Slow Brain Aging

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(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

As people get older, all their organs and tissues, including the brain, age and shrink (atrophy). But if it can’t be prevented, can anything be done to slow it, besides crossword puzzles and sudoku?

Now, an international study led by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Beersheba has shown how controlling blood sugar can significantly impact brain health and slow cognitive decline.

An 18-month dietary intervention as part of the DIRECT PLUS Brain MRI trial has just been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition under the title “Glycemic control contributes to the neuroprotective effects of Mediterranean and green-Mediterranean diets on brain age: the DIRECT PLUS brain-magnetic resonance imaging randomized controlled trial.”

The DIRECT PLUS trial – one of the longest and largest brain MRI studies conducted to date – involved 284 participants who were divided into three dietary groups (an active control group, a traditional calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet, low in simple carbohydrates, or the green-Mediterranean diet). Whole-brain MRI measurements were taken before and after the 18-month trial to track changes in brain health.

The researchers used Hippocampal Occupancy (HOC) as a proxy for brain age that predicts future risk of dementia. HOC typically decreases with age. Although age-related brain atrophy is an unavoidable process, type-2 diabetes, inflammation, hypertension, high cholesterol, and accumulation of beta-amyloid and tau markers have all been found to be associated with accelerated brain atrophy and cognitive impairment.

 

It offers hope that lifestyle and dietary changes can slow brain aging. Brain age, as evaluated by MRI measurements of the hippocampus and lateral ventricles, reflects the biological aging of the brain, which can differ from a person’s chronological age.

Younger brains tend to have better cognitive health

One’s chronological age is the number of years lived, while brain age indicates the brain’s actual health. They are often not identical. Some people have a brain age younger or older than their chronological age. 

A younger brain age suggests better cognitive health, while an older brain age may indicate accelerated aging and an increased risk of cognitive decline. Typically, as we age, the hippocampus shrinks and the lateral ventricles expand, serving as markers of brain aging.

The BGU researchers, who were joined by colleagues at Harvard University, Leipzig University, and others, were led by BGU doctoral student Dafna Pachter and overseen by Prof. Iris Shai, an expert in nutrition and epidemiology. 

A previous study published two years ago in the same journal reported that Mediterranean (MED) and green-MED diets significantly attenuated age-related brain atrophy by about half within a year and a half. In the current study, the researchers aimed to understand the mechanism by which the slowing of brain atrophy occurs.

THE NEW study is one of the first large-scale trials to directly link dietary changes, particularly those associated with the Green-MED diet, to improved glycemic control and slower brain aging. 

While further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms at play, these results suggest a potential avenue for reducing the risk of age-related cognitive decline through relatively simple dietary adjustments. Some participants exhibited a brain age either younger or older than their chronological age.

The study found that a decline in HbA1c and key markers of long-term blood sugar levels are linked with significant positive changes in specific brain regions commonly affected by age-related atrophy.

Type-2 diabetics’ blood is regularly tested for hemoglobin a1c, which shows what their average blood sugar (glucose) level was over the past two to three months. Glucose is a type of sugar in your blood that comes from the foods you eat and is used by the cells for energy. A hormone called insulin helps glucose get into the body’s cells.

The Green Mediterranean (Green-MED) diet is rich in polyphenols from plant-based sources like Mankai (a high-protein aquatic plant) and green tea while being low in red and processed meats. The current study further strengthens this connection by suggesting that the Green-MED diet may not only support metabolic health but also exert protective effects on brain structure and function.

The results indicated that participants who managed to improve their blood sugar levels and achieve normal glucose status experienced a more pronounced attenuation of brain aging. Notably, those who consumed higher amounts of green tea and aquatic Mankai duckweed shakes demonstrated the most significant improvements in both blood sugar levels and brain health.

Shai, who is also an adjunct professor at Harvard and an honorary professor at Leipzig University, explained that “maintaining low blood sugar levels, even within the normal range, shows promise for preserving a younger brain, especially when combined with a healthy diet and regular physical activity. Specifically, polyphenols found in plant-based foods may cross the blood-brain barrier and help reduce brain inflammation, which is crucial for memory.”

Pachter, who was the paper’s first author of the paper, added that “this trial offers a safe approach to potentially slow down our brain aging, by adopting the components of a green-Mediterranean diet.”

Cola Gaza

500,000 cans of 'Cola Gaza' have been sold online and through stores in the UK.

Cola Gaza

(photo credit: screenshot)

Since its introduction in early August, 500,000 cans of “Cola Gaza” have been sold, and it is available online for 12 British pounds ($15) per six-pack, according to Turkish national Halk TV. 

The beverage, created by Palestinian businessman and activist Osama Qashoo in England, aims to support Palestinians and boycott companies that, he claims, support and fuel the Israeli army in Gaza.

Qashoo developed “Cola Gaza” to commemorate Palestinian children who lost their lives in Israeli attacks in Gaza, reports Turkish breaking news site Haberler. 

He said in the reports that he hopes that every sip of “Cola Gaza” reminds people of Palestine’s plight. “I want every sip to remind people of Palestine’s struggle,” he said.

All revenue from “Cola Gaza” is donated for the reconstruction of the maternity ward of al-Karama Hospital near Gaza City, according to Halk TV. 

Cola Gaza (credit: screenshot)

'Genocide-free cola'

Specifically, the funds are directed towards rebuilding the maternity ward of the al-Karama Hospital, northwest of Gaza City.

Initially, Qashoo began by placing “Cola Gaza” in his three London restaurants to protest Israel and support Palestine, as reported by Haberler. The beverage is now sold by Muslim retailers, including Manchester-based Al Aqsa, which recently sold out, according to Halk TV.

Produced in Poland and imported to England, “Cola Gaza” is not found in large supermarkets at present, states Haberler. The cola is produced with traditional cola ingredients and has a sweet and sour taste similar to the international American product Coca-Cola, reports Halk TV.

However, Qashoo claims that the recipe is unique, setting it apart from other colas. He stated that it is “completely different from the formula used by Coca-Cola,” according to Halk TV.

Advertisements for “Cola Gaza” include the phrase “Genocide-free cola,” highlighting its specific agenda-based ethical stance, reports Halk TV. The beverage is more expensive than regular colas, priced at £12 ($15) for a six-pack online.

'Go Israel'

An illustration of Israeli cryptocurrency

(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

 Following the astounding success of pro-Palestine cryptocurrency, YAFA, Go Israel is launching a cryptocurrency advocacy for Israel to serve as an "ideological counterweight" to ongoing blockchain activism, according to a statement on Monday.

The statement said that the new coin "aims to rally global support for the Jewish state while serving as a financial and ideological counterweight in the increasingly polarized world of blockchain activism."

The currency was established as a decentralized autonomous organization in order to allow supporters worldwide to participate in its development.

The founders said they aimed to raise $7,102,203 in a symbolic nod to the October 7, 2023, attacks.

The coin’s creators hoped to solidify global support for Israel while fostering a sense of resilience and unity among its backers.

US president Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Nashville, last month. With major democracies considering greater adoption of cryptocurrencies, Israel should do the same, says the writer. (credit: Kevin Wurm/Reuters)

 

Trump's reelection brings new life

The choice to launch the coin also comes only days after Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 US election, which caused cryptocurrency markets to soar.

They tie it to Trump's 2016 policies and growing distrust in the financial system.

They highlight that older legacy cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, began as a "niche financial experiment" and eventually became an important part of economic expression during world crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.

“This is about more than money,” a spokesperson said. “It’s about creating a tangible way for people to stand with Israel in a decentralized world. The coin serves as both a financial tool and a statement of pride, democracy, and freedom.”

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“We’re not just competing with another cryptocurrency,” said one of the project leaders. “We’re competing for the narrative. And in this battle, we intend to win.”

Heart Related Issues

 

By Micky Gilbert

Businesswoman sitting on her desk in an office (illustrative). (photo credit: INGIMAGE)

Even among active individuals, sitting or lying down for extended periods may increase the risk of heart-related health issues, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

The study examined associations between sedentary behavior, or sitting for long periods, and the risk of specific heart problems.

The research, titled “Accelerometer-Measured Sedentary Behavior and Risk of Future Cardiovascular Disease,” involved 89,350 participants who wore an accelerometer on their wrists for one week.

Risks of prolonged sitting

Dr. Shaan Khurshid, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-senior author of the study, emphasized the risks associated with prolonged sedentary time.

“Our findings support cutting back on sedentary time to reduce cardiovascular risk, with 10.6 hours a day marking a potentially key threshold tied to higher heart failure and cardiovascular mortality,” Khurshid told the American College of Cardiology (ACC).

(credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)

The sedentary group, those sitting for more than 10.6 hours per day, exhibited a 40% higher risk of heart failure. Even among the sedentary yet active group—individuals who sat for over 10.6 hours daily but engaged in more than 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity weekly—the risk of heart failure was 15% higher, the study found.

Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz, Harold H. Hines Jr. Professor at Yale School of Medicine and Editor-in-Chief of JACC, highlighted the study's implications. “This study adds to the growing evidence of a strong link between sedentary behavior and cardiovascular health,” Krumholz said. He added that the findings emphasize the need to “get people moving to promote better health.”

In terms of cardiovascular mortality, the sedentary group faced a 54% higher risk, while the sedentary yet active group had a 33% increased risk.

The study was presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2024.

However, limitations noted by the ACC include the inability to determine why participants sat or lay down for extended periods and potential inaccuracies of accelerometers in detecting posture, which may misclassify active or sedentary time.

BRICS summit

 At BRICS summit, Russia to push to end dollar dominance

President Vladimir Putin is keen to build up BRICS - which has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates as well as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Russia is seeking to convince BRICS countries to build an alternative platform for international payments that would be immune to Western sanctions when it hosts the group's leaders at a summit next week.

President Vladimir Putin is keen to build up BRICS - which has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates as well as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - as a powerful counterweight to the West in global politics and trade.

The October 22-24 summit in the city of Kazan is being presented by Moscow as evidence that Western efforts to isolate Russia have failed. It wants other countries to work with it to overhaul the global financial system and end the dominance of the US dollar.

Central to that is the proposal for a new payments system based on a network of commercial banks linked to each other through the BRICS central banks, according to a document prepared by Russia's finance ministry and central bank, distributed to journalists ahead of the summit.

The system would use blockchain technology to store and transfer digital tokens backed by national currencies. This, in turn, would then allow those currencies to be easily and securely exchanged, bypassing the need for dollar transactions.

Russia sees it as a way to resolve increasing problems in settling trade payments, even with friendly countries such as China, where local banks fear they could be hit by secondary sanctions by the United States.

Yaroslav Lissovolik, founder of the BRICS+ Analytics think tank, said the creation of such a system was technically feasible but would take time.

"After the significant expansion of BRICS membership last year, the attainment of consensus is arguably harder," he said.

A New Era of Gold (credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)Enlrage image

 

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Grain exchange

The Russian document accuses existing institutions such as the International Monetary Fund of serving the interests of Western countries and says they need "improvements to better serve the evolving global economy." Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov called on BRICS members last week to create an alternative to the IMF.

Among other initiatives to facilitate trade and investment, Russia is also proposing to create a "BRICS Clear" platform to settle trade in securities.

The document calls for better communication between credit rating agencies in member countries and for a common ratings methodology, but stops short of proposing a joint BRICS rating agency, an idea that the group had discussed earlier.

Russia, the world's top wheat exporter, is also urging the creation of a BRICS grain trading exchange, backed by a pricing agency, to create an alternative to Western bourses where international prices for agricultural commodities are set.

But in a sign that Moscow will need to work hard to push its proposals through, most BRICS members sent only lower-level officials - not finance ministers or central bankers - to a preparatory meeting last week.

For the summit itself, Russia says it expects to welcome leaders from all nine BRICS members and about 15 other countries keen to work as partners with the group, as well as the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, which has been invited to join.

"BRICS is a structure that cannot be ignored," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters last week.

Sensitivity

While living with high degrees of rejection sensitivity is emotionally painful, the good news is that it is totally treatable, with good rates of success. 

By DR Sigrun Albert

Pressure, stress, anxiety

(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

Feeling rejected by a friend, colleague, family member, or romantic partner is a universally painful experience. Some individuals, however, feel the sting of rejection much more acutely than others and also have an exaggerated fear of being rejected by those around them.

Case study: JoeJoe likes people, but at the same time he is afraid that they will not like him.

He grew up in a household with a narcissistic father, a co-dependent mother, and two older brothers. Joe’s mother was like a “firefighter,” always trying to put out the flames of her husband’s hot temper. Joe’s dad favored his older two brothers, who continually competed with each other to win their father’s acceptance and approval.

Joe came to see me in his mid-20s. He was unhappy and lonely. He had completed university and was working in a hi-tech job. But Joe had many interpersonal problems; he did not interact well with his colleagues and had few friends. In therapy, Joe was able to identify that he was always worried that people would not like him.

In order to prevent the perceived rejection of others, Joe would socially pull back. As a result, many of his colleagues became turned off to what they saw as Joe’s cold and unfriendly nature. What they didn’t know was that Joe was, in fact, starving for attention and approval but fearful that he would only get disdain and rejection.

Joe’s self-esteem suffered tremendously. He did not believe in his own self-worth or his intellectual ability, even though objectively speaking he excelled in university.

In therapy, Joe was helped to understand that his sensitivity to what he perceived as rejection from others was a byproduct of his childhood and his adult relationship with a cold, angry, and envious narcissistic father who did not miss a chance to devalue his son. When Joe would tell his father about any of his achievements, his father would minimize them and say, “Anyone can do what you did.” It’s not surprising that Joe developed a high level of rejection sensitivity.

Case study: SueSue never spoke to people at social gatherings. She preferred to sit quietly.

When her husband asked her why she was so quiet, she said that she just didn’t think she had anything important to say. When asked to explain what she meant, she told her husband that she was certain that her views were not as interesting as others’.

In actuality, Sue is very intelligent but avoids any public discourse that will put her in the spotlight. She has been like this most of her life; she remembers kids making fun of her when she was young. During her childhood, she was quite tall for her age and had a slight stutter when she spoke.

Both Joe and Sue are suffering from what has been labeled as “rejection sensitivity.”

Rejection sensitivity (RS) is the tendency to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to social rejection. RS affects almost everyone to some degree, but what makes RS problematic is how often it occurs and how it affects feelings and behavior.

Some people seem very resilient to rejection. They don’t look for signs of rejection from others or personalize it. For Joe and Sue, it is quite a different story. They can’t shut off their hypervigilance, looking for cues that imply they are disliked or not valued.

The net result is setting into motion a self-fulfilling prophecy where their behaviors in reaction to faulty or exaggerated perceptions of rejection make them feel worthless, angry/depressed, and often lonely.

Psychological, biological, and environmental factors seem to play a part in the development of RS. For example, children who have a secure attachment to a nurturing parental figure seem to have an emotional buffer that can help to prevent RS. On the other hand, insecure and anxious children often develop a subjective emotional view that people are not reliable or trustworthy, making these individuals more vulnerable to RS, such as in the case of Joe.Bullying and other forms of peer rejection in childhood are another factor that may explain why some children develop RS. When children are consistently teased and left out, they are more likely to develop interpersonal rejection sensitivity, such as in Sue’s background.

Parents, as well as teachers, should be aware of, and look out for, children who have difficulty fitting into their social group. Early intervention is known to be very effective in helping children and teens overcome RS.

Also, people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are known to have high degrees of RS. These individuals are biologically wired in a way that makes it very difficult to shut off both the perception of rejection from others and the painful reactions that follow – i.e., anger, withdrawal, and depression.

Diagnosed ADHD youth and adults can get appropriate treatment, which may include counseling and medication, to help them gain control over their hypersensitivity.

depression, anxiety, sad, emotion, girl, unhappy, depressed, introvert, woman, alone, cartoon, mental, health, stress, disorder, disease, fear, mood, sadness, psychology, sorrow, tired, stressed, loneliness, frustration (credit: MOHAMED HASSAN/PIXABAY)

 

Treatment

The most effective treatment for RS is supportive cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). There are many CBT techniques that have been shown to be very effective in helping people like Joe and Sue, such as cognitive restructuring and exposure therapy.

For example, both Joe and Sue were helped in therapy to confront their fears by approaching people they believed were going to reject them. Use of mindfulness and relaxation techniques such as deep breathing helped both of them to lower their anxiety. During the process of therapy, they were given guidance on how to reinterpret their initial thoughts of rejection from others, which were based on some external cues that they believed were aimed at them.I always ask my clients who suffer from RS to try to think about what other possible explanations could there be for the person’s behavior. In fact, I encourage the person to use the rational side of his brain. There is a lot of learning that takes place in order to help RS clients replace maladaptive beliefs with more realistic and balanced ones.While living with high degrees of rejection sensitivity is emotionally painful, the good news is that it is totally treatable, with good rates of success. 

Charity and Squatting

By Micky Gilbert

Calculating taxes

They say charity begins at home, but I want charity to begin at your employer! The long-expected announcement regarding the credit for donations to our charities if they are approved under Section 46 of the Income Tax Ordinance.

Charitable donations to certain approved Israeli charities in the year may qualify for a 35% tax credit within certain limits. If you donate, you may get a reduction in your Alb bill.

Until now, it was necessary to wait until after the year-end and then file Alb bill to get a cash refund.

Automatic electronic system 

If the charity is hooked up to the electronic system, when an employee makes a donation, his employer should receive a notice straight away of the amount of tax credit due to the employee. However, the name of the charity won’t be disclosed to the employer for privacy reasons. The employee should then receive the tax credit against tax on his/her salary without having to request it.

This began as a pilot project in April 2024, it seems it has gradually been widened to more charities. It remains to be seen how smoothly it all works.

Charities may presumably start signing us all up on monthly donation standing orders.

No VAT on Squatters?

The case concerned a forest near Shfaram, where squatters began their occupation on an unknown date – but apparently in the 1930s. The squatters claimed they worked the land, and inaction against them gave them occupation rights. Shfaram municipality took over ownership of the land. The municipality instead demanded a fair rent for using the land.

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The Magistrates' Court ruled on the level of rent, but a secondary question arose as to whether VAT had been applied. It is not clear how many years back rent and VAT were claimed.

The matter was referred to the District Court, which referred the matter back to the Magistrates’ Court. The Magistrates’ Court then surprised everyone by ruling that no VAT was due on the rent. This was because the rent levied in this case was restitution for unjust enrichment as a remedy for benefits wrongfully gained.

The Court cited an earlier Supreme Court precedent and English Common Law. When someone infiltrates your land, two legal remedies are available – compensation for unjust enrichment or damages for tort. Compensation is due under whichever results in a higher amount. In the case of tort damages, even if the wrongdoing is commercial, the compensation does not amount to a business transaction for VAT Law purposes.

As for the claim that even private individuals not in business pay VAT, the Court said it depends on the type of transaction and asset. For example, on property used for public purposes or mixed assets, VAT is generally not due, such as a cemetery, road, etc. In this case, the Court ruled that the land was registered as forest, and no evidence was brought as to whether VAT applied.

It seems the judgment was specific to the circumstances of this case. It may well be appealed or distinguished in other cases. So please don’t start squatting or evicting squatters just to get a VAT advantage. Legal advice is needed.

By Micky Gilbert

Mind + Spirit

 

Mental Health

New guidelines: When should a vacuum extraction birth be performed?

Vacuum extraction birth carries risks for mother and fetus. Now, new instructions stipulate how such emergency births should be managed.

By DR. SIGRUN

In vacuum extraction, a rubber dome is placed on the baby's head, and this is connected by a tube to a pressure suction device. The doctor then pulls the baby's head using the vacuum pressure created in the dome until the baby exits the birth canal.

Delivery room, illustration

(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

This is a relatively safe method of birthing, yet it carries quite a few risks for the newborn and the mother.

I never choose a vacuum extraction if there is an option to have a normal birth. It is performed when the baby's head is too low in the birth canal to perform a caesarean section... In such a situation, we have to rescue the baby using the vacuum within a few minutes so that it does not suffer any damage.

What is Outbrain

What are the new guidelines for vacuum extraction births?

The new guidelines state, among other things, that vacuum extraction births will only be performed in hospitals, by a qualified delivery room doctor, and in the presence of a midwife and a pediatrician, whose role it is to examine the fetus after it is born. If the baby is found to be in any distress, he will be rushed to further treatment at the nearby nursery.

The reports of death as a result of vacuum extraction are rare: the risk is 0.1 to 3 cases per thousand vacuum births. But still, such a birth includes the risk of cranial bleeding, scalp injuries, and rare complications for the mother, which include incisions and bladder or rectal incontinence.

Our main message is to involve the mother in all stages of the decision and to maintain the safety of the baby and the mother as we always do.

Solar power companies are growing fast in Africa

 

Companies that bring solar power to some of the poorest homes in Central and West Africa are said to be among the fastest growing on a continent whose governments have long struggled to address some of the world’s worst infrastructure and the complications of climate change.

The often African-owned companies operate in areas where the vast majority of people live disconnected from the electricity grid and offer products ranging from solar-powered lamps that allow children to study at night to elaborate home systems that power kitchen appliances and plasma televisions. Prices range from less than $20 for a solar-powered lamp to thousands of dollars for home appliances and entertainment systems.

Central and West Africa have some of the world’s lowest electrification rates. In West Africa, where 220 million people live without power, this is as low as eight percent, according to the World Bank. Many rely on expensive kerosene and other fuels that fill homes and businesses with fumes and risk causing fires.

At the last United Nations climate summit, the world agreed on the goal of tripling the capacity for renewable power generation by 2050. While the African continent is responsible for hardly any carbon emissions relative to its size, solar has become one relatively cost-effective way to provide electricity.

The International Energy Agency, in a report earlier this year, said small and medium-sized solar companies are making rapid progress reaching homes but more needs to be invested to reach all African homes and businesses by 2030.

About 600 million Africans lack access to electricity, it said, out of a population of more than 1.3 billion.

Among the companies that made the Financial Times’ annual ranking of Africa’s fastest growing companies of 2023 was Easy Solar, a locally owned firm that brings solar power to homes and businesses in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The ranking went by compound annual growth rate in revenue.

Co-founder Nthabiseng Mosia grew up in Ghana with frequent power cuts. She became interested in solving energy problems in Africa while at graduate school in the United States. Together with a U.S. classmate, she launched the company in Sierra Leone with electrification rates among the lowest in West Africa.

“There wasn’t really anybody doing solar at scale. And so we thought it was a good opportunity,” Ms. Mosia said in an interview.

Since launching in 2016, Easy Solar has brought solar power to over a million people in Sierra Leone and Liberia, which have a combined population of more than 14 million. The company’s network includes agents and shops in all of Sierra Leone’s 16 districts and seven of nine counties in Liberia.

Many communities have been connected to a stable source of power for the first time. “We really want to go to the last mile deep into the rural areas,” Ms. Mosia said.

The company began with a pilot project in Songo, a community on the outskirts of Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown. Uptake was slow at first, Ms. Mosia said. Villagers worried about the cost of solar-powered appliances, but once they began to see light in their neighbors’ homes at night, more signed on.

“We have long forgotten about kerosene,” said Haroun Patrick Samai, a Songo resident and land surveyor. “Before Easy Solar we lived in constant danger of a fire outbreak from the use of candles and kerosene.”

Altech, a solar power company based in Congo, also ranked as one of Africa’s fastest-growing companies. Fewer than 20 percent of the population in Congo has access to electricity, according to the World Bank.

Co-founders Washikala Malango and Iongwa Mashangao fled conflict in Congo’s South Kivu province as children and grew up in Tanzania. They decided to launch the company in 2013 to help solve the power problems they had experienced growing up in a refugee camp, relying on kerosene for power and competing with family members for light to study at night.

Altech now operates in 23 out of 26 provinces in Congo, and the company expects to reach the remaining ones by the end of the year. Its founders say they have sold over one million products in Congo in a range of solar-powered solutions for homes and businesses, including lighting, appliances, home systems and generators.

“For the majority of our customers, this is the first time they are connected to a power source,” Mr. Malango said.

Repayment rates are over 90 percent, Mr. Malango said, helped in part by a system that can turn off power to appliances remotely if people don’t pay.

Been Here

 Abraham, gave us a sentence of time

Divine Favor

 Black man and grafted it

Know of a surety, Abraham

Unseen Power

So instead of losing time

He wants us to come out

Even though civilization is advancing

I am a little over seventeen

I know that’s a little hard

 Receive gold

 In a mathematical way

Eighty times per minute

I have been trying

Thy Will be done

In forty-six years

Let me see

1985 presidential campaign

Sot his same cavy

He is not thinking

War of Armageddon

Lake Erie

Accept Your Own

You didn’t want to hear that

It has visited all of the installations

Ali has five hundred dollars

I don’t like any of this!

Iran that The Master

1869 to May 26, 1933

They don’t want you rising up

Stop a moment and consider 

What you are planning?

Forty-four hundred million

Alb Miki - Brother Mayor

CEO pay has risen

 

Chief executive officers at the largest companies in the United States saw their compensation surge by 1,085 percent from 1978 to 2023, compared with only a 24 increase for typical worker pay, according to an annual report published Sept. 19.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis focuses on the 350 largest publicly owned U.S. firms by revenue.

“Since CEO pay is mostly stock-based—and the value of stocks changes frequently—calculating it is not entirely straightforward,” the report explains, so EPI uses “a backward-looking measure—realized compensation—and a forward-looking measure—granted compensation.”

CEOs’ annual realized compensation in 1978 was $1,874,000 in 1978 but rose to $22,207,000 last year—the 1,085 percent increase. Meanwhile, private-sector workers were making $57,000 a year nearly half a century ago, and have only seen that rise to $71,000. The figures were adjusted for inflation.

“The realized CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was 290-to-1 in 2023, in stark contrast to the 21-to-1 ratio in 1965,” the report says. “Over the last two decades, the ratio has been far higher than at any point from the 1960s to the early 1990s.”

The report notes some limited progress. Last year’s analysis—released amid the United Auto Workers strike at the “Big Three”—found that CEOs made 344 times as much as typical workers. There was a 19 percent decrease in CEOs’ realized compensation from 2022 to 2023. The report also points out positive trends regarding how they are compensated.

“The composition of CEO compensation is shifting away from the use of stock options and toward stock awards—a promising move to align CEO pay to longer-term incentives,” the report details.

“In 2006, stock options accounted for just over 70% of stock-related pay in realized CEO compensation. But in 2023, stock options made up only 22%, with vested stock awards accounting for the rest.

Stock-related pay (exercised stock options and vested stock awards) averaged $16.7 million in 2023 and accounted for 77.6% of average realized CEO compensation.”

However, economic justice advocates argue that far more must be done to improve U.S. worker pay and job conditions.

The report highlights “how distorted CEO pay is, even compared with the most privileged workers in the U.S. economy.”

EPI researchers found that “CEOs made over 9 times as much in salary as even the most privileged 0.1% of workers in the economy. This 9.4 ratio in 2022 was 6.8 points higher than the historical average of 2.6 over the 1965–1978 period.”

“This is a large change, meaning that the relative pay of CEOs increased by an amount equal to the total annual wages of nearly seven of these very high-wage earners,” the report states.

As EPI chief economist and report co-author Josh Bivens emphasized, “CEOs are paid so much more because of their extraordinary leverage over corporate boards, not because of an extraordinary skill or contribution they make to their firms.”

“Exorbitant CEO pay has contributed to rising inequality in recent decades—concentrating earnings at the top and leaving fewer gains for ordinary workers,” he said. “The silver lining in this otherwise unfortunate trend is that CEO pay can be curtailed without damaging economy wide growth.”

EPI’s policy recommendations include implementing higher marginal income tax rates at the very top and hiking corporate tax rates for firms that have higher ratios of CEO-to-worker compensation.

Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies earlier this year identified 35 major U.S. corporations—including Ford, Netflix, and Tesla—that paid their top executives more than they paid in federal taxes between 2018 and 2022.

The new EPI report stresses that “ideally, tax reforms would be paired with changes in corporate governance.”

EPI senior economist and report co-author Elise Gould said that “policies that limit CEOs’ ability to collude with corporate boards to extract excessive compensation are needed to prevent the U.S. from becoming a winner-take-all society.”

People are Lost

 We believe that

I told them that

They said no

And in less than 24

It’s unfortunate

 They were going

Columbus was a half-original man was born in Italy

This is what made me

You are oblivious

Brothers, in your folly

We are destroying each other

And the madness that we see

I look at the children 

The Root of Civilization is in the Arabian Desert

Black, Brown, Red, Yellow and White

I am made of fire

I am Pentecostal

Mossa came two thousand years later

 One - fifteen thousand nineteen years ago today

 Jesus' Teaching was not Christianity

The original people call this continent - Asia