile the Heart
7. Advent and advent calendars
8. Worthy partakers of the body of Christ
9. Cross-bearing
10. The principle of atonement
11. 9 Av: Tisha B’Av 2020
12. Who Celebrates Easter as Religious Holiday
13. Today’s thought “He who was also subject to human weakness” (November 30)
14. A perfect life, obedient death, and glorious resurrection
15. Death and Resurrection of Christ
16. Jesus three days in hell
17. Death spread to all men, because all sinned
18. Heaven and hell still high on the believers list showing a religion gender gap
19. Is there an Immortal soul
20. Grave, tomb, sepulchre – graf, begraafplaats, rustplaats, sepulcrum
21. This month’s survey question: Heaven and Hell
22. Separation from God in death, the antithesis of life
23. Being of good courage running the race
24. 8 Reasons Christian Holidays Should Not Be Observed
25. Hanukkahgiving or Thanksgivvukah
26. Indulgence still offered by roman Catholic Church
27. In Coronatime thinking about death
28. Soar to Places Unknown
29. Lost senses or a clear focus on the one at the stake
30. Redemption #4 The Passover Lamb
31. One Passover tradition asking to provide the less fortunate with foods and help
32. Wednesday 5 April – Sunday 9 April 30 CE Pesach or Passover versus Easter
33. The Most important weekend of the year 2018
34. For Passover 2023
35. Why we do not keep to a Sabbath or a Sunday or Lord’s Day #1 Before rain of food from heaven
36. Wanting for more than you need or hearing the Inviting encouragement
37. People Seeking for God 5 Bread of life
38. Today’s thought “Man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of Jehovah” (April 24)

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Related

1. Exploring Fasting Traditions in Religious Holidays
2. What is As-Siyam ( fasting)?
3. Ramadan Mubarak!
4. Fasting and the Sacrament
5. Fasting For… (3.4.2017)
6. The disciples of John (Mt 9:14-9:14)
7. Lent – An Invitation to Joy
8. Day 1 Fasting: Ash Wednesday
9. Day 2 Fasting: First struggle
10. Day 3 Fasting & Abstinence: Good Read
11. Day 4 Fasting: Day of Temptations
12. Day 5 Fasting & Abstinence: Blessed Sunday
13. Day 6 Fasting: Adjustment Over
14. Day 13 Fasting: Undisciplined
15. Day 21 Fasting: Failing
16. What Does God Really Want From Us this Lent?
17. Discover the Mystical and Spiritual Tradition of Sufism within Islam
18. Wonders of Fasting (Rumi)
19. Is fasting harmful to health? Doctors share facts vs myths, give tips for high blood sugar patients.
20. Everything You Need To Know About Alternate-Day Fasting, According To Doctors
21. Can intermittent fasting help you lose weight and provide other health benefits?
22. Ramadan in Somalia, Iftar and suhoor culture
23. Ramadan reflection – remembering Him in the blessing
24. Ramadan Facts for Monday Tuesday and Wednesday
25. Day 15 of Ramadan: Love and Mercy in the Month of Ramadan
26. Eid al-Fitr: A Joyous Celebration of Breaking Fast and Giving Thanks
27. Health Benefits-fasting 16 Hours A Day | Benefits Fasting 16 Hours
28. Ramadan, Roza 2023 Diet: Tips To Keep Your Heart Healthy During The Fasting Period
29. Low sugar trouble how to fight dizzy spell while fasting
30. Diabetes and Ramadan: How to Eat Right and Stay Healthy
31. Day 14 of Ramadan: Binding the Heart to the Creator
32. Preparing for Easter: The Importance of Lenten Season for Christians

Aeronautics, TikTok and Life stories

My search for female gardeners’ life stories helped me combat loneliness – and make great friends I was lonely after lockdown and wanted to know why women gardened so wrote to those I admired. Now I have a host of new friends from different generations and backgrounds Full story here

Star players – how Kerbal Space Program’s little green aliens are helping the space flight experts of the future It may be just a game but some players have gone on to careers in physics, engineering and aeronautics. Now the team behind Kerbal Space Program 2 is working with the European Space Agency to make it even more realistic Full story here

What makes me happy now: gymnastics at midlife A novelist’s childhood passion came back with a vengeance – there is nothing like the thrill of a new skill, that combination of speed, timing, muscles, guts Full story here

Brazilian TikToker goes viral showing the ‘cheerfulness of the favela’ Raphael Vicente, who has 3 million followers, wants to show that there is much more to favelas than crime and poverty Full story here

‘Mmm, straight back to the 70s!’ Writers revisit the foods they loved as kids, from Smash to Angel Delight Arctic rolls are back on the menu, with sales up more than 140% at Ocado. But which other retro delights deserve a comeback? We taste-test some old favourites Full story here

Agile aubergine! 10 easy, delicious vegan recipes to make in a hurry at home

What do chefs turn to when they want a plant-based meal to cook after work? We asked for their top suggestions for lightning-fast feasts

Full story here

Food for the kids

As a parent one would love to give the best food for the children. Though the food on offer for babies is not always up to expectations.

A study of children’s diets in eight countries found that under-5s in the UK have the highest consumption rate of mass-produced, ready-made foods, with these products making up nearly two thirds of British children’s average energy intake.

When looking at the food presented on the shelves in the supermarket, so many products promise all the best for babies or for children to grow up. Research by University College London (UCL) revealed that fruit juices and smoothies were the chief culprits, with experts warning that deceptive labelling is fooling parents into buying items which are packed full of sugar.

Child-nutrition experts have expressed concerns that consuming such foods from an early age could set habits for life, fuelling the risk of deadly diseases.

Research has already linked ultra-processed children’s foods – such as baby biscuits, puff and stick-style crisps, purée pouches and ready meals – with weight gain and growth problems.

Such foods are made by industrial processing and can contain additives such as flavourings, emulsifiers, colourings and preservatives. They typically contain less nutrients and more calories, sugar and salt than less-processed options.

For sure there should be better rules imposed for clearer nutrition information on these foods to make parents aware of the hidden sugar. It is misleading and unhelpful for products to make claims such as ‘no added sugar’, when the product contains high levels of naturally occurring free sugars because it has been processed (e.g. concentrated fruit juice).

“Much of children’s daily sugar intake is hidden in packaged and ultra-processed foods, many of which are marketed as healthy,”

Lisa Heggie, lead researcher on the study at UCL, said, warning that some yoghurts contain up to four teaspoons of sugar.

A new report by First Steps Nutrition Trust, due to be published this spring, will warn of concerns about the diets of British children and call for action to reduce their intake of ultra-processed foods.

It will highlight research comparing the diets of more than 66,000 children in eight countries, including the UK, USA, Australia, Brazil and Mexico, carried out by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo. Brazil.

The study, published in the journal Obesity Reviews, found 61 per cent of the energy intake of British children aged two to five years old came from ultra-processed foods.

Preschool children in the UK had the highest consumption of processed foods of all the countries studied, ahead of the USA, at 58 per cent, and Australia, at 47 per cent.

Vicky Sibson, the charity’s director, said:

“Ultra-processed foods dominate the diets of infants and young children in the UK and there are several good reasons to be concerned about this.”

Previous research comparing 19 countries in Europe had already found that Britain’s shopping baskets contain the highest proportion of ultra-processed foods. A 2017 study found 50.7 per cent of the UK shopping basket was ultra-processed foods, compared with 14.2 per cent in France and 13.4 per cent in Italy.

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Find to read more about it:

Children eat three times as much sugar as they should do

British toddlers’ diet among worst in world, experts warn

Sugar tax may have prevented 5,000 young girls from becoming obese

Love and Cherry Delight

Roth Poetry

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!”

“The way to keep a man’s heart is through his stomach!”

Love and Cherry Delight

I know she loves me…

She made me a cherry cheesecake for Valentine’s Day!

Red is the color of love, and for me it is cherries.

Made it for me against her better judgment…

because she loves me and knows it is my favorite.

*

Love is like that you know…

Makes one do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do.

When you get to be my age love sometimes comes

in unusual ways… such as cherry cheesecake.

Though she cringes at the thought of all those calories

she knows it won’t last long.

*

So, as she enjoys squares of dark chocolate,

I savor each bite

of that delectable cream cheese and cherries…

and love her dearly as the sweet taste of love

lingers on my…

View original post 32 more words

New York Times cooking up a storm

You would think The New York Times knows exactly what it’s doing. Though they placed a controversial topic to broach on social media.

“Tomatoes are not traditional in carbonara, but they lend a bright tang to the dish,”

read the tweet, linking to a recipe for a

“smoky tomato carbonara”.

1.8 million views later, a cooking debate as old as time had been reignited.

Spaghetti alla carbonara

When thinking or speaking about carbonara, we think of an Italian pasta dish from Rome, typically made with spaghetti, that blends diced pork, eggs, cheese, and black pepper. It was in the middle of the 20th century the dish got its name.

U.S. military personnel brought with them abundant stocks of powdered eggs and dehydrated bacon, goods that served as a currency of goodwill — and sometimes actual currency — in a starving nation. Combined with pasta, these ingredients became pasta carbonara (‘charcoal burner‘), the name suggesting food that one might feed a hungry coal miner or Carbonari (‘charcoalmen’) in need of ample sustenance before heading into the pit.

These days, so many people try to bring a lot of variations with food ingredients.

The recipe, by food writer Kay Chun was first published in 2021, when it attracted such anger that the Italian farmers’ association, Coldiretti, actually released a statement on the matter, describing smoky tomato carbonara as the “tip of the iceberg” in the “falsification” of traditional Italian dishes.

Pasta carbonara, they said, was one of the most “betrayed” recipes in Italian cooking.

“The real risk is that a fake ‘made in Italy’ dish takes root in international cooking, removing the authentic dish from the market space, and trivialising our local specialities which originate from unique techniques and territories.”

Photo by Sam Lion on Pexels.com

It might sound dramatic, but they’re not wrong – since its invention in 19th century Lazio, carbonara must be among the most adapted, twisted, bastardised (depending on your point of view) recipes of all time.

Read more about it: ‘This should be illegal’: Why your carbonara could get you cancelled – When it suggested readers add tomato to the classic dish, the New York Times was cooking up a storm – but it’s no laughing matter

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Related

1. Rome to Positano and Roman Pasta Recipes
2. Spaghetti Carbonara (Nathaniel Stone)
3. Spaghetti Carbonara (Tyler Humphrey)
4. Spaghetti Carbonara
5. Spaghetti Carbonara Hungry Hungry Anna
6. Spaghetti Carbonara (Collin Woodward)
7. Spaghetti Carbonara (Henry Hardin)
8. Spaghetti Carbonara (Brayden Cortez)
9. Spaghetti a la Carbonara
10. Simple spaghetti carbonara
11. Creamy Spaghetti Carbonara
12. Creamy Bacon Mushroom Carbonara
13. Nigella’s Spaghetti Carbonara
14. Chef Anne Burrell Just Shared a Breakfast Pasta Recipe & It’s Honestly Genius
15. The Indy Endorsement: The Spaghetti Carbonara at Sammy’s Place
16. Osteria Italian Restaurant (Glasgow) 2022 : Review
17. Amore d’Italia Restaurant (Dennistoun) 2022 : Review
18. Recipe by aelx911
19. It’s Gonna Get Wild Up In Here
20. Spaghetti carbonara
21. Pasta Carbonara – Het echte traditionele recept zoals de Italianen hem maken. En dat is dus zonder room.
22. Spaghetti Carbonara maar dan anders
23. Spaghetti alla Carbonara di Wesley Flaman
24. Spaghetti Carbonara maar dan anders
25. Chefrecept Gusti Pungitore: spaghetti carbonara
26. Romeins koken met Noémie en Anna Rita en twee recepten voor pasta carbonara
27. Carbonara met blauwe kaas
28. Pasta Carbonara.
29. Carbonara Primavera
30. Pasta carbonara met champignons
31. Spaghetti Carbonara met erwtjes en broccoli
32. Food – Pasta carbonara met spinazie
33. Spaghetti Carbonara met Pancetta en Griekse yoghurt
34. Pasta carbonara. (Zonder die kant en klare zakjes)
35. Spaghetti carbonara met asperges, zeekraal en prosciutto
36. (Wortel)spaghetti met (knolselderij) carbonara
37. Spaghetti carbonara zonder spek en met erwten en champignons
38. Tagliatelle alla Carbonara
39. Healthy Food Hacks – Courgetti Carbonara
40. Skinny Carbonara

Typical British diet fuelling the risk of cancer

Scientists said common daily fare – including most breakfast cereals, breads, snacks and convenience meals – appears to be endangering the nation’s health.

Researchers said the latest study by Imperial College London is the most comprehensive yet, involving almost 200,000 people aged between 40 and 69 who were tracked for over a decade, against the risks of 34 types of cancer.

They said the findings were particularly concerning because of the “exceptionally high” intake of processed foods in the British diet – making up around half of daily calories. Already years we do know that processed foods, or simply foods that have undergone a change – been processed, in fact – so-called to make them more digestible, or safer, or to preserve them, are not healthy at all. Though still, lots of people prefer to eat white bread instead of whole grain brown bread.

This recent study showed that for every 10 per cent increase in ultra-processed food in a person’s diet, the chance of cancer rose by two per cent, while cancer death rates were six per cent higher.

Some of the sharpest rises were seen in breast and ovarian disease, where cancer mortality was respectively increased by 16 and 30 per cent.

Researcher Dr Kiara Chang said:

“The average person in the UK consumes more than half of their daily energy intake from ultra-processed foods.

“This is exceptionally high and concerning as ultra-processed foods are produced with industrially derived ingredients and often use food additives to adjust colour, flavour, consistency, texture, or extend shelf-life.”

Avoiding the most obvious examples of ultra-processed (UPF) isn’t all you need to do. Choosing supposedly healthy options such as higher-protein snacks, vegan meat substitutes and low-fat dairy products means you’re in danger of consuming food with lower nutrition.

When buying our food, we should pay more attention to the nutri-caloric value and check that there are no avoidable additives added to the product to be purchased. Much too often the factories like to present several claims on the packing which should get us the impression their product is ‘healthy’.

Researchers called for warning labels to be placed on processed foods, urging people to limit their intake, and said the sugar tax should be extended to cover more processed products.

The most commonly eaten ultra-processed foods in the UK are shop-bought mass-produced bread, ready meals, various breakfast cereals, reconstituted meat products such as ham, sweets, and shop-bought biscuits, buns and cakes, all, of which can be found too much sugar and also too much salt.

Previous studies have suggested a link between ultra-processed foods and heart disease, as well as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

In the new study, published in eClinicalMedicine, the team used UK Biobank data to examine the diets of 197,426 people. Their health was tracked over a decade and their risk of developing cancer or dying from it was also analysed.

The study found that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with a greater risk of developing cancer overall, and specifically ovarian and brain cancers. It was also associated with an increased risk of dying from cancer, most notably  ovarian and breast cancers.

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Related

1. To Eat or to Not-Eat
2. We eat to forget. Then we eat for relief.
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6. Processed foods under the spotlight
7. What To Think About When It Comes To Faux Meat
8. Alert! Soft drinks, instant noodles harming human, planetary health
9. Do You Eat Ultra-Processed Foods?
10. Processed Meats are Hazardous to Your Health
11. White Bean Burgers with Not-So-Secret Sauce
12. Eating ultra-processed foods could be associated with cognitive decline, study suggests
13. Ultra-processed foods should be central to global food systems dialogue and action on biodiversity
14. The common pantry foods that may be destroying your mood
15. The diet foods and drinks that could make you fatter as prominent health expert professor Tim Spector warns against ultra-processed foods.
16. Ultra-processed Foods and Health
17. It’s time to talk foods and diets not nutrients and rethink malnutrition says Dr Gyorgy Scrinis
18. How junk food ads mislead health claims
19. Article – Study on the regulatory process for the labeling of ultra-processed foods: the Colombian case
20. For healthy eating, Indians want a red label on packages to identify ultra-processed food: Survey
21. Ultra-processed food and your brain

A key to effortless weight loss

After the Winter holidays, lots of people have the intention of the new year to lose some weight.

You may be disappointed to learn that despite the $255 billion global diet industry, £2 billion in the UK, objective studies show broad agreement that diets don’t work.

“I would agree with that,”

says Trine Balsvik,

“Eating less, focussing only on calories, it’s the worst, depressing, infuriating. Totally miserable. That’s not a life.”

Do you eat your evening meal early at 6pm or, like many of those who live in the Mediterranean, later at closer to 9pm?

New research shows that avoiding late eating could be an effective (and pain-free) way to lose weight for good. Kate Spicer explains the benefits of sticking to an eating “window” – and has some top tips for old-fashioned early suppers.

Small food changes and diets

Three stories you should read today 20 small food changes that will make a big difference to your health The co-founder of the Zoe app and author of ‘Food for Life’, reveals simple food changes that will do you a power of good. Read on It’s scientifically proven that setting realistic goals is more effective than deciding to stop a behaviour altogether. For example, setting a goal to add one new plant to every meal – the benefit is greater without any restriction being necessary. ‘A health scare motivated me to lose two stone – and it all came down to my diet’ When Mary Novakovich’s husband was diagnosed with prediabetes and hypertension, the pair started a rapid weight loss plan. Read more What to say when someone close to you is diagnosed with cancer How do we handle our own anxiety as someone close to a cancer patient, and how can we best serve our loved one? Learn more

What 2022 brought to us and looking forward to 2023

Liberation

Lots of people thought 2022 would be the year of liberating us from that terrible virus which got the world in its grip. Though not a liberation became several people on their part, an even more senseless killing ‘disease’ came unto Europe.

The leader of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, who would love to find a renewed Soviet Union, said at the beginning of the year he would bring liberation to the Ukrainians. Instead, his “bloodstained” tyranny plunged Europe into the war on a scale not seen since 1945 as Russian troops advanced on Kyiv on Thursday night, February 24th.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is shocking and disgraceful. It is the latest terrible aggression by the Putin regime and the latest damaging conflict in our world, with so many people being killed or injured, losing loved ones and seeing their homes destroyed.

2022 has been a tough year to navigate, with a series of political and economic crises that continue to shape our world.

One powerful man

Who could have ever imagined that one man, from up north, would single-handedly turn the world upside down? However, he has succeeded very well in not only bringing black snow over several people, and literally turning the landscape blood-red, he has severely disrupted economic life in several countries.

Following two long pandemic years – with many still experiencing the effects – we’ve witnessed the outbreak of war in Ukraine and could feel in our purse how it affects us also in our region. We cannot ignore this war that has affected many citizens. At our new WordPress Site “Some View on the World” we have given a voice to those suffering in the conflict as well as reporting the situation on the ground and providing the expertise needed to understand geopolitics.

Picturing what is happening in the world

As best we can, we try to give a picture of what is happening in the world on the continuation of “Our World“. 2022 was another year of figuring out how we would be able to keep up with bringing political and religious news alongside our other spiritual websites. We hope to find that balance further in 2023.

By nature, I am not an easy person and have dared to clash several times by speaking my mind outright. Even in the articles, I publish here and on my other websites, my thinking is based on my personal opinion. One can agree or disagree with that view. I, therefore, appreciate that people also dare to express their opinions. But in general, there is a little reaction in that area. Still, I hope the articles brought, can make people think. For instance, I was happy to find that my op-eds on Christmas in the Daily Telegraph were able to bring a debate after all.

Hoping to expose wrongdoings

With the news we place at Some View on the World we do hope we also could be able to expose the mistreatment and deaths of migrant workers in Qatar for almost a decade as well as other wrong attitudes towards people as well as animals and plants. At my personal site and this site as well, in particular on “Some View on the World” we continue to bear witness to the climate crisis as it destroys lives, uproots whole communities and changes the course of our shared future. We hope for 2023 to be able to bring regular news about our environment.

The fallout from the January 6 hearings and Donald Trump’s presidency could get our attention, and we hold our hearts for the intentions of Mr Trump, wanting to come back as president of the U.S.A..

Independence of my websites

For all the reporting we do here, and on my other websites, I would like to remind you, readers, that there is no financial support from companies anywhere and that all reporting is based on personal and independent reporting, where I keep searching for this site among texts that appear on the net what could possibly be fascinating for you to read as well, and thus to reblog them here.

2022 could bring lots of blogs on the net of which we presented some selections over here too. At Firefox several could find their way into ‘Pocket’, like: Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid, How to Want Less, A Neurologist’s Tips to Protect Your Memory, Why You Should Really Stop Charging Your Phone Overnight, A Guide to Getting Rid of Almost Everything, a.o. most read.

Uncovering and unravelling

Whether on social, political or religious issues, we are eager to seek the truth and expose false reports. Exposing wariness is not always appreciated, but is very important in our view. To do that, we can count on several investigative journalists and some newspapers to join in the pursuit of that muddle, so that together we can make certain things known to the world while others would rather see them covered up.

At Some View on the World we have maintained round-the-clock coverage from several places, not always bringing nice news, like mass graves of Bucha, Izium and many war crimes.

The war accelerated a global economic slump, sending costs soaring, throttling energy supplies and raising the spectre of blackouts, malnutrition and a winter of discontent across dozens of countries. As global food supplies fluctuated, we reported on the hunger gripping the Horn of Africa and Afghanistan. In 2022, it became impossible to ignore those victims in poorer countries. But sadly, we had to observe how little the public cared about those people living far from their homes. And closer, many did not wish to have refugees, so we could speak of a refugee crisis again this year.

Here in Belgium, the influx of refugees seems completely uncontrollable and many, even with small children, shamefully had to sleep outside several nights through rain and wind. This while in Great Britain, the reception was also not going smoothly and people started looking for a housing solution in Rwanda, and proceeded to deportations.

Condition of mother earth

A lot of people do not want to realise that things are very bad for Mother Earth. To this, in 2022, several scientists again tried to make it clear to the world that we need to think seriously about this and take action. We were confronted with UK’s hottest summer, a very early and long great Summer in Belgium, drought in Europe, and the accompanying fires.

Heating the houses became for many difficult to keep in the household budget. It looked like mother nature felt the pressure on the energy market, as well. Everywhere in Europe, we had extremely high temperatures for the time of year. In Belgium 2022 became the warmest year since measurements.

The climate emergency ran as a constant thread through much of our Some View on the World journalism in 2022.

While many European countries were suffering from a shortage of water, they had it in other countries, like Pakistan, too much. Devastating floods in Pakistan, encountering one of its worst natural catastrophes, Sydney’s wettest year on record, ferocious heatwaves in the US southwest and the costliest Atlantic hurricane for years, could catch our attention.

At Cop27 in Egypt, the Guardian asked the tough questions. Though, we did not give so much attention to the changing tactics of activists, now more likely to throw soup at a painting as they are to glue themselves to a public highway.

Uprising

In my view, many other protests could get our attention earlier, as they were carried out in a more correct way. Coming from a not expected corner, sparked by the death in custody of a young woman, Mahsa Amini.

Once again, we were able to conclude in Afghanistan and Iran that there is no improvement in human rights yet. The Iranian authorities tightly control reporting inside the country, so we counted on the teams of the Guardian to redouble efforts to reach protagonists to tell their stories. Social media remained also important for this, so it was satisfying to see the Guardian Instagram video on why Iranians are risking everything for change reach more than 2 million viewers.

It is impossible for me to have news sources everywhere, which is why we must also call on professional companies, for which we must also pay. Financial aid is therefore very welcome to cover these expenses. Nevertheless, we try to be as aware as possible of the general events, for which we also make further use of the known news channels and reliable TV channels and newspapers.

United States debacle

In terms of exposure, it was imperative to look at the Trumpists who still claim high and low that the US elections were forged.

The country which was formed on the idea that it could be a free world where everybody could express himself freely and would not be bounded by limitations through a government, in 2022 came to see deep political divisions, caused by a man who as 45th president of the U.S.A. did mutiny on that state and brought democracy in danger. His party made the ongoing climate crisis and racial, economic and health inequalities worsened. It was impossible to ignore the fallout from the January 6 hearings and Donald Trump’s presidency, as well as his willingness to come back as president.

The repeal of Roe v Wade provided a divisive backdrop to the November midterm elections. The conservative, or better said, the extremist Christians in the U.S., made it possible that women lost even the right to their own bodies. They also did not want to give an eye for mother nature nor for all those poor Americans who have no house or anywhere to live except on the streets, where many in the last weeks of the year found their dead by Winter storm Elliott. Buffalo got the worst hit by that bomb cyclone.

Political storms

In 2022 there were more significant elections in America which caught our attention. In Brazil, there were an anxious few weeks as Jair Bolsonaro wanted to do like his friend Trump, saying the votes were falsified. Finally, he suffered a chastening defeat by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who completed a comeback from prison to the presidential palace.

To our annoyance, we in northern Europe had to observe an inverse movement towards South America. The far right in Sweden, Italy and Israel, could get most seats in parliament. Despite her political prowess, the 45-year-old from Rome, whose strong will and determination has drawn comparisons to Margaret Thatcher, Giorgia Meloni has spent three decades fighting her way to the top of Italian politics. She is clear evidence that go-getters win. In October last year, after Brothers of Italy managed to draw votes away from the Northern League in its northern strongholds in local elections, a secret recording revealed Matteo Salvini hitting out at Meloni, calling her a “pain in the ass”.

In Belgium, too, the newspapers disguised several polls, clearly showing that the right is making a strong rise and where voices can already be heard that NVA will have to make the choice to form a majority coalition with Vlaams Belang.

As for British politics, prime ministers came and went with alarming regularity and the nation buried the pound, Queen Elizabeth and its global standing in quick succession. For 10 days in September, the future of the monarchy dominated the newsroom. The crazy game of the English conservatives who wanted their leader to put his capsones under the benches and to ask the people to stay at home because of Corona and not to have parties seemed to think it normal that their leader could do that and lie about it too. The whole world could laugh at the blunders of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, while the British citizen seemed not to mind. In any case, they did not demand new elections and left it to the Tory members to elect the new prime minister.

In Australia Labour could note a historic federal election victory.

Economical storms

The struggle between Russia and Ukraine is also a struggle between the Putin regime and Western Europe.

The war accelerated a global economic slump, sending costs soaring, throttling energy supplies and raising the spectre of blackouts, malnutrition and a winter of discontent across dozens of countries. But we also noticed that certain companies were abusing the war in Ukraine to raise their prices.

Cereals and gas were not released enough by blockades from the Russians, which caused major food problems, especially in Africa. In Western Europe we felt our energy prices skyrocket due to the pressure on the export and import markets. In Belgium, it took forever for the government to take measures to mitigate the costs of its citizens. After several months of calls by the Labour Party PvdA/PtB to reduce VAT to 6% and by their appeals to the public to put pressure on the government, things finally came to a head.

Health matters

2022 received big leaps forward for Alzheimer’s treatments, bowel cancer prevention and understanding depression.

In several countries there was joy that people could come together again to party and that the elderly should no longer be separated from their children and grandchildren. The lockdown had made it very clear how important personal contact is. It was striking how in 2022 teenagers and twens still had many psychological difficulties, which were not resolved. Bad enough, many could not be admitted in time, causing unnecessarily too many young people to die, while this could have been avoided.

Post-pandemic in Europe in danger

For months Europe tried to combat Covid-19. We started the annual overview with the relaxation of the Corona measures. But at the end of December, they now appear to be endangered because Europe does not want to take strict measures for the Chinese who are now allowed by their government to travel outside China again, which will allow them to spread the increased disease further outside China. With the coming Chinese New Year, they could start a new pandemic as in Belgium, it started in Antwerp.

For much of the world, a sort of post-pandemic normality has resumed – with one striking exception: the country where it all began. Chinese leaders faced a rapid spread of public anger caused by their draconian Covid lockdown policy. Only after some activists could ignite a revolt against the lockdown and more people joined them on the streets, even coming to shout to get rid of the Chinese leader and communist party, the government got seriously afraid and eased the lockdown measures. After they had done that another hell broke down, the virus rapidly spreading and killing so many people the mortuaries could not handle it anymore.

While the Chinese seem to be in the first Corona wave, as it were, the rest of the world has gotten out over time and everyone is now looking forward to a shock-free 2023.

We too look forward to an ending of the war in Ukraine and to a peaceful solution between Kosovo and Serbia.

At Some View of the World and at my other personal Space, we shall try to bring you up-to-date news of the happenings in the world, and here on this website, we hope we shall still be able to offer you and share with you, some worthwhile articles to read in this coming New Year.

 

*

A sincere thank you to our readers and supporters – wherever you are in the world,
we wish you a wonderful end to 2022 and an optimistic 2023.

°°°

In case you like our work,
do not forget that we always can use your support.

To help us defray the costs
any gift is welcome at
Bankaccount: Giro: BE37 9730 6618 2528
BIC: ARSPBE22
With mention: support websites

For which we thank you wholeheartedly

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Additional reading

1. G7 agreed to ban or phase out Russian oil and gas imports
2. 2022 the year of fearing some wars

Between Christmas and New Year or between New Year and Christmas

%%%
She complained
about the many kilos she would regain
between Christmas and New Year
and passed those between New Year and Christmas
with regal grace.
~ Markus M. Ronner
%%%

 

Boxing Day 2022

***

After all the partying, sometimes the hangover comes.
One does feel then that one has gone beyond one’s means
with good food and drink.
°°°
So let this Boxing Day be a day of rest
and reminisce
of the good times, you had with your family.
***