The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics state infants aged 0-2 years should not have any exposure to technology, 3-5 years be restricted to one hour per day, and 6-18 years restricted to 2 hours per day (AAP 2001/13, CPS 2010). Children and youth use 4-5 times the recommended amount of technology, with serious and often life threatening consequences (Kaiser Foundation 2010, Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012). Handheld devices (cell phones, tablets, electronic games) have dramatically increased the accessibility and usage of technology, especially by very young children (Common Sense Media, 2013). As a pediatric occupational therapist, I'm calling on parents, teachers and governments to ban the use of all handheld devices for children under the age of 12 years. Following are 10 research-based reasons for this ban. Please visit zonein.ca to view the Zone'in Fact Sheet for referenced research.

VIDEO: Dimitri Christakis - Media and Children
1. Rapid brain growth
Between 0 and 2 years, infant's brains triple in size, and continue in a state of rapid development to 21 years of age (Christakis 2011). Early brain development is determined by environmental stimuli, or lack thereof. Stimulation to a developing brain caused by overexposure to technologies (cell phones, internet, iPads, TV), has been shown to be associated with executive functioning and attention deficit, cognitive delays, impaired learning, increased impulsivity and decreased ability to self-regulate, e.g. tantrums (Small 2008, Pagini 2010).

2. Delayed Development
Technology use restricts movement, which can result in delayed development. One in three children now enter school developmentally delayed, negatively impacting literacy and academic achievement (HELP EDI Maps 2013). Movement enhances attention and learning ability (Ratey 2008). Use of technology under the age of 12 years is detrimental to child development and learning (Rowan 2010).

3. Epidemic Obesity
TV and video game use correlates with increased obesity (Tremblay 2005). Children who are allowed a device in their bedrooms have 30% increased incidence of obesity (Feng 2011). One in four Canadian, and one in three U.S. children are obese (Tremblay 2011). 30% of children with obesity will develop diabetes, and obese individuals are at higher risk for early stroke and heart attack, gravely shortening life expectancy (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2010). Largely due to obesity, 21st century children may be the first generation many of whom will not outlive their parents (Professor Andrew Prentice, BBC News 2002).

4. Sleep Deprivation
60% of parents do not supervise their child's technology usage, and 75% of children are allowed technology in their bedrooms (Kaiser Foundation 2010). 75% of children aged 9 and 10 years are sleep deprived to the extent that their grades are detrimentally impacted (Boston College 2012).

5. Mental Illness
Technology overuse is implicated as a causal factor in rising rates of child depression, anxiety, attachment disorder, attention deficit, autism, bipolar disorder, psychosis and problematic child behavior (Bristol University 2010, Mentzoni 2011, Shin 2011, Liberatore 2011, Robinson 2008). One in six Canadian children have a diagnosed mental illness, many of whom are on dangerous psychotropic medication (Waddell 2007).

6. Aggression
Violent media content can cause child aggression (Anderson, 2007). Young children are increasingly exposed to rising incidence of physical and sexual violence in today's media. "Grand Theft Auto V" portrays explicit sex, murder, rape, torture and mutilation, as do many movies and TV shows. The U.S. has categorized media violence as a Public Health Risk due to causal impact on child aggression (Huesmann 2007). Media reports increased use of restraints and seclusion rooms with children who exhibit uncontrolled aggression.

7. Digital dementia
High speed media content can contribute to attention deficit, as well as decreased concentration and memory, due to the brain pruning neuronal tracks to the frontal cortex (Christakis 2004, Small 2008). Children who can't pay attention can't learn.

8. Addictions
As parents attach more and more to technology, they are detaching from their children. In the absence of parental attachment, detached children can attach to devices, which can result in addiction (Rowan 2010). One in 11 children aged 8-18 years are addicted to technology (Gentile 2009).

9. Radiation emission
In May of 2011, the World Health Organization classified cell phones (and other wireless devices) as a category 2B risk (possible carcinogen) due to radiation emission (WHO 2011). James McNamee with Health Canada in October of 2011 issued a cautionary warning stating "Children are more sensitive to a variety of agents than adults as their brains and immune systems are still developing, so you can't say the risk would be equal for a small adult as for a child." (Globe and Mail 2011). In December, 2013 Dr. Anthony Miller from the University of Toronto's School of Public Health recommend that based on new research, radio frequency exposure should be reclassified as a 2A (probable carcinogen), not a 2B (possible carcinogen). American Academy of Pediatrics requested review of EMF radiation emissions from technology devices, citing three reasons regarding impact on children (AAP 2013).

10. Unsustainable
The ways in which children are raised and educated with technology are no longer sustainable (Rowan 2010). Children are our future, but there is no future for children who overuse technology. A team-based approach is necessary and urgent in order to reduce the use of technology by children. Please reference below slide shows on www.zonein.ca under "videos" to share with others who are concerned about technology overuse by children.

READ MORE: 10 Reasons Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under the Age of 12

Politicians from both sides of the aisle and the Jewish community called for an investigation into a "Nazi school" Monday, as the institute's founder announced plans to teach the ideology of Adolf Hitler on the remote southern island of Chiloé.
The town of Ancúd, the second largest settlement on the main island of the Chiloé archipelago, was the unlikely site of numerous large, swastika-bearing posters in recent days. The so-called "Art school, President General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte" — named after the former far right dictator (1973-1990) — announced plans to recruit students ahead of its opening March 28.
Marcelo Isaacson, executive director of the Jewish Community of Chile (CJCH), told The Santiago Times that extreme right activity is "not uncommon" in the country. The one-time Nazi, cult, torture center Colonia Dignidad, is the most notorious example but, Isaacson says, extreme groups operate throughout the country.
He called for a law condemning incitement of hatred Monday, claiming the recently-passed anti-discrimination bill — fast-tracked following the murder of Daniel Zamudio at the hands of self-named neo-Nazis — is still lacking.
"The difference with Europe is that Chile lags behind on its regulation condemning these kind of activities. These Nazis hide themselves behind the right of freedom of expression," he said.
The founder of the Nazi-inspired school, Godofredo Rodríguez Pacheco, told local press he hopes to lay the first steps for a political party. The swastika-dominated posters defined the school's aim as "strengthening the political right in the Chiloé Region," prompting former Dep. Gabriel Ascencio of the center-left Christian Democrat (DC) party to call on his counterparts to join him in condemnation of the initiative.
Deputy for Chiloé, Alejandro Santana of the center-right National Renewal party, also strongly rejected the Nazi education, balking at suggestions of a connection between the establishment right and extremist groups.
"We don't have any idea of who they are, or who is behind this so-called link with a Nazi school," he told press.
Ascencio, DC Dep. Gabriel Silber and CJCH President Gerardo Gorodischer met with Interior Minister Rodrigo Pañailillo to present records on neo-Nazi groups operating in the Los Lagos Region Monday. They demanded an investigation by intelligence services and the investigative police (PDI) into the school's links to other extremist groups.
"The resources and infrastructure make us believe that this isn't simply a case of one man talking to the media, but instead there may be greater coordination at work here and therefore we call for a thorough investigation," Silber said in a press release.

READ MORE: ‘Nazi school’ prompts outrage and calls for anti-hate legislation

While the Crimean referendum tops world media headlines, an attempt at secession is going on in Veneto, Italy, with its major city Venice. But as it is being virtually ignored by media, people in Europe are hardly aware of what's happening next door.

"Do you mean the independence of Crimea?" says a Berlin resident when RT's Irina Galushko asks him of what he thinks of the current referendum in Veneto, Italy, where people are voting on whether to break away from Rome.

"No, I haven't heard of it" was the most common answer Galushko received.

The online referendum in the northern Italian province was launched on Sunday, the same day the majority of people in Crimea voted yes to seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia. But unlike the Crimean referendum, the Veneto one has not quite found itself in the media spotlight.

Nevertheless, about 3.8 million eligible Veneto resident voters will now be able, until Friday, to say if they would like to see the region an independent, sovereign and federative Republic of Veneto.

Veneto is one of the biggest and wealthiest provinces in Italy with a population of more than 5 million people. One of the main reasons for the vote is that the region is tired of the backbreaking burden of taxes imposed by Rome.

READ MORE: Crimea? No, Venice! Independence referendum in EU goes almost unnoticed

Voting has begun in Venice and the surrounding region on whether to break away from Italy. Recent opinion polls suggest that two-thirds of the four million electorate favour splitting from Rome, but the vote will not be legally binding. The poll was organised by local activists and parties, who want a future state called Republic of Veneto.

This would be reminiscent of the sovereign Venetian republic that existed for more than 1,000 years. A focal point for culture, architecture and trade, Venice lost its independence to Napoleon in 1797. Online voting is due to continue until Friday. The vote received very little coverage in Italy's national media but the organisers said they expected as many as two million people to take part.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says the vote reflects a growing separatist mood in parts of Europe, such as Spain's Catalonia region and Scotland, which votes on whether to become independent in September.

Moves towards independence often evoke more sympathy in wealthy northern Italy, where many resent what they see as the poorer south's waste and corruption. Luca Zaia, governor of Veneto, the Venice region, rejected suggestions that the Italian constitution would prevent secession. International law, he told Il Quotidiano, allowed "the right to self-determination".

Venice votes in referendum on splitting from Rome

The scale of Britain's growing inequality is revealed today by a report from a leading charity showing that the country's five richest families now own more wealth than the poorest 20% of the population.

Oxfam urged the chancellor George Osborne to use Wednesday's budget to make a fresh assault on tax avoidance and introduce a living wage in a report highlighting how a handful of the super-rich, headed by the Duke of Westminster, have more money and financial assets than 12.6 million Britons put together.

The development charity, which has opened UK programmes to tackle poverty, said the government should explore the possibility of a wealth tax after revealing how income gains and the benefits of rising asset prices had disproportionately helped those at the top.

Although Labour is seeking to make living standards central to the political debate in the run-up to next year's general election, Osborne is determined not to abandon the deficit-reduction strategy that has been in place since 2010. But he is likely to announce a fresh crackdown on tax avoidance and measures aimed at overseas owners of high-value London property in order to pay for modest tax cuts for working families.

The early stages of the UK's most severe post-war recession saw a fall in inequality as the least well-off were shielded by tax credits and benefits. But the trend has been reversed in recent years as a result of falling real wages, the rising cost of food and fuel, and by the exclusion of most poor families from home and share ownership.

In a report, a Tale of Two Britains, Oxfam said the poorest 20% in the UK had wealth totalling £28.1bn – an average of £2,230 each. The latest rich list from Forbes magazine showed that the five top UK entries – the family of the Duke of Westminster, David and Simon Reuben, the Hinduja brothers, the Cadogan family, and Sports Direct retail boss Mike Ashley – between them had property, savings and other assets worth £28.2bn.

The most affluent family in Britain, headed by Major General Gerald Grosvenor, owns 77 hectares (190 acres) of prime real estate in Belgravia, London, and has been a beneficiary of the foreign money flooding in to the capital's soaring property market in recent years. Oxfam said Grosvenor and his family had more wealth (£7.9bn) than the poorest 10% of the UK population (£7.8bn).

Oxfam's director of campaigns and policy, Ben Phillips, said: "Britain is becoming a deeply divided nation, with a wealthy elite who are seeing their incomes spiral up, while millions of families are struggling to make ends meet.

"It's deeply worrying that these extreme levels of wealth inequality exist in Britain today, where just a handful of people have more money than millions struggling to survive on the breadline.

READ MORE: Britain's five richest families worth more than poorest 20%

DISCUSS HERE

With so much chaos taking place around the world, today King World News spoke to the man who has been focused on uncovering sensitive government and market information for over 15 years. What he had to say will surprise KWN readers around the world. Chris Powell covered everything from what the United States is hiding about the Ukrainian gold hoard, to how the U.S. ruthlessly controls the mainstream media and the world. Below is what Powell had to say in this remarkable and timely interview.

Eric King: "Chris, KWN recently published the story 'Did Ukraine Just Airlift Its Entire Gold Hoard To The U.S. Fed? The U.S. is always appropriating gold from other countries. What are your thoughts on this situation?"

Powell: "That King World News story really spread around the world. I traced it to a Russian-language Ukrainian newspaper. It was certainly a very believable story based on past U.S. actions. But you did that particular interview with William Kaye out of Hong Kong, who I happened to know has some excellent Ukrainian sources himself. This made the story even more powerful....
"I thought that was a pretty big international story. After your interview with Kaye, I believed it was important to confirm this officially. So I emailed the press offices for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the U.S. State Department. I also called the State Department's press office and was assured of a call back that never came.

I quickly got an acknowledgement from the New York Fed. The publicist there said he would look into this and get back to me in a timely manner. Sure enough, the next morning he replied that I should make the inquiry with the National Bank of Ukraine. So he was basically saying the New York Fed did not want to comment on whether it had taken custody of the Ukrainian gold.

After the State Department stonewalled me for a few days, I got my congressman's office involved. The State Department finally responded that I should put the question to the New York Fed, which I had already done. The New York Fed was not wanting any part of this question and instead directed me to the National Bank of Ukraine.

I emailed the National Bank of Ukraine and the Ukrainian embassy in Washington and the Ukrainian mission in New York but got no response. The refusals to comment were a good indication that something was going on with the Ukrainian gold."

Eric King: "Chris, if you are the New York Fed and you haven't taken possession of that gold, why don't you just say, 'We don't have it. We don't have this gold,' and put an end to it?"

Chris Powell: [LAUGHTER] "Because the rigging of the gold market and the currency markets is really a bigger national security issue in the eyes of government now than virtually anything else. The Ukrainian gold is very likely in the possession of the New York Fed. Some people have joked that maybe the Ukrainian gold will be the next gold sent to the German Bundesbank in the international game of golden musical chairs.

The location and disposition of national gold reserves is a secret far more sensitive than the location and disposition of nuclear weapons. The possession of gold enables the rigging of all markets. The possession of gold and the control of the gold market and currency markets are far greater mechanisms of power than military mechanisms.
If you can control the currency markets -- and control of those markets depends on control of the gold market -- you can control interest rates. This essentially means you can control the valuation of all capital, labor, goods, and services in the world -- everything.

That is the real power in the world right now, and that's why the Fed won't answer the question. If you know how much gold an adversary has, it's more strategic information than knowing where his weapons are. That's why the Fed won't talk about it -- controlling gold is the primary mechanism of controlling the world.

That's why this can't be talked about -- not only by the governments and central banks, but also by the mainstream media. These media outlets are entirely subservient to the governments and the financial interests that own them. I have sent the Ukrainian gold story to 30 journalists in the mainstream media and they have all ignored it. That is extent of the control the U.S. government and the financial powers have over the mainstream media."

READ MORE: Full Interview - The Shocking Secret U.S. Is Hiding From Ukraine & The World

The Battle for Ukraine Was Planned in 1997 ... Or Earlier

Neoconservatives planned regime change throughout the Middle East and North Africa 20 years ago. Robert Parry correctly points out that the Neocons have successfully "weathered the storm" of disdain after their Iraq war fiasco.

But the truth is that Obama has long done his best to try to implement those Neocon plans.

Similarly, ever since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the U.S. has pursued a strategy of encircling Russia, just as it has with other perceived enemies like China and Iran.

In 1997, Obama's former foreign affairs adviser, and president Jimmy Carter's national security adviser – Zbigniew Brzezinski – wrote a book called The Grand Chessboard arguing arguing that the U.S. had to take control of Ukraine (as well as Azerbaijan, South Korea, Turkey and Iran) because they were "critically important geopolitical pivots".

Regarding Ukraine, Brzezinski said (hat tip Chris Ernesto):

Ukraine, a new and important space on the Eurasian chessboard, is a geopolitical pivot because its very existence as an independent country helps to transform Russia. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire.

However, if Moscow regains control over Ukraine, with its 52 million people and major resources as well as access to the Black Sea, Russia automatically again regains the wherewithal to become a powerful imperial state, spanning Europe and Asia.

And now Obama is pushing us into a confrontation with Russia over Ukraine and the Crimea.

As Ernesto notes:

Late last year when Ukraine's now-ousted president Viktor Yanukovych surprisingly canceled plans for Ukrainian integration into the European Union in favor of stronger ties with Russia, the US may have viewed Ukraine as slipping even further out of its reach.

At that point, with the pieces already in place, the US moved to support the ousting of Yanukovych, as evidenced by the leaked phone conversation between US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland [arch-Neocon Robert Kagan's wife] and US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt. When peaceful protests were not effective in unseating Yanukovych, the violence of the ultra-nationalist Svoboda party and Right Sector was embraced, if not supported by the west.

In today's Ukraine, the US runs the risk of being affiliated with anti-Semitic neo-Nazis, a prospect it probably feels can be controlled via a friendly western media. But even if the risk is high, the US likely views it as necessary given the geopolitical importance of Ukraine, as Brzezinski mapped out in 1997.

In other words, Obama is following the same old playbook that the Neocons have been pushing for more than a decade.

READ MORE: Obama’s Former Foreign Policy Adviser Said – In 1997 – that the U.S. Had to Gain Control of Ukraine