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Yeah, I know, stow the TLDR comments. I’m not an expert on pharmaceuticals but I do know a thing or two about politics and more than a thing or two about political history. So my take isn’t short because it’s based on facts and I’m not going to state facts here or anywhere else out of context.So this is a long one. You have been warned.They knew opioids were dangerous.Five and a half thousand years ago somewhere in lower Mesopotamia, human beings began to cultivate opium. The Sumerians named it Hul Gil, the "joy plant”, and they shared its properties with the Assyrians. The Assyrians shared it with the Egyptians, and on it spread. The Opium Poppy -- flourishing as it does in hot dry climates – made its way to China via that, 4,500-mile stretch of mountains that extends across central Asia from Turkey through Pakistan and Burma. The very same real estate it inhabits to this day.Opium's properties bordered on the divine. In Crete, the Minoan goddess of narcotics was adorned with a crown of poppies. In Egypt legend told of Isis offering opium to the sun God Ra to relieve the pain of a headache; bookish deity Thoth was said to have invented it. The Graco- Roman god of sleep Hypnos and his necrophile brother Thanatos were often depicted holding the flowers aloft. Across the ancient world, it was used as a symbol of sweet, nocturnal oblivion.Its earthly properties were no less impressive. It was occasionally mixed with hemlock to euthanize the suffering and more often used as an anesthetic to ease the agony of surgery. By the ninth century A.D., the Persian Doctor Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī recommended its use for the treatment of melancholy in what must have been one of the earliest examples of mental health advice known to man.There was just one catch.It’s hellishly addictive.Habit PawningIn 2016, in the U.S. alone, one person died from opioid abuse every 14 minutes. That comes to a total of 42,249 deaths a frightening number that even eclipses breast cancer fatalities. Some 11.5 million people misused prescription opioids during that same period and close to a million more-used heroin, (one hundred and seventy thousand of whom were using it for the first time). The total cost to the economy stands at around 504 billion dollars per annum or around $32 per week for every American man, woman, and child.The problem is quintessentially American.Not in the sense that other nations are spared the indignities of opioid abuse. Few places remain untouched. But in terms of sheer scale, America has positioned itself as the homecoming opioid queen. In 2015, U.S. consumption of Oxycodone stood at 194 mg/capita bucking the global mean of 11.4 mg/capita by several magnitudes. The explosion of misuse is no mystery; indeed, it can be traced back to a single metric; ubiquity normalizes that which is otherwise abnormal.Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical drug advertising became a thing in 1997 when the toothless shill that is the Food and Drug Administration greenlit such marketing. Patients -- we were told -- have a right to know their options. The dangled carrot of ‘choice’ -- that darling watchword of high paid sophists and shit-shoveling marketing folk world over -- was ferried from talking point to talking point and reiterated ad nauseam. Experts nodded, journalists, prevaricated.The FDA caved.Commodity FetishThe drug companies hit the ground running. The first year spend on TV adverts of $664 million was merely an hors-d'oeuvre. According to Kantar, pharma is now the 7th largest ad category in the U.S. in terms of total spending. Said spending hit $6.4 billion last year – a growth of 64% since 2012. Budgets – unmindful of the damage they have wrought -- continue to grow. The number of brands spending at least $50 and $100 million annually has more than doubled since 2012. The Corporate cash injection reaped predictable dividends. Among the top 10 prescription drug brands ranked via 2016 ad investment levels, eight had double-digit growth rates year-over-year and all of them spent over $100 million.The commodification of health became a fetish like any other. Whilst opioids represent a relatively small subset of big pharma ad spending, they knew full well that long-standing taboos can so easily become the new normal if enough money was thrown at them.Got a health condition?There’s an ‘app’, for that; just ask your pharmacist.(As a side note, there is no point in blaming conservatism for the damage that has been wrought. Bill Clinton laid the groundwork as he masqueraded as a conservative pretending to be a progressive who occasionally caved into the Realpolitik machinations of a mischievous GOP. Democratic short-termism was rarely more self-evident than in the 90’s. Clinton abandoned the blue-collar base and laid the groundwork for Trump in a thousand shitty ways. This was just one of them. )Still, the growth of Big Pharma ad spending was only part of the equation. The root cause of the epidemic lay in a concerted attempt by the pharmaceutical companies to allay the fears of doctors and patients alike. They knew two things. First, that irrespective of how it is packaged, an opiate is an opiate is an opiate and second, that to most people’s minds, that means one thing and one thing only.Addiction.It’s not like we had no prior warning.Royal BlackmailIn 1839, Lin Zexu – a Chinese scholar and official of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, penned a letter to Queen Victoria, a 20-year-old woman recently come to the British throne. He began his ‘letter of advice’, with both an assurance and a warning. Yes, the Emperor of China understood the benefit of trade with so ‘great’ a nation but no, his munificence was not without limit:“If there is profit, then he shares it with the peoples of the world; if there is harm, then he removes it on behalf of the world.”The harm in question was a familiar concern since-- according to Zexu -- mixed in with those engaging in trade with China were those who:“Smuggle opium to seduce the Chinese people and so cause the spread of the poison to all provinces".Such persons he added:“Care to profit themselves, and disregard their harm to others, are not tolerated by the laws of heaven and are unanimously hated by human beings".What right did the United Kingdom have to inflict such indignities upon China? For Zexu knew full well that the smoking of Opium was illegal in Britain and knew too that access was restricted:“Because the harm caused by opium is clearly understood”.Zexu spoke from experience.Tea For TwoBritain’s love of tea was – and remains -- a bottomless cave of indiscriminate consumption. The same could not be said for a Chinese obsession with the fruits of English labor. China had little need -- and even less interest in procuring -- British goods. They refused to exchange tea for anything other than silver and silver was the one thing that the British were loath to part with.The opium trade offered a way out.The unfortunate combination of a porous border and widespread demand supercharged the trade. By the 1820s China was importing close to 1000 tons of opium annually despite the fact that the Emperor Jiaqing had banned the substance some twenty years prior. The drug was sold at market in Calcutta to accredited brokers, who transported it to British-owned warehouses in the free trade area of Canton. From here, it was smuggled by Chinese merchants – aided by corrupt customs officers – out of the British zone.But the British monopoly –which began in 1773 – ended in 1820 and as a consequence, the value plummeted. Expressed in Spanish silver dollars, the price of a chest of opium from Patna (Bihar) fell from $2,500 in 1822 to $585 in 1838. The increased demand was also expressed in terms of the area under opium poppy agriculture. In India, for example, cultivation increased from about 36,400 hectares in 1830 to 71,200 hectares in 1840. By 1900 it had peaked at 200,000 hectares.The War For DrugsThe effect of plentitude on the price of any given product is well understood but the cultural impact of a product rendered suddenly ubiquitous is always much harder to assess. Certainly in China levels of addiction soared as Britain monopolized and then flooded the market. Family patriarchs ate through savings at a rapid pace and then hawked their worldly possessions. Once denuded of valuables, they forced wives and daughters into prostitution.Two wars were fought by the Chinese to end the trade, the somewhat appropriately titled ‘Opium Wars’. The first of these began in 1839 as a response to Chinese authorities’ seizure of Canton’s opium reserve. The government's assertion of their own sovereignty saw British traders lose some 1,300 mt of the valuable drug; outrage followed. Britain declared war and -- after soundly defeating China's hopelessly outclassed navy -- forced them to cede Hong Kong in lieu of compensation.The second took place in 1856 as the British sought to force China into legalization of the trade. The result – predictably enough – was a second Chinese defeat. In both instances, Opium imports from India rose from some 2,500 mt at the time of the outbreak of the first opium war (1839) to 6,500 mt by 1880. In despair, the Chinese government opted for full legalization, and opium production in China exploded. It peaked in 1906 at a record high of more than 35,000 mt.Legally BlandLessons should have been learned. Ubiquity – indexed primarily by cost — creates a ‘culture of use’ that results in a never-ending feedback loop. The link between legality and use is a well-understood association. The net effect is always the same; it leads to permissiveness. Today, a drunk passed out on a bench is an object of ridicule at worst. The same man passed out with a needle in his arm is viewed with considerable less mirth.The daily consumption of legal drugs would be described as epidemic were they illicit. Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death in the United States killing more than 480,000 Americans each year, 41,000 of whom die from exposure to secondhand smoke. Smoking-related illness in the United States costs more than $300 billion a year, including nearly $170 billion in direct medical care and $156 billion in lost productivity. The figures for alcohol abuse are no less sobering.Of course, not all drugs are equal. Some 85% of the U.S. population consumes at least one caffeinated beverage per day. The mean (±SE) daily caffeine intake from all beverages was 165 ± 1 mg for all ages combined. Caffeine is hardly good for us, but it’s not liable to see us fall into prostitution for want of a soy latte.Not even a pumpkin spice one.Studies that have examined the effect of legalized marijuana use suggest that legalization increases overall pot use and dependence for adults 21 and older. The findings suggest that allowing businesses to sell marijuana leads to more access and use, particularly for adults. Whether that’s a good thing or not depends mostly on individual persuasion but the word ‘dependency’, carries with it negative connotations, health risks, and societal cost.Opioids: Opium ReduxNot that Opioids are legal.The necessarily brief history explored within this answer focused on the Chinese use of raw opium by way of example only. Synthetic opioids such as Morphine and later Heroin and Fentanyl are many times stronger and as a consequence, far more dangerous both in terms of potential overdose and near-inevitable addiction.And yet, there is one more way to normalize the use of a drug, especially one that has a legitimate medicinal use. Anyone who has ever undergone a serious medical procedure is likely to have been given morphine or even the more potent diamorphine, a drug that those of us lucky enough to die quietly in a bed surrounded by loved ones will be almost certainly be given to ease our passing. Few of us come out the other side of a hospital stay with an eventual Heroin addiction.Because although addiction is complex and the human brain is more so by many magnitudes, one thing is clear: recreational use and the art of self-medication is a very definite factor in the spiral into dependence. Recent studies have even managed to index the euphoria of certain narcotics to specific environmental conditions.One does not simply decide to self-medicate with Heroin though.The decision to normalize opioid use – for a decision it was—came from a pharmaceutical industry who — I have little doubt — saw themselves as crusaders of a sort. The mustache-twirling villain of the popular refrain is often in reality little more than the intersection between loose morals and the desire to make a quick buck. The British did not necessarily want to position themselves as peddlers of misery in China; they sold Opium because it was lucrative. The big pharmaceutical companies were no different. A medicalized society represents near endless opportunity.Even Stranger DangerStill. they knew better than most that their product was dangerous. American medicine cabinets became overstuffed with prescription strength medication and generic names such as Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycontin and so on became as recognizable as any other brands: McDonald's. Snickers. Mickey Mouse. Xanax, you name it. Drug companies that don’t name the drug in question aren’t even required to list its potential side effects such as with the mesmerizing Lunesta commercials that showcase:An entire nation… on drugs as butterflies, indicated with thousands of illuminated specks, glow across a map of the United States as a voice softly coos, 'Join us'.Ermm, no thanks, I’m British.And yet, even though side effects are required by law to be explained to the consumer, medical professionals themselves are expected to use only their best judgment when prescribing. And their best judgment is often clouded by the pharmaceutical representatives who in turn rely on data provided by their own employers. The FDA approves medication, yes, but it doesn’t conduct its own studies.It can’t afford to.No prizes for guessing who can.The Integral AccidentThe question then is whether or not Big Pharma knew that the product they were peddling was harmful. There is a concept in political science known as the integral accident. An invention – any invention—brings with it unintended consequences. The Wright brothers invented the airplane and in doing so also invented the plane crash.Dick move Wilbur.But hardly malicious. Because they weren’t trying to sell a product with a faulty steering mechanism. They built the best vehicle they could and made clear via the example of gravity that a certain amount of jeopardy was included in its remit. Crashes happened; they did not insult anyone's intelligence by insisting that they had no prior knowledge of the damage falling from the sky might cause.Such was the tactic of the big tobacco companies who scoffed at links between smoking and cancer by utilizing tactics that fossil fuel lobbyists now employ to deny anthropogenic climate change. Jeffery Wigand’s damning deposition in a Mississippi courtroom that eventually led to the tobacco industry’s $246 billion litigation settlement is a case in point. His name – forever to be associated with whistleblowing –is a stark reminder of the depths to which corporations are willing to sink in the pursuit of profit. That they also sought to make their product more addictive and to market nicotine to an ever-younger audience is really just one of those accidents of history. A posteriori ‘fuck you’, to ordinary people whose lives were cut short by merchants of poison.They learned nothing from their time spent blinking back faux tears in the spotlight of corporate mass-murder. When the golden goose of cancer sticks was quietly euthanized via government efforts to curtail tobacco use they simply shifted focus towards peddling death to developing nations.Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical companies targeted the vulnerabilities of doctors who were simply looking for ways to ease the pain of their patients. Hard-working, well-meaning practitioners were inundated with:“Research that showed the drugs were safe and effective for short-term pain, such as after surgery, as well as cancer and end-of-life pain”.Which then led without rigorous research, to their application to a:“Much larger population with long-term pain, such as low back pain and fibromyalgia”.The Big Lie DownIt was as the LA Times later reported the ‘Big Lie’ noting that OxyContin -- America’s bestselling painkiller, and one that has brought in over $31 billion in revenue for its manufacturer Purdue Pharma – was administered as the result of faulty data adding that:“The Federal Food and Drug Administration approved OxyContin based on evidence that the two-pills-per-day regimen worked for half or more of the patients in a test group. But sealed court records and internal company documents… showed that the company knew that the relief wore off for many patients well before 12 hours.”A chemical cousin of Heroin, excruciating symptoms of withdrawal, coupled with an intense craving for the drug was the inevitable result.In the face of mounting evidence, Purdue advised that Doctors stick to the dosing schedule but prescribe higher-strength pills. The result was ever more profound pain relief, tempered by the fact that cravings, pain, and withdrawal would still occur before the 12-hour cycle was up. And yet it was the 12-hour cycle that was the drugs single unique selling point. Without it, Oxy offers little advantage over less expensive painkillers.Some patients burned through supplies that were supposed to last months in a matter of weeks. Adding to the problem was the fact that the very presence of such strong narcotics was an inevitable temptation. A few pills were stolen from the medicine cabinet here and there could lead to an addiction that spiraled out of control with frightening rapidity. A black market in prescription pills sprang up almost overnight. Those not caught in the grips of dependence soon found that pills sold for $20 a pop. The numbers of people arrested for selling on prescription medications increased at an alarming rate.Pharmer’s MarketConvincing medical practitioners who saw opioids as best reserved for the relief of the terminally ill did not come cheap.Purdue alone spent $207 million.Sales representatives were sent out in force to push the message. The drug was safe, the addiction problem had been solved. Opioids – doctors were told – were reliable and effective treatments of some of the most common pains known to man; muscle strain, abdominal issues, swollen joints and problems with the back. They were relentless.Indeed, according to the LA Times:“Sales reps showered prescribers with clocks and fishing hats embossed with Q12h. The company invited doctors to dinner seminars and flew them to weekend junkets at resort hotels, where they were encouraged to prescribe OxyContin and promote it to colleagues back home.”It worked of course. Marketing spends that approach the quarter billion mark usually do.That quarter of a billion brought in many billions more. Other drug companies desperate for cash cows of their own fast-tracked versions of opioid hell that had been wallowing around in corporate bilge tanks for years.By 2010, according to a Johns Hopkins University, 1 in 5 trips to see a Doctor in matters relating to pain resulted in narcotic painkiller prescriptions.The eventual criminal investigation of Purdue saw three top executives plead guilty to fraud for downplaying OxyContin’s risk of addiction. Purdue and the executives were ordered to pay a grand total of $635 million. A little more than a half-billion dollar fine for creating a problem that costs half a trillion per annum. It was akin to fining a billionaire arsonist $1000 for burning down the Amazon rainforest.Election FeverBy the time the 2016 election rolled around, it was clear that government responses were proving to be woefully inadequate. Then-candidate Donald Trump promised to tackle the crisis and indeed, won big in those areas where prescription abuse rates were highest. But less than a year on and even his own voters were split over the way he was handling the epidemic. In a Gallop poll, only 38% indicated that his public health emergency order has been sufficient; 36% said that it was insufficient to the task of combating the crisis.Coupled with subsequent revelations that President Trump’s personal attorney took money from Swiss drug giant Novartis -- a major player in the opioid market and the recent subject of an investigation over allegations of corruption and bribery – and Trump’s promises of action began to look ever more dilute. Indeed, executives from Novartis were forced to hand over documents detailing the payment of bribes to thousands of doctors in exchange for them boosting prescription numbers.Meanwhile back in March, Reuters was reporting that at least one U.S. lawmaker had had enough.Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill’s call for an investigation was motivated at least in part by the unequivocal fact that:"This epidemic is the direct result of a calculated sales and marketing strategy major opioid manufacturers have allegedly pursued over the past 20 years to expand their market share."Because – you know – they knew it was dangerous.Mother’s Little HelperThe actions of Purdue and others are no different from those of Big Tobacco.Actually, scratch that. They are worse.The smoking gun has been found. The documents released by the LA. Times demonstrate the promotion of sloppy, inconclusive clinical trials. They illustrate a deliberate attempt to propagandize pharmaceutical benefits. And worse, they show a willingness to obfuscate the one basic flaw in the premise of treating pain with substances that are basically heroin.Few people in the pharmaceutical industry can wallow in protestations of innocence. Knowing – as they most assuredly must know – the history of past abuses they were culpable. The monstrously addictive Diazepam -- better known as Valium -- was introduced in 1963 and marketed in much the same way as latter opioids would be. Between 1969 and 1982, Valium was the most prescribed drug in the U.S. Sales peaked in 1978 with more than 2.3 billion pills sold. In 2011 treatment facility admissions for Valium or Valium like tranquilizers stood at 58,953. The number of people in America that have used Valium during their lifetime for non-medical reasons alone stands close to 24 million.Fines registering in the tens of millions for Big Pharma drug pushing is no punishment at all. Trump’s public health disorder proclamations have laughable quantities of money attached to them. Just as one cannot turn the ocean brown by adding a thimble of iodine, cash-starved initiatives promising to tackle the crisis are doomed to abject failure.The problem is just too big.Following SuitWhat to do then?Companies like Purdue would do well to not only read up on Lin Zexu’s warning but to pay more heed than Queen Victoria ever did. They should also foot the bill for the cleanup operation. The cheque they are going to have to write is going to be truly horrendous to their bottom line. The prospect of criminal prosecutions should also be investigated.And therein lies a potential silver lining. Since the damage that was done outweighs the profits made by many magnitudes they might be faced with the prospect of negative equity. Only by rendering their work ultimately profitless will such companies take pause. On May 15th, attorneys general in six states filed lawsuits on Tuesday against the maker of OxyContin and other pain medicines, for pushing what the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton described as:“Misleading marketing tactics that are fueling the nation's opioid epidemic.”Fueling. Not fueled.Because yes, they are still at it.The suit claims:"Misrepresentation or failing to disclose the risk of addiction of opioids. Misrepresenting the notion that there is no “ceiling dose” of their opioid drugs. The false representation that doctors and patients could increase opioid doses indefinitely without risk. This was coupled with unsubstantiated representations about pseudoaddiction. The states also took issue the idea that signs of addiction in patients signaled a need to up the dosage. And lastly that Purdue made false claims that their abuse-deterrent formulation of OxyContin reduced the drug's risks".In 2007, Purdue Pharma admitted:“No wrongdoing when it paid $19.5 million to settle lawsuits with 26 states and the District of Columbia after being accused of aggressively marketing OxyContin to doctors while downplaying the risk of addiction”.This time neither the absolving of guilt nor the paltry sums of money are sufficient.Because they knew opioids were dangerous.But not even that will be enough. America is a wonderful country and it is entitled to its own culture but the idea that business is the business of America has to stop. It’s great to see a healthy economy but 4% growth figures require context. There’s profit to be made in deregulation. It’s easier to make money in a country without labor laws, easier to make a buck if you’re allowed to let someone else deal with toxic by-products. Fast food, pharmaceuticals, tobacco you name it, they all have advertising money to burn and without specific restrictions burn it they shall.It is to Congress that America should look. Yes, vested interests will argue their case and yes, media networks will bemoan the loss of revenue but those challenges have to be offset by the potential harm to society. We no longer allow advertisers to promote smoking in the way they once did. The USA is the most medicalized society in the world and perhaps they aren’t aware that in most places companies are not allowed to advertise prescription medicine in any way shape or form. The reasoning is simple. Brand awareness is not necessarily a good thing when it comes to human health. Adverts are the product of propaganda and listing side effects does little to offset that fact.It’s time America followed suit with the rest of the developed world.For general musings or indeed if you want to contact me / yell at me or ask for my phone number, you can contact me via Twitter. If you just want to enjoy my accent— I host a regular podcast called the Sanfu Revue where I discuss having forced myself to watch terrible movies so that you don’t have to.

He didn ’t get away with anything. He was strip searched in 1993 and he was not even indicted. He would not have submitted to a humiliating strip search had he been indeed guilty , especially , if he had by then molested three kids, not only Jordan Chandler , but James Safechuck and Wade Robson as well , who denied any misconduct for 20 years and they changed their story in 2012/2013 when they both reportedly hit financial hardship.The Chandlers were extortionists and there is a tape recording of Evan Chandler with Jordan Chandler’s step father David Schwartz during which Evan Chandler clearly threatened to ruin Michael Jackson if he didn’t get what he wanted , which was money.The Chandlers wrote in their book ALL THAT GLITTERS (2004) , which ironically completely exonerates and vindicates Michael Jackson , that if he had paid the 20 million $ Evan Chandler , who owed his ex wife June 68000 $ on unpaid alimony, demanded from Michael Jackson in August 1993 instead of January 1994 they would never have accused him , instead they would have left him alone. If anything this proves they were extortionists.The settlement in 1994 was paid by Michael Jackson ‘s insurance carrier, not himself , in spite of his protests , and it was over negligence , NOT sex abuse and it was agreed by both parents that it was not an admission of guilt on his part. Nobody / Nothing precluded the Chandlers from testifying in a court of law. These two aren’t legally related. The Chandlers never wanted a trial, they played smart to get money. Bert Fields and Anthony Pellicano resigned then because they both disagreed with Michael Jackson’s decision to settle the civil trial out of court which apparently he later regretted too, which is exactly the Estate refused to settle out of court with Robson and Safechuck in 2013 because they learned from their past mistakes as it was Howard Weitzman, the Estate’s attorney, who insisted Michael Jackson settled out of court then, which was clearly a mistake as it opened the Pandora’s box for further extortion attempts. Anyone who tries to use Latoya to boost the credibility of Leaving Neverland are at best and at least hypocritical. Latoya was in abusive relationship with a Genovese Mafia connected lunatic by the name Jack Gordon who forcibly married her against her will in Las Vegas in 1989, turned her against her own family, beat her to death daily, was twice arrested for assaulting her , made her strip for Playboy, made her pretend she was a psychic, write a tell all book degrading her family, he took all her money, threatened to kill her if she didn’t do as she was told , made her sell sordid stories to the tabloids about Michael Jackson in 1993 for money. Latoya is a real abuse survivor, there are many pictures of her which clearly show she was badly bruised, no one has the right to twist her experience to back up the bogus allegations of two proven liars. Latoya never went to the Police Station to report her brother molested kids as she ought to have done if that had been true , which wasn’t . Her ex husband tried to profit from the allegations but since they had zero proof MJ molested anyone the media paid them nothing because they were lying for money. Latoya left Gordon in 1996, she got a divorce in 1997, he died from cancer in 2005. She set the record straight in her book Startin Over.Regardless the settlement, there was a 14 month criminal investigation, before and after the settlement , and it concluded in zero evidence to get a single indictment. Two Grand Jury , from 2 different jurisdictions , Los Angeles and New York , did not even indict , let alone charge Michael Jackson with a crime in 1994 , after 400 witnesses , a strip search during which his entire body was photographed and filmed and unexpected raids by the Police to his 3 houses, Neverland, Hayvenhurst and a condo he had in Los Angeles. They found nothing , de rien , nada , niente , zip on him. Anyone who mentions MJ FACTS garbage hate site must be promptly ignored. Anyone who mentions OJ Simpson ‘s acquittal again must have brain transplant. OJ Simpson was acquitted because the trial took place in Los Angeles two years after the Rodney King riots and for the black and hispanic jury OJ Simpson was payback time for Rodney King and all the injustice the black community endured at the hands of the LAPD due to racism , prejudice and bigotry with Marcia Clark . Clark foolishly chose only black jurors who could have seen a video of OJ Simpson committing those murders and they would still have acquitted him. Michael Jackson however did not use the race card, the jury were not black, they were not frustrated with the Santa Barbara County Police Department, they were not sequestered, they were not low IQ , starstruck and uneducated like in the OJ Simpson trial , who was found indeed guilty in the civil trial in 1997.If Jordan Chandler had indeed described Michael Jackson’s penis accurately then Michael Jackson would have been immediately arrested. That was not the case however. Michael Jackson was clearly uncircumcised , which is confirmed in his autopsy report. Jordan Chandler , being Jewish on his father’s side ( and thus circumcised) described a circumcised penis. If he had seen Michael Jackson naked as many times as he said he did , if he had performed oral sex on him , if he had given him hand jobs , as many times as he alleged he did , then , he would have known that Michael Jackson ‘s penis was not circumcised, unless one is stupid enough to believe that Michael Jackson had an erection non stop. The Chandlers’ were Jewish , in fact , their real name was Charmaz , and they changed it to Chandler because Evan wanted to pursue a career in Hollywood as a screenwriter, though he was a dentist by trade, which career Michael Jackson refused to finance, hence, he used his son to extort money from Michael Jackson. Evan Chandler admitted he administered a psychiatric, barbiturate drug (sodium amytal) to his son in the pretext he took out his wisdom tooth , which is known for creating false memories , and it is , needless to say , not even used in dentistry and it is not even allowed in court. This video says it all.“It’s a psychiatric medication that cannot be relied on to produce fact,” says Dr. Resnick, the Cleveland psychiatrist. “People are very suggestible under it. People will say things under sodium Amytal that are blatantly untrue.” Sodium Amytal is a barbiturate, an invasive drug that puts people in a hypnotic state when it’s injected intravenously. Primarily administered for the treatment of amnesia, it first came into use during World War II, on soldiers traumatized—some into catatonic states—by the horrors of war. Scientific studies done in 1952 debunked the drug as a truth serum and instead demonstrated its risks: False memories can be easily implanted in those under its influence. “It is quite possible to implant an idea through the mere asking of a question,” says Resnick. But its effects are apparently even more insidious: “The idea can become their memory, and studies have shown that even when you tell them the truth, they will swear on a stack of Bibles that it happened,” says Resnick.To even consider celebrity worship or the settlement as the reasons Michael Jackson was not charged in 1993 or he was acquitted in 2005 , after a 4 month public, jury trial , which concluded a month early due to complete lack of evidence and 10 of the 12 jury ( two of them wanted to profit from a guilty verdict as they were offered book deals for thousands of dollars but it backfired , they never made a cent ) were ready to vote not guilty before the Defense even put on a case as the Prosecution’s witnesses either crumbled under cross examination or defended Jackson and the accuser’s family had zero credibility, is beyond ridiculous. If they had found anything on him they would have convicted him right then and there. To actually believe that Robson was the first Defense witness , albeit MJ allegedly molested him for 7 years , and he lied either to protect Michael Jackson or because he feared he might go to jail (depending on which version he is spinning each time ) is beyond ridiculous. No guilty person would ever have their own abuse victim testify for them and there is no way Robson , a High School graduate , could have fooled top and experienced attorneys like Mesereau and Yu and an overzealous prosecution like Sneddon and Zonen. Robson never wavered in 2005 because he was 100% truthful and he is lying now for money. When he lied under oath to get past the statutes in 2016 he got caught by the judge who threw away his entire witness statement and dismissed his lawsuit ( twice). Robson and Safechuck kept their story straight for 20 years ( that they were never molested ) without any financial motive and since they made these allegations in 2013 they have been caught in numerous lies , they have repeatedly changed their stories , which are contradicted in every single way, and they have filed civil lawsuits for hundreds of millions $ , hence they have a massive financial motive to lie and undeniably they have lied big time for money. Their lies in the one sided, bias , slanderous hit piece, which is entirely copied from a pro paedophilia book written by Victor Gutuirrez ( a gay peadophile and NAMBLA member ) and in fact promotes the NAMBLA agenda, have already been debunked since day one , hence they rushed to edit it and delete scenes from future airings , which were called out for being utterly false.The lie which completely dismantled their story was Safechuck’s daily abuse from 1988–1992 in the Neverland train Station , which was not even constructed until May 1994 , two years after his claimed abuse supposedly ended. They are both perjurers and profiteers , they both had their frivolous lawsuits thrown out of court and they ended up owing the Estate’s legal expenses as well as their own.Robson and Safechuck share the same legal firm since 2013 exactly like the Arvizos accused Michael Jackson after they were referred to the same civil attorney, named Larry Feldman , who got the 15 million $ settlement for the Chandlers in 1994. Safechuck joined Robson in a multi million dollar claim against the MJ Estate in 2013 after he was contacted by Robson ‘s lawyers , Henry Gradstein and Marianne Marzano, who were since his as well, until Robson’s case was dismissed in 2016 and they resigned , realizing of course there was zero chance to win the case. Then, Robson and Safechuck hired Stewart and Finaldi , who are known for fishing victims and winning sex abuse cases with outlandish lies in the media.Larry King testified in 2005 that Larry Feldman, Evan Chandler’s lawyer in 1994 and Janet Arvizo’s civil lawyer in 2005, told him that Janet Arvizo , who prior to Michael Jackson falsely accused of sex abuse a JC PENNEY security guard who caught her kids shoplifting , was a psychopath who was only after money. Had Michael Jackson been convicted in 2005 then Feldman would have represented Gavin Arvizo in a civil action against Michael Jackson for money because based on the legislation at the time any civil lawsuit would have been inactive without a criminal trial first. The Arvizos however were completely discredited in court , no juror believed them , they had a history of shoplifting, perjury , extortion, welfare fraud and hustling celebrities for money. They were caught in many lies and contradictions and they were refuted by almost all witnesses. In 1993, however, Michael Jackson tried to postpone the civil trial and get the criminal trial go first but the Judge sided with the Chandlers and did not allow the criminal trial to go first under CA speedy trial law, which was Chandlers’ plan all along. However , under 1108 prior bad acts , the jury , who were all white and conservative , after they saw evidence and testimony from both 93 and 03 cases, they completely cleared Michael Jackson on all counts and they could not even nail him on a single misdemeanour ( lesser charges) in 2005 . The not guilty verdict was not a racially motivated verdict like the OJ Simpson travesty and OJ Simpson was completely found guilty in the 1997 civil trial. Michael Jackson was never found guilty at any trial either criminal or civil.Anyone who actually believes that a civil settlement prevents Prosecution or that a criminal trial can be settled out of court should not be answering this question. If that were the case then Bill Cosby with his at least 400 million $ net worth , maybe more, would not be in jail now. Andrea Constand received a 3 million dollar from Bill Cosby in 2005 , yet , she pursued a criminal trial because she was a real rape victim, not a gold digger. The Chandlers on the other hand took the money in 1994 and ran. They never cared to testify in a criminal court yet they kept making further extortion attempts until 2001 which were all thrown out of court . The alleged victim refused twice to testify against Michael Jackson , both in 94 and 05, and requested legal emancipation from his parents in 1996 ,he refused to speak to either of them since 1996 ( his own mother June Chandler Schwartz testified it in the 2005 trial ) , sued and took a restraining order against his own father in 2005 because he assaulted him and tried to kill him and did not even attend his own father ‘s funeral in 2009 who killed himself only 4 months after Michael Jackson died and no one attended his funeral because he was a rotten to the core mental sociopath. Journalist Mary Fisher did an extensive research in 1993–1994 and she revealed a lot of exculpatory evidence for Michael Jackson, which was included in her GQ article , but is was buried in the anti Jackson media propaganda.James Brown , Bobby Brown , Bill Cosby, Jerry Sandusky , Mike Tyson , and Harvey Weinstein , R Kelly ( not yet , but soon ) , Tupac, Oscar Pistorius all went to jail. If there was evidence against Michael Jackson he would have gone to jail too. The jury in 2005 were all educated , middle class , conservative, family people. If they believed he was actually guilty they would have convicted him accordingly. Michael Jackson went through the due process as he should have. They found nothing. He is only guilty in the court of the public opinion because the media have been lying about him for 35 years. The difference between Jerry Sandusky and Michael Jackson is that Sandusky had at least 35 accusers , none of whom had mentally ill parents who asked for money, like Gavin Arvizo and Jordan Chandler , none of them defended Sandusky under oath like Robson and Safechuck who have repeatedly , especially Robson, tried to profit from these allegations , which is not an attitude or behavior consistent of abuse survivors.Wade Robson , after he was not hired by the Estate to direct the MJ ONE show in 2012, which debuted in Las Vegas in 2013, and since he was reportedly in financial trouble , hence he ’d already sold to Julien’s Auctions’ all his MJ related items in 2011, before any ‘’ abuse ‘’ disclosure or realization, he unsuccessfully tried to shop a book deal about his alleged abuse for which he asked a huge amount of money but there was no interest in his book. However, during legal proceedings, during which he perjured himself , he was ordered to present a draft of his book in court , in which he referred to himself as a ‘’master of deception’’ and he wrote that his ‘’ abuse experience and its effects will make me relevant and relatable again. It ‘s time to get mine’’. What abuse victim says that?In Michael Jackson ‘s case there was never a single accuser who ever filed a complaint without first consulting a high profile civil attorney for money. They all consulted and contacted civil attorneys for money. Every single one. None of them ever went to the Police to file a complaint ever. They all wanted money.To believe Michael Jackson was given a free pass because he was a celebrity is beyond unfair and ridiculous. The media deliberately sensationalized his 2005 trial for ratings and thus profit. The media coverage of the 2005 trial , which was the most media covered and highly publicized trial of all times , was extremely unfair and the only journalist who admitted the error of her ways was Aphrodite Jones who, though she was once Michael Jackson’s detractor, she started defending him once she looked into the evidence and realized that Michael Jackson was framed for money and the criminals were in fact the plaintiffs, not him. To right the wrong she wrote a book , which no one wanted to publish because it was pro Jackson , under the title ‘’Conspiracy’’, in which she writes in detail the Arvizos’ absurd and ludicrous testimonies as well as the media hypocrisy , which deliberately misstated facts to vilify Jackson for ratings. Geraldo Rivera, an investigative journalist also stated publicly then , after he looked into the 05 case that Michael Jackson would be acquitted and if he hadn’t he would have shaved his moustache. Geraldo Rivera was right. Michael Jackson should have been acquitted and he was. The 2005 trial was a travesty and it should never have taken place. It was a waste of time and money. That joke ended on 13 June 2005 with MJ’s acquittal.This is Mike Smallcombe , a UK journalist who completely and easily exposed ‘’Leaving Neverland’’ as a fraud.I would like to borrow a part from another Quoran’s answer who incidentally is an attorney.Any lawyer would take the two compromised protagonists of the Leaving Neverland documentary apart at the joints. They have a long history of contradictory statements (prior inconsistent statements, we call them). They had cases against the Jackson Estate dismissed, and owe it over $100K in attorneys fees, so they have interest in making money at the Estate's expense. They are making uncorroborated claims (which, as noted, they previously repeatedly denied) charging a dead man with offenses for which he was actually tried and acquitted. In addition, the FBI conducted a decade-long investigation into similar claims and came up with goose egg, nothing, nada, zip. And probable cause is a low standard. The documentary is deliberately one-sided, telling only the men's stories in the most sympathetic possible way and not subjecting them to any critical interrogation. Pardon me if I'm less than impressed. You should be unimpressed too. I'll believe it if is there is real evidence. A preponderance, even. The problems with this documentary, which I have barely scratched here, indicate that the evidence doesn't remotely support its claims.And this is what Roger Friedman wrote about Leaving Neverland , Robson and Safechuck.Sneddon knew the names of Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck, the two men who claim in the documentary to have been molested. If Sneddon had thought there was any real story there, he’d have gone after it. He never did. Meanwhile, Robson has started a not for profit foundation and is soliciting donations. There can be no transparency, as he’s parked his 501 c3 very cleverly under something called the Hawaii Community Foundation. That way, Robson doesn’t have to file a form 990. We’ll never know if the makers of “Leaving Neverland” have donated money to it, for example. This was done on purpose. Leonardo DiCaprio does the same thing with his Foundation. It’s hidden. Safechuck, meantime, is accused by Jackson fans of creating his story from a very disgusting book published years ago by a man named Victor Guitierrez. Jackson sued Guitierrez and won a $2.7 million judgement against. The writer has never paid up, and now lives in Chile. I threw my copy out a long time; I didn’t want it in my house. “Leaving Neverland” can’t be taken seriously, and I’m surprised the press in Sundance– who didn’t cover Jackson — was so swayed by it. The movie offers no independent evidence, or third parties, just the claims of Robson and Safechuck. Just because it’s graphic, doesn’t mean it’s true. The rush to judgement here is alarming, and dangerous.So, which version of the Arvizos’ , Robson’s, Safechuck’s, Chandler’s ever changing story should have Michael Jackson been convicted for , none of who can keep their stories straight to save their lives?These are only a few of Robson’s and Safechuck’s lies. They have provably lied and anyone who still denies it is clearly disconnected from reality.James Safechuck claimed abuse from 1988–1992 in the Neverland Train Station where there was a room on the second floor. The Neverland Train Station provably did NOT even exist until 1994, two years after his alleged abuse ended. That alone proves he is a liar. The permit for the Railway Train Station was ONLY given in September 1993, one and a half year after the claimed abuse supposedly ended. It was constructed several months later.James Safechuck claimed he was pressured by Michael ‘s lawyers to testify in 2005 but he refused. Safechuck’s testimony was rendered irrelevant months before the trial even began. He was a non entity , for purposes of the 2005 trial Safechuck did NOT even exist. Nobody asked him to testify , let alone pressure him.James Safechuck claimed he ONLY realized his alleged abuse and disclosed it in 2013 after he saw Robson on the Tonight Show in May 2013. His mother however claimed in the film that she danced when Michael Jackson died in 2009 even though she supposedly did not know about her son’s alleged abuse until 2013.James Safechuck claimed in the film he cried himself to sleep in a condo in L.A. in September 1992 because Michael Jackson supposedly preferred another kid to him. Michael Jackson was reportedly in Europe performing on his Dangerous Tour then.Wade Robson claimed in the film that Michael Jackson taught him to hate women yet he forgot to mention that he set him up with his niece Brandi Jackson who dated Wade for at least 7 years. Robson mentions Britney Spears in the film but he forgets to mention that he cheated on Brandi with Britney who dated Wade’s supposed friend and lead singer for N sync Justin Timberlake , hence he got fired. He also forgot to mention that Britney fired Robson and his wife from her Circus promotion tour and replaced him with Jamie King , who Branca also chose to direct the MJ ONE show , a job Robson begged Branca to give him in 2011. In 2016 Robson lied under oath to get past the statutes and claimed he did not know about the administration of the MJ Estate until 03/2013. The same people he contacted and negotiated a job he provably applied for in May 2011 he claimed UNDER OATH he didn’t know until 2013 at which point judge Beckloff threw away his entire witness statement.Wade Robson claims that he was convinced to testify for Michael Jackson in 2005 during a dinner in Neverland which in fact took place after he had already testified , NOT before. He also claims he was subpoenaed to testify but in fact he was not , he willingly testified , as did his mother Joy and his sister Chantal.Wade Robson claims that he was sexually abused for the first time in Neverland when he was 9 years old in 1991 and his parents went to the Grand Canyon but he stayed alone in Neverland where Michael Jackson sexually abused him. However , this story is contradicted by his own mother’s 1993 sworn deposition where she said that the whole Robson family went to the Grand Canyon , including Wade, and they all returned to Neverland together the following weekend. In addition, in his own lawsuit as well as a deposition Robson gave recently for his appeal he gave an entirely different version of the same story , he said that he was sexually abused for the first time with his entire family also in Neverland and in fact his own sister sleeping in the same room. Two entirely different versions of the same story.Wade is seen burning MJ related objects at the end of the film but according to Julien’s Auction’s he had already sold all his MJ memorabilia by 2011 because he needed cash. He tried to do it anonymously but Julien’s Auction’s didn’t agree to that. Neither Wade Robson or James Safechuck ever owned the original Thriller Jacket , which was sold for almost 2 million $ to a rich guy from Arizona in 2011 and Harrison Ford never gave Safechuck the Indiana Jones bull whip as there was only one which was in fact donated to the Institute of Archaelogy in 1990.Robson implies in the movie that Brett Barnes and Macauley Culkin replaced him and thus they were groomed and molested albeit they have repeatedly said they weren’t even under oath. Barnes was harassed by people who told him to come forward and admit he was molested too , he is completely distraught and he is considering to take legal action against HBO for including him in the film.However , i am not afraid to admit when i ’m wrong. When i watched Leaving Neverland ( after reading the court documents in which they non stop contradicted themselves and the entire Robson family contradicted each other ) and i thought ‘’ oh, my God , this can’t get any more unbelievable ‘’ they got to the part where Wade Robson was astra abused at the Grand Canyon and James Safechuck was phantom abused at a nonexistent train station and i thought ‘’ my God, they are so stupid’’. Post traumatic stress syndrome does not explain/ justify time traveling. You don ’t even need evidence to trash Michael Jackson but just the most ridiculous claims , one can ever fabricate, any unjustified rumor about Michael Jackson is considered the universal truth by haters / gullible sheep who are spoon fed by the media and conditioned to believe anything without the least critical thinking. Basic rules of the world which apply to every individual on earth doesn’t come into play when it comes to Michael Jackson. Smear him, accuse him , disrespect him without any evidence or due process.Michael Jackson was 1. insulted for his skin disorder, 2.mocked for his torments, 3. his generosity is labelled as grooming, 4. his artistry is disrespected for no reason and is compared to objectively overrated artists 5. he was a victim of false allegations 6. his supporters/defenders who have done extensive research and gone through thousands of pages of court documents are labelled as crazed fans/blinded by his celebrity / songs/ dance moves yet people who know nothing about him but only what the ( tabloid ) media reported think they are experts on Michael Jackson and make a case he was a paedophile on the basis of a deeply flawed, proven false, one sided , agenda driven , manipulative hit piece by two people who denied any wrongdoing for 20 years , have been caught in numerous lies and they stand to make millions by changing their story with zero evidence to prove their claims. Unbelievable.Those who should however be immediately arrested for slander, perjury and extortion are Dan Reed , Wade Robson and James Safechuck. Robson, Safechuck, Adrian McManus and Victor Gutuirrez can start by giving back to his Estate the money they owe him. They are all court ordered to compensate him/pay his legal expenses and they have not paid a penny.

Oh, no! There are many other (groups of) species that alter ecosystem-, and/or by extension evolutionary processes, at an extent comparable to or even greater than humans.Cyanobacteria →Perhaps the phylum with the greatest impact on the history of the world, and on life, as we know it. Cyanobacteria are a photosynthesizing group of bacteria, formerly known as “blue-green algae”. They are the only prokaryotes capable of producing oxygen (O2), and are believed to be the earliest organisms to do so [1]. By introducing oxygen into the atmosphere, cyanobacteria have caused one of the greatest transformations in planetary ecology –like ever!- and ended almost all life on Earth at the time. That was the so called “Great Oxygenation Event” (GOE), during which Earth’s early, oxygen-poor, reducing atmosphere underwent massive oxygenation. This lead to near-extinction of anaerobic organisms and a dramatic change in the composition of our planet’s life forms [2]. It paved the way for the evolution of aerobic respiration – the most energy efficient metabolism known [3] – making it possible for complex, multicellular organisms to emerge.The way those tiny creatures reshaped the environment had an impact that resonates through the eons, as plants, animals and humans (*), all owe their existence to cyanobacteria’s oxygen producing ability.(*) With this wording, I do not imply humans are not animalsParasites →Parasitism might well be one of the most successful survival strategies in the course of evolution! It is estimated that parasites comprise an impressive ~40% or even ~50% (*) of all known species on Earth [4,5], while virtually all free-living animals are host to one or more parasitic taxa [4].(*) depending on whether parasites of plants are included or not in the calculationTo ensure their survival and reproduction, parasites have developed a multitude of cunning ways to alter their (living) habitats in a manner that fits them best. Let’s take a look on some of those:- Modulation of the host’s immune responseFor example, pox- and herpesviruses “borrow” genes from their hosts and produce immune-related molecules that mimic the original ones, but are not harmful to the virus. Host cytokines become virokines and host receptors become viroreceptors, effectively disarming the host’s immune defenses against the virus [6].- Transformation of the host’s morphologyFor instance, parasitic flatworms’ larvae of the genus Ribeiroia infect frogs at the tadpole stage, drill themselves in the tissues that are meant to develop into legs and interfere with the way they form. The end result is an adult frog, whose body is a tangled mess, sprouting misshapen, extraneous limbs and joints – and looks very much like the product of a nuclear accident. Unable to walk or swim like a normal frog, the flatworms’ host makes an easy prey for birds, in the stomach of which the parasite can continue its life cycle [7].- Manipulation of the host’s behaviorMany parasites alter the behavior of their hosts, hijacking their brain either directly or indirectly, in a way that increases the parasite’s chances of transmission, so that its life cycle can go on (Read “Mindsuckers” in National Geographic). One example is the so-called gordian or horsehair worm, which parasitizes mostly on crickets. The problem is that while the cricket cannot swim and avoids water like hell, the worm needs an aquatic habitat to mate and have its eggs hatched. So, once it’s ready to reproduce it releases neurotransmitters that goof up the cricket’s brain, making it jump around in search for light. During the night, the only light sources are lakes and rivers, whose surface reflects the moonlight. That is an irresistible lure for the worm-infected crickets, which readily jump in the water – practically committing suicide. Hairworms emerge, ready to find love, lay their eggs and continue the cycle once again [8].So far, I talked about large groups of species that, by altering their environment, had a large effect on the evolutionary or life’s course of other species. But there’s also another category of organisms, which structure and reshape their habitat in a way that suits their needs, and in doing so they exert profound effects on the occurrence, abundance, diversity and spatial pattern of other organisms. These are called “ecosystem engineers” and they can make or brake an ecosystem. Here are some prominent examples:Beavers (Castor Canadensis) →Beavers have already been mentioned by a fellow Quoran, and for a good reason. They are the textbook example of “ecosystem engineering” species. These voluminous rodents fell trees and combine them with mud and stone to build dams, which serve them as a protection against predators. And since we talk about engineering… Beavers can built gigantic structures (the biggest known, in Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada, spans a length of 850 m! - see the picture below) and vary the shape of the dam depending on the speed of water; in slow-moving water, they build a straight dam, whereas in fast-moving water the dams tend to be curved [9].This habit of theirs has dramatic and wide-ranging effects on the ecosystem, which can last for more than 50 years [10]. Damming streams slows water currents and increases deposition of sediment and organic material in the water, resulting in the creation of nutrient-rich ponds and wetlands, which host innumerable species. For instance, insects that prefer still water thrive and the standing crop of plankton increases about 5 times compared to the unaltered stream [11], providing abundant food sources for fish, amphibians, birds and, in turn, mammals.In addition, beaver dams remove toxins and pollutants from waterways, reduce soil erosion (protecting people in surrounding areas from flood), and help recharging aquifiers (protecting the ecosystem from drought as they increase the levels of underground water) [12].Gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) →These tortoises live in “scrub” habitats (areas with sandy soil and sparsely populated by trees) and have the ability to dig large, deep burrows that resemble subterranean villages. These burrows are critical for the survival of more than 350 other species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and even birds, since they use them as shelter from predators, or as a temporary refuge from fires, which are common in this type of ecosystem. Because of their critical role in the ecosystem, Gopher tortoises are considered a “keystone species”[13].Parrotfish →Among the thousands of reef fishes roaming in the Great Barrier Reef, in Australia, the parrotfish is the only species that scratches limestone and macroalgae off from coral reefs [14]. This is especially important for the health and maintenance of the ecosystem, as macroalgae compete with corals for space and, if not consumed, would smother them [15]. So, without the parrotfish the complex and colourful coral-reef ecosystem runs the risk of collapse. And this is not a trivial matter… Apart from creating a habitat for the most diverse ecosystem on the planet, coral reefs defend coastlines from the damaging effects of waves and tropical storms, are the primal source of nitrogen and other essential elements for marine food chains and have a major contribution in nutrient recycling. Moreover, they are of great financial importance; the fishing industry depends on the reefs, because they provide nursery grounds to about one third of all saltwater fish species, while tourism greatly benefits from their beauty that attracts millions of tourists [16].Fun fact: On the occasion of a scant number of males, females can readily change sex [17]!Oysters →The humble oyster is much more than a “sophisticated” delicacy. Just as coral reefs are critical to tropical marine habitats, oyster reefs are the ecosystem engineers of bays and estuaries, and are essential for maintaining local marine systems populous, diverse and healthy.First of all, being the only hard substrate in a predominantly soft-sediment environment, oyster reefs provide a habitat for mollusks, polychaetes, crustaceans and many other invertebrates, as well as a refuge and foraging ground for juvenile fish [18]. Probably, though, the greatest gift they make to their environment does not come from the “worthy-to-become-a-Pokémon” weirdness of their shape, but from their eating habits. Oysters feed by actively filtering nutrients, sediments and phytoplankton from the water, and their filtering capacity is astonishing! An individual oyster can filter on average ~115 liters per gram (of oyster tissue) per day [19]. Compare this to the mean blood filtration rate by the human kidney, which is ~0,4-0,5 liters per gram (of kidney tissue) per day… [20].This diligent water-cleaning activity decreases the microbial and toxin load of the area [21], while it also hinders the population of phytoplankton (that is, all the photosynthesizing microscopic organisms inhabiting the upper sunlit layer of almost all oceans and bodies of fresh water) from growing out of hand [18]. This is more important than it sounds! That is because too high concentrations of phytoplankton prevent sunlight penetration to deeper water levels, causing submerged aquatic vegetation to die. The bacteria that feast on those (large bulks) of dead organic matter consume huge amounts of the oxygen that is dissolved in the water, which is eventually depleted. Thereby, fish and other life forms suffocate and die.So, oysters are marine organisms’ best friend, not only because they safeguard them against “homelessness”, disease and poisoning, but also because they forestall phytoplankton from turning bay ecosystems into a wet desert.Honorable mentions:Decomposers (bacterial & fungal species) →Without their nutrient-recycling activities, plants (and thus herbivores, and thus carnivores, and omnivores) would starve and the Earth would soon become a huge dump, full of carcasses and fecal matter. Thank you, decomposers!Bees →It has often been said that bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat (reference: the internet :P). Pollination is the process of plant fertilization and is necessary for the production of fruit, vegetables, agricultural crops and flowers. Bees are the main insect pollinators, by far. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the U.N estimates that of the 115 crop species that provide 90% of food supplies for 146 countries, 71 need bee-pollinators to increase their yields and quality [22]. A few examples of the foods we ‘d miss from our table, if bees ceased pollinating our agricultural goods, are: broccoli, cucumbers, pumpkins, onions, garlic, almonds, cantaloupes, watermelons, apples, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, coffee, tea and cocoa beans (Yes! Chocolate…). Thank you bees!Earthworms →They mix the soil, break down organic matter, recycle nutrients, improve water intake and transmission, and generally alter soil properties in ways that are beneficial to plant growth. All of these hobbies of theirs, make earthworms one of the best bio-indicators of forest site quality and an invaluable ally for forest life [23].Termites →Together with ants and earthworms they constitute our Earth’s top soil-engineering crew. Termites are the main macroinvertebrate decomposers in arid and semi-arid environments, thereby helping in soil formation. They influence the distribution of natural resources (e.g. water and nutrients) in the landscape, and consequently the diversity of soil microbes, plants and animals. Using excavated mineral material, stone and clay they created giant mounds, which can serve as “Fertility Totems” amidst barren territories, like the African savannas [24].Woodpeckers →Inspiring the creation of a classic cartoon character with its funny looks is not the only thing the crafty woodpecker has to offer. Their field of expertise as engineers is drilling holes in trees. By excavating cavities, woodpeckers construct homes for numerous small cavity dwellers - besides its own young -, such as bats, squirrels, raccoons, several bird- and owl-species, [25], and occasionally amphibians and reptiles [26]. Current research has shown that occupancy of woodpecker-crafted excavations is important not only in green forests, but also plays a vital role in reestablishing ecosystem diversity post-fire [27].1. 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