2011-01-03

2010 in review: Here's what happened in the world of natural health and health freedom


Pesticides used in California 'salad bowl' growing region destroying health of workers, children

Airports consider replacing TSA with private security firms
2010 in review: Here's what happened in the world of natural health and health freedom

Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja Samadhi Ceremony

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2010-12-30

文字與生命




截拳道 Movie 2010 Jeet Kung Do / Jie Quan Dao

White Mischief - 45 min Documentary
Does the majority of milk produced in the Western world contain a chance mutation that causes a host of diseases? The jury is still out, but the businesspeople are certainly in. Milk... as natural and wholesome as motherhood, packed with proteins, vitamins and minerals. A great healthy drink for the whole family. But is it really so beneficial? This week's offering puts the startling claim that the type of milk most of us drink should carry a health warning. Instead of helping us grow strong, 'A1' milk could help trigger diabetes, heart disease, autism and schizophrenia. This high quality documentary tells a tale of cutting edge research and the corporate power games that blur the truth about a product we all know and love.
Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

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2010-12-28

Health organizations urge more sun exposure, less sunscreen

Junk food as addictive as street drugs

利潤管制不利兩間電力公司減排 - 林本利

The Digital Story Of The Nativity

Health organizations urge more sun exposure, less sunscreen ( I would say no "toxic" sunscreen at all )

10 Handy Alternative Uses of Charcoal

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2010-12-27

Outrageous Predictions For 2011

Outrageous Predictions For 2011
 Mon, Dec 20 2010
 by  Saxo Bank Strategy Team

This year’s “Black Swan Exercise” takes a look at the potential rare scenarios that could have a significant impact on the markets in 2011.

US Congress Blocks Bernanke's QE3
As we move into the second half of 2011, politicians and pundits increasingly succeed in putting the Fed in the hot seat for having been the critical enabler of the US housing debacle and resulting bank bailout and public debt catastrophe. Meanwhile, the too-big-to-fail banks are back in deep trouble again as their troubled mortgage portfolios once again threaten their solvency. The Fed’s Bernanke rallies the FOMC to indicate a strong new expansion of monetary policy to once again bail out the troubled banks and/or local governments. Emboldened by the political and popular winds blow- ing, however, a Ron Paul led challenge of the Fed’s authority sees the Congress blocking the Fed’s authority to expand its balance sheet, and sets up an eventual challenge of the Fed’s dual employ- ment/inflation mandate.

Investment

Apple Buys Facebook
What do you do when you want domination of the electronic and mobile device consumer market and have no significant presence in social networking? Oh, and a war chest of a mere USD 51 billion? You buy Facebook, the mother lode of (yet to be monetised) social networks. Facebook is worth USD 43 billion, according to sharespost.com. In interviews, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has explained that Apple was in talks with Facebook about partnership opportunities, but that the talks ultimately produced nothing. Facebook was after “onerous terms that we could not agree to”, according to Jobs. At the Web 2.0 Summit Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg called for Apple to ease its ap- proach to connecting Ping with Facebook, and said that Apple had to “get on the bus”. Steve Jobs might get on the bus indeed and buy Facebook outright. It makes perfect sense; Facebook doesn’t compete against Apple and it ‘faces up’ to Google, which Jobs loves since Google has become his new number one enemy. It’s a deal made in heaven... The gigantic 500+ million Facebook user base could be integrated across Apple’s consumer products and services - every Facebook user automati- cally has an iTunes Store account and FaceTime chat is integrated into Facebook chat. That’s a lot of iOS devices.

US Dollar Index Tops 100
The economic growth trajectory in most areas of the world appears healthy for a time in 2011 – at least outside of Europe and Japan. But then trouble occurs in China, where its new 12th five-year plan aimed at increasing consumption fails to function as hoped. With the Chinese industrial base growing more slowly or not at all as a result of the policy shift, the satellite countries dependent on Chinese demand see their economies facing a rough adjustment. This puts global risk appetite in a tail spin, and with the Japanese economy struggling and the Eurozone in disarray, the US dollar sud- denly doesn’t look as bad as it did previously. This is especially the case since the market was mas- sively short of the currency at the beginning of the year. The unwinding of these positions pushes the USD index 25% higher to over 100 late in the third quarter of 2011.

US 30-Year Treasury Yield Slides To 3%
The dollar devaluation policy, with its roots in the ‘currency wars’ of 2010, force emerging markets to use more of their spare dollars on Treasuries. Also, the US edges over the brink toward a ‘Japanisa- tion’ of its economy with core inflation dropping. The Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing did not have any positive effects, apart from easing the balance sheet woes of American banks. Main Street did not receive much except some benefits from slightly higher stock prices, and with a failure to clear out the system, borrowing returns only slowly and recovery does not gain traction. And then there’s the Eurozone, where the ECB, EU and IMF fail to cure the ills of the peripheral PIIGS, pushing the flock of flustered investors to the safe haven of Uncle Sam. The feel-good factor may have been on the rise in the US in the latter part of 2010, but it vanishes in 2011 and the 30-year Treasury yield drops to 3%.

Aussie-Sterling Divesd 25%
The UK returns to the values of the old days; they work harder, they save more, and soon enough a surprisingly strong expansion in 2011 is underway as the austerity-stricken country defies the naysayers. The markets have it in for the UK, giving the wide expectation that the economy slows as Prime Minister Cameron’s cuts work their way through the system. However, the large, narrow cuts will not hinder consumer sentiment and as real savings boost production the economy bounces back in the second half of 2011 to end the year as a growth frontrunner in Europe. Australia, on the other hand, is struggling with a weakening economy as China steps harder on the brakes to stop inflation from getting out of control. Add to this an Australian property market, which is at best in need of restraint and at worst looks like a bubble ready to burst, and we will see a decline of 25% in AUDGBP.

Crude Oil Gushes Before Correcting By One Third
Crude oil, now driven by fundamental investor macro expectations, gets carried away, surging to over USD 100 a barrel in early 2011 on the wave of euphoria that the US economy has broken free of the shackles. Unlike 2008, there’s no follow through to drive the spike higher and investors are left holding oil positions they cannot sustain. Crude succumbs to a violent one-third correction lower later in the year.

Natural Gas Surges 50 Percent
Natural gas enters 2011 with a supply surplus as the global downturn has resulted in supply exceed- ing demand for two years – resulting in two years’ of double digit losses. But heading into 2011 the fundamentals for Henry Hub improve dramatically. Increased industrial demand on a US recovery, historical cheapness relative to crude and coal, forward curve flattening and action on proposals to export more US natural gas reserves all combine to make passive investments in gas more profit- able. And the icing – an unusually frigid cold snap leads to a rapid depletion of stocks. Henry Hub thus sees a one-in-25 year move up by 50% in 2011.

Gold Powers To USD 1800 As Currency Wars Escalate
The ‘currency wars’ return with a vengeance in 2011, driven by improvement in the US economy rather than a need to help economic recovery. The US trade deficit widens as consumers and gov- ernments get their wallets out. As the deficit expands, President Obama’s plan to ‘double exports in five years’ increasingly becomes a pipe dream and incites the ‘man on the street’ to twist the US Congress’s arm to pursue a weaker dollar. Pressure piles on China and as investors flee to metals in search of some stability, gold shoots up to USD 1,800 an ounce.

S&P500 Reaches An All-Time High
Dr. Bernanke, using his mandate of ‘make sure the stock market keeps going up’, continues to pump liquidity into the system in 2011. Even ‘mom-and-pop’ investors realise the only strategy worth fol- lowing is to buy the dips. But the tactic actually works for the Fed, even though it’s a house of cards, and the US consumers start to spend as their stock portfolios improve and they forgive their money managers. Corporate America doesn’t buy the euphoria that a healthy share price is a good indicator of health, though, and continues the deleveraging process – margin improvements, a wary ap- proach to spending and managing the balance sheet, refinancing debt at next to zero interest rates, and so on. Next thing you know, it’s a proper recovery and the US benchmark index sees the 2007 peak in the rear-view mirror on its way to 1,600.

Russia's RTS Index Reaches 2500
It’s a perfect storm for Russia’s RTS index in 2011. The next global economic bubble starts to inflate early in the year, sending crude oil above USD 100 a barrel again. The average US investor won’t do anything with his money other than buy the dips on the US stock market, and fans of the Russian stock market realise value in their index at a 1-year forward P/E of 8.6 and price to book ratio of 1.26. The RTS nearly doubles to 2,500 in 2011. The options market says it has a one-in-twelve chance of happening – but the RTS was last up there in mid-2008.

Explanation:
Those familiar with the publication will know that this is a “Black Swan Exercise”, inspired by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the Lebanese philosophical essayist, produced each year as a forward looking thought piece for Saxo Bank’s cli- ents. In the book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, Taleb stresses that a Black Swan event is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was.

Saxo Bank’s 10 Outrageous Predictions might be useful to stress test a portfolio or to think about a far out-of-the- money option. Readers should also note that this is not an entirely scientific exercise, and the predictions are not designed to be anything of the sort. In past years, Saxo Bank has been right four out of ten times. Last year, it was just three, and, of course, many of the claims do not tally with the views of the Bank or the analysts.

We trust you had a prosperous 2010 and wish you all the best for 2011. Be careful out there, you might just bump into a Black Swan.

避繳新稅 港人轉炒深圳樓

避繳新稅 港人轉炒深圳樓
 (明報)2010年12月27日 星期一

【明報專訊】中央多番出招調控,深圳    樓價仍壓不下,有地產界消息指部分原因或與港人熱炒內地樓,博人民幣資產升值有關,特別是本港推出禁短炒新稅後,一些200萬以下、毗鄰深圳地鐵    站或邊境口岸的內地樓特別受港人歡迎。美聯物業    前線代理稱,以福田口岸區為例,近期睇樓量激增逾倍,估計單是福田口岸一帶中原、美聯本月合計佣金收入可達400萬元,較上月升六成,不少買家均為港人。

ZipRealty

港人買家佔三成 人幣升值有賺

美聯物業深圳營業部總經理江少傑稱,部分受港人歡迎的熱門深圳樓盤如皇崗皇御苑、福田口岸的金地名津等,港人買家佔三成以上。他指近日特區政府    向短炒者徵重稅,令部分香港投資者轉戰內地買樓收租,理由是即使樓價不大升,但若人民幣升值,持有內地物業仍會賺錢。

港元按揭供樓可省一成

內地開始加息令內地準買家擔心供樓負擔加重而卻步,但地產代理稱港人反而有優勢,因匯豐、渣打及永亨銀行的內地分行可為在內地買樓港人提供港元按揭,即可用港元做內地樓按,但日後樓宇升值和租金收入皆按人民幣計算,故有代理近日開始向港客加強推銷此類產品,但港元樓按的缺點是手續費較貴及申請時間較長。

記者查問發現,現以匯豐中國的3.9厘港元按揭息率最優惠。內地前日宣布加息後,人民幣按揭息率料升至5.4厘,若以200萬港元物業七成按揭推算,選港元按揭可較人民幣按揭每月少供1141元(12%)。

明報記者 陳志偉

2010-12-22

Treating Pain and Inflammation with Enzymes


臭豆腐是怎樣?

人生的方向和原則(吃素)是自己的選擇。
不執著於自己的選擇,那無異於失去方向和原則。
不執著於吃素的人不是真吃素;
執著於吃素的人到最後一定會有行動──自己料理三餐。

牙膏含致癌物 恐罹失智症-民視新聞
消基會發現,市售牙膏­有些為了抗過敏或殺菌,會使用含有鉛鋁等重金屬及殺菌用的三氯沙,雖然含量合乎法規標­準,但還是提醒民眾,購買時要注意成分,而且使用不要過量。


iHerb $5 Discount Off First Order




2010-12-18

火鍋店湯底多化學料 業者爆黑幕 添加劑氾濫

火鍋店湯底多化學料 業者爆黑幕 添加劑氾濫

黑色奇萊山 ( victim's names mentioned in video )
山難事件沒停過「黑色奇萊」神秘面紗 
2010-12-17 
中天新聞》台灣百岳當中,奇萊山被視為最神祕的一座山,也是山難事件最多的一座高山,山友甚至給它取了一個「黑色奇萊」的稱號,因為不僅很多人在這裡發生山難失蹤,甚至最後是連屍體都找不到。 

Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating

Cinnamon may be a treasure of green nanotechnology

30+ Surprising Ways to Save Money by Going Green

說文識字---永字

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2010-12-17

私營龕場FAQ

私營龕場FAQ
 (明報)2010年12月17日 星期五

【明報專訊】問﹕若已向違規經營的骨灰龕場購買了龕位,怎麼辦?

答﹕應要求私營骨灰龕場經營者說明如何保證消費者權益,包括如龕場倒閉或被取締,消費者可否取獲得退款或賠償;如有需要應尋求法律意見。

問﹕私營骨灰龕發牌制度未出爐,現時應向哪些私營骨灰龕場購買龕位?

答﹕政府公布的名單有兩部分,據政府了解,合法骨灰龕場仍有龕位配售,數字不方便公布,市民應自行決定向哪些私營骨灰龕場購買龕位。

資料來源﹕發展局

Flowers

52龕場違規 料涉50萬灰位

52龕場違規 料涉50萬灰位
 (經濟日報)2010年12月17日 星期五

【經濟日報專訊】不合規私營骨灰龕名單終曝光,多達52個,較合規者多近8成,且包括萬佛寺及蓬瀛仙館等著名龕堂,沙田    成重災區,業界估涉及的龕位多達50萬個,有違規龕場表明拒賠償。

有受害龕主憂龕位爛尾感恐慌,有人求政府勿取締,亦有人恐引發苦主上街。業界指爛尾龕隨時變成政治炸彈。

26個龕場 不同意表列

發展局昨公布兩份私營龕場名單,其中表一合規龕場有29個,表二未合規龕場則有52個,當中38個不合規劃,23個違地契,5個非法佔官地,其中屯門    極樂寺更3項皆違反,而不同意上述表列資料的龕場多達26個。

除了已曝光的西林寺、孝思園、弘道堂及明乙山等,表二不合規龕場還包括不合規劃的薄扶林啟明寺、沙田萬佛寺、地契不准作骨灰龕的粉嶺    蓬瀛仙館和雲泉仙館,而大嶼山    靈隱寺及寶林禪寺不准用作骨灰龕,雖然兩寺沒龕場,卻另佔官地建龕。

52個不合規龕場集中在新界東,沙田佔13個,大埔    有9個,而粉嶺則有4個。發展局發言人表示,政府可發執行通知要求停止違例發展,或收回違契土地。不過,政府未能交代對各違規龕場的執法詳情,發言人只稱未符合要求者可申請更改規劃或補地價,甚至佔官地者都可作申請。

周一嶽    :或准暫時擺放

食衞局局長周一嶽說,市民若發現其先人龕位在表二不合規名單上,應與有關私營龕場商討如何處理。「我們不排除容許暫時性的擺放,但長期來說,將來立法後,我們一定要執法。」周稱。

雖然周一嶽誓言執法,但立法及發牌規管骨灰龕要待下屆政府,違規龕場並可申請兩年半臨時豁免。至於政府未來會否接收龕位被「拉人封艇」的骨灰,食衞局發言人稱,「無法回答假設性問題。」她指諮詢時有意見要求尊重先人勿被移走,但亦有意見問政府有否行動,她又稱現仍有合規龕位可售,但未能透露數字。

對於應否買表二龕場,發展局發言人則反問:「為何鍾意買尚在申請的龕場?」她稱不知表二有多少龕位,而名單將每3個月更新一次。被問及若有不合規表列龕場訛稱合格又如何?她沒回應會否跟進,只稱虛假聲稱屬消費保障問題。

表二拒賠 表一料加價

本報昨以顧客身份向部分表二龕場查詢,結果大部分表明拒絕賠償。旺角    明元仙觀負責人關先生堅稱不會有事:「間間都是這樣,賠償及其他事要等理事開會後才知。」紅磡普眾善舍代理宣小姐強調,該舍屬於私人地方,反指政府無權收地,最多不准做生意。她又指日後龕位被取締,不會退錢或賠償。

九龍塘省善真堂負責人潘先生說:「我們擔心過你們,有幾百個位,我們會善後。」他相信只要做回要求,政府不會要先人搬走。對於地契中人體遺骸的爭拗,發展局發言人指要由法庭作權威決定,無交代會否主動尋求法庭解釋。

福位商會副會長梁錦濠稱,日內會向法庭尋求人體遺骸的詮釋,料3至6個月有結果,其間會呼籲善信勿理會表二,他料表一龕場將考慮加價。各界關注骨灰龕法案大聯盟批評,表二龕場違規,政府應先勒令停售及執法,不可接受規範,並予取締。

----------------------------------

名人龕堂也牽連

違規骨灰龕名單曝光,有已故藝人的靈位也在這些龕堂供奉,恐受波及。於九龍塘律倫街的省善真堂,標榜是市區最大的一家道觀,其中藝人梅艷芳    和黃家駒都在省善真堂設有靈位,每年忌辰,不少歌迷及生前好友都會到該堂拜祭。

至於80年代功夫明星傅聲(原名張富聲),亦即歌星甄妮的丈夫,其靈位則安放於粉嶺蓬瀛仙館,每逢忌辰甄妮亦有往拜祭。


USA Shopping
UK Shopping
Canada Shopping

2010-12-16

Sunscreen chemicals absorbed into body, found in 85 percent of human milk samples

Sunscreen chemicals absorbed into body, found in 85 percent of human milk samples


Essene or Manna Bread
The Bread of Heaven 

Genetic Engineering Is Not An Extension Of Conventional Plant Breeding;
How genetic engineering differs from conventional breeding, hybridization, wide crosses and horizontal gene transfer
by
Michael K. Hansen, Ph.D.

FDA Probes Cavity Fillings
The American Dental Association and the government insist that traditional metal dental cavity fillings are safe, but as Dr. Jon LaPook reports, the FDA wants to take a second look.

iHerb $5 Discount Off First Order


2010-12-14

逆按揭安老按揭計畫「翻生」 20萬長者受惠

逆按揭「翻生」 20萬長者受惠
 (星島)2010年12月13日 星期一 
(綜合報道)


(星島日報    報道)按揭證券公司雖於〇五年曾研推逆按揭(現正式稱安老按揭計畫),但因未成氣候而沒有下文,不過現有望落實該計畫。消息透露,按證進行調查顯示,受訪長者業主中有四成四認為應推逆按揭。按證將向董事會建議推出有關試驗計畫,以樓價八百萬元作上限計算支付予使用計畫的長者的每月金額,若長者選擇終身取款,將每一百萬元可獲取介乎一千八百至二千八百元,一旦按證董事會通過建議,逆按揭擬於明年第二季推行。


  財經組記者:曾秀雲


  消息透露,按證本周召開董事會會議將會就明年第二季推出逆按揭的建議作出討論,若通過便會正式去馬。


  目前全港擁有自己物業年屆六十歲或以上的業主約二十萬個,根據按證建議的試驗計畫,申請資格為最多二人聯名的物業,以樓價八百萬元為上限計算,每一百萬元支付予長者業主的每月款項,物業樓齡由最初建議最多三十年延長至五十年,主要考慮到太古城    及美孚等樓齡較長的優質物業。


  拍賣物業 餘額還親屬


  至於外間關心長者透過逆按揭每月可獲取的款項,消息指最新款項較原來的建議為多,以十年期逆按揭而言,原為二千六百元至三千九百元,現調升為三千三百元至四千六百元;若是終身逆按揭,每月金額則由原來一千五百元至二千四百元,上調至一千八百元至二千八百元,最終款額需視乎長者年紀及所選的逆按揭年期,最短為十年期。舉例如六十五歲至六十九歲的長者,並選擇十年期的逆按揭,每一百萬元物業可每月收取三千二百元;若是選擇終身收款,則每月獲取一千九百元。


  計畫適用於六十歲或以上的長者,由銀行承按,並由按證負責擔保,一旦銀行最終累計支付予業主數額多於樓價的差額,但業主要負責保費。至於業主過身物業由銀行拍賣,銀行取回支付予業主的價值後,倘有餘額會歸還予業主的親屬。


  按證較早前就此進行了一項大型調查,受訪對象為六十歲或以上已完成供樓的業主,涉及數目共一千個。調查結果顯示,有四成四的受訪者認為應該推出逆按揭,一成六受訪者滿意每月可收取的款項,倘若將每月收取的金額增加一成,感滿意的受訪者則增至兩成;有興趣參與逆按揭的受訪者佔兩成二,如調升每月收取金額一成,有關比例僅微升至兩成三。


  據悉,雖然業界已預期逆按揭利潤欠吸引,但仍有數家銀行表態願意提供逆按揭服務。東亞銀行    (023)物業按揭部主管錢偉倫表示,該行有興趣參與逆按揭計畫,但指由於逆按揭屬新產品,相信市民需要時間消化,至於計畫條款是否能滿足市民的需要,則要先試行再作檢討。


  數家銀行表態有興趣


  一名銀行界人士指,雖然本港市場對逆按揭是有需求,尤其土瓜灣、灣仔等舊區,但該地區的長者業主持有物業多是又殘又舊,難以在市場出售,涉及銀碼不大,站在銀行的立場,亦未必太願意承接這類物業作為逆按揭,若是太古城此類有價有市的優質物業,相信業主會選擇在市場出售多於採用逆按揭,然而最終銀行會否推出逆按揭,要先了解按證擔保風險的覆蓋面,以及如何處理物業的維修問題。

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