1.
Trump Election Boosts European Populists
Spiegel Online, 11/21/2016
Donald Trump's election has bolstered both right-wing and left-wing
populist parties in Europe. Despite ideological differences, they share a
rejection of the establishment and the liberal order. Are they about to change
the world? By SPIEGEL Staff
It
is the seventh day after Donald Trump's triumph, an election upset that set off
a political earthquake around the world, and time for a visit with those far
away from Washington who think like him. Members of France's Front National
(FN) are meeting at the five-star Hotel Napoléon in Paris, not far from the
Champs-Élysées.
The
topics of discussion this evening include disadvantaged youth in the outer
districts of the capital, known as the banlieues, and radical Islamists
who are recruiting new members there. The mood is explosive in the banlieues,
warns the speaker, a resolute blonde woman, who goes on to say it is a ticking
time bomb that could go off at any moment. "I am the only one who can
defuse this bomb," she adds.
Her
words are met with cheers and applause. Marine Le Pen has struck the right
note, once again. Here, in the stuffy conference room at the Hotel Napoléon,
people want to hear what they have long believed: That Islam constitutes a
threat and that France's very future is on the line. Marine, the daughter of
Front National co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, has been the head of her party for
almost six years.
'We Want To Destroy this EU'
The
Frenchwoman will soon enter the presidential election campaign under the slogan
"Marine 2017." Within a few years, she has managed to garner the
support of like-minded individuals, and not just in her native France. Le Pen
also chairs the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group in the European
Parliament. ENF brings together elected representatives from nine countries,
people who share an unmistakable common goal. "We want to destroy this
EU," says Le Pen.
Less
than two weeks after the election of the new US president, Europe's
anti-establishment parties are feeling the wind in their sails. "A Trump
victory was considered unthinkable," says Le Pen, who sent the billionaire
her euphoric congratulatory message on Twitter on the night of the election.
"Our life has changed," Nigel Farage of Britain's UK Independence
Party (UKIP) says over a gin & tonic in the lounge of European Parliament
in Brussels. In Vienna, Heinz-Christian Strache of the Freedom Party of Austria
(FPÖ) proudly reports that he has already reached out to Trump advisers in
Washington. And in Dresden, Frauke Petry of the right-wing populist Alternative
for Germany party is planning to announce her candidacy in the 2017 Bundestag
election, which is likely to see AfD land seats in federal parliament for the
first time.
Populist
leaders, who see themselves as the only true representatives of the people,
have long known and respected each other. But the days of backroom deals are
now over. Le Pen is flirting with her fellow European populists on the open
stage: here a kiss of the hand for Marine in Vienna, there a chuckle and a joke
with Geert Wilders in The Hague and even a little dance with Matteo Salvini,
leader of the separatist Lega Nord in Italy.
The
British "yes" vote on withdrawing from the EU and the American
"yes" vote for Donald Trump are supposedly merely the first stations
on the road to a global political upheaval. The "democratic
revolution" has only just begun, says Brexit propagandist Farage.
"There are plenty more shocks to come." And the chief strategist of
the Front National, Florian Philippot, tweeted on the morning after Trump's
election: "Their world is collapsing. Ours is being built."
In
two weeks, Austria will hold a re-vote of its 2015 presidential election, in
which FPÖ politician Norbert Hofer stands a strong chance of winning.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for March in the Netherlands, where Geert
Wilders of the radical anti-Islamist Freedom Party (PVV) is ahead in the polls.
The French will then vote for a new president in April and May, and Le Pen
stands a good chance of making it to the second round of voting as the
frontrunner. Finally, Germans will vote in the fall on the future composition
of the Bundestag.
A
G-7 summit in 2017 with Trump, Le Pen, Boris Johnson and Beppe Grillo --
instead of US President Barack Obama, French President François Hollande,
former British Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Prime Minister Matteo
Renzi -- would be a "horror scenario," Martin Selmayr, the head of
the cabinet of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted in
May. Now, half a year later, Cameron and Obama are already history, Hollande is
viewed as a defeated man and Renzi can be justifiably concerned about his
political survival on Dec. 4, when Italians are slated to vote in a referendum
on a planned constitutional reform.
The
lesson from the most recent events is this: Even crass outsiders have the
ability to fundamentally change the policies of a country. Farage's UKIP holds
only one seat in the parliament in Westminster, and yet it played a key role in
the Brexit with its warnings of foreign infiltration on a large scale. Trump,
meanwhile, succeeded in winning the election even against substantial
resistance within his own party.
2. Which
Supplements, if Any, May Be Worth Your Money
The New York Times NOV.
21, 2016
Hardly
a day goes by that people don’t tell me that one or more dietary
supplement has cured or prevented an ailment of theirs or suggest that
I try one to treat a problem of my own. And I am not immune to wishful thinking
that an over-the-counter vitamin, mineral or herb may help to keep me healthy
or relieve some distress without having to see a doctor.
I
have succumbed to several popular suggestions, including melatonin and
magnesium to improve my sleep, glucosamine-chondroitin to counter arthritic
pain and fish oil to protect my brain and heart. I take these even knowing that
irrefutable, scientifically established evidence for such benefits is lacking
and I may be paying mightily for a placebo effect.
But
as a scientifically trained journalist, I feel obliged to help others make
rational decisions about which, if any, dietary supplements may be worth their
hard-earned dollars. I’ll start with the bottom line on the most popular of
these, the daily multivitamin/mineral combo: If you are a healthy adult
with no known nutritional deficiencies, save your money.
An
independent panel convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded that
evidence is lacking for or against the ability of a multivitamin to prevent
chronic disease. The American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association
and the United States Preventive Services Task Force, among others, have found
no role for a one-a-day supplement to prevent cancer or
heart disease; they recommend instead a balanced dietwith
a variety of foods as likely to be more effective than any capsule.
This
does not mean that people shown to be deficient in one or another nutrient
should refrain from taking a medically recommended supplement. For example, now
that doctors routinely test for vitamin D levels,
especially in older adults, nearly everyone I know, myself included, is taking
1,000 international units or more of this nutrient every day, primarily to
support bone health. Without sufficient vitamin D, the body doesn’t absorb
enough calcium and
phosphorus from the diet to keep bones strong. Nonetheless, it has not yet been
proved that vitamin D supplements prevent fractures.
People’s
calcium levels, too, may be problematic following a significant decline in
Americans’ milk consumption in recent decades, even though calcium sources like
yogurt, cheese and ice cream remain popular. By consuming adequate amounts of
calcium-rich foods, including fat-free milk (lactose-free) and dark-green leafy
vegetables, I’ve been able to skip a calcium supplement, which can be
constipating or worse.
An
analysis of 15 studies in 2010 suggested that calcium supplements raised the risk of
a heart attack by about 30 percent although the latest guideline,
based on observational studies, suggests no excess cardiovascular
risk from a combined calcium intake of 2,500 milligrams from food and
supplements. Calcium taken as a supplement can also result in kidney stones and
gastrointestinal problems, risks that some researchers concluded were not justified by
its limited ability to prevent fractures.
While
the findings were both supported and countered by subsequent research, many
experts emphasize that diet is the much preferred source of calcium, reserving
supplements for people who already have osteoporosis,
have broken bones or face a significant fracture risk.
For
adults over 50, blood
levels of vitamin B12 can become low enough to compromise healthy
brain and muscle function. Animal protein foods are the primary dietary source
of this nutrient, but if stomach acid levels are low, it cannot be separated
from its carrier protein and thus is not well absorbed. A B12
deficiency can be detected with a blood test and, if confirmed,
countered with a daily supplement of perhaps 500 or 1,000 micrograms.
Then
there’s fish oil, usually taken in hopes of preventing heart disease and
cognitive decline. The supplements contain two key omega-3 fatty acids
important to brain function and preventing inflammation, a significant factor
in heart disease. I began taking fish oil supplements many years ago hoping to
counter the effects of a rising cholesterol level.
However, a 2013 study of
more than 12,000 patients at high risk of a heart attack found no protection
from fish oil supplements. And another major study that year linked fish
oil supplements to a raised risk of prostate
cancer, especially an aggressive form of the disease, suggesting that men
may be better off getting these fatty acids from a serving or two a week of an
oily fish.
Magnesium,
a mineral important to muscle function, is another supplement growing in
popularity. People who routinely take acid-suppressing medication and those
with kidney disease or Crohn’s disease can develop a magnesium deficiency,
which can be detected with a blood test. Best sources of this mineral remain
foods like spinach, nuts, legumes and whole-grain cereals.
However,
studies have not borne out claims that
magnesium supplements can prevent muscle cramps and especially
night leg cramps,
though they seem to have helped me and a friend of mine. I also find them
useful to counter a chronic problem with constipation.
3.
In the future, will farming be fully automated?
BBC 25 November 2016
In the not-too-distant future, our fields could be tilled, sown, tended
and harvested entirely by fleets of co-operating autonomous machines by land
and air.
And
they'll be working both day and night.
Driverless
tractors that can follow pre-programmed routes are already being deployed at
large farms around the world.
Drones
are buzzing over fields assessing crop health and soil conditions. Ground
sensors are monitoring the amount of water and nutrients in the soil,
triggering irrigation and fertiliser applications.
And
in Japan, the world's first entirely automated lettuce farm is due for launch
next year.
Food shortages, big business
The
World Bank says we'll need to produce 50% more food by 2050 if the global
population continues to rise at its current pace.
But
the effects of climate change could see crop yields falling by more than a
quarter.
So
autonomous tractors, ground-based sensors, flying drones and enclosed
hydroponic farms could all help farmers produce more food, more sustainably at
lower cost.
No
wonder the agricultural robotics sector is growing so fast.
One
report, by US firm WinterGreen Research, forecasts that the market will grow
from $817m (£655m) in 2013 to $16.3bn (£13bn) by 2020.
But
investment bank Goldman Sachs is far more bullish, predicting a $240bn market
over the next five years. Manufacturers including John Deere, CNH Industrial
and AGCO are all fighting to corner the market in driverless tractors.
As
well as big kit, small kit is giving farmers up-to-the-second data on the state
of their fields and produce - what Dr Roland Leidenfrost of Deepfield Robotics
calls the "internet of plants and fields".
Bosch
start-up Deepfield, based in Germany, is working to automate the growing and
testing of seed crops, tracking the susceptibility to weeds and drought of
different genetic varieties.
Meanwhile,
engineers in Shropshire, England, are trying to show it is now possible to farm
a field without a human setting foot in it at all.
The
Hands Free Hectare project will use flying drones and automated tractors in the
coming year to grow and harvest a cereal crop.
Engineers
from Harper Adams University - together with a North Yorkshire farming
technology company called Precision Decisions - are testing prototype machines
now, and aim to plant their crop in March for harvest in September.
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