Begroetende dageraad

°
De dageraad is de tijd dat de zon opkomt of opkomt
maar ook de tijd om vooruit te stappen
met nieuwe heldere plannen
de dag te veroveren met positieve gedachten.
~Marcus Ampe
°

 

Are you a newsflash nightingale?

There are some of those people who reach for their smartphones as soon as they wake up to see if someone has sent them a message and to see what their news apps have to say for news.

Do you turn to your news apps as soon as you wake up, or do you prefer a leisurely read of the papers over Sunday brunch?

Or are you someone who still wishes to peruse the paper newspaper over breakfast?

Do you feel overwhelmed by news in the digital age, or do you relish the chance to sample a variety of news and features throughout the day?

So much is happening in this world that we cannot follow it all closely. But it is almost impossible to go through all the news sources to get a clear picture of the main issues that should concern us. It is also not possible to have our own news aggregator, though such online platform or software device that collects news stories and other information as that information is published and would organise that information for us in a specific manner, would be very practical.

Gathering news from all over the world is not a cheap business. It would also become too costly to have subscriptions to a multitude of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines.

But do you know, that for those who are curious about what is happening in the world, we provide a news platform so that everyone can freely get an overview of the day’s events. We try to present  some views from all sorts of ‘political’ directions and from different newspapers to give a broad aspect of information that can be compared with the different ideas. The editor in charge of this blog and of Some View on the World, Marcus Ampe, is convinced that one should be able to juxtapose several opinions, thus creating a dialogue but also allowing everyone to form their own opinion.

With Some view on the World, a variety of news reports are presented, with some reports perhaps being reported a little later, because we feel it is necessary to be able to check them for truth each time, so that no false reporting would be sent further into the world through our fault. So do not expect to find regular “Breaking News”, because such news can not always be directly verified. We also do not look to social media to stay up with breaking news, and have a critical and suspicious eye for such social media. You will be able to notice on Some View on the World, that it calls on a whole team of reporters to uncover news events and present them to you.
Furthermore, we will not shy away from putting forward our personal views on certain events. Here we then admit that this will be from a Christian point of view, which we also inform our readers about. Regularly, therefore, we will make room to approach or address some spiritual aspects more deeply.
The difference with our other spiritual or religious websites, like our Ecclesial website, is that on Some View on the World, we are rather more responsive to current events and will further provide responses to church articles that are out there at the time published on other channels and brought forward by other denominations, a.o. shedding light on people their religious life.

We further admit that for news coverage, a choice is made from what touched us during the course of the day as we recorded talking points, watched news broadcasts on television, had conversations, and so on.

We may be of the old breed and therefore not followers of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or Picodash as they are also very time-consuming, this is while we are convinced that instead of engaging with social media, we can use our time more usefully. Because our time is very limited – provided, we experience every day that we lack time.

Instead of continuing to publish on the slow opening Blogspot, “Our World” has been transferred (at the end of 2021) to WordPress so that a person now can easily access the website through Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer or Edge, hoping that now a faster loading site shall attract more visitors because no one wants a page that takes more than 30 seconds loading.

Whatever your style of gathering news, we hope we can charm you into signing up to follow our news blog Some view on the World.

°°°

To be honest, we are convinced that our work can still be a useful contribution to getting people thinking here and there.

If you also appreciate what we are doing here and on our other websites, it shall always be appreciated by us when you would not mind letting others know about our existence.

Furthermore, you can also always indicate your appreciation of texts and mark them with the “Like” button.

Gossip is free and anyone can create it. There is no talent required other than to have no respect for facts and truth. Quality content is usually more costly because it takes time and expertise to create. A lot of time and energy is invested in publishing our articles here and on our other websites. Both time and expertise however cost money.

To cover our costs, you can also help us move forward. Indeed, financial contributions are also always welcome.
Deposits can be made to the Belgian bank account, for example, BE37 9730 6618 2528, BIC ARSPBE 22

 

+

Preceding

1. Do you still look out for your morning or evening paper
2. Lots of news demanding attention
3. Mountains of information, disinformation and breaking away
4. The Age of Disinformation
5. Mass Media’s Deception Causing Division
6. Do Governments and Nations Lie?
7. Seasonal Writing
8. Holiday season and BBC being questioned
9. Holiday time reading time
10. Consequences of our digital environment
11. Facts: Why they matter and how to check them
12. Readers, likes and comments
13. What 2022 brought to us and looking forward to 2023
14. Invitation to the news platform that brings a view of the world

++

Additional reading

1. Study Guide: Definition of Journalism
2. Why social media presence matters in journalism
3. The Ever-Evolving Industry of Journalism: its Quest to Survive in a Digital World
4. Traditional News Turns into The Journalism We Know Now
5. The news that travels the fastest and the farthest
6. What do we know about the future of journalism?
7. Mississippi journalists discuss the evolution of daily newspapers
8. Joseph Pulitzer’s Retirement Speech & The Traits of Journalism
9. Newspapers: Dying or Changing
10. Journal for and from bothered citizens
11. Eyes on pages and messages on social media
12. Presenting views from different sources
13. 2022 towards its end
14. Entering the last month of the year 2022
15. Thoughts tinged with triviality
16. To protect our democratic system #1 Danger of fake and malicious social media accounts
17. Gossip and fake news, opposite fact checking and facts presenting
18. Texts, writers, accesibility and willingness
19. Changing screens

+++

Related

1. Four reasons game dynamics are vital for networked journalism
2. Toward A Free and Accurate Media
3. The economics of news – a critique
4. Google for Media Day: Using the internet for news gathering and storytelling
5. University Newsgathering
6. Networking and newsgathering: Breaking stories via social media.
7. BBC News Moves to Broadcasting House After Dramatic Over Spend
8. Why Twitter is essential for Journalists
9. “Why Journalism?”
10. Newsgathering: The Inside Story
11. Print Publishing: Yesterday’s News?
12. Finding myself with Immersion Journalism
13. Making the News: Behind the Scenes
14. Network News Anchors: Please quit commenting on stories…
15. Press Coverage of DOJ Lacks in Analysis and Objectivity
16. Online newsgathering, Illuminati, Media and Truth
17. Why (basically) unlimited Twitter lists are amazing
18. Free press? The problem with the DOJ’s ‘new’ rules
19. LUTV Reporter Log VI
20. News Gathering.
21. Why amateur corporate newsletters generally fail
22. Mobile Newsgathering and News Consumption
23. Journalism and Politics
24. The Journalist as a Hunter-Gatherer
25. Patch me in
26. 10 News Outlets to Test Drones for Journalism – Bloomberg
27. Journo tips: Newsgathering
28. Winning the Internet
29. The three most effective things to tweet
30. Where News Comes From
31. Supporting Writers & Readers on Giving Tuesday
32. Use your Eyes!
33. When spurious ‘hacking’ claims chill journalism
34. Story Sources
35. The Case for DailyMe
36. Twitter is a taxi (and newspapers are Metro Transit)
37. All About the Buzz
38. New Newsrooms
39. There have been some very interesting initiatives to bring news events in the picture and to inform the public in a serious way > Hash Internship > Back in 2014, two driving factors led to us creating Hash – firstly, Twitter’s lack of a logged-out experience left a vast amount of awesome content inaccessible to a large audience. Secondly, the online news industry had long been an overwhelming and frustrating place – we wanted to create something that would let people catch up on important events quickly. Hash was our answer: aggregating tweets about the day’s most topical stories in a simple, visual way.
40. Follow The Leaders: Mozilla, New York Times And Washington Post Collaborate

When dusk greets us

°
When dusk greets us
leave the bad things of the day behind.
~ Marcus Ampe
°

 

Incorporate new things into your daily routine – without feeling like it’s a struggle

“Many people have been conditioned into thinking of January 1 as a day when we deprive ourselves of all the things that we have been encouraged to indulge in during December,”

neurologist Dr Rachel Taylor says.

“But the brain is hardwired to make it difficult for you because it does not deal with deprivation well.”

Dr Taylor advises that if you need extra motivation to make a change,

“start to really reflect on how that food/drink/activity makes you feel.

In these dark days, it is easy to get carried away with dark thoughts. For this, we must be careful not to get discouraged or start feeling miserable. The danger is that if you get carried away by those dark thoughts, you will also start feeling inferior and others will notice your weakness and take advantage of it.

We need to be aware that everyone encounters dark moments from time to time and that not everything can always be rosy. There is really no need to always show ourselves strong. We should not always put away our weaker points. It comes down to finding the right people with whom to share our weaknesses and talk quietly about things that bother us. Sharing our weaknesses shall make us vulnerable, but to make you vulnerable shall show your strength.

Marcus Ampe always advised people to bring the mind in balance with the body. For him, it is clear we need, first and foremost, to sort out our own inner self before we start working on the outer. If we are not happy with our appearance, we must find ways to accept our “self” as it is, be it too fat or too skinny, or not the shape we would like.

“Before taking drastic action on our body, we need to calm our “soul” by going for a walk in the great outdoors, for example.”

he says.

As we walk, we can safely think about many things that bother us. But we should also try to quiet our minds while observing the greenery and animals around us. Therefore, according to Mr. Ampe:

“Even if others may want to take us deeper, we must convince ourselves that we are worth being there and that we can contribute enough to others.”

Thus, during those walks in the morning and afternoon, we need to open up to what we are, but also to change that we can let come to ourselves.

“The brain is much more likely to accept change when you have done a sound job in convincing it that it is worth the extra effort and energy it is going to have to expend on managing the change.”

Even though these are dark days, we must not let our thoughts darken. According to M. Ampe, it is therefore also best to start fully enjoying the sun’s warming rays (albeit little) after sunrise.

Dr Rachel Taylor, like him, finds that an early morning blast is essential.

“The rate of production of serotonin has been shown multiple times in research to have a direct correlation with the amount of sunlight a person gets: it rises quickly when access to sunlight increases.

In Scandinavian countries, therefore, often light therapy is used, to reduce suicides during these winter months.

“The more serotonin you have the more melatonin your brain can make, which is not just good for sleep, although that is its primary role, but is a really powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound.”

That early dose of sunlight could have added benefits for weight loss: a study from the University of Alberta found that lack of exposure to sunlight could lead to an increase in fat and therefore contribute to weight gain.

Especially with these dark days and upcoming holidays, we do dare to go beyond our means and eat more than we actually need to, while also reaching for sweets a lot quicker, to feel better.

It is no use that we let ourselves become stressed by what we would go to eat at Christmas and New Year, or what presents we are going to buy. Stress is to be avoided. Though this period is one in which many people get unnecessarily stressed out. Many are very busy, dealing with endless to-do lists and struggling to balance it all. This search for trying to do the best for others results often in a day-to-day life that feels too hectic. Our running back and forth in search of the right gifts and food gets us so excited that we throw ourselves off balance.
By putting their body these days into overdrive, lots of people do not see it is taking them down. Fatigue becomes the master of them.

A good way to get back to folds should start as early as breakfast.

Many think their daily serving of breakfast cereal is a healthy dose of calories and vitamins. But the majority of people use breakfast cereals with added sugars. And these are bound to be avoided. So no granola or caramelised cereals, even those with hoing processed breakfast cereals should be taboo. The concept of cereal food that originated in the vegetarian beliefs of the American Seventh-day Adventists, who in the 1860s formed the Western Health Reform Institute, later renamed the Battle Creek Sanitarium, in Battle Creek, Michigan, was very healthy, but the food industry made something sweet after it to tempt more people to come to enjoy their products. Therefore forget those ‘modernised’ grainproducts and go back to the  source, ditching the sugary, high-carb cereal for a more balanced start to the day.

“If you start your day with a good quality source of protein, some fat and some vegetables, you will balance your blood sugar levels,”

says nutritionist Grace Kingswell, who advocates eggs and vegetables to start the day.

But, Mr Ampe warns, in doing so we must be careful not to be tempted in the supermarket to buy fruit and vegetables that do not belong in our own region during the particular season.

“Only seasonal fruit and vegetables should be put on our plates.”

he says.

In doing so, choosing the right food at the right season will bring us into balance with nature and provide the necessary nutrients and vitamins for that time of year.

“It will have positive benefits for your hormone balance, PMS, energy levels, mood, stress response, cravings, satiety, weight management, and so much more.”

remarks Kingswell.

Researchers at the University of Missouri found that a higher protein breakfast produced lower spikes in glucose and insulin after meals, which led to increased feelings of fullness throughout the day (if you struggle to eat first thing, try adding a protein shake, such as one from strongnutrients.com). Increased vegetables also have added benefits for your gut health.

After having started the day with a good meal, one can go for the first walk of the day. Before that walk, like at other moments during the day, it is, according to Mr. Ampe, also not bad to take the Bible at hand and to read, every day, some verses out of that inspiration book. The part read that day should bring something to think or meditate about.

For good reason, private devotion or mental exercise encompassing various techniques of concentration, contemplation, and abstraction, is regarded as conducive to heightened self-awareness, spiritual enlightenment, and physical and mental health. Meditation has never been more popular: there are currently more than 51 million posts on Instagram.

Neuroscientists at UC San Diego recently reported that mindful meditation can be as effective in reducing pain relief as medication. While in another recent study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, researchers found that a guided mindfulness-based program was as effective as the use of medication for patients with anxiety disorders.

Even for a beginner with no serious health issues, a 13-minute daily meditation improves mood, sleep and memory, according to researchers at John Hopkins University.

“There is no need at all to repeat all the time some words or phrases,”

says Mr. Ampe.

“It is much more important to get toward mental, emotional, and physical well-being, by concentrating on the Words given by our Creator, Who has provide the most complete words or thoughts to instruct and form or mould us in the best human being we should become.”

Some prefer through the repetition of a mantra, to still the activity of thought and to experience a deep state of relaxation, which is said to lead to enhanced contentment, vitality, and creativity, but by repeating such mantra, the source of the problem is not taken away. By using the Bible as a source and backbone of life, a person shall be able to attack the real problem and origin of the troubles. Feeding yourself every day with such spiritual food shall enrich and strengthen yourself more, so that you and others shall be able to notice changes in yourself. At the same time you should not be afraid to use that active, voluntary, and systematic thinking about a biblical or theological topic, to be part of your conversation with others, by which you shall come to feel that a certain confidence shall also give you more strength.

“The meditations are designed to be incorporated into your everyday life and can be done sitting, standing or while doing light exercise such as walking, hiking or stretching. We want to make it as easy as possible to meditate any time, anywhere,”

says Julz Arney, director of fitness for health technologies at Apple.

By knowing the Divine Creator, Jehovah God, and giving time to yourself to think about His Words and worship Him, you shall find out that you will gain the first step to coming at ease with yourself and making you strong enough to tackle this world.

The tips from the experts here are small changes that you can start to incorporate into your daily routine – without feeling like it’s a struggle.

+

Preceding

Facing our existence every day

O, little voice within…

Echo

Soul Pampering Time

Share Your Smile

Blossoming and healing the planet

Thinking about thinking

Thoughts and reflections taking only a few minutes

Deeper Call

‘I try to keep my hate in check. If you can’t hate, you can’t love.’

Crying is good for inner self!!

A little ray of sunshine.

Mini-MAX-malism: A Bigger Approach to Less is More

New form of body exercises gaining popularity

++

Additional reading

1. Expectations for kashrut to meet individual and contemporary norms
2. Christians, secularism, morals and values
3. Every athlete exercises self control

+++

Related

1. Mental health tips: Easy ways to beat the winter blues, manage mood swings | Health
2. The Inferiority Bug
3. Feeling “Less Than”
4. Are You Inferior?
5. Thought For The Day: April 17, 2018 “At The Expense of Others”
6. Darkness Exists in All
7. Hijacked by Darkness
8. Beyond darkness
9. Dark Clouds
10. Dark Disquietude
11. Dark Destressing
12. Angst And Anxiety
13. Secrets from a shadow
14. 2 a.m.
15. Tea Time
16. Weather Related Depression Is Brutal
17. How to Treat Seasonal Affective Disorder
18. How to Deal with Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder
19. How I’m coping with SAD (Seasonal affective disorder)
20. Understanding Inferiority
21. You’re receiving peanuts because you’re giving yourself peanuts
22. Just What If…
23. True me.. Tap-1164..
24. When you’re feeling inferior
25. Which kind of hell would you choose?
26. you are not alone
27. How Do You Know Your Body is Out Of Balance?
28. How To Ditch For Ever The Ridiculous Idea That You’re Not Good Enough
29. Fed Up With Feeling Inferior? Here’s How To Fix It With One Simple Step
30. You Are Not
31. Weakness is Powerful
32. Vulnerable
33. Causes Of Sudden Weight Gain
34. Eating Disorder in the Psych Ward.
35. Tips for avoiding holiday weight gain.
36. Today’s Health Tip ~ Want to Lose Weight?
37. Part One – Will Adrenal Fatigue Cause Weight Gain?
38. 11 Foods That Cause Visceral Fat, Ranked by How Bad They Are For You
39. Patterns of weight gain or loss later in life may increase risk
40. Boost the Effects of Exercise on Weight Loss and Health (Without Changing Your Workout Routine)
41. Offering A Little Brightness During The Darkest Months Of The Year
42. Journal Prompts & Activities to Boost Positivity this Winter
43. Day 125 – A Stunningly Sober Holiday Season
44. What is your foundation for optimal health?
45. How Can I Have True Spiritual Power?
46. He Knows Storms Are Coming
47. Give Yourself Fully to the Work of the Lord

Coldness – Presents – Warmth

It’s not all those presents that should provide warmth.
The warmth comes from the hearts of those who care most about being together.
~ Marcus Ampe

 

Koude – Cadeautjes en Warmte

*
Het zijn niet al die cadeautjes die voor warmte moeten zorgen.
De warmte komt uit het hart van hen die het samenzijn het belangrijkst vinden.
~ Marcus Ampe

 

Everyday activities to keep you fit and healthy

For years, choreologist Marcus Ampe also tried to convince people during his teaching practice as a therapist that it was bad to exercise excessively and shortchange the body. He is still convinced that one should exercise well-balanced regularly, instead of going out of control now and then, or once a week and then overloading the body.

Photo by Daniel Reche on Pexels.com

The last few years, what he taught is more confirmed by medical magazines. A new study, published in the monthly peer-reviewed medical journal Nature Medicine, indicates that truly tiny quantities of commonplace activity can have a serious impact on your health, if done with a little added oomph.

Marcus Ampe also believes that one should train or exercise both body and mind and balance them with one’s personality. As such, it is already good exercise to have a daily walk in nature. Daily, we in a sort of way should consider how we move, sitting straight, walking straight, and breathing calmly. At the same time, we should consider how we want to see ourselves and how we orient and describe ourselves in the world. It is not bad to have our thoughts wander when walking.

Photo by Laura Tancredi on Pexels.com

Mr Ampe is convinced our world is going to face a big problem with the younger generations because they have become a sitting society where youngsters eat too many damaging foods. He fears that these overweight youngsters will later cost our community a lot of money by suffering from all kinds of diseases of affluence, such as chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including Parkinson’s disease, autoimmune diseases, strokes, most heart diseases, most cancers, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, cataracts, Alzheimer’s disease and others. Every year about 2.8 million die from being overweight. High cholesterol accounts for roughly 2.6 million deaths and 7.5 million die because of high blood pressure. An increasing proportion (more than one-third by some estimates) of the U.S. population is currently overweight, and health problems associated with it are increasing.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

Mr Ampe is convinced that even small reductions in excess weight can improve health. Even though it takes a lot of time and energy to lose a few kilocalories, you can steadily work on ‘bodybuilding’ by walking or jogging regularly and doing a variety of physical exercises throughout the day, where even climbing stairs can help.

Today more scientists are convinced that leisure-time exercise, like gyms, running, or competitive sports have many health benefits. For professor Emmanuel Stamatakis this was good reason to examine 25,000 people in the UK, aged between 40 and 69, who don’t exercise – or, at least, don’t think that they do.  For a medical study, led by a team at the University of Sydney, they wore activity trackers on their wrists, and were then monitored for almost seven years.

The NHS recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate activity (a couple of doubles tennis matches, say), or 75 minutes of vigorous activity (one-and-a-bit aerobics classes) every week to reduce our risk of heart disease or stroke. But, says Stamatakis,

“we understand less about the health potential of those activities that are done as part of daily living and which often reach vigorous intensity… stair climbing, bursts of very fast walking, walking uphill, walking carrying backpack or shopping bags, vigorous domestic housework or gardening.”

For some the results of the study were surprising.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

Engaging in just three to four bouts of VILPA (vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity) a day, even if each bout lasted only for between one and two minutes, was associated with a nearly 40 per cent reduction in overall mortality risk (including from cancer) and nearly a 50 per cent reduction in cardiovascular disease related deaths. Most interesting of all, says Stamatakis, is this:

“there is a good chance that participants in this study did not even know that they were doing vigorous intensity physical activity.”

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

Ultimately, the outcome of this study should convince doctors, but also ordinary citizens, to start paying more attention to what such normal daily activities may be. During the day, this way everyone can easily build certain ‘exercises’ into their routine, taking the stairs instead of the lift, for example. So one doesn’t need to throw a lot of money against an exercise session. If one looks around, one can find plenty of opportunities to exercise the body.

“Many day-to-day activities can be converted to a VILPA burst, just by tweaking its intensity,”

says Stamatakis. In other words:

“do it in a more energetic and vigorous way.”

How to tell if you’ve stepped up the pace with sufficient intensity?

“The first sign is getting out of breath, followed by an increase in heart rate, both of which should be felt after about 15-30 seconds, depending on the person’s fitness level and whether the starting point is rest, light, or moderate-intensity activity.”

says Stamatakis. If you can still sing, your activity is light in intensity, he says. Able to speak? You’ve hit moderate intensity.

“When we can hardly speak a few words, we are hitting the vigorous intensity zone,”

he says.

“This is high quality movement, with great health enhancing potential if repeated regularly.”

If that sounds like your kind of exercise regime, then read on.

The two-minute workouts that could add years to your life: From climbing stairs to running for a bus, research suggests short bursts of activity can have long-lasting health benefits

Incorporate these small changes into your daily routine – without feeling like it’s a struggle: 10 health resolutions to start now

> With a little creative thinking, you can still have your Christmas cake and eat it this festive season: How to avoid Christmas weight gain – and still indulge

Seeking human warmth

*

In these cold days
it is important to seek human warmth

~ Marcus Ampe

Menselijke warmte opzoeken

*
In deze koude dagen
is het belangrijk om de menselijke warmte op te zoeken

~ Marcus Ampe

 

Having an eye for the right people

*
In life, it comes down to having an eye for the right people
~ Marcus Ampe

 

Oog hebben voor de juiste mensen

*
In het leven komt het er op aan oog te hebben voor de juiste mensen
~ Marcus Ampe

 

Showing recognition and appreciation

*

Let us not forget that everyone does like to be appreciated.
We should therefore also not fail to recognise people for their work
and show that we appreciate them.

~ Marcus Ampe

Waardering uiten

*
Laat ons niet vergeten dat iedereen wel graag gewaardeerd wordt.
Wij mogen het daarom ook niet nalaten mensen voor hun werk te erkennen
en laten zien dat wij ze op prijs stellen.

~ Marcus Ampe

 

Dealing with friends

*

Getting on well with friends
is important
as they are rare birds.

~ Marcus Ampe

 

Omgaan met vrienden

*
Goed omgaan met vrienden
is belangrijk,
want het zijn zeldzame vogels.
~ Marcus Ampe

 

Buddies, comrades, virtual friends versus real friends

*
One has a lot of friends these days, so to speak,
yet these are mostly just virtual friends. These are not even pals or comrades yet
and far from being real friends most of the time.
~ Marcus Ampe

 

Makkers, kameraden, virtuele vrienden tegenover echte vrienden

*
Men heeft tegenwoordig zogezegd heel wat vrienden,
toch zijn dit meestal maar virtuele vrienden.
Dat zijn zelfs nog geen makkers of kameraden
en in de verste verte zijn het meestal geen echte vrienden.
~ Marcus Ampe

 

Do you have painful creaky knees

Painful creaky knees? You might feel like popping a pill, but you’d be better off exercising.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting an estimated 10 per cent of men and 18 per cent of women over 60 years of age and occurs when the cartilage that cushions the ends of bones gradually thins.

Although the last 20 years have brought big breakthroughs in treatments for inflammatory arthritis (including rheumatoid), osteoarthritis has seen much slower progress. There are still no disease-modifying treatments, only symptom control, and the latest draft of NICE guidelines has recently downgraded long-term use of painkillers in favour of exercise, weight-management and behaviour change.

For years, the choreologist Marcus Ampe promoted special exercises to get rid of pain, instead of poisoning the body with painkillers. Before his retirement, he also gave special therapeutic classes to help people recover from accidents and from several body ailments.

A big problem is when people have a lot of pain, they often do not feel much for going to move more. But they have to go over that step. Crossing the threshold of the initial pain.

To move, is probably the opposite of what you want to do, and of what your osteoarthritis seems to be telling you, but the evidence is rock-solid. Exercise helps in multiple ways.

“It improves nutrition and blood flow to the joint, lines up the joints, strengthens muscles, improves stability and restores function,”

says Dr Benjamin Ellis, consultant rheumatologist and senior clinical advisor for Versus Arthritis. Avoiding activity because of osteoarthritis pain kicks off a vicious “deconditioning cycle”.

Marcus Ampe always promoted exercise but warned not to overdo it. Though he also was a certified Aerobics teacher, he always dis-advised ordinary people to do that sort of exercises. It is namely much better to do a proper balanced workout or to take Kounovsky, Pilates or social dancing or modern jazz classes.

He, like other experts, advises that any exercise is good, even walking or gardening.

“Whatever you enjoy, whatever you’re doing, do more,”

says Holden.

“A recent study found that just walking will reduce the pain from early knee osteoarthritis and also make it much less likely to progress – so it’s potentially preventative.”

The latest research suggests that paracetamol performs no better than a placebo for osteoarthritis, while strong and potentially addictive opioids bring more risk than benefits.

A lot of people seek refuge in medication but would do better to resort to herbs or phytotherapy and homoeopathy and a healthy schedule of exercises that will further help them move better and easier again.

> Please do find: Five ways to tackle the joint pain of arthritis

Looking at a “Man from the North” endangering the world

From poetry and philosophy to political points of views. Pretty Much almost anything that can be blogged about will be eventually blogged about {About One Lifetime Blog}

at the One Lifetime Blog of Ray Barbier. Like us he claims

not to be anything but fools in search of wisdom with the hope of eventually being less foolish and a bit more wise before our time is up on this blue planet. {About One Lifetime Blog}

and looks at matters we are confronted with regularly. For him it

Seems the world is full of anger, fear and distrust now days, Hard to know where to turn for the facts and truth. We have such a vast array of sources of information but unfortunately very few are reliable and the majority is opinion based far more than fact. {Random Thoughts 1-5-2022}

In this world of information overload but also disinformation, one of the difficulties is to distinguish truth from misinformation. There are certain people who are very adept at sending misinformation out into the world as true facts. Some years already, certain people leading a nation were not afraid to call others liars whilst they themselves did nothing more than sending one false message after the other and denying what others said about them. The term “Fake News” seemed to have become the new fashion word.

In the last few years, we could find political chaos happening across the globe. There were not only political unrest and disagreements that ran high; we in many countries could find the politicisation of almost every issue involved with the pandemic. In states where many are proud of the “freedom” racial tensions and all the conspiracy theories floating around caused nothing but trouble in a time when their president instead of uniting the country created more division than ever before.

 On top of all that you have the major super powers playing sabre rattling games on top of it, seems to be times of uncertainty to say the least. {Random Thoughts 1-5-2022}

We first had a health problem disturbing the world order.

The pandemic has had many side effects when dealing with society, it has caused much distrust in science, governments and amplified the social problems we were already facing in the world. Watching people argue over mask wearing, vaccinations, political policies and social values is very disappointing during a time we should come together to face the challenges before us as a world. {Random Thoughts 9-06-2021}

When that virus seemed to run on its last legs, we came to face an even more dangerous virus.

The virus of selfishness and lust for power {Marcus Ampe}

You would think that

Most of us take big and small risks in our lives every day. But COVID-19 has made us more aware of how we think about taking risks. {An ancient Greek approach to risk and the lessons it can offer the modern world}

But out of the North seems regularly to come certain danger. Marcus Ampe a few years ago had to suffer the consequences of such a “man from the North” and his organisation, who attacked his church community from the North. He spoke of the “Man from the North” at that time, not referring to the same “Man of the North” he refers to today. The one he refers to today is much much more dangerous than the previous one. This time it is also someone who might not be so clear in his head but bringing not only his nation and its neighbour land in danger but the whole world. By this man, like the other one from the North, it is also a problem of not being satisfied with the power he has. The ‘Aim for Power’ is a serious cancer that can spread very fast.

Watching a Superpower such as Russia invading their neighbor Ukraine seems like a high school fight between the Quarterback on the football team and the average-sized kid who doesn’t play sports. {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

Ray Barbier, like us, could

not see what Russia would have to fear {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

because it would have taken many years of debate and preparation for

“possibly joining N.A.T.O. or possibly the EU“. {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

We can only hope that all the parties involved know the danger that looms behind the corner and how a person with a deranged mind could suddenly reach out unexpectedly.

Considering Russia’s Military strength and nuclear arsenal Mr. Barbier thinks that

Even if the U.S. were to go to war with them the use of nuclear weapons would be off the table (I would pray). Since there are no winners in a Nuclear war. {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

Two power stations at Enerhodar, about 50 km from Zaporozhye in Ukraine, viewed from across the Kakhovka Reservoir on the river Dnieper. Photo taken from the “Nikopol” shore. The nearer power station is Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the biggest nuclear power station in Europe, consisting of two cooling towers (one largely obscured by the other) at the left and 6 VVER reactor buildings. The large building between the cooling towers and the reactors, and the two tall smokestacks, are at the Zaporizhzhia thermal power station about 3 km beyond the nuclear plant.

But it would be foolhardy as well as unwise to resign oneself to the fact that this “Man of the North” would not (mis)use his power to press the red button and start a nuclear conflict. That he is not even afraid of exposing his own people to atomic radiation he proved last week with the attack on two important nuclear power plants, the one in Chernobyl and on the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, in southern Ukraine’s city of Enerhodar, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

We got to see pictures of those attacks, but also stories from the other side, twisting the facts. At the same time, we should think:

What kind of things do they want you to think about what kind of people as a result of them telling you this??

What is their reason for sharing the story?” {Ask yourself why they’re telling you the story.}

From all sides, certain groups want to bombard the West with messages of doubtful content, by which they aim that bloggers and vloggers would use those messages to increase their attention and likes and as such spread fake news, but also would come to set up people against eachother.

All that disinformation is not helping at all. The other way around, it can help to give others reasons to attack other countries and to enter Europe in a new world war.

Barbier does believe though,

the 3 superpower nations and most nations, in general, do not desire a world war or the destruction of the planet we live on along with all life. Only if world leaders could put aside their differences long enough to work together on the things they all agree on, could you imagine how much as a species humankind could achieve? {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

He definitely dislikes war and does believe

there is always an alternative to war, though the parties involved would be required to be more understanding and be willing to find a compromise that is fair and balanced. The War or Military exercise as it’s been called by one side is decimating the poor civilians of Ukraine, be it intentional or unintentional they are getting caught in the crossfire. {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

We can see how many beautiful buildings and art pieces are destroyed. Many artefacts gone for ever, only to be in our memories by pictures we have of them. However, that loss of artefacts does not outweigh the loss of human life.

Regardless of which side you are on or support, the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the loss of lives on both sides militarily should be enough of an incentive to find a peaceful solution to this conflict. Human Lives are a cost that is permanent, buildings, infrastructure, etc can be replaced and rebuilt but once a person dies it is gone. {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

Before this awkward affair with Russia and Ukraine completely degenerates, we hope that common sense will prevail, and that diplomacy will be able to steer everything in the right direction in time to bring everything back to a peaceful situation.

But Putin with his language of war does not make it easy. He is saying that Western sanctions are equivalent to war, adding that he wants a neutral, “demilitarised” and “denasified” Ukraine, adding:

“These sanctions that are being imposed are akin to a declaration of war but thank God it has not come to that.”

It is to God that we may pray to ask Him to talk sense into those heads of world leaders.

Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“The world is too big for Europe and America to isolate a country, and even more so a country as big as Russia. There are many more countries in the world.”

We can only hope those countries shall also point their finger at Russia, demanding it to be careful before taking actions that can not be turned back.

With Ray Barbier we

pray for peace, world stability, and the return to some form of normalcy. {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

Like him, we are sure, that many

desire the peaceful, harmonious, and happy co-existence of all people on earth. {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

Together we should be united to aim for peace and brotherhood

Be Blessed, Be Safe and may you all find happiness and show compassion to one another {Random Thoughts 3-7-2022}

Photo by Katie Godowski on Pexels.com

+

Preceding

US bolsters Europe with 3,000 extra troops

Make Ukraine A Buffer State Between Russia & the EU

The biggest ground offensive in Europe since World War II

++

Additional reading

1. Putin plays dangerous poker game
2. A useless but very dangerous challenge game
3. Ukraine and Estonia taking further steps to intensify bilateral cooperation
4. Russian bombers fly over Belarus as border crisis deepens
5. Restrictions in Russia because of sanctions from the West for peace mission in Ukraine.
6. Will Ukraine Escape Russian Domination?
7. Will the Russian War in Ukraine reset World diplomacy?
8. Ukraine keeps standing strong despite Russian predictions
9. Russian forces fired at Europe’s largest Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
10. Peace Takes You

+++

Related

1. Geopolitics and War
2. Russia-Ukraine war: the vulnerabilities of strategic thinking in Europe
3. WATCH: Rubio Reveals the One Thing That Could Trigger World War III Amid Worsening Russia-Ukraine War
4. The world is too big for Europe and America to isolate Russia – Peskov
5. Propaganda of War… Czekmate
6. Re-reading “Foucault’s Pendulum” in the Age of Q-Anon: Pt. 2 – Ur-Fascism and the Russia-Ukraine Connection
7. The First Great Information War 
8. Ukraine crisis: How to spot misleading information online | CBBC Newsround
9. Misinformation
10. Misinformation & Infographics
11. Misinformation madness
12. Debunking Misinformation: Images
13. Debunking information on Ukraine’s war – An analysis of Russia’s false narratives
14. Lies for Likes
15. Unblurring the truth
16. Audrey Watters on the technology of wellness and mis/disinformation
17. Lose Money, Restore Humanity
18. TikTok Suspended Live Streaming in Russia Due to its Fake News Law
19. TikTok Never Signed Up To Be War Propaganda
20. Twitter to show ‘Birdwatch’ community fact-checks to more users, following criticism
21. Twitter Expands Birdwatch Pilot Program to US Users For Testing
22. Twitter Banned Over 100 Accounts Spreading Pro-Russian Content
23. Twitch will ban streamers who frequently share misinformation
24. WE are the fake newsmakers
25. Stamp out Fake News
26. Ukraine: have we reached peak fake news?
27. As Russia’s War Grinds On, Media Obsessed With “What Would Donald J. Trump Do?”
28. Media, “Culture Wars” And Rural Voters
29. Stop fake news: fake news destroys
30. Is this fake news?
31. Fighting misinformation in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – BBC News
32. Resiliency Through Strength
33. Teaching Students When to Believe What They Read on the Internet
34. Ads join the resistance
35. Watching War
36. The ‘West’ as a whole suffers from a lack of credibility even as they unite in their opposition to war.
37. Ukraine Crisis Shows Fault Lines of Multipolar World
38. Communicators must sever ties with Russia
39. Mental Health On Demand
40. BBC Radio WM interview on social media and’fake news’ during Ukrainian conflict   
41. Putin thinks he’s shooting fish in a barrel
42. What is Putin Afraid Of?
43. Backdoor Diplomacy: Russia’s Pivot to China and its Consequences for the Future
44. Sanctioned Con Men
45. Understanding India’s neutrality on Russia and Ukraine
46. Ukraine war ǀ China feels uncomfortable with Putin’s methods — Friday
47. Our So-Called Foreign Policy: Utterly Incoherent Polling on Ukraine
48. The Screws Tighten on Russia. Might It Accept a Diplomatic Solution to Ukraine Crisis?
49. Ukraine’s foreign minister confirms meeting with Lavrov – Politics –
50. UK plots attack on Putin and Russian oligarchs
51. Anti-NATO Activism: Is Now The Time?
52. All the wars of the world…
53. To Paraphrase President Kennedy: ”I am from Kyiv.”

Being on the road in my dreams or with a Tin Can Traveler

In 2009 I was placed in retirement and had to find an end to my artistic dreams and (to be honest) also to my dreams to become someone. In the previous years, like I still do, I had worked under several names.  There was the choreographer, the teacher and the writer, plus the one who had many dreams, not having the money but in those dreams going to many places.

Like some American blogwriter

I used to inspire my students by giving them what I considered to be the ten most important two letter words for having a dream life. {About Annie How It All Started #1}

that blogger had decided it was time she granted herself permission to take on the power of the words:

“If it is to be, it is up to me” in living my own dream life. {About Annie How It All Started #1}

Would that be not marvellous if we all could do that, just going our own way, free in the world.

Limited by my health and by finances, I just seem to keep it to dreams only. Luckily on the net, we may find people who are able to travel a lot and do not mind sharing those lovely experiences they might have while going from one place to another.

For Annie who lives in a home on wheels (the Tin Can Cottage), a Winnebago Mini Motorhome, her dream life is:

living in a motor home aka recreational vehicle (RV), working at jobs around the country, and experiencing a never-ending journey of adventure and discovery via the open road. It entailed selling my house and furniture, walking away from my career, and in short, learning a brand new way of life..

Would that not be the dream of many:

having and learning to have a brand new life?

I would say, even if Omicron wants to waltz with us, let us keep far away from it, and though we might then be a bit isolated, let us enjoy the beauties of nature. That nature which has so much to offer, but is also, like us, in danger of a terrible disease, the “greed of man”, the bodies who do not mind destroying their own planet. But when we and each other individual making his ow bit to safeguard that nature, for sure we must be able to get some candle burning, shedding some light onto the necessity to do something against global warming.

We do not have to sell a home, sell all our belongings like Annie did, but we perhaps could use some similar mindset as she has.

The most unsettling list was the one with all the things I wanted to keep. I was delirious with materialistic greed, thinking I could still harbor all the flotsam and jetsam from 40+ years of pack rat proclivity.

Mentally, I had attached the stuff to me as so many outer coats that now had to be peeled away one by one. The only way to do it was to adopt a spirit of philanthropy. I saw most of my possessions off to good homes; only keeping what I thought I needed or would be useful.

It took me most of the summer and multiple parings but my home finally took on a cavernous look. {About Annie How It All Started #1}

This Annie is now living in an RV and travelling the country is her dream life, which is lovely she can build up such a dream life. We can enjoy her travels with a 26′ Winnebago, Class C which has been her home since 2007.  It’s 25 feet long with one slide-out.  Her tow car is a Subaru Impreza Outback with manual drive.

 It’s also my “toy hauler”  and totes my 10 foot kayak on the roof and my bicycle, Big Blue inside with the back seat down. {RV Living / Work Camping}

For 2022 I would advise you to have great days full of inspiration

enjoying the day and the road, autumn colors, beyond blue skies. {Bald Eagle’s Message (#755)}

let us have our eyes on the plants and animals around us, and yes … let us be carried away by a Bald Eagle who takes off into the air, flying off into the beckoning blue skies.

Many happy and pleasant dreams for 2022

feeling transported to another realm; spirit time; a time to walk with those on the other side of the veil.

 

Like this Annie Tin Can Traveler writes:

There is magic in immersing oneself in a personal reality without and within. It super-charges the soul, brings forth creative forces and that forever feeling of joy.

When I open myself to it, that is when I find the most incredible gifts only imagined in my mind’s eye. {Imagine Hearts… (#786)}

Hearts from Cape Cod