http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rachel-maddow-a-nuclear-weapons-strategy-stuck-in-the-past/2014/02/28/906737f6-9ffa-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28_story.html

A nuclear weapons strategy that’s stuck in the past

By Rachel Maddow, Published: February 28

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How is it, though, that we’re cutting all those things yet keeping the full complement of 1970s-era nuclear missiles in silos in Wyoming, North Dakota and Montana?

Like the drunk general said, those intercontinental missiles are an operationally deployed nuclear force. They’re not in silos for storage; they are ready to fly. But do we really believe the general’s drunken boast that those hair-trigger missiles are saving the world from war every day? Even if there is a scenario in which a threat to the United States is best handled by us firing off hundreds of nuclear weapons, B-2 bombers and Trident submarines could handily launch such weapons at any attacker on the planet who is kind enough to provide us with a return address. As Vladi­mir Putin considers his options in Crimea, do we really think he feels his decisions are constrained by our nuclear weapons . . . but not the ones on U.S. military planes or submarines, only the ones underground in Montana?

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Although no one has had to prevent an accidental missile launch by parking an armored vehicle on top of the silo doors since the 1980s (true story), we’re just not doing a great job handling the responsibility of those Minuteman 3s. And we’re not so much failing as succumbing to inevitability: In the absence of any realistic mission in which those missiles would be used, maintaining morale and 100 percent error-free rigor over decades is an almost existentially impossible challenge.

The real failure here is political: Civilian decision-makers need to make the call about the overall U.S. security strategy and the prioritization of military spending. At a time of cuts and reorganization, when hard decisions must be made about what to save and what to let go, continuing to throw billions of dollars down those silos is a failure of accountability and a failure to be realistic about what kind of wars we might conceivably fight in the future.

Initial reporting on the Pentagon’s proposed cuts described the goal of “a military capable of defeating any adversary, but too small for protracted foreign occupations.” After years of Iraq and Afghanistan, we don’t want protracted foreign occupations anymore, so we’re planning for a military future without them. Unless someone wants or expects an exchange of hundreds of nuclear-tipped land-based intercontinental missiles with Russia in our future, it is nonsense for us to keep planning for that, decade after decade, at such high cost and with so much risk.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/02/27/low-vitamin-d-slows-serotonin-production-may-impact-autism/66469.html

Low Vitamin D Slows Serotonin Production, May Impact Autism
By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on February 27, 2014

A new study demonstrates the way in which Vitamin D may influence social behavior associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D., and Bruce Ames, Ph.D., of Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) showed that serotonin, oxytocin, and vasopressin, three brain hormones that affect social behavior, are all activated by the vitamin D hormone.

Autism, which is characterized by abnormal social behavior, has previously been linked to low levels of serotonin in the brain and to low vitamin D levels, but no mechanism has linked the two until now.

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According to researchers, the proposed pathway explains many of the known, but previously not understood, facts about autism including:

- the “serotonin anomaly” low levels of serotonin in the brain and high levels in the blood of autistic children;

- the preponderance of male over female autistic children: estrogen, a similar steroid hormone, can also boost the brain levels of serotonin in girls;

- the presence of autoimmune antibodies to the fetal brain in the mothers of autistic children: vitamin D regulates the production of regulatory T-cells via repression of TPH1.

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The most recent National Health and Examination survey reports that greater than 70 percent of U.S. population does not meet this requirement and that adequate vitamin D levels have plummeted over the last couple of decades.

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The study suggests dietary intervention with vitamin D, tryptophan, and omega 3 fatty acids would boost brain serotonin concentrations and help prevent and possibly ameliorate some of the symptoms associated with ASD without side effects.

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Researchers believe vitamin D levels should be routinely measured in everyone and should become a standard procedure in prenatal care.

Published on Feb 18, 2014

The Catholic Church in Gangjeong on Jeju Island is a street church.

The daily life & peace Mass is served everyday from 11 am to noon. Even in rainy days or stormy days, in deep snow or under the scorching sun, the Mass continues with priests, nuns, peace defenders, villagers and citizens from all over Korea.

While the construction for a massive naval base is going on, and the naval base has been tearing apart the once peaceful community of Gangjeong village, we don't give up fighting and praying everyday for peace and social justice.

The police interrupt the life & peace Gangjeong Mass by forcefully moving the people sideways. People of Gangjeong desparately waiting for Pope Francis to come to Jeju Island during his visit to South Korea in August 2014.

"I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security."
- Pope Francis

recorded at the scene by Joyakgol, Feb 17, 2014.

http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2013/08/oliver-stone-visits-jeju-island.html

Friday, August 02, 2013
OLIVER STONE VISITS JEJU ISLAND

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He is without a doubt the biggest name to yet arrive on Jeju Island to support the non-violent struggle against the Navy base.

I am particularly moved by his gesture to visit the prison to meet Professor Yang who was a leading film critic in Korea and has surely seen many of Stone's films over the years. I can only imagine what this visit will do to lift Yang's spirits. You can watch my all-time favorite Jeju video where Yang is interviewed on Gureombi rock before the Navy began blasting the sacred coast. See it here

Oliver Stone graciously agreed to be interviewed for Regis Tremblay's new documentary film called The Ghosts of Jeju. He is using his celebrity to help people's movements all over the world which speaks well of him.

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