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Monthly magazine, publishe by Ellopia Media Group in New York City

Established 2002Publisher

ATHINA KRIKELIChief Editor

ANASTASIA KASIMATIS

Contributors S. Papathemelis (Greece),

Arkas (Greece)G. Kalaras, (Chicago)

Titos Christodoulou, (England)Writers

G. Skabardonis (Greece) Costas Krikelis (Greece)

Anita Diamantopoulou (USA)Kostas Mpliatkas (Hellas)

Nick Christophers Senior Editor (English)

TITOS CHRISTODOULOU (England)

Music EditorsNIKOS TATASOPOULOS

CHRISTOS ALEXANDROUPETROS HATJOPOULOS

Business ConsultantMARIA PAPAPETROS

Fashion ConsultantNIKOS EFTAXIAS

Creative Art Director HellasKOSTAS KRIKELIS

ANNA PAPAKONSTANTINOUAdvertising Director

LIA DELKOTZAKI

Ellopia Media Group Ltd. USAKAUFMAN ASTORIA STUDIOS

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Recently I saw the movie American Sniper! I was not surprised by the ferocity of the scenes. Felt sad because it brought memories of the wars that I covered as a war correspondent. Audiences left the theatre in silence, perhaps annoyed because, what they show in this movie, is the real hard truth of war. People who are perched safely on their sofas need to understand that war is not a Hollywood movie. War is death, you can see it, sense it, listen and smell it in every fib-ber of your body. That “flavor” dies or fades away, only when we die!But the “lightness of being’ and the ability to absolve the cruelty that is happening all over the world, and be able to live with, is not an accident!Plato said, ‘Those who tell the stories rule society.’ We have to change the system and the way we teach our children at school. They have to learn to question everything. Specially the “official statements” or stories and events that the mainstream press presents to us.We experience a world full of deception and asking for the truth is almost futile !How are we supposed to tell what is really happening in history in its making when the official version is most of the times a very carefully constructed illusion?Keep your heart and minds open. Often what you see, hear or read is not what happened!We have the tools – its called The Web – to research, compare, edu-cate and inform our selves. Following our own judgment, instinct and need to find the truth.

Athina Krikeli

athinakrikeli@aol.com

THE WorlD

THE WorlD

Syriza and its outspoken leader, Alexis Tsipras, who had campaigned against the austerity measures imposed on Greece by its international creditors, formed a coalition government on Monday with a right-wing fringe party, Independent Greeks.On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 percent soon after the opening bell. The Euro Stoxx 50 index, a barometer of eurozone blue chips, rose 0.6 per-cent in European afternoon trading, while the FTSE 100 index in London slipped about 0.1 percent. The euro rose 0.5 percent to $1.1256.Markets had trembled initially, sending the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond in the United States to a record low in early trading, as investors moved funds to assets perceived as safer. The euro briefly dropped to $1.1098, its lowest level since 2003.Stocks in Athens fell 3.6 percent. The election result was largely in line with ana-lysts’ predictions, and investors had had weeks to adjust their portfolios to reflect the possibility that a showdown over the future of Greece’s eco-nomic direction was near, pitting Athens against Brussels.

The change in the Greek political landscape comes at

a time of unsettling shifts in the world economy that have left policy makers and investors on alert for dis-ruptions in financial markets. Crude oil prices continue to fall this year, after having dropped about 50 percent in 2014, and the European Central Bank announced last week that it would buy 60 billion euros, or about $67 billion, worth of bonds each month until inflation in the eurozone rises to its official target of just under 2 percent.The International Monetary Fund warned last week that the prospects for global growth were dimming — with the notable exception of the United States — raising the specter of a slowdown that would exacerbate the prob-lems of low-price pressures and growing inequality.Derek Halpenny, the European head of global markets research at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in London, said in a research note that he did not expect the change in Athens to create “existential risks” to the euro, or for strong euro-selling pressures to emerge in the short term.But Mr. Halpenny said that there were “certainly in-creased risks, and an error in the negotiating stage could mean this becomes a bigger negative for the market.”European bonds, whose prices had been rising for months in anticipation of the European Central Bank’s move last week to stimulate the economy, showed little movement on Monday.

Despite Initial Tremors, Markets Mostly Shake Off Greek Election Results

By DAVID JOLLY and NEIL GOUGHJAN. Janurary 25, 2015

THE WorlD

Greek bond prices fell amid the postelection uncer-tainty, sending their yields higher, to 8.70 percent — the highest in the eurozone. Yields reached a recent peak of 10.3 percent on Jan. 7, when pre-election jitters were strongest.Perhaps the biggest question for financial markets is what the Syriza victory will mean for Greek bonds, particularly in light of the plan announced by Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president, last week.The central bank plans to buy up a significant part of the bonds issued by each of the 19 eurozone govern-ments, something that could bring substantial relief to the Athens government’s borrowing costs.But Mr. Draghi noted at a news conference on Thurs-day that, “There are obviously some conditions before we can buy Greek bonds,” including that the Greek government honor its bailout program.If Athens meets the conditions, the European Central Bank “could buy bonds in, I believe, July,” Mr. Draghi added.The German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zei-tung, which often reflects the opinion of the business community, stated in an initial analysis:

“Tsipras will not be able to escape one fact: Greece needs more foreign money, whether from the mar-kets or from the European Union. He has a choice between compromises with the troika and a huge state bankruptcy that could lead his country further into the abyss.”

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the I.M.F., said in an interview posted on the website of the French daily Le Monde on Monday that Greece still had to honor pledges it made as part of a bailout plan.Athens committed to overhaul government adminis-tration and tax collection, and to reduce delays in the legal system, Ms. Lagarde said. “These aren’t austerity measures, these are fundamen-tal reforms that remain to be carried out,” she said.

Asked by Le Monde about Mr. Tsipras’s pledge to re-structure Greece’s debt, Ms. Lagarde responded that there were “internal rules of the eurozone to be re-spected.”“We can’t make special categories for this or that country,” she said.

Mr. Tsipras, who is positioned to become the next prime minister, has pledged to keep Greece within the eurozone as he seeks to negotiate an easing of austerity measures and to rebuild the economy.

The country has the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone, at 25.7 percent as of September, the most re-cent data available.

Asian stocks were mixed, with major indexes in Tokyo falling about 0.3 percent and Hong Kong shares rising 0.2 percent.

Mr. Tsipras, who is positioned to become the next prime minister, has pledged to keep Greece within the eurozone as he seeks to negotiate an easing of austerity measures

and to rebuild the economy.

THE WorlD

Why did the world ignore Boko Haram's Baga attacks?

A man holds a placard that reads ‘I am Char-lie, let’s not forget the victims of Boko Haram’ outside the French embassy in Abidjan. Pho-tograph: SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images

France spent last month coming to terms with terror attacks in Paris that left 17 dead. The country mourned, and global leaders joined an estimated 3.7 million peo-ple on its streets to march in a show of unity. In Nigeria, another crisis was unfolding, as re-ports came through of an estimated 2,000 casualties after an attack by Boko Haram militants on the town of Baga in the north-eastern state of Borno. Amnesty International described as the terror group’s “deadli-est massacre” to date, and local defence groups said they had given up counting the bodies left lying on the streets. Reporting in northern Nigeria is notoriously difficult; journalists have been targeted by Boko Haram, and, unlike in Paris, people on the ground are isolated and struggle with access to the internet and other com-munications. Attacks by Boko Haram have disrupted connections further, meaning that there is an absence of an online community able to share news, photos and video reports of news as it unfolds.

But reports of the massacre were coming through and as the world’s media focused its attention on Paris, some questioned why events in Nigeria were almost ignored.

-On Twitter, Max Abrahms, a terrorism analyst, tweeted: “It’s shameful how the 2K people killed in Boko Haram’s biggest massacre gets almost no media coverage.” -Musician Nitin Sawhney said: “Very moving watching events in Paris – wish the world media felt equally outraged by this recent news too.”

-“Mom Blogger” @Mom101 asked: “How is this not the lead story on every single news network, every Twitter newsfeed right now?” That sentiment was ech-oed by a number of Guardian readers over the weekend.

So why did the Paris attacks receive more coverage than the Boko Haram killings?

“I am Charlie, but I am Baga too”“I am Charlie, but I am Baga too,” wrote Simon Alli-son for the Daily Maverick, a partner on the Guardian Africa network. “There are massacres and there are massacres” he said, arguing that “it may be the 21st century, but African lives are still deemed less news-

“I am Charlie, but I am Baga

too”

THE WorlD

worthy – and, by implication, less valuable – than western lives”.

Allison recognises the challenges in reporting – “the nearest journalists are hundreds of kilometres away” – but also points to the significance of the at-tack: taking control of Baga, “Boko Haram effectively controls Borno state in its entirety. These aren’t just ter-rorists: they are becoming a de facto state.” Even more reason for the world to take notice.But the blame does not just lie with western media; there was little African coverage either, said Allison. No lead-ers were condemning the attacks, nor did any talk of a solidarity movement, he said, adding that “our outrage and solidarity over the Paris massacre is also a symbol of how we as Africans neglect Africa’s own tragedies, and prioritise western lives over our own.”Silence from Nigeria’s politicians Many pointed to the palpable silence of many of Nigeria’s politicians. Last week, Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, expressed his condolences for the victims of France but stayed silent on the Boko Haram attacks on Baga. Media analyst Ethan Zuckerman said that the president is “understandably wary of discussing Boko Haram, as it reminds voters that the conflict has erupted under his management and that his govern-ment has been unable to subdue the terror group”. Ni-geria’s elections are set to take place on 14 February. The president was also criticised for celebrating his niece Ine’s wedding over weekend, in the aftermath of the killings.

— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) January 8, 2015 Terrible incident. Our deepest sympathies to the jour-nalists and their families. We are one with France in mourning #JeSuisCharlieHe also pointed to comments on the official Twitter account of Ahmadu Adamu Muazu, from the ruling People’s Democratic party, who looked to downplay the death toll: “We know it’s a political period so some of this [sic] things are expected”.Muazu has since taken to the account again to say he has been working with the security services to ensure that “peace will soon be restored” to the people in Baga and other regions in the north-east of the country.‘The west is ignoring Boko Haram’Advertisement

Ignatius Kaigama, the Catholic archbishop of Jos in central Nigeria – an area which has also suffered ter-ror attacks – added his voice to criticism of the west.

Speaking to the BBC, he argued that Nigeria could not confront the threat from Boko Haram alone. “It is a monumental tragedy. It has saddened all of Nigeria. But... we seem to be helpless,” he said. “Because if we could stop Boko Haram, we would have done it right away. But they continue to attack, and kill and cap-ture territories... with such impunity.”

Over the weekend Boko Haram was also blamed for a suicide attack in a market in Borno state that left 16 dead in Yobe state. Kaigama called the for international community to show the same spirit and resolve against Boko Haram as it had done after the attacks in France.#BagaTogether

Elnathan John, a Nigerian writer and lawyer who has changed his Twitter identity to “I am Baga” in solidarity, shared a tweet from Nigeria’s finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who also expressed condolences over the Paris attacks but made no mention of the events in Baga.

“I am Charlie, but I am Baga too”

THE WorlD

Start your weekend off right at the smartest party in town, hosted by the American Museum of

Natural History.

Central Park W & 79th St, New York, NY 10024(212) 769-5100

If you made a list of countries you hope have learned from their past hundred years of mistakes, Germany would have to be at the top. Happily, the staunch op-position to a nativist fringe that the nation’s government and citizenry have shown in recent weeks makes it clear, again, that Germany understands the costs of bigotry and the virtues of tolerance. Unhappily, it has not learned the costs of a mad adher-ence to fiscal orthodoxy, despite the fact that its pros-perity is rooted in the decision of its World War II ad-versaries to allow West Germany’s postwar government to write off half of its debts.

Indeed, the policies that Angela Merkel’s government have inflicted on the nations of Southern Europe could not be more different from those that European lead-ers and the United States devised in the early 1950s to enable West Germany to rebuild its damaged economy. Since the crash of 2008, Germany, as Europe’s dominant economy and leading creditor, has compelled Mediter-ranean Europe, and Greece in particular, to sack their own economies to repay their debts.Germany’s insistence has reduced Greece to a condition like that of the United States at the bottom of the Great Depression. Unemployment has soared to 25 percent, and youth unemployment to more than 50 percent ; the economy has shrunk by 26 percent and consumption by 40 percent. Debt has risen to 175 percent of the na-tion’s gross domestic product. And the funds from the

loans that Germany and other nations have extended to Greece have gone almost entirely either to cover inter-est payments or repay past loans; only 11 percent has actually gone to Greece’s government. Stuck on a tread-mill of debt repayment and anemic economic activity, Greece, as the Financial Times noted, has been reduced to a “quasi-slave economy” run “purely for the benefit of foreign creditors.” Not surprisingly, when Greek voters went to the polls Sunday, they elected a new government that is demand-ing a renegotiation of its debt. German and European Union officials have responded with adamant opposi-tion to any such changes.

Fortunately for Germany, its own creditors took quite a different stance after World War II. In the London Debt Agreement of 1953, the 20 nations — including Greece — that had loaned money to Germany during the pre-Nazi Weimar Republic and in the years since 1945 agreed to reduce West Germany’s debts by half. Moreo-ver, they agreed that its repayments could not come out of the government’s spending but only and explicitly from export income. They further agreed to undervalue the German mark, so that German export income could grow. By the consent of all parties, the London Agree-ment, and subsequent modifications, were crafted in proceedings that made West Germany an equal party to its creditors: It could, and sometimes did, reject the creditors’ terms and insist on new negotiations.

THE WorlD

By Harold Meyerson Opinion writer January 28 - Washigton Post

iN GrEEk crisis, GErmaNY sHoulD lEarNFrom iTs Fiscal pasT

Ένα χρόνο παραπάνω κράτησε η γερμανική κατοχή τώρα από ό,τι στον 2ο παγκόσμιο πόλεμο. Χωρίς να πέσει ούτε σφαίρα είχαμε 1500 νεκρούς από αυτοκτονία, 1,5 εκατομμύρια ανέργους, παιδάκια που λιποθυμούσαν από την πείνα στα σχολεία, ανθρώπους που πεθαίναν αβοήθητοι σε νοσοκομεία, άνθρωπους που πεθαίναν από τα μαγγάλια για να ζεσταθούν γιατί τους είχαν κόψει το ρεύμα και γιατί δεν μπορούσαν πια να αγοράσουν ακριβό πετρέλαιο…Η Γερμανία που ξεκίνησε και τους δύο παγκόσμιους πολέμους, αφήνοντας πίσω εκατομμύριο νεκρούς στρατιώτες και πολίτες, εξακολουθεί να θέλει να επεκτείνει το διαβόητο «ζωτικό της χώρο», όραμα του Χίτλερ, αυτή τη φορά με άρματα της τράπεζες και στρατόπεδα συγκέντρωσης τις πόλεις και τα σπίτια των πολιτών των χωρών που «επιτίθεται», όπως και η Ελλάδα.Και να, πέντε χρόνια μετά, με την Ευρώπη υποδουλωμένη στις γερμανικές πολιτικές, η Ελλάδα για μια ακόμα φορά αψήφησε τις παγκόσμιες απειλές και σήκωσε το ανάστημά της ψηφίζοντας όχι στους Γερμανούς. Και η χώρα γιορτάζει την απελευθέρωση από τους κατακτητές αλλά και τους ντόπιους συνεργάτες άντε καλοθελητές.Δεν κέρδισε ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, κέρδισε η Ελλάδα την ελευθερία της, την αξιοπρέπειά της δείχνοντας για μια ακόμα φορά το δρόμο της ελευθερίας στην Ευρώπη. Υ.Γ (μην υποτιμάτε τους καναπέδες, κρύβουν εκπλήξεις)

Η Γερμανία που ξεκίνησε και τους δύο παγκόσμιους πολέμους, αφήνοντας πίσω εκατομμύριο νεκρούς στρατιώτες και πολίτες, εξακολουθεί να θέλει να επεκτείνει το διαβόητο «ζωτικό της χώρο», όραμα του Χίτλερ, αυτή τη φορά με άρματα τις τράπεζες και στρατόπεδα συγκέντρωσης τις πόλεις και τα σπίτια των πολιτών των χωρών που «επιτίθεται», όπως και η Ελλάδα.

Γράφει ο Κώστας Κρικέληςkrikelis@gmail.com

THE WorlD

Χαίρε ω χαίρε ελευθεριά

NEW York culTurE

Μια Κραυγή, συνειδητότητας και αποκάλυψης ότι τίποτε δεν είναι όπως φαίνεται. Ταυτότητες, ρόλοι, σχέσεις, συνθήκες, όλα πλάσματα του νου. Η αλήθεια μόνο μπορεί να μας φέρει στο εδώ και τώρα, στο Είναι της ανθρώπινης ύπαρξης. Είναι ο Θεός έξω από εμάς, ή ζει μέσα μας, και ποια είναι η αποστολή του Ανθρώπου;Ο ηρωας-ασκητής είναι ανθρώπινος, σωματικός, αδύναμος, ατελής, απροσάρμοστος, ζωντανός, αγωνιστής. Είναι χορευτής, γιατί ο χορός σκοτώνει το Εγώ.

Και κάπου εκεί, σε ένα άλλο επίπεδο “ζουν” οι μνήμες, οι οποίες σαν εικόνες-θραύσματα ζωντανεύουν μέσα στον ήρωα, σχηματίζοντας όλο και πιο συναρπαστικές ιστορίες.Μέσα από την “Κραυγή” αφουγκραζόμαστε την ανάσα, την επιθυμία του ηρωα να δώσει πρόσωπο στο χάος, να υποτάξει το Εγώ και τα στοιχεία της φύσης οδεύοντας προς τη σοφία και τη νίκη του εφήμερου. Ακολουθεί τη φωνή του Χρέους μέσα από την καθημερινότητά του. Αγαπάει, πονάει, αγωνίζεται. Ερωτεύεται και νικάει το θάνατο. Προσφέρει και ελευθερώνεται.

Στρατος Τζωρτζογλου "Η ΚΡΑΥΓΗ- Αναφορα στον γιο μου" Shout-Report to my son

Πρεμιερα Παρασκευη 13 Φεβρουαρίου 2015

Stratos TzortzoglouAlkiviadis TzortzoglouLyra:Kostas Stavroulidakis

Dancer:Despina Sofia StamosSinger:Giorgos MazonakisDirection/Adaptation: Stratos Tzortzoglou

Ενα γράμμα κληρονομιάς απο τονπατέρα στον γιο. Βασισμένο σε κείμενα Καζαντζακη, Γκιμπράν, Απ.Παυλου,Ευριπιδη

"Η ΚΡΑΥΓΗ Αναφορα στον γιο μου" Shout-Report to my son

Stratos TzortzoglouAlkiviadis Tzortzoglou

Lyra:Kostas StavroulidakisDancer:Despina Sofia Stamos

Singer:Giorgos MazonakisDirection/Adaptation:

Stratos Tzortzoglou

Ελληνικό Κέντρο Πολιτισμού 12 Φεβρουαρίου- 15 Μαρτίου

2015 για 20 παραστάσεις Πέμπτη ως Κυριακή

(8:00 p.m.)T. 718-726-7329

Πολεμάει χωρίς βεβαιότητες. Προσεύχεται και αγγίζει την έκσταση. Πεθαίνει και αναγεννιέται κάθε μέρα. Υπομένει τη Σταύρωση για να γευτεί την Ανάσταση. Ελπίζει και ονειρεύεται την κορυφή όπως η χώρα μας και κάθε Έλληνας. Αχνογραφεί την πύρινη γραμμή της ψυχής που οδηγεί στη λύτρωσηΟ ηρωας ασκητής αποποιεί το Εγώ του, σπάει το είδωλο για να κατανοήσει την ουσία της ύπαρξής του, για να ζήσει συνειδητά. Χωρίς να περιμένει τίποτε. Ελεύθερος. Αυτή είναι η αποστολή του. Μια αποστολή που σαν σκυτάλη θα την παραδώσει στον επόμενο αγωνιστή, κι εκείνος στον επόμενο... Σαν ενα γράμμα κληρονομιάς απο τον πατέρα στον γιο.

THE SHOUTTHE SHOUT a musical (oratorio) performance based on Nikos Kazantzakis‘ The Saviors of God / Askitiki – Report to Greco.

World tour starts in New York and for the period February 12 – March 15, the show will be staged at the Greek Cultural Center, with subsequent desti-nations as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago in the States and then in Montreal and Toronto in Canada and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. Spring 2015 the show will be staged in Athens with subsequent destinations Crete and Cyprus. As Ka-zantzakis himself says,

“You shall never be able to establish in words that you live in ecstasy. But struggle unceasingly to es-tablish it in words. Battle with myths, with compari-sons, with allegories, with rare and common words, with exclamations and rhymes, to embody it in flesh, to transfix it! God, the Great Ecstatic, works in the same way. He speaks and struggles to speak in every way He can, with seas and with fires, with colors, with wings, with horns, with claws, with con-stellations and butterflies, that he may establish His ecstasy”.

SG takes the form of a prophet’s plea to change our conception of God so that we can live better. Ka-zantzakis assumes there’s a difference between the esoteric and the exoteric, between the unknowable mystical truth and the mere masks of God. And Ka-zantzakis’s vision of divinity is quite peculiar. It re-minds me of the myth of Sisyphus.

Whereas the mainstream monotheistic idea is that God is a flawless person, Kazantzakis says that God is imperfect, that he’s a vagabond who struggles be-tween two eternally opposing forces, one pulling him down into entropy and lifelessness and the oth-er raising him up to freedom.

NEW York culTurE

Ελληνικό Κέντρο Πολιτισμού 12 Φεβρουαρίου 2015

εώς 15 Μαρτίου 2015 για 20 παραστάσεις από Πέμπτη ως Κυριακή

2/12/2015 until 3/15/2015 (8:00 p.m.)Greek Cultural Center

26-80 30 Str. Astoria N.Y. 11102email: info@greekculturalcenter.org

T. 718-726-7329

WHY EacH YEar sEEms To DisappEar morE QuicklY THaN THE lasT

NEW York culTurE

For most people, each passing month of their lives seems to feel shorter than the previous. Many of us can’t believe that stores are already starting to display Christmas products, and if you’re writing a check, you might still catch yourself writ-ing 2013 when 2014 is nearly over.

All clocks follow the same 12 hour / 60 minute symmetry, yet studies suggest that as we get older, we don’t experience time the same way. And there are many theories that explain why it feels like time speeds up as we grow older. Many psychologists believe that as we age, our per-ception of time begins to accelerate versus time actually speeding up. Studies indicate that biological changes in the human body that happen as it ages, such as reduced dopa-mine production in the brain, impact our internal clock. Furthermore, some believe that as we grow up, we have fewer emotional and arousing experiences – the first kiss, the first trip away from home, the first heartbreak. Such experiences are easier to remember and lead to higher time estimations. The emotional intensity of our daily life is affected by the fact that many of us experience “Habituation Hypothesis”. Consider how often you find yourself on autopilot, moving through your daily tasks such as getting dressed or cooking dinner, or sitting in your daily commute while your mind is elsewhere. If you’ve lived in one place for a long time, or held the same job for many years, less and less feels truly new. Our instinct is to conserve energy when we can, so when life is predictable, our minds turn to autopilot and we tune out. Our minds become efficient at carrying out tasks that have become habitual, so they are freed up to address more pressing issues. Unfortunately, many of us spend this mental energy on worrying, self-analyzing, weighing deci-sions, etc., which can become quite stressful. Yet, regardless where our mental focus goes, by exhibiting this type of be-

havior, we have a tendency to compress time, and as a result our lives seem to speed up.

There’s also what psychologists call “Forward Telescoping”, which considers how we perceive past events that have made a significant impact in our lives. We are inclined to stay con-nected to important past events – a birth of a child, a friend dying – to where they seem quite recent, even when many years have passed. The realization that ten years have gone by since you got married, when you feel like it’s only been five, can be quite shocking.

The quickening of our perception of time was also explained by Paul Janet’s “Proportional Theory”. It suggests that as we get older, each period of time is a smaller fraction of the whole lifetime, and this affects how we perceive each mo-ment. How can we slow down time?Look for the beauty in things. Feelings that we experience when we come across something that inspires or transforms us will expand the perception of time, because these mo-ments are more awe-inspiring. Enjoy the present moment. Instead of always con-templating, analyzing, making decisions, etc., make an effort to free up some of your thoughts while you’re going about you day to appreciate the minute details of each moment and your surroundings. Limit multitasking. Many of us have busy lives and feel that multitasking is necessary. Yet consider that multi-tasking will occupy more of your mental resources as you keep pace with switching between tasks. You end up with have less energy to put towards the creation of new memo-ries. In the long run, you’re likely to be less productive while you feel like there are never enough hours in a day.

al QaEDa braNcH claims cHarliE HEbDo aTTack Was YEars iN THE makiNGCNN)Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsi-bility Wednesday for last week's rampage that killed 12 peo-ple at France's Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.

The attack was years in the making, an AQAP leader said in a video, claiming U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was the mastermind behind it.

Al-Awlaki was the terror group's spokesman before a U.S. drone strike killed him in Yemen in 2011. For days, intel-ligence analysts have been trying to piece together whether the gunmen who attacked the magazine met him on trips to Yemen -- a theory that could be bolstered by the new video's claim.

AQAP did not claim responsibility for Friday's deadly siege at a kosher grocery store in Paris, but praised it.

What is al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula?French security services have identified a suspected accom-plice in that attack, according to the French newspaper Le Parisien. Police sources cited by the newspaper said one line of investigation is that the accomplice, a man from a Paris suburb, may have driven gunman Amedy Coulibaly to the kosher supermarket, where Coulibaly later shot dead four people.Coulibaly was killed in a police raid to end the siege. Said and Cherif Kouachi, the brothers who authorities say were behind the Charlie Hebdo attack, also are dead. But inves-tigators' efforts to track down possible suspects tied to last week's attacks are continuing.So is the magazine that the terrorists targeted last month.Charlie Hebdo's new edition hit newsstands Wednesday -- a week after authorities say terrorists Said and Cherif Kouachi burst into its newsroom and gunned down staffers. The cover features a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed crying. All 3 million copies sold out quickly, but more copies are coming

soon, the magazine said.‘Blessing from Allah’The claim of responsibility for the deadly attack on the maga-zine came in a video showing AQAP commander Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi, with pictures of the Kouachis in the background.

“When the heroes were assigned, they accepted. They prom-ised and fulfilled,” al-Ansi said.He praised the attack, saying it was revenge for Charlie Heb-do’s depictions of Mohammed.

Al-Ansi blamed not only Charlie Hebdo, but also France and the United States.

“It is France that has shared all of America’s crimes,” al-Ansi added. “It is France that has committed crimes in Mali and the Islamic Maghreb. It is France that supports the annihila-tion of Muslims in Central Africa in the name of race cleans-ing.” (“Islamic Maghreb” refers to North Africa.)“It was a blessing from Allah” that the kosher market siege, in which four hostages were killed, took place about the same time, al-Ansi said.Official: Video is authentic but not sure about claim

U.S. authorities said they think the video is authentic. But they weren’t ready to say that AQAP helped carry out the assault.“We’re not there yet. There are good indicators” that the group was behind the attack, but the intelligence community is still assessing, a senior administration official told CNN.Earlier in the day, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey said that, “if genuine, this is only the latest example of the wanton brutality that is al Qaeda’s calling card and which it has visited upon innocents of all faiths.”Investigators believe Cherif Kouachi left Yemen with as much as $20,000 from AQAP to carry out attacks, a U.S. of-ficial said.

THE WorlD

THE WorlD

Greeks from all over the world are now a few clicks away from a Greek doctor. Anyone who has lived abroad knows, how important it is for patients to speak with doctors from their homeland Iatreio Online is a web based service where health professionals communicate with their patients online through video call. Patients seeking medical in-formation, a second opinion or guidance from their per-sonal doctor, can now contact Greek doctors remotely, at their convenience. Health professionals from a range of different medical specialties have made themselves available online, since the launch of the beta version on January 1st 2015.   Manolis Couclelis, co-founder and initiator of the project, states: “We created a service to deal with common challenges faced by the majority of the population regarding their interaction with health professionals. Doctors, psychologists and nutritionists have a wider reach for their services as patients may contact them remotely from home and abroad”“Online appointments shall not replace the tradition-al physical examination. The value of the service lies in remote medical consultations. Our aim is to cre-ate a new channel of interaction between patients and doctors that will save time and money for both par-ties” states Manolis Niadas co-founder of the service.The vision is to integrate technology in the traditional doctor-patient relationship for their mutual benefit. A team of 11 dedicated, motivated and well educated pro-fessionals, initiated the journey of Iatreio-Online.

2.   How it all started The journey begun when two young entrepreneurs de-cided to turn their idea into a business, committing their time, energy, and financial resources to material-ize their aspiration: To create the first online doctor’s workplace in Greece. Anticipating the success of simi-lar services overseas, where the significant value of this service has been validated, they created a user friendly platform adjusted to better fit the requirements of the Greek population needs. The team managed to secure some funding from the EU funding scheme (ESPA). Currently, the project attracts the interest of individual investors who appre-ciate a fresh, sustainable and innovative initiative that generates a win-win situation for the parties involved. 3. How it worksThe user logs in and searches for a doctor from a range of medical specialtiesThe user comes across the doctor’s available hours and he books the online appointment by paying online.As soon as the time of the appointment arrives, the user logs in and initiates the video call with his doctor in a safe and user friendly web environment.Further information can be found here:

4. Benefits:

Users gain access to Greek doctors, psychologists and dietitians regardless of their physical location

iaTrEio oNliNE www.iatreio-online.gr

THE WorlD

Users get personalized medical consultations from li-censed doctors online through video call. Instead of digging in the tons of unreliable medical information available online, users may now address their queries to a specialist.Users save significant amounts of money and time. Apart from the lower cost of online appointments, users can often avoid the trip to the doctor which may incur more costs and inconveniency.

5. Who may use the service? Greeks living abroad and would like to see a Greek doc-tor at a lower costPeople living in remote regions of Greece and have poor access to specialized doctorsDisabled people or their relatives who are in need of some medical advicePatients who may do their follow-ups online after hav-ing met their doctor (chronic diseases)Patients or their relatives who are in need of a second opinion concerning their conditionPeople who realize they should see a doctor but cannot fit an appointment into their over-booked schedule.

6. Specialties currently available on Iatreio Online: Pathology-Gynecology-Dermatology-Urology Plastic Surgery-Endocrinology-Psychiatry-PediatricsOtolaryngology-Psychology-Nutrition-Physiotherapy

7. The founders of Iatreio Online:

Manolis C. CouclelisFollowing his IB diploma, Manolis studied economics in the UK. Then, he attended an MSc in Management degree at the University of Bath where he graduated in 2011. He has worked as an intern at the shipping unit of HypoVereins Bank and at the National Bank of Greece dealing room. Moreover he has worked for Soya Hellas,

a transnational food company. At Iatreio Online he is in charge of business development and is in charge of finances and marketing.

Manolis V. NiadasFollowing his IB diploma he studied Politics with Eco-nomics in the UK. Then, he attended an MSc in Man-agement degree at the University of Bath where he graduated in 2012. At the age of 22 he deployed his entrepreneurial skills by co-founding Iatreio Online where he is in charge of technical development, techni-cal support and sales.

Besides the co-founders, Iatreio Online has been impor-tantly enhanced by the engagement of two experienced professionals in the Greek market. Firstly, Stefanos Fal-conakis who watched the progress of the platform as a project manager, is a specialist in e-commerce having a 7 year experience in the pharmaceutical’s sector and in medical publications. Secondly, Stathis Georgiadis (g360 Communication) has been involved in the brand creation process while also showing strong commit-ment in shaping the promotional strategy of Iatreio Online. Stathis has a significant work experience in the pharmaceuticals sector as well as in FMCG products

8. Contact DetailsManolis C. CouclelisEmail: ecouclelis@iatreio-online.grTel: +30 210 3610418Mob: +30 6938720568Ippokratous 10-12, 10679 Athens, Greece

Manolis V. NiadasEmail: mniadas@iatreio-online.grTel: +30 210 3610418Mob: +30 6946901820Ippokratous 10-12, 10679 Athens, Greece

www.iatreio-online.gr

NEW York ciTY

cENTral park bEForE bEauTiFicaTioN

by Elizabeth Blackmar and Roy Rosenzweig

Central Park was the first landscaped public park in the United States. Advocates of creating the park--pri-marily wealthy merchants and landowners--admired the public grounds of London and Paris and urged that New York needed a comparable facility to establish its international reputation. A public park, they argued, would offer their own families an attractive setting for carriage rides and provide working-class New York-ers with a healthy alternative to the saloon. After three years of debate over the park site and cost, in 1853 the state legislature authorized the City of New York to use the power of eminent domain to acquire more than 700 acres of land in the center of Manhattan.An irregular terrain of swamps and bluffs, punctuated by rocky outcroppings, made the land between Fifth and Eighth avenues and 59th and 106th streets undesirable for private development. Creating the park, how-ever, required displacing roughly 1,600 poor residents,

including Irish pig farmers and German gardeners, who lived in shanties on the site. At Eighth Avenue and 82nd Street, Seneca Village had been one of the city's most stable African-American settlements, with three churches and a school. The extension of the boundaries to 110th Streetin 1863 brought the park to its current 843 acres.The question of who should exercise political control of this new kind of public institution was a point of con-tention throughout the nineteenth century. In appoint-ing the first Central Park Commission (1857-1870), the Republican-dominated state legislature abandoned the principle of "home rule" in order to keep the park out of the hands of locally-elected (and primarily Demo-cratic) office holders. Under the leadership of Andrew Green, the commission became the city's first planning agency and oversaw the laying out of uptown Manhat-tan as well as the management of the park. After a new citycharter in 1870 restored the park to local control, the mayor appointed park commissioners.

maria papapETros

_ Wow are you spending Valentines this year Aman-da? _ Same way I did last year. _ Which was? _ Doing my laundry as I have been doing for the past quite a few years, with almost everyone gone on a date I have the laundry room to myself. What’s the bid deal about it anyway? It’s just another day, besides with Jack out of the picture there is nothing left in me. What are you doing that day? _ I am going out to a dinner dance. _ Oh, you’ve met someone? _ No, I am going to a “Celebrating Love” single’s party and doing just that, honoring all the love I have in my life, there is so much to be had and cherish, I feel blessed. It is a privilege to have known it. My love for George is like a candle that lights up the dark corners of my heart. _ How is that? George has been gone about seven years now. – Yes true, but my love for him is still alive, he did not take it with him, it lives in my heart as he does.

_ Do you think you will ever have another meaning-ful relationship in your life. Yes I know I will. There is someone out there for me and he is coming now that I am ready. What about George you say you love him. Yes I do, there is room for more than one love in my heart. Have you forgiven Jack yet; are you ready to have a life? – I think it’s too late for me, I am so afraid of my feel-ings, afraid to love even my family; I don’t want to get hurt again.Love does not hurt Come to the dance with me; open your heart to love and I don’t mean just romantic love. You eat alone every night, invite your sister and her family over, they love you so much. It is alright to cry let your tears fall, invite love in your life, allow people to love you, and if time comes to part ways know that the love stays and warms you up in cold winter nights.

_ I love you Emma, give me an hour to get ready; lets go celebrate Valentines, and a HAPPY VALENTINES TO YOU ALL!!!!

Valentines

www.mpapapetros.com

Maria Papapetroswww.mpapapetros.com

Happy ValentinesLOVE AND RELATIONSHIP WORKSHOP

This is a three – hour evening designed by Psychic Maria Papapetros, focusing on goals and tools for IDEAL relationships.

TOOLS FOR IDEAL RELATIONSHIPS inRomance – Marriage – Family- Friendship – Work- The Divine – And the Self.-Attract your ideal mate-Release and let go of unhealthy and past Relationships-Create the relationships you want-Improve existing Relationships

LOVE AND HAPPINESS MEDITATION AND PSYCHIC READINGSMARIA WILL ANSWER A PSYCHIC QUESTION FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS

Date -February 18th, 2015Time- 6:30 to 9:30 pm. Fee 50 Dollars prepaid by the 2-15-15 or 60 at the door PAYPAL available

For personal Session appointments and Info please call 212-935-4441 – email – maria@papapetros.com

Hosted by Kelly Rutherford

THE WorlD

If all thoughts are energy, then there is nothing to lose and everything to gain!

1. Send love to other people whether you know them or not. When you are in the car or bus, silently say to the drivers of the oncoming traffic, “I love you.” If there are no oncoming cars, then pick out some trees or plants and do the same thing.If you’re driving the car, then please stay focused on the road, but if you’re a passenger, you’ll have plenty of op-portunities to share your energy!

2. Send love to everything in nature. If you go on a walk in nature, tell the trees and plants how much you love them.If you’re at a body of water, send those same positive thoughts to all of the wonderful life living in that envi-ronment. If you’re at the beach, perhaps this will call a dolphin or manatee to you!

3. Magnify your intentions through meditation. Dur-ing meditation, try focusing your thoughts and inten-tions on love, gratitude and appreciation for a few min-utes, not only for your immediate surroundings, but for as many living creations throughout the planet and universe.4. Lift the energy of your coworkers. At work, try send-ing loving thoughts to your coworkers.There is a reason why we never feel good after watching the 6 o’clock news: because it’s filled with fear-ladened propaganda to keep us living in that vibration, which eventually manifests itself somewhere throughout our day or evening. If we live in the vibration of love and send loving thoughts to all living creatures, then we will conversely change this paradigm into a world full of love while attracting those of the same vibration, with just a few simple thoughts each day!

4 simplE WaYs Your THouGHTs caN cHaNGE THE WorlD

THE WorlD

Hταν πολλά τα σφάλματα της συγκυβέρνησης των κ. Αντώνη Σαμαρά και Ευάγγελου Βενιζέλου, ειδικά κατά το τελευταίο -και κρίσιμο πριν από τις εκλογές- διάστημα. Τα λάθη δεν ήταν μόνο επικοινωνιακά, όπως συνηθίζεται να λέγεται. Αυτός είναι ο ρηχός τρόπος να διαβάζουμε την πολιτική. Το πρόβλημα της συγκυβέρνησης ήταν στρατηγικό, ή για να ακριβολογούμε ήταν η απουσία στρατηγικής, που την οδήγησε από ήττα σε ήττα.Ας σκεφτούμε μόνο πόσα προσωπεία άλλαξε η κυβέρνηση τον τελευταίο χρόνο. Επί οκτώ μήνες βομβάρδιζαν τον ελληνικό λαό με ένα εν πολλοίς ψευδεπίγραφο success story. Οι πολίτες το πίστεψαν και αυτό δεν φάνηκε μόνο στις δημοσκοπήσεις, αλλά και στην καταναλωτική δαπάνη, στις εισαγωγές αυτοκινήτων κ.λπ. Και ξαφνικά, εκεί γύρω στον Δεκέμβριο, ο ουρανός γέμισε μολυβένια σύννεφα. Η «σίγουρη σωτηρία της χώρας» έγινε «ένα βήμα πριν από την καταστροφή». Ακόμη χειρότερα για τη Ν.Δ. και το ΠΑΣΟΚ: ουδείς τους πίστεψε. Η όψιμη κινδυνολογία πήγε άπατη. Οι Ελληνες επείσθησαν από την προηγούμενη προπαγάνδα περί «success story» και άφοβα έδωσαν την πρωτιά με τεράστια διαφορά στον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ.Το άλλο story που κατέρρευσε ήταν εκείνο της «υπεύθυνης κυβέρνησης απέναντι στον ανεύθυνο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ». Ας το σκεφθούμε λίγο. Η ρητορική της κυβέρνησης ήταν ότι έχει απέναντί της ένα «εξαιρετικά επικίνδυνο κόμμα που θα τινάξει τη χώρα στον αέρα». Σ’ αυτό λοιπόν το «επικίνδυνο, τυχοδιωκτικό κόμμα», οι κ. Σαμαράς και Βενιζέλος ενεχείρισαν πρόωρα -δύο μήνες πριν από τις συνταγματικές προθεσμίες- την ευκαιρία να καταλάβει την εξουσία, ώστε να αναλάβει το κρισιμότερο κομμάτι του μνημονίου, δηλαδή την τελική αξιολόγηση και τη συνακόλουθη έξοδο από αυτό.Ευλόγως, λοιπόν, κάθε νουνεχής πολίτης αναρωτήθηκε «ποιος είναι ο ανεύθυνος σε αυτή την υπόθεση;». Διότι αν η περιγραφή του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ από τους κ.κ. Σαμαρά και Βενιζέλο ήταν αληθής, τότε οι ίδιοι είναι διπλά ανεύθυνοι, αφού παρέδωσαν εσκεμμένα τον

πυροκροτητή στα «μωρά» (με την αρχαιοελληνική σημασία) του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ. Κατά έναν σατανικό τρόπο η υπευθυνότητα των συγκυβερνητών, είναι άμεση συνάρτηση του πόσο υπεύθυνος θα αποδειχθεί ο κ. Τσίπρας. Αν ο τελευταίος αποδειχθεί ανεύθυνος, τότε η ιστορία θα γράψει και για την ανευθυνότητα των κ. Σαμαρά και Βενιζέλου να μην τελειώσουν με το μνημόνιο στην ώρα του. Και η ώρα της τελικής αξιολόγησης ήταν τον προηγούμενο Σεπτέμβριο και όχι στο τέλος Φεβρουαρίου, που θα είμαστε με την ψυχή στο στόμα. Το βασικό στρατηγικό έλλειμμα όμως της συγκυβέρνησης ήταν άλλο. Ηταν ότι το αφήγημα δεν διέφερε επί της ουσίας από εκείνο του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, ή για να το πούμε αλλιώς η συγκυβέρνηση έτρεφε την ίδια αλλεργία στις μεταρρυθμίσεις και απλώς δεν μπορούσε να το πει δυνατά. Ας σκεφτούμε ότι από όλες τις δομικές μεταρρυθμίσεις του μνημονίου τη μόνη που υιοθέτησε η Ν.Δ. (και όχι το ΠΑΣΟΚ) ήταν η αλλαγή του συνδικαλιστικού νόμου. Σε όλα τα άλλα, συμπεριλαμβανομένου του επονομαζόμενου «email-Χαρδούβελη» μασούσαν τα λόγια τους. Η -ομολογουμένως πιο ήπια- αντιμνημονιακή ρητορεία ήταν εμφανής σε όλο τον προεκλογικό λόγο των δύο κομμάτων και αφού (ρητώς μέχρι τον Νοέμβριο και αρρήτως μέχρι τις εκλογές) υπήρχε ο διαγωνισμός ποιος σχίζει πιο καλά το μνημόνιο, επόμενο ήταν να κερδίσει αυτός που εγγυόταν ότι θα το σχίσει καλύτερα.Ειδικά η Ν.Δ. χρειάζεται ένα διαφορετικό αφήγημα από τον «ΣΥΡΙΖΑ-light», που εν τοις πράγμασι υπηρέτησε τα προηγούμενα χρόνια. Οφείλει να ψάξει όσες φιλελεύθερες ρίζες τής έχουν απομείνει για να χτίσει ένα άλλο αφήγημα, διαφορετικό από το κυρίαρχο του παρωχημένου κρατισμού και πελατειασμού, του οποίου την πατέντα -έτσι κι αλλιώς- έχουν άλλοι.

Συνεπώς, όπως για τον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ ισχύει το ερώτημα «τι θέλει να γίνει τώρα που μεγάλωσε;», για τη Ν.Δ. υπάρχει το ανάποδο: «τι θέλει να γίνει τώρα που μίκρυνε;».

Η ανατομία μιας ήτταςΓράφει ο Πάσχος Μαρδαβέλης - ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ

NEW York ciTY

Ellopia Press NY -by Nick Christophers

As many of us know the origin of theatre was in ancient Greece and since then it has evolved more than even the forefathers thought it would. One pure example is the dance company Echodrama based in Athens. The company takes their audience on a musical trip that covers many cultural nuances. Their performances are centered on Greek culture which is taken from Greek history, mythology, literature and philosophy.  The goal is to present a social message with combining all these facets onto the modern stage."Not only do we bring awareness of Greek history and culture to our audiences, but we also explore philo-sophical issues. We hope to show how our past directly reflects the present and how lessons learned can change the future for not only Greece and Europe, but globally, “this is our raison d’ être."

The "brainchildren" behind the company are actually a family. Yannis Pisimisis and Sevi Dimitriadou along with their daughters Daniela and Phaedra have devel-

oped a grand production. Sevi is a choreographer and Yannis is a composer and their daughters are danc-ers as well as choreographers. Besides the Echodrama Company they also own a dance school, Dance Dream which is located in Pefki, Athens. The school teaches various styles of dance to all ages.

Sevi and Yannis’ parents are both from Peloponne-sus, Attiki and Asia Minor. After living in Athens for a while they moved to the States and lived there for six-teen years. Both are also graduates of the UCLA School of Architecture. The group is predominantly made up of Greeks but they have one dancer from Cuba.  Aside from their productions they also host workshops with international choreographers to bring awareness of oth-er dance trends beyond Greece’s borders.While living in L.A. Yannis offered his talents for an Amnesty International concert in Hollywood which went very well. He also was approached to pen a music theme for the L.A. Chapter of the American Red Cross.

passioNaTE DaNcE compaNYEmbracEs WorlDWiDE auDiENcE

THE WorlD

As many of us know the origin of theatre was in ancient Greece and since then it has evolved more than even the forefathers thought it would. One pure example is the dance company Echodrama based in Athens. The company takes their audience on a musical trip that covers many cultural nuances. Their performances are centered on Greek culture which is taken from Greek history, mythology, literature and philosophy.  The goal is to present a social message with combining all these facets onto the modern stage."Not only do we bring awareness of Greek history and culture to our audiences, but we also explore philo-sophical issues. We hope to show how our past directly reflects the present and how lessons learned can change the future for not only Greece and Europe, but globally, “this is our raison d’ être."The "brainchildren" behind the company are actually a family. Yannis Pisimisis and Sevi Dimitriadou along with their daughters Daniela and Phaedra have devel-oped a grand production. Sevi is a choreographer and Yannis is a composer and their daughters are danc-ers as well as choreographers. Besides the Echodrama Company they also own a dance school, Dance Dream which is located in Pefki, Athens. The school teaches various styles of dance to all ages.

Sevi and Yannis’ parents are both from Peloponne-sus, Attiki and Asia Minor. After living in Athens for a while they moved to the States and lived there for six-teen years. Both are also graduates of the UCLA School of Architecture. The group is predominantly made up of Greeks but they have one dancer from Cuba.  Aside

from their productions they also host workshops with international choreographers to bring awareness of oth-er dance trends beyond Greece’s borders.While living in L.A. Yannis offered his talents for an Amnesty International concert in Hollywood which went very well. He also was approached to pen a music theme for the L.A. Chapter of the American Red Cross. The company was able to travel and perform with elab-orate shows for two years thanks to a grant from the Eu-ropean Union in 2012. Because of the generosity of the EU it enabled them to create their last two productions, The Cave and Rhei. Prior to this grant, Echodrama de-pended on fees from Festivals that invited them to per-form, and dancers received government subsidies.

Echodrama has performed outside of Greece, in Ger-many. They toured through eleven cities for their pro-duction of The Murderess, based on Alexandros Pa-padiamandis’ novel. Recently, the company has been working towards a U.S. tour which is a big task. The ground-work for the tour has been taken on by Dena Paponis Dahilig who resides in Los Angeles. Dena set up a Kickstarter campaign which raised over $10,000. "The performances were received extremely well by Greeks and Germans alike. Members of the Greek com-munities in these cities spoke with enthusiasm about us, and the local press wrote detailed articles with pictures and rave reviews. The wonderful experience of offering a piece of our culture to the Germans, and generally to the non-Greeks who have attended our performances, has made Echodrama decide to undertake the difficult task of a tour in the U.S.,” added Yannis.

THE WorlD

By Mike BarrettWe have known for some time that drinking sodas can lead to an almost infinite amount of health compli-cations, but what about diet soda? Actually, diet soda is not at all a healthful alternative to soda, as the artificial sweeteners added to the beverages can also cause all sorts of problems. What’s more, these artifi-cial sweeteners mess with your brain in numerous ways – often even caus-ing you to consume more than you normally would.Numerous studies have drawn a link between various illnesses and diet sodas – or at least with the artifi-cial sweeteners. Research has found that drinking these beverages can lead to an increased risk  of diabe-tes, blood pressure, heart disease, and  even obesity  – a primary issue many are trying to avoid by choos-ing the drink. So is diet soda bad for you? You bet.One of  those studies,  from Is-rael’s Weizmann Institute of Sci-ence further, investigated the correlation between artificial sweet-eners, and weight gain and diabetes. The study, published in the scientific journal  Nature, had some compel-ling findings that may explain the previous contradicting results:People consuming artificial sweeten-ers had overall higher blood sugars than those who rarely or never did. Some saw an increase in their blood sugars with just one week of con-

suming the fake sugars. Mice given the artificial sweeteners gained just as much weight and had higher blood sugars than the ones given regular sugar despite consum-ing less calories! Drinking diet sodas even affects us on a cellular level.

We can attribute this to diet sodas containing bizarre ingredients like mold inhibitors (not found in sugary sodas) often listed as sodium ben-zoate or potassium benzoate. Peter Piper of the University of Sheffield says these chemicals “have the abil-ity to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it.” Be wary of these ingredients if you want to steer clear of hives, asthma, and other al-lergic reactions, too.Unfortunately, the negative effects don’t stop at the physical. In addition to the physical effects of diet soda, it can also mess with your brain. Αbout the author

Mike Barrett is the co-founder, edi-tor, and researcher behind Natural Society. Studying the work of top natural health activists, and writing special reports for top 10 alterna-tive health websites, Mike has writ-ten hundreds of articles and pages on how to obtain optimum wellness through natural health.

HoW DiET soDa mEssEs WiTH Your braiN

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