Friday, October 8, 2010


Jehovah’s Witnesses — Publishing Titans


Who knew? Their Watchtower is now the world’s largest magazine. But you can’t buy it anywhere.



By Jim Meyers

Step aside, AARP the magazine. Move over, People. The most widely read magazine in the world is a publication you can’t subscribe to or find on any newsstand.


The Watchtower, the monthly publication of the Jehovah’s Witnesses distributed by volunteers in the course of their house-to-house ministry, now boasts a circulation of more than 25 million.

Last year, the world’s 7.3 million Jehovah’s Witnesses spent 1.5 trillion hours knocking on doors and handing out The Watchtower, a doctrinal guide to Witnesses’ beliefs, according to The New York Review of Magazines. There are plenty of copies to go around. Every month nearly 40 million copies are printed in more than 180 languages for distribution in 236 countries. The closest competitor, AARP The Magazine, has a circulation of just over 24 million.

The Watchtower — the full name is The Watchtower: Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom — is published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, with headquarters near the East River in Brooklyn , N.Y. The Tract Society also publishes a companion magazine, Awake!, as well as a number of books, brochures, and a Bible.


The operation is funded entirely by donations, mostly from Witnesses who leave contributions at their meeting places, called Kingdom Halls. The Witnesses’ overall income is unknown, but in 2001 Newsday listed the Tract Society as one of New York City ’s 40 richest corporations, with revenues exceeding $950 million.

The Watchtower’s mission statement is printed on the inside cover page of each issue: “The purpose of this magazine is to honor Jehovah God, the Supreme Ruler of the universe. Just as watchtowers in ancient times enabled a person to observe developments from affair, so
this magazine shows us the significance of world events in the light of Bible prophecies. It comforts people with the good news that God’s Kingdom, which is a real government in heaven, will soon bring an end to all wickedness and transform the earth into paradise.”

The Watchtower, and the Witnesses, had their origin in 1879, when writer and preacher Charles T. Russell released Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.

Russell was a former assistant editor of the Second Adventist magazine, Herald of the Morning, and had gathered followers in the years before 1879 through speaking tours
and newspaper columns. He parted ways with Adventist doctrine when the world did not end in 1878, as it had predicted.

His new doctrine stated that Christ would return to earth in 1914 to destroy nonbelievers and allow Witnesses to transform the planet into paradise. The religion adopted the name Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 1930s, teaching that Christ did return in 1914 but was invisible. Witnesses now “take a less specific approach to the end of the world,” according to the Review of Magazines, published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.


Each issue of The Watchtower is planned a year in advance by the nine-member writing committee at
the Witnesses’ Brooklyn headquarters, and a central theme, such a child rearing or divorce, is chosen for that month.

Members of the 70-person writing department live with about 1,500 other workers in five buildings near the Brooklyn headquarters.


As originally published in Newsmax magazine.



 

Monday, October 27, 2008

The Immune System – Defending Your Good Health

Health Watch Weekly

The Immune System – Defending Your Good Health



You can spend thousands of dollars on sophisticated alarm systems to protect your family against burglars, smoke, and carbon monoxide, but are you really safe? You may not have considered some unseen security threats. There are millions of them – bacteria, viruses, allergens, toxins, and parasites – they’re all around you, and they’d love nothing more than to invade your body and destroy your good health!

When your body encounters a potential attacker, it activates an amazing defense mechanism called the immune system. The first job of the immune system is to keep germs out, and it does this by use of barriers to prevent entry into the body. These include your skin, tears, saliva, stomach acid, intestinal flora, and mucous membranes.

Sometimes, invaders are able to get past this first line of defense, and that requires a more aggressive defense. In such cases, a vast network of cells, tissues, and organs all begin to work together to recognize and respond to the emergency. In order for this large-scale response to be effective, the entire immune system must be made aware that the body is under attack. This is the job of special cell messenger protein called interleukin-2 (IL-2). IL-2 sounds the danger alarm and spreads the word quickly throughout the body. IL-2 is also important in the production of T-cells, a vital part of the body’s targeted response to specific threats.

With so many divisions of your immune “armed forces” at work, it’s essential to have smooth and efficient communication among them to avoid a delayed or sub-optimal response. That’s why lymphocytes are so vitally important. These special white blood cells circulate throughout the body, playing an important role in commanding, directing, and coordinating your immune system’s diverse and varied functions.

Your highly complex immune system can actually recognize and remember millions of different enemies, and it can produce potent biological weapons called antibodies to match up with and wipe out nearly all of them. One of the body’s most powerful antibodies is immunoglobulin G (IgG), which circulates in the blood, working covertly to seek out bacteria, viruses, molds, yeasts, and allergens. When IgG finds a foreign invader, it “paints” it with a special chemical to mark it for destruction by the immune system’s “clean-up squads.”

Here are 10 great tips that can help you to keep your vital immune system functioning smoothly:

  • Don’t smoke. In addition to what you already know about the hazards of tobacco smoking, it also wreaks havoc on virtually every aspect of immune function.
  • Avoid toxins. Reduce exposure by choosing organic produce, washing fruits and vegetables to remove pesticide residues, and by using household cleaners and personal care products that are made with less toxic materials.
  • Get adequate sleep. Poor sleep is associated with lower immune system function and reduced numbers of killer cells that fight germs.
  • Reduce stress. There is compelling scientific evidence that chronic stress causes a measurable decline in the immune system's ability to fight disease.
  • Be optimistic. Studies show that pessimists, who tend to find fault with everything, don't live as long as optimists, who have a more cheerful outlook. If you’re content with whom you are and with your life, you’ll also have less stress, and therefore fewer immune health consequences.
  • Exercise regularly. Studies show the dangers to immune health of a sedentary lifestyle. One study compared inactive people with those who walked briskly almost every day. Researchers found that those who didn't walk took twice as many sick days in four months as those who walked.
  • Stay connected. Humans crave social contact, and studies have shown that the fewer human connections we have at home, at work, and in the community, the more likely we are to get sick, flood our brains with anxiety-causing chemicals, and die prematurely. One study found that people who are isolated may live only half as long as those who have a lot of human contact. Love appears to nourish the immune system, so spread the love!
  • Eat a sensible, healthy diet. Excess fat can suppress the immune system, and too much sugar can inhibit the action of phagocytes, the “Pac-Man”-like blood cells that gobble up viruses and bacteria.
  • Don’t overuse antibiotics, especially for viral infections (such as colds or flu) where they have no effect. Cutting down on unnecessary antibiotic use will help to prevent the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
  • Drink 4 ounces (120 ml) of GoChi every day!

GoChi – Human clinical study shows significant immune enhancements in just 30 days!

In a recent randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled human clinical trial, blood tests on participants drinking a daily serving of 4 ounces (120 ml) of GoChi showed significant improvements in three key markers of immune health in just 30 days. Compared to their blood levels at the beginning of the study, the test subjects experienced the following:

  • 27% increase in lymphocytes
  • 58% increase in interleukin-2 (IL-2)
  • 19% increase in immunoglobulin G

In yet another controlled human study that was featured in the peer-reviewed Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (JACM), participants drinking a daily serving of just 4 ounces (120 ml) of GoChi reported experiencing significantly decreased feelings of stress and more positive feelings of contentment and happiness in as little as 14 days. The publication of this study by the independent experts of a peer-reviewed publication such as JACM represents a first for a functional juice beverage in the Direct Selling industry, and it demonstrates FreeLife’s ongoing commitment to supporting its claims with solid scientific research.

Drink GoChi. Your body’s armed forces will thank you!

Your FreeLife Science Team


REFERENCES:

“Immune System.” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. National Institutes of Health. Bethesda, MD. Retrieved July 18, 2008. Available at http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/immuneSystem/

“Medline Plus: Immune System and Disorders.” U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health. Bethesda, MD. Retrieved July 10, 2008. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/immunesystemanddisorders.html

Amagase H, Nance DM. A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Clinical Study of the General Effects of a Standardized Lycium barbarum (Goji) Juice, GoChi™. J Altern Complement Med. 2008; 14(4), pp. 403-412. Abstract available on PubMed at http://www.pubmed.gov (PMID: 18447631)


Saturday, October 25, 2008

SWEET POISON - a must read

Here is a disturbing email I received from a friend with a request to forward it to others. It is about the artificial sweeteners, containing ASPARTAME, which have been always forbidden in our household.
Recently, my 20-something year old son, while on a coffee break, said to one of my friends, "why are you using that stuff, you can use honey instead." I taught him well...
As a family, we also drink Himalayan Goji Juice on regular bases, which keeps us all healthy.

But now, read this:

In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain.

By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick. She just knew she was dying. She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest daughter's name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of.

She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22 nod. On March 19 I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS.

I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment. I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda! I e-mailed her the article my friend, a lawyer, had sent.

My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but she sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home.

Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind. In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda...and literally dying a slow and miserable death.

When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life.

If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on ASPARTAME,' marketed as 'NutraSweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.'

In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.

I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.

Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is! Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition.

We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas. In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia.

During a lecture, I said, 'If you are using ASPARTAME (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!'

People were jumping up during the lecture saying, 'I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?' Yes! Yes! Yes! STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem.

Dr. Esparto (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice, a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight!

These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve 'tissue specimens.' Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body!

Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the 'diet products' and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.

Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the bloodsugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance.

Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, seizures, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and rage. Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well.

Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behaviour when these chemicals have been removed from their diet. So called 'behaviour modification prescription drugs' (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being 'poisoned' on a daily basis with the very foods that were 'better for them than sugar.'

It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.

Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand-mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.'

Herein lies the problem:
There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED!

There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a 'piece of the Aspartame pie.' I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is. And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians?

This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products.

Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants. The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioural symptoms. The bill was killed.

It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're Informed now! YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!

If you are a sufferer of ASPARTAME poisoning, Himalayan Goji Juice will help you regain your balance.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

my first post

Hi, I just created my Goji Chatter Blog. My usual name createwealth was not available. That is OK, because my goal is to get as many links to my goji sites as possible. It's late and I will finish tomorrow. Good night.