Patients With Fibromyalgia Are Left In Agony

Sufferers of a chronic pain condition are being left in agony because of a ‘cruel’ prohibition on drugs by NHS chiefs, campaigners have claimed.

Fibromyalgia patients – who endure body-wide pain, muscle stiffness and headaches – had been offered strong painkillers, including pregabalin and tramadol. But recent guidance on the management of chronic pain by the NHS spending watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), has banned their use.

Patients are also being denied NHS-approved non-drug therapies that are proven to work, including a water-based treatment called hydrotherapy, as local health chiefs won’t fund it, claims Des Quinn, chair of Fibromyalgia Action UK.

He claims that a change in NHS rules regarding painkillers is a ‘major step backwards in the treatment of fibromyalgia’.

Mr Quinn adds: ‘Patients’ quality of life is being reduced as a result. Drugs such as tramadol are backed by good scientific evidence, which NICE failed to consider.’

It is not known what causes fibromyalgia, which affects more than two million people in the UK. The condition tends to develop between the ages of 25 and 55 and, alongside pain, patients report difficulty concentrating and digestive problems.

There is presently no treatment, and some research indicates that it may be brought on by an illness, an accident, or a time of mental stress.

Pop sensation Lady Gaga and Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman are two well-known victims.

Before 2021, NICE had no clear guidelines for fibromyalgia, but told doctors to follow the rules for nerve pain. These recommended that patients were offered painkillers, including the now-barred drugs.

A report by the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology concluded that the balance of evidence was in favour of the use of medications such as pregabalin and tramadol.

However, increasing numbers of Britons becoming addicted to these painkillers – as well as a concern that they were not effective in all patients – forced health chiefs to crack down on prescriptions.

One of Britain’s top fibromyalgia specialists, Dr Deepak Ravindran of the Royal Berkshire Hospital, says the banned painkillers are being held to too high a standard.

He also adds that a wider range of treatments should be available because the causes of fibromyalgia are so diverse. Other permitted treatments include exercise plans and cognitive behavioural therapy. Hydrotherapy should also be offered to help improve musculoskeletal symptoms, but patients are finding it increasingly difficult to gain access to a pool due to closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the NHS is failing those who suffer from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain illness. According to a recent study, individuals were administered dangerous medications, underwent needless testing, and waited years for a diagnosis.

Researchers at Aberdeen University said some doctors were even refusing to refer patients and dismissing them as “lazy”.

The senior consultant who conducted the UK-wide research is now calling on the NHS to overhaul its care of fibromyalgia patients.

The Scottish government said it would continue to work closely with the NHS to improve how services are accessed and delivered.

Fibromyalgia causes pain all over the body and can bring on extreme exhaustion, and some estimates suggest one in 20 people may have the illness.

By sharing their own stories, celebrities like singer Lady Gaga and journalist Kirsty Young have brought attention to the problem. There isn’t a treatment.

For those who have it, fibromyalgia is a daily battle.

For most, they start with a daily cocktail of painkillers for chronic full-body pain, fatigue and brain fog, and it’s truly hard to put in a box because it’s different every day. It’s muscular pain that can be dull or throbbing, and it can be really intense as well, like somebody jabbing you with a screwdriver, and it’s burning.

Most people stress about what the remainder of their lives is going to be like.

For most, the mornings are slow because they’re trying to realise how they are feeling at that point – what they’ve got to do in that day, and what they can call off if it is extremely bad.

Some people claim that having fibromyalgia hurts worse than giving birth.

There are days when these people are in so much pain, they don’t move off the sofa, apart from going to the bathroom.

Many are on extremely strong painkillers and medications, including Tramadol, but even that doesn’t stop all the pain – next stop, Morphine.

However, there are many people, including doctors, who doubt Fibromyalgia. All I can say about this is if you don’t believe these people are extremely sick, then I seriously hope you don’t ever have to walk a step in their shoes, because quite frankly, it really is no fun at all.

There is no miracle cure for Fibromyalgia; it’s just all a guessing game, and sometimes it’s easier to vilify an illness that you know nothing about than to agree it actually exists, because then the experts would have to do something about it.

People suffer because of this debilitating illness – there is no cure, they know that, but sometimes it’s just nice to know that somebody is listening instead of dismissing.

Should Rachel Reeves Resign?

Rachel Reeves encountered enraged calls to resign last night after being accused of ‘lying’ to the nation in the run-up to the Budget.

The Chancellor was informed months ago that there was no gap in the public finances, the fiscal watchdog disclosed Wednesday in an unusual step.

But even before her announcement on Wednesday, Ms Reeves had been issuing dire warnings about the state of the economy.

She even opened the door to an income tax hike in an unprecedented early-morning speech, all while plotting a mammoth welfare giveaway in her ‘Benefits Street Budget’.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the Office for Budget Responsibility’s revelation showed Ms Reeves had ‘lied to the public’ and she should be sacked.

Now you can have your say on the Chancellor’s position in the Daily Mail’s latest poll of the day. 

Rachel Reeves should most definitely resign – she has lied to us all, and she is the worst Chancellor ever! However, it’s not just Reeves that has lied, the whole damn lot of them lie all the time – they should all resign and a General Election should be called for.

Perhaps she should go to jail, directly to jail without collecting any money, but of course, she won’t because the gravy train is far too attractive, and what irritates me the most is that after all the damage she has done, the amount of businesses she has helped to close, and the amount of financial distress she has piled onto so many people, she will simply waltz off into the sunset, a multmillionaire with an enormous pension.

All government employees should be sacked if they have been proven to have deceived or lied, full stop, and she should be sacked.

With Labour, lying appears to be the norm; even if the truth were to strike them in the face, they wouldn’t recognise it.

Politics in this country is broken, not because disagreements exist, but because accountability doesn’t.

Leaders who view the truth as a responsibility rather than an annoyance are what the public deserves, and we urgently need a full debate in the House of Commons on honesty and integrity in public life.

Our elected officials have no right to lecture the rest of us about responsibility if they are unable to uphold the most basic requirement of being truthful.

The deterioration of trust in politics is not an accident; it’s the inescapable consequence of a culture where evasion is rewarded, scrutiny is circumvented, and ‘politicking’ has become a justification for behaviour that would get anyone else sacked.

Rachel Reeves is a loose cannon who laughs in the face of respectable people while attempting to deceive.

Teenager Dies In Swamp After Being Tied Up

A teenager died after she was tied up and tossed into a swamp to drown in an honour killing because her Western behaviour disgraced her family, according to prosecutors in the Netherlands. 

Ryan Al Najjar’s father, who is suspected of orchestrating the murder, left the country to return to Syria, while her siblings are currently on trial for her murder.

Mohamed, 23, and Muhanad Al Najjar, 25, are charged with taking part in the horrendous crime against their 18-year-old sister, whose body was discovered gagged with her hands bound behind her back, ankles taped together, and submerged in a swamp six days after she disappeared from the family home in Joure. 

Their father, Khaled, will be tried in absentia. Ryan vanished on 22 May 2024. A passerby found her body on 28 May in Lelystad, approximately 25 miles north-east of Amsterdam. 

Later, investigators discovered her father’s DNA under her fingernails, suggesting that she had resisted.

Dutch prosecutors say Ryan was murdered because she had a boyfriend, behaved in a way her family considered ‘Western,’ and had ‘shamed’ them. 

Her murder was officially classified as an honour crime by the Public Prosecution Service.

The brothers, whose trial began yesterday, insist they were not involved and say their father carried out the murder alone. 

According to reports, Khaled claimed responsibility and denied his sons’ guilt in two emails to the Dutch daily De Telegraaf. However, the prosecution denied such an assertion.

They claim that the father told his sons to collect Ryan, drive her to a remote area, and throw her into the water while she was gagged and weighed down. 

The prosecution says the brothers carried out the plan knowing she would die.

Ryan was protected and under police surveillance before her death, but that ceased before her murder. The reason for the termination of her protection has not been disclosed.

Both brothers were arrested soon after the body was discovered and have remained in custody since then. Their father escaped the country and has not been tracked down.

According to the Dutch current-affairs programme Nieuwsuur, Khaled is believed to be living in northern Syria and has remarried since the killing.

The Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security told the programme that the Netherlands currently has no way to secure his return. 

‘The possibilities for criminal cooperation with Syria are currently not available,’ the Ministry said. ‘The criminal justice authorities required for this cooperation are not yet operational in Syria.’

That’s it in a nutshell. We are supposed to coexist with these individuals, who think that Western conduct is so deplorable as to be murderous, but if our way of life is so abhorrent to them, why the hell would they even choose to live in the Western world? And when will our governments see the light? Or is this the evidence that our leaders prefer to ignore?

And if this man has fled to go back to Syria, then it can’t be that dangerous – we are being deceived daily by people entering our countries.

Our governments no longer represent us, so why do we need a government at all?

It was murder, plain and simple; it was not an honour killing, and the father has no concept of what honour is when he flees and leaves his sons to face the music – he’s just a coward!

May all of those other girls who have been viciously and cold-bloodedly killed by the very families that were supposed to love and protect them rest in peace.

In the twenty-first century, this is toxic, out-of-date religious rubbish that the West could do without.

Cuddles For Harry And Meghan

Prince Harry embraced Meghan publicly to show unity after PR challenges.

The couple has now shared images of themselves nestling at Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles, where they were preparing meals for the needy and hungry to be delivered on Thanksgiving Day.

‘Harry has his arms around Meghan to stress their closeness after recent controversies,’ a royal source told the Daily Mail today. 

It came after a PR problem sparked by their attendance at Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday, a row over denied accusations that the Duchess had been taking dresses from cover shoots without approval and adverse headlines linked to Meghan’s recent Harper’s Bazaar cover story.

The new image, posted by their Archewell foundation with the captions ‘Show up, do good’ and ‘Honouring the season through service’, showed a grinning Harry behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

Meghan, surrounded by a sizable group of Our Big Kitchen employees and volunteers, is also grinning widely as she takes her husband’s hand and leans back into him.

Another royal insider told the Daily Mail today that the warm image was ‘very telling’ given the events of recent weeks – and suggested the engagement was clearly inspired by events carried out more regularly by the Prince and Princess of Wales with their children George, Charlotte and Louis.

The source added: ‘Harry is clearly very protective of his wife. They look very happy and close.’

Another source said the choice of image was a show of defiance and family – and a sign that they remain rooted in the US as a couple. 

‘These are pictures that say everything about the Sussexes: an all-American event celebrating Thanksgiving, but a highly curated image issued after the visit via social media. They want to control their image and avoid dealing directly with the US press,’ the expert said.

‘One of the main reasons that Harry and Meghan lost the support of much of the British public was the feeling that they wanted it all ways. They want to be treated like royalty, keep royal titles for themselves and their children, but avoid much of the attention and scrutiny that goes with it.

‘Thanksgiving is all about families getting together. So naturally, the kids are there, but the public doesn’t get to see the faces of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, the sixth and seventh in line to the throne’.

The Sussexes went to Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles with their children, who were involved in making cookies. A smiling Meghan held hands with Lilibet, who wore a tartan dress and had her hair in a braid, and watched on as Harry dished up a meal of mince, rice and peppers into a Tupperware box.

The charity event came after Harry and Meghan’s travels to Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday party at Jeff Bezos’ mansion backfired after images of them partying inside were mysteriously deleted by the birthday girl and her daughter, Kim Kardashian, making headlines around the world.

Many people argue that this was a publicity stunt. Whether it was fabricated or not, Harry appeared to be content with his life and his wife, and of course, we can’t foresee the future, but some people out there figure they are Nostradamus!

What will happen to Harry and Meghan is unknown. They appear cheerful, but appearances may be misleading. But I hope the future is bright for them.

Harry has this reputation of being hen-pecked by his controlling wife, and somehow, I don’t really believe that. He has ginger hair, and we all know that ginger people have very fiery tempers, or do they?

If you’re a natural redhead, you’ve presumably heard some sort of stereotype about yourself. In fact, I would put money on it. However, these stereotypes are loosely founded on ancient myths and obsolete societal beliefs, but apparently, some stereotypical traits have been linked to redheads, which have been fused with our genetics. However, this still doesn’t make it true.

Misery Smorgasbord

Kemi Badenoch criticised Rachel Reeves as the ‘country’s worst Chancellor’ for the chaotic recent Budget, and the Conservative leader criticised the Chancellor’s handling of leaks and U-turns in a strong Commons performance.

Ms Badenoch criticised Labour’s economic plan, labelling it a ‘Budget for Benefit Street’ due to increased taxes on houses, cars, and pensions.

To cheers from the Tory back benches, she said that Ms Reeves ‘will go down as the country’s worst ever Chancellor’, as she described her speech as an ‘exercise in self-delusion’.

‘If she had any decency, she would resign,’ she told the Commons.

The Conservative leader said that the Chancellor has ‘chosen to put up tax after tax, after tax’, with the Office for Budget Responsibility showing that the tax-to-GDP ratio is set to increase to a post-war high of 38.3 per cent of GDP in 2030-31.

Ms Badenoch told the Commons: ‘Taxes on workers, taxes on savers, taxes on pensions, taxes on investors, taxes on homes, holidays, cars, I think even milkshakes, taxes on anyone doing the right thing.

‘She and this Government have lost what little credibility they have left, and no one will ever trust her again.’

Ms Badenoch said that ‘Labour have lost control of welfare spending’ and dubbed it a ‘Budget for Benefit Street’, with spending on sickness and disability benefits set to jump to £109 billion by 2030-31 in a move that would see spending on Britain’s welfare state surpass £400 billion.

‘The Labour Party should be renamed the Welfare Party,’ she joked.

The Tory leader said the Budget can be ‘summed up in one sentence’, that ‘Labour are hiking taxes to pay for welfare’.

She added: ‘This is Labour’s Britain… People who work hard and save hard to buy their homes get taxed more, while those who don’t work, who in some cases refuse to work, get their accommodation paid for by taxpayers.

‘To top it all off, because taxing your home, your car, your savings and your pension wasn’t enough. She has, by her own admission, broken her manifesto promise on income tax.’

In an acerbic speech, Ms Badenoch dubbed the Chancellor and Prime Minister ‘Laurel and Foolhardy’ and repeatedly hit back at Ms Reeves’ claims that criticism of her Budget is ‘sexist’.

She added: ‘People out there aren’t complaining because she’s female, they’re complaining because she is utterly incompetent.

‘Real equality means being held to the same standard as everyone else. It means being judged on results.’

Ms Badenoch added: ‘This Budget could have saved £47 billion, including £23 billion from welfare. She could have applied our golden economic rule, allocating half of those savings to cutting the deficit, using the rest to cut taxes.

‘She could have abolished stamp duty on homes to get the housing market moving, abolished business rates on shops to breathe life into our High Streets. She could have introduced our cheap power plan, which saves a lot more than she announced.

‘She should be on the side of people who get up and go to work, people who take a risk to start a company, people working all hours to keep their business afloat, she should be on the side of the farmer trying to hand something over to the next generation, the investor deciding whether to spend their money in the UK or elsewhere.

‘She should be on the side of the young person looking for their first job, the saver doing the right thing and putting money away for a rainy day, the pensioner trying to enjoy a decent retirement. This country works when you make the country work for them. Only the Conservatives are on their side, and our plan for them is simple: bring down energy costs, cut spending, cut tax, back business and get Britain working again.’

Kemi Badenoch’s speech highlighted Rachel Reeves’ unsuitability as Chancellor.

She impressed by humorously criticising Rachel Reeves and Labour – a surprising but excellent performance, and I might not be her greatest fan, however, she was extremely remarkable with her address, in fact, flawless, and if she keeps up the good work, I might even change my mind about her.

Outrage Grows Over Lab-Made ‘Franken-Milk’ Arriving In US Stores

Lab-grown milk faces resistance before US store debut.

Dubbed UnReal Milk, the new beverage is not produced by real animals, but comes from large lab tanks called bioreactors that use special animal cells which produce the same proteins, fats, and carbs found in regular cow’s milk.

Brown Foods aims to launch UnReal Milk in US stores by 2026, currently conducting public taste tests.

The company can sell its milk as it uses GRAS ingredients and affirms its safety data.

Many new food companies choose this route instead of waiting for full FDA approval.

Sohail Gupta, co-founder of Brown Foods, told Forbes that with their technology, they can produce milk from any mammal species, including human milk.

The announcement of a cow’s milk that doesn’t actually come from cows has been met with scepticism by many on social media, including some calling on lawmakers to outlaw the product before it even goes on sale.

‘Ban that c*** now,’ one person on X wrote.

‘I want nothing to do with this “lab-grown garbage” I don’t trust these biotech mad men and women!’ another person declared.

Brown Foods and scientists testing UnReal Milk at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said the product is better for the planet than cow’s milk because it cuts greenhouse gases, uses less water to produce, and needs less land than traditional dairy farming.

Supporters of lab-grown drink argue it’s reliable due to immunity to factors like droughts, cow illnesses, and supply issues, suggesting it could aid in feeding populations where cows can’t thrive.

Critics, including dairy farmers and nutrition experts, argue that long-term studies have yet to prove lab-grown whole milk’s health benefits compared to cow’s milk, especially for children.

Board-certified family physician Dr Kat Lindley took to X after it was announced that UnReal Milk would go on sale next year and simply replied: ‘NO!’

‘Good grief, they’re willing to process all our food under the guise of climate change. Disgusting,’ one commentator replied.

Critics say UnReal Milk is a lab-grown product backed by billionaire Bill Gates.

Gates has previously backed foods and drinks created to allegedly decarbonise the food and agriculture sector via his company Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV).

The Daily Mail has not confirmed Gates supporting UnReal Milk; we await comment from Brown Foods.

Most milk alternatives are plant-based drinks made from almond, oat, soy, coconut, pea, and rice proteins.

If it doesn’t come from the cow’s udders, then it’s simply not milk; it is artificial milk.

I love milk, but wouldn’t drink lab-grown products. But as long as it’s marked UnReal milk, then let people buy it and consume it, but it wouldn’t be for me, and the trouble is, it won’t be marked as UnReal milk, and regulations should be put in place to caution customers of any lab-grown product that it’s not real.

Let Bill Gates drink it, but then, on the other hand, he probably would.

UnReal milk may trend, but could become a fad like fake meat – not a wise long-term investment.

I’m okay with alternatives, but lab-grown products might have unknown risks like cancer, and you would think that these laboratories would spend more time trying to find a cure for cancer than creating artificial foods – it’s just a waste of time and money, but let’s face it they will never discover a cure for cancer because there’s more money to be made in keeping people sick.

Princess Of Wales Urges Compassion For Addiction Battles

Princess of Wales urges compassion for those battling addiction.

Catherine highlighted fear, shame, and judgment in society’s addiction experience, urging open dialogues to address the issue.

The message is for Addiction Awareness Week, running from November 23 to November 30.

Kate supports the Forward Trust, a charity helping recovering addicts.

An IPSOS survey for the trust found that most adults have dealt with dependency themselves or know someone who has.

The royal emphasised that addiction is a mental health condition deserving empathy and support, yet stigma persists.

The stigma of addiction thrives in secrecy, affecting families, communities, and lives, with many knowing someone in its grip.

This is the time to express compassion and guide them to seek support from organisations like The Forward Trust.

Kate, who initiated the 2021 Addiction Awareness Week, highlighted the importance of starting with a caring conversation to make recovery possible.

‘So please join the conversation. By talking about it in the open, together we can bring addiction and the harm it causes out of the shadows.’

She added: ‘We can reframe this issue with kindness and understanding, and we can help individuals and families coping with addiction know they are not alone.’

Former England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams, now a recovered alcoholic and chairman at the Forward Trust, shared a video launching a film series.

He urged, ‘If you are struggling with an addiction or a mental health issue, then please reach out and get the appropriate help. The greatest thing I ever did was to say, “I can’t do this.”

The IPSOS survey is part of the campaign to address addiction stigma, launched by Kate in 2021.

In October, 53% of 2,124 people surveyed had addiction experience.

Among those who experienced addiction, around half felt uncomfortable discussing it with their employer, while fewer were comfortable talking to family, friends, their GP, or partner.

31% agreed addicts’ self-blame, but 41% disagreed.

The poll found 81 per cent of those surveyed agreed that those addicted or dependent on alcohol, drugs, medication or gambling should be treated as individuals who are struggling and need help.

Kate, while not betrayed by an addict, has seen similar destructive behaviour, possibly stemming from emotional addiction rather than substance abuse.

Kate appears to be an extremely pleasant lady, but if you’ve grown up with drunks, it can make that person less understanding than perhaps they should be.

Kate’s efforts are admirable, but understanding addiction’s depth requires experience; offering love, kindness, and compassion often can’t prevent despair.

Addiction poses a serious, chaotic, and defeating challenge despite our efforts.

Kate missed her mark on the campaign due to a lack of understanding, and talk is cheap, and it’s easy to preach compassion when you live in an ivory tower, and it’s very doubtful that she will ever be raped, robbed, assaulted or murdered by a drunken crackhead.

Here she is in her little bubble. She’s never going to be mugged by a junkie or endure the attentions of a drunk, yet she tells us how we should react. I wonder what we are going to do with her invaluable advice?

I wish the Royals would stop lecturing us.

She is absolutely clueless. Perhaps she should spend time with people who are addicts, and whose lives have been ruined by lies, stealing and threats. No amount of love will help an addict; they need to want to do it for themselves, and sometimes trying to protect them and support them is counterproductive. Aside from that, there just aren’t enough services available to meet the demand.

Prostate Cancer Screening Programme Could Be Given The Green Light

The first NHS screening programme for prostate cancer could be given the green light this week, marking a game-changing opportunity to save thousands of lives.

On Thursday, the Government’s National Screening Committee (NSC) will meet to make a decision that could revolutionise early detection and treatment.

The country’s top oncologists, economists and medical ethicists are expected to give a recommendation on whether to roll out widespread screening in a bid to detect the disease earlier.

But it would probably only be approved for people at the highest risk – such as those with a family history or certain genes.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of the disease in men, with about 63,000 diagnoses and 12,000 deaths each year in the UK.

The Daily Mail has long campaigned for a national screening programme – similar to that in place for breast, bowel and cervical cancer – to be enforced.

This call has been backed by Olympic cycling great Sir Chris Hoy, who was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in September 2023.

The NHS presently uses PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood testing and MRI scans to check for the disease.

Previously, there were concerns that screening could lead to overdiagnosis – but advancements in technology suggest this is now less of a problem.

Significant studies have discovered that screening for prostate cancer cuts the chance of dying from the disease by 13 per cent and leads to a ‘sustained’ reduction in deaths over several decades.

Researchers from the University Medical Centre Rotterdam found that one death was prevented for every 456 men invited for PSA tests.

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the team said their study ‘highlights the need for a more targeted strategy’.

Meanwhile, a different study has discovered the health service could offer targeted prostate cancer examinations at just £18 a patient, lower than the cost of breast cancer screening.

The report, from Prostate Cancer Research, said a targeted screening programme is likely to increase demand for PSA blood tests, MRI scans and biopsies by 23 per cent, and this would be ‘manageable’ with a small increase in NHS staff.

David James, a director at the charity, says ‘we now have overwhelming evidence to back screening’, adding: ‘No man should die just because his cancer wasn’t found in time.’

The most probable outcome of Thursday’s committee meeting is a targeted screening programme for men at the highest risk of prostate cancer, including black men, those with a family history of the disease or who have particular genetic mutations.

Any man who has a problem urinating or has a sudden case of incontinence should go to their GP straight away. Numerous men don’t because they just believe it will clear up on its own, especially if they have no discomfort, pain, or they are simply embarrassed.

It’s better to die of embarrassment and go to see your GP than not and just die full stop.

So black men from working-class communities are more likely to get prostate cancer, and here I was thinking it was men of an older age who were at a high risk. Perhaps they’re not considering screening those older men because why bother, they’re going to die soon anyway!

Brits Swap Sprouts And Peas For Ready Meals

Vegetable consumption has reached a 50-year low in Britain as people shift towards ready meals, crisps, and chocolate, a report warns.

The average person consumes 1kg of fresh and processed vegetables, excluding potatoes, each week, according to an annual family food survey.

This represents a drop of nearly 12 per cent since 1974, when the survey began, and the weekly intake was 1.2kg.

Back then, Brits consumed lots of cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and peas. But now, we are eating more courgettes, cucumbers and mushrooms than at any other point.

The data, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has triggered alarm among campaigners, chefs and nutritionists.

British chef Jamie Oliver warned Britain is ‘not eating enough of the good stuff’.

‘I’ve always said the further away we are from the mud and soil, the sicker we are,’ he told the Sunday Times.

‘We need to make sure our next generation of kids are in the soil, growing, learning about where their food comes from and packing their plates full of delicious, nutritious veg-fuelled food.’

He argued that the longstanding five-a-day target is outdated, adding that seven to 10 portions of fruit and vegetables is needed to see a ‘real improvement’ in diet-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

A recent study, published in The Lancet, warned that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are a leading cause of the ‘chronic disease pandemic’ linked to diet.

A total of 43 scientists and researchers joined forces to argue that UPFs are ‘displacing’ fresh foods and meals, worsening diet quality, and are linked to multiple chronic diseases.

Examples of UPFs include ice cream, processed meats, crisps, mass-produced bread, some breakfast cereals, biscuits, many ready meals and fizzy drinks.

UPFs frequently contain high levels of saturated fat, salt, sugar and additives, which experts say leaves less room in people’s diets for more nutritious foods.

The family food survey data shows that compared to 1974, the average Brit now consumes 200 per cent more crisps, 430 per cent more ice cream and 177 per cent more pizza.

‘The dramatic fall in traditional British vegetables like peas, beans, sprouts and swede suggests a shift away from the basics of home cooking,’ Nichola Ludlam-Raine said.

‘Ready meals, crisps, chocolate bars and ice-cream have become far more accessible, aggressively marketed and … engineered to be highly palatable.’

It appears that the younger generation doesn’t seem to like vegetables at all, which is a shame because they make up a lovely part of a hot meal. However, some of the older generation still like growing their own food, but over the years, flats have been thrown up, so there are no gardens to grow vegetables.

Unfortunately, they have made fast food more palatable, but still, home-cooked meals are much better. The problem is, this Gen Z generation, most of them don’t know how to cook. A roast dinner with all the trimmings and then later sliced up and used for sandwiches, there is nothing better.

Most things we eat these days are processed, and we don’t think twice about consuming them, although you might do so if you knew what went into them.

It’s said that nobody is really eating vegetables, so why are all these supermarkets crammed to the rafters with fresh vegetables, but evidently nobody is eating them? Somebody must be eating them.

The trouble is, life has been made too easy, and there is no such thing as going shopping anymore; it’s just ordered online, so these youngsters just purchase junk food and get it delivered to the door.

Instagram Accused Of Profiting From Pro-Nazi Content

Instagram is under mounting pressure after an investigation discovered that pro-Nazi, Holocaust-denying and openly anti-Semitic reels were being pushed to millions of users.

A report by Fortune discovered that the objectionable content has been put directly alongside ads from some of America’s biggest corporations, including JPMorgan and SUNY. The posts even emerged alongside advertisements for the US Army.

The disclosures come just months after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg drastically reduced content rules and dismantled the company’s US fact-checking program.

Zuckerberg defended the shift as a return to ‘prioritising free speech’, but critics say it has resulted in extremist propaganda being more readily available on the platform.

At the centre of the controversy is a now-defunct account for a fashion brand known as @forbiddenclothes.

The account appears to have been deleted, but previously posted fascist-themed memes to massive engagement, Fortune reported. 

One of its pinned reels, as seen by Fortune along with 31 million others, featured a Nazi SS Officer from the film Inglorious Basterds being used as part of a meme captioned, ‘When the family is arguing about politics and they ask for my expert opinion’.

Comments criticising the clip’s use for glorifying Nazism were vastly outnumbered by positive responses, according to the report, which also said that engaging with the reel opened a gateway to more egregious content.

One reel, which followed, showed an AI-fabricated ‘translation’ of an alleged Adolf Hitler speech, with graphics claiming to identify Jewish people in Trump’s cabinet and at major media organisations.

The video, viewed 1.4 million times, featured stars of David photoshopped onto people’s faces. 

Comments included: ‘We owe the big man an apology’, referencing Hitler. Another user wrote: ‘He was right about everything.’

A Fortune reporter found Holocaust-denial memes, including one featuring a ‘small-brain’ figure saying, ‘He gassed millions of people. Read a history book,’ and a ‘big-brain’ figure replying, ‘Who wrote the history books?’

The post, which suggests that the Holocaust was manufactured by Jewish people by playing into racist conspiracy theories about Jewish people controlling media, gathered 3.2million views and more than 250,000 interactions.

After Fortune flagged the posts to Meta, the clips quietly vanished, but not before they had been circulated widely.

The content occurred in a way that experts say is a result of Instagram’s algorithm reward system.

 

Once a user interacts with even a single fascist-coded reel, Instagram’s recommendation engine ‘personalises’ a feed that rapidly morphs into a stream of anti-Semitic conspiracies, racist jokes, and glorification of Nazi imagery, usually packaged as humour or as an edgy, ironic aesthetic.

There’s a huge amount of far-right content online at the moment, and what it boils down to is making money, and by those standards, the entire internet is culpable, and this is why Trump and Musk want light censorship of the internet so they can get rich from these radical views.

Not everything is Nazi, but the left appears to believe it is because they have no concept of the word and its definition. However, free speech is free speech, and if you don’t like what the platform says, then boycott it.

Fascism and communism are two peas in a pod, yet communism has been getting a free pass perpetually, but that’s because there are powerful fools out there who still believe it works and is a good choice.

 

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